List of 3D animation software - Part 1 (Aladdin4D,Anim8or)

Aladdin4D

Aladdin4D is a software program for modeling and rendering three-dimensional graphics and animations, for the Mac OS X platform. Aladdin 4D was originally created by Greg Gorby at Adspec Programing in Ohio, and was an updated version of an earlier 3D program called Draw4D Pro, which integrated elements of desktop publishing into its environment. The 3D program was then acquired and updated by Nova Design, Inc. Nova Design added many modern features and made it easier to use. It was one of the first 3D animation programs on any platform to employ volumetrics, which were primarily used to create volumetric gas. However, unlike the majority of Amiga 3D programs, it used scanline rendering instead of the more photorealistic ray tracing technique. Scanline rendering is similar to the rendering technique used in most Pixar movies.

On December 17, 2007 Nova Design sold all inventory, source code and intellectual property rights to DiscreetFX LLC. DiscreetFX is updating and releasing a new 6.0 version for Mac OS X, iPad & Linux.

Features

This software was one of the few 3D applications for the Amiga platform, in the sense that it uses an OS-compliant GUI, it supports RTG displays, it utilizes the AmigaGuide Help system and features an Arexx port for scripting. Concerning the 3D features of the application:

- Infinite layering of surfaces: A surface of an object may have a virtually infinite amount of textures, shaders etc. layered on it.
- Spline modelling tool.
- Importing of most postscript files, making the creation of logos easier.
- Unlimited number of working layers: multiple working areas containing only a portion of the scene, easing out the management and pace of objects during the creation of animation.
- Gaseous volumetrics with adjustable mass.
- Built-in particle system to simulate various effects like fireworks.
- Morphing capabilities in the animation system.
- Spline animation controls.

Also, Aladdin 4D has rendering features like motion blur, multiple pass supersampling, lens flares, 32-bit color support and a highly optimized 68k rendering engine.

Anim8or

Anim8or is a freeware OpenGL based 3D modeling and animation program by R. Steven Glanville, a software engineer at NVidia. Currently at version 0.98, it is a compact program with several tools which would normally be expected in high-end, paid software. To date, every version released has been under 3 MB, despite the fact that it does not make full use of the windows native interface, carrying some graphical elements of its own. Although few official tutorials have been posted by the author, many other users have posted their own on sites such as YouTube and the anim8or home page. While Anim8or was once comparable to other freeware 3D animation software such as Blender, it has seen less progression in recent years.

Development

On July 20, 1999, a message was posted to the newsgroup comp.graphics.packages.3dstudio, introducing the first version of Anim8or to the public.[2] In its first week, the original version was downloaded almost 100 times.[3] The next version, 0.2, was released on September 6, 1999, containing bug fixes and the ability to save images as JPEG files.

In the past few years, newer versions have been released, introducing features such as undo and redo commands, keyboard shortcuts, an improved renderer and morph targets. With each new version, the popularity of Anim8or has grown. It has been featured in several magazines including 3D User, Freelog, c't and the Lockergnome newsletter.

Anim8or's latest stable version, 0.98, was released to the public on November 20, 2013, although beta versions were available earlier for users wanting to test them and provide feedback. These included versions 0.96a, 0.96b, 0.97a, 0.97b, 0.97c, 0.97d, 0.97e, 0.97f, and 0.97g (Version 0.97g was never released).

Anim8or's mascot is a simple red robin, aptly named as Robin, that most users learn to model and animate in Anim8or's "A Simple Walk Tutorial". Users are often also very familiar with the eggplant, a model first designed by Steven to demonstrate 3D printers at SIGGRAPH. It is likely the first model most Anim8or modellers have ever created, as it is taught in the introductory tutorial to demonstrate the basics of the modeler and the tools available.

Layout

Anim8or's interface is separated into four sections, each with its own tool set:

    Object editor - individual objects are stored and edited within the object editor. Objects may be composed of primitives such as spheres, or more complex shapes made by extruding polygons along the z axis and adjusting the vertexes. Materials are then applied, per face if desired. The user also has the option to make morph targets for each object.
    Figure editor - in order to animate more complex models, they can be given a Skeleton. Users can give each "bone" the ability to rotate on all 3 axes within certain limits and attach individual objects to each bone.
    Sequence editor - this is an extension of the figure editor, allowing the use of key frame animation to animate individual bones with a degree of accuracy of 0.1°.
    Scene editor - elements from the three other sections are imported and arranged in the scene editor. The key frames from the sequence editor can be modified, along with other variables, such as a figure's position in 3D space or the state of a morph target.

