DAZ
3D, GoFigure Offer Drag-and-Drop Animation Plug-in
Christened aniMate, it’s
created by GoFigure, a producer of viral applications for Internet,
computer, and mobile social networks; and DAZ 3D, which develops 3D
software and models. The aniMate tool aims to simplify the job of
animation artists by providing ready-to-use building blocks. The DAZ
Studio users can animate 3D characters through drag-and-drop modules
called aniBlocks.
"The aniMate
plug-in is a natural complement to DAZ Studio's comprehensive 3D art and
animation toolset and fits perfectly with our philosophy of offering 3D
tools to the masses," said Dan Farr, president and co-founder of DAZ 3D.
"Users may import any DAZ 3D model, such as Victoria, and within seconds,
create a high-quality animated sequence."
Using aniBlocks,
animated behaviors such as dancing, walking, fighting, and gesturing are
dragged from the aniBlock library and dropped into the animation timeline,
blending automatically to any 3D character within DAZ Studio.
Behavior lengths
may be set and modified in real-time by pulling the edge of the aniBlock.
Upon purchase, aniMate comes equipped with a library of aniBlocks, while
additional professional-quality aniBlocks may be purchased from DAZ 3D, or
created using DAZ Studio's existing keyframe, PuppeteerT and Lip Synching
technologies.
"We designed
aniMate to take the mystery of out of the animation process," said
GoFigure's founder and president, Brett Nord. "It provides a simple
interface that makes animation fun and educational. At the same time, it's
fully capable of professional quality output for projects of any level and
provides a sense of instant gratification for all artists."
According to the
companies, though it’s priced at $39.95, aniMate is currently being
offered at $29.97 until Oct.15, 2008. Additional aniBlock motions are
available in sets ranging from $19.95 to $29.95.
DAZ Studio 2.3,
required for proper installation, is free of charge and available on
Windows 2000 or higher and Mac OSX 10.3.9 or higher. Each version comes
with pre-configured 3D content.
Photo courtesy:
DAZ 3D
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