NaturalMotion Ltd. has released endorphin 2.7 and the endorphin 2.7 Learning Edition (eLE). The newest version of NaturalMotion's award-winning animation software, endorphin 2.7 features new fluid effects support, a Maya control panel plug-in, extended forces and torques, additional file format support and improved user resources.
endorphin 2.7's robust suite of tools is designed for animators creating realistic, fully interactive 3D character animation for games, films and broadcast production. endorphin is used by many leading game and visual effects companies, such as FreeStyle Games, which recently employed endorphin's character animation toolset for B-BOY, a hip-hop and break-dancing title for Sony PlayStation 2 and PSP.
Jamie Jackson, art director at FreeStyle Games, said, "The B-BOY title required the development of many challenging movements that were too time-consuming to hand animate, and virtually impossible to recreate in a motion capture studio. With endorphin in our pipeline, we could create a wide array of unique crashes for all of the B-Boys and B-Girls, ranging from simple handstand fall outs (landing mostly onto their faces), to full-on neck breakers out of a no-handed air flare. When you see the results in-game, you realize how dangerous it would have been for the B-Boys to recreate these movements for real. endorphin allowed us to deliver incredibly realistic movements and stunts without any broken bones."
Several new and improved features for endorphin 2.7 include:
* Fluid effects -- Characters and objects may interact with fluids (e.g. water, air, mud) in a physically plausible manner, including buoyancy and drag forces. Additional effects, such as moving fluids and waves, are also supported.
* endorphin Control Panel plug-in for Maya -- New plug-in allows animation generated by a Maya control rig to be mapped onto an endorphin character, and allows animation generated by endorphin to be mapped onto a Maya control rig. Users may drive complex IK rigs using endorphin, and allows users to animate over the endorphin motion, to enhance or replace it on a joint-by-joint basis.
* Extended forces and torques -- The Push physical effect behavior allows a force to be applied over multiple frames. The Twist physical effect behavior allows a torque (rotational force) to be applied over multiple frames.
* Improved hold effect -- A new "stickiness" parameter allows users to model the effect of sticky surfaces.
* Improved file format support -- Extended support for new Acclaim 2 file format.
* Improved resources -- A new library of standard simulation characters and prop characters, a revised endorphin User Guide and additional tutorials for fluid, push and twist physical effects.
Current endorphin users include Blitz Games, Sony Computer Ent., Tigar Hare Studios, EA, Namco, Capcom, Konami, Giant Killer Robots, CIS Hollywood, The Mill and Moving Picture Co.
endorphin offers a new approach to 3D animation, and is the only character animation software to utilize DMS, a technology based on artificial intelligence controllers that imitate the human nervous system. Unlike conventional animation techniques, such as keyframing or motion capture, endorphin's DMS technology uses the CPU to simulate the brain and body of 3D characters, which allows animators to synthesize human movements in realtime. This approach produces directed and fully interactive 3D characters that essentially animate themselves with reallife movements that are unique every time; thus dramatically reducing animation asset production time.
The endorphin 2.7 Learning Edition (eLE) is available for immediate download from www.naturalmotion.com. The eLE contains the same features found in endorphin 2.7, relevant product documentation and a comprehensive support network via the company's active endorphin forum, which includes more than 30,000 registered users.
endorphin 2.7 is available now for $9,495. The upgrade is free to existing NaturalMotion customers with a valid maintenance contract. NaturalMotion also gives customers an opportunity to rent endorphin on a monthly basis for $1,195.
NaturalMotion Ltd. is the first company to create 3D character animation software based on Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS), a technology that utilizes Adaptive Behaviors and artificial intelligence to simulate the human-nervous system. Based on Oxford University research on the control of body movements, NaturalMotion's euphoria synthesizes 3D character animation in realtime on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, thus creating unique game moments and previously unachievable interactivity. NaturalMotion's other DMS product, endorphin, creates off-line animation significantly faster than traditional techniques and is widely used in the film and games industries.