An image can be rendered in any of the four editors, but only in the scene editor can lights and other graphical elements be used.

The interface is a mixture of window's native interface, for such elements as the right-click context menu, and one specific to Anim8or, such as the graphical icons in the left-hand toolbar.
Features

Although it is not as powerful as high-end commercial programs, it contains many features that are important to a 3D computer graphics package while remaining free. Such features include:

    3D Modeler with primitives such as spheres, cubes, and cylinders
    Mesh modification and subdivision
    Splines, extrusions, lathing, modifiers, bevelling and warping
    TrueType font support allowing for 2D and 3D text
    The ability to import .3DS, .LWO and .OBJ files for modification
    The ability to export .3DS, .OBJ, .VTX and .C files for use in external programs
    Plug-in support, using the Anim8or Scripting Language, also known as ASL for short
    3D object browser to allow the user to view 3D files in a specified directory
    Textures in .BMP, .GIF and .JPG formats
    Environment maps, bump maps, transparency, specularity amongst others
    Character editor with joints
    Morph targets
    Renderer supporting fog, infinite, local and spot lights, anti-aliasing, alpha channels and depth channels
    Printing directly from the program
    Volumetric Shadows as well as ray traced hard and soft shadows
    A plain text file format, allowing for the development of external tools such as Terranim8or
    Hierarchies

A basic feature list can also be found at the Anim8or website, although the list is incomplete.
System requirements

As far as multimedia standards go, Anim8or has very low system requirements. It is worth noting however, that certain features, particularly shadows, Anti-aliasing and Anim8or's resident ray tracer quickly become burdens on a computer's resources. While originally designed to work with Windows, users have reported running it successfully on Apple computers with Connectix Virtual PC and on Linux with WINE. This may be partially due to Anim8or's stand-alone design. This means that it can be pasted onto a USB memory stick or other removable media and run directly from it on any computer that meets the minimum specification. The minimum requirements are:

    300 MHz Processor
    Windows 95 or higher
    OpenGL graphics card with full ICD support
    64 MB of RAM (128 MB recommended, 256 MB with Windows XP)
    5 MB of hard drive space (the application is less than 3 MB, but the manual and project/texture files can occupy several times this space).

Current preview features
Render made in Anim8or 0.97D utilizing new features including reflections and Ambient Occlusion

The fourth v0.97 preview is called the v0.97d preview, dated September 21, 2008. The major changes are (bug fixes first):

    #097-019 - ART AA renders are too bright - Fixed.
    #097-021 - Importing Object with Same Name can Crash - Fixed.
    #097-009 - #097-022 - Copying Modifiers without a Bound Shape Crashes - Fixed.
    Misc bugs: ASL constant PI was 3. It's now 3.141...
    Various "..." buttons didn't connect to controllers on the scene editor.
    Other minor fixes, small memory leaks patched, grid not always drawn, etc.

Newest features:

    Still image render size is saved with a project so it doesn't have to be reset each time a project is reloaded
    Click-dragging in the render window will move the image around, allowing one to view all of an image even when it is larger than the window. It works while rendering movies as well but multi-threaded rendering needs to be enabled.
    Scenes and sequences can have attributes.
    ART ray tracer: new RayDepth integer attribute for the max level of rays to trace (for reflections and transparency). The default is 12 when RayDepth isn't defined.
    ART ray tracer: new AmbientOccluder integer attribute. When set to 1 AA renders trace rays to the background for the ambient component:

Future releases

Not much is known about what features will be modified or included in future versions, although users have posted suggestions on related forums. Inverse kinematics will likely be added,[4] as it was included the latest release, but was disabled because it was not quite ready for use.

According to the Anim8or forums, an admin has in 2011 heard back from the creator and has said that future release is not going to be expected for quite a while..

Suspected planned features are:

    Fast AVI creation using OpenGL
    Advanced material manager

Some of these features may not be included in the next release.

    "Anim8or has come a long way since the first release called v0.1. There are still may areas that need improvement, primarily the renderer, but it's getting close to what I had originally imagined as the magic v1.0. I don't plan on stopping there, but it'll be a nice milestone along the way." - R. Steven Glanville