Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is an area in computer science which is seen as a sexy area. Section of being able to produce a realistic view object with which we often chuckled admiringly. But more than that, the CGI has been transformed into a billion dollar business for the film industry, advertising, and modeling. The software developer to seriously develop the software to generate CGI support the dollar.
Like most software, there are two categories of CGI software, which is a proprietary software (proprietary) and open source. For proprietary software, the sales price is the price of less than one hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. Some software is good enough to be sold by the thousands of dollars.
MAYA
Developer: Alias Systems Corporation (now owned by Autodesk)
Final version: 2010 (11.0)
License: Proprietary
Website: www.autodesk.com/maya
Price: $ 1999 (Maya Complete) $ 4999 (Maya Unlimited)
This software is quite popular among film-makers visual effects. Some films like Ice Age, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs. Aliens, is the films done by using Maya for visual effect. Resistance 2 game also produced Insomniac Games is one game that many effects resolved by the Maya.
At first, Maya was released for the IRIX operating system, and also support for the Windows operating system, Linux and MAC OS X. Support for IRIX operating system stopped after the release of version 6.5. The main features of Maya as a 3D CGI software Modeling, animation, and rendering. Maya provides a variety of 3D modeling from polygon, NURBS to subdivision surface modeling. In the final version of the 2010 version, Maya has two versions, namely version Complete and Unlimited versions. In the Unlimited version has several tools that are not available in complete versions, such as Maya Fluid Effects (used to create smoke effects, fire, sky, and explosions), Maya Classic Cloth (simulate folds / fabric movement), Maya Fur (animal fur or simulated grass), Maya Hair (to simulate a human hair and their movements), Maya Live, Maya nCloth, Maya and nParticle.
Maya also has a scripting language called Maya Embedded Language (MEL), a programming language similar to C. MEL, as well as other programming languages, can be typed in the script editor, and executed so that the user has access and control more than access to user interface. Some of the functions and options can only be advanced through MEL called.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lightwave 3D
Developer: NewTek, Inc.
Last version: 9.6
License: Proprietary
Website: www.newtek.com/lightwave/
Price: $ 1495
In 1988, Allen Hastings created the rendering and animation program called Videoscape, Stuart Ferguson and theme to create a complementary 3D modeling program called Modeler. Both are marketed by Aegis Software. Then NewTek acquired both, and incorporate them into a video editing application called Video Toaster. Initially, the merger of the three applications called "NewTek 3D Animation System for the Amiga", but then suggested the name of Allen Hastings Lightwave 3D (so far). Lightwave 3D is the first released in 1990, with the Commodore Amiga computer platform. However, in the year 1994 is available in standalone applications.
What's interesting is that Lightwave consists of two separate programs, namely Modeler and Layout. Layout contains animation and rendering system that has several options, such as ray tracing, multithreading, global illumination, and the output parameters. While Modeler is used to create 3D modeling, which will be used in animation or rendering component. Modeler and Layout is designed to produce a working environment for specific tasks. When both are running simultaneously, there is a third process called the Hub, which automatically synchronize. Another feature of Lightwave 3D is that programmers can develop the ability Lightwave 3D by using a scripting language called LScript.
Some features mainstay of the latest version of Lightwave 3D is as follows:
-Character Animation Enhancements: include FiberFX (used for the solution of hair and fur description), Collada, FBX and OBJ I / O (to increase compatibility with other applications), Enhanced IK and Animation System (to improve the control of a character animation).
-Rendering; includes IES Lighting (used to adjust the lighting), radiosity Cache, Photoreal Motion Blur, New anti-aliasing methods (to increase the speed of the rendering process), the global illumination and radiosity (to simulate the lighting effects), the application of state-of algorithm -the-art BSP / KD Tree (ray tracing to produce a more efficient and faster), improve multi-threading with dynamic segmentation (using CPU resources in an optimal).
-Adaptive Pixel Subdivision: yield improvement in the process of rendering speed.
-Advanced Camera Tools: produce effects such as Real Lens Camera.
-Other features: such as support for normal map from ZBrush and Mudbox, support the full SDK that allows third-party to create a node, the display system of the new representations in OpenGL, and dual and multicore support.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Autodesk 3ds Max
Developer: Autodesk, Inc..
Latest Version: 2010 (11.0)
License: Proprietary
Website: www.autodesk.com/3dsmax
Price: $ 3990
Initially, 3D Studio created for the DOS platform by the Yost Group, and distributed by Autodesk. After the 3D Studio version 4, this product is rewritten for the Windows NT platform and its name was changed to "3D Studio Max". In 2009, the product name changed to "Autodesk 3ds Max".
3ds Max has been described as software that can answer the needs of 3D work, ranging from modeling, materials, lighting, and animation. If Maya is more widely used in the film industry to produce visual effects, and 3ds Max is more focused on the areas of manufacturing industry for visualizing or modeling of objects. One reason is the availability of a variety of plugins and compabillity with Windows.
Some features of 3ds Max is:
-MAXSript: a scripting language designed to perform automated tasks over and over, to perform a combination of functions that already exist, create a new tool or make additional plugins.
-Character Studio: is a plugin that has been around since version 4, aims to help users in doing the character animation. Character "Biped" can be used to generate walk cycles and movement paths.
-Scene Explorer: a tool to manage the scene, eg, by sorting, filtering and search by type of scene objects or property (including metadata).
-DWG Import: to import and to link the DWG file.
-Texture Assignment: offer operations to produce texture and planar mapping.
-General Keyframing.
-Constrained Animation: allows an animate object in the path according to the speed control curve, alignment, repetition, and smoothness.
-Skeleton and Inverse Kinematics (IK): allows a custom character with a skeleton wrapped in 3ds Max using bones, IK Assemble, and Rigging tools.
BLENDER
Developer: The Blender Foundation
Last Version: 2.49b
License: GNU General Public License
Website: www.blender.org
Blender first developed by the Dutch animation studio, NeoGeo and Technology Not a Number (NaN). Previously, the application was made by Ton Roosendaal making a ray tracer for the Amiga in 1989. In 1998, more serious Roosendaal develop and distribute applications to do this as a shareware product. In 2002, Blender distributed in the GPL license, and began fund-raising campaign for the Blender project. Currently, under the Blender Foundation, Blender software distributed with GPL license, and source code available, and can be downloaded anyone. Blender also can run on different operating system platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, IRIX, Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD.
Blender has a file size is relatively small installations, and can run on several computer platforms. Although often distributed without documentation or examples, but this software has features of high-class modeling software, such as:
-Supports a variety of basic geometric shapes, including polygon mesh, fast division surface modeling, Bezier curves, NURBS surfaces, metaballs, digital sculpting, and outline fonts.
-Rendering capabilities and integration with YafRay (a free software to do ray tracing).
-Tool to create a keyframe animation, including inverse Kinematics, armature (skeletal), hook, curve, lattice-based deformations, morphing, non-linear animation, constraints, vertex weighting, soft body dynamic, including collision detection.
-Scripting using Python to create a prototype, game logic, do export and to import other formats 9OBJ, FBX, DBX, COLLADA), perform automated tasks and so on.
-Basic editing facilities for video / audio.
Closing
Development of hardware technology, especially for the video card, make creative programmers to find new algorithms to support CGI technology. In the years ahead, we'll see how the 3D software will be increasingly CGI feature-rich, and create a variety of image / character that was so realistic and previously unimaginable.
0 comments:
Post a Comment