Using the product's new Flash tools, animators will be able to employ Filmbox for real-time 3D authoring and the export of character animation and motion-capture sequences for Web broadcasting. Support for the popular Flash Web content format represents Kaydara's first foray into Web authoring with Filmbox.
"Real-time animation for the Web is an important step for tool vendors such as Kaydara. Filmbox's support of Flash is a great indication of where the market is headed," says Wanda Meloni, principal analyst with M2 Research in California.
The product's new character animation triggering tools allow users to interactively sequence animations using a joystick or keyboard to sequence clips in real time. The time-saving technology is designed to allow animators to quickly create animation sequences based on pre-existing libraries of motion-capture data, with each triggered animation blending smoothly into the next. Character animation triggering should, according to the company, prove especially useful for animators creating high-volume multiple-character animations.
Another major new feature in Version 2.7 is portability to Red Hat Linux Version 6.2, with subsequent scalability for systems ranging from a Windows Palmtop unit to an SGI Onyx2. Potential customers include any animators running Linux, but in particular, those in game development and film production, where a substantial Linux user base exists.
Filmbox Version 2.7 is scheduled to ship in November 2000. It will run on Windows NT, Red Hat Linux, and SGI Irix operating systems. Pricing starts at $4995.
(Kaydara; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; 888-842-6842; www.kaydara.com) -JD