BioGraphic Technologies ships The Autonomous Character Plug-in

BGT, or BioGraphic Technologies, Inc. announced it is shipping The Autonomous Character plug-in V1.0, what it says is the first real-time 3D artificial intelligence (AI) animation solver for Maya. The Autonomous Character plug-in allows Maya animators to harness a sophisticated AI engine to create natural-looking animations of large groups of interacting intelligent characters such as F1 drivers passing at high speeds, sharks hunting schools of fish, or disciplined Roman legions crushing hordes of barbarians. The autonomous character’s personality is created according to a set of behaviours such as pursuing other characters, following paths, joining groups and avoiding obstacles. Any Maya object, from a fully-boned Roman soldier to a virtual camera, can be driven by the AI solver that controls the character’s motion path, orientation and speed. A straightforward cycle control system ensures that the correct animation cycle is played at the right time and the right speed. Efficient collision detection and surface hugging systems keep the autonomous character properly grounded in its 3D physical world. The underlying Autonomous Character Engine Software Development Kit (ACE SDK) provides an important component in a seamless production “art to engine”. Game developers now have the ability to work in Maya and export directly to their game engine that has been linked to the ACE SDK. An example pipeline based on Maya and Criterion Software’s RenderWare will be demonstrated at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3), on May 17, 2001 in Los Angeles.