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Reader SurveyAnimation:Master 2002
May 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By S. D. Katz
Somewhere in a converted church in Portland, Oregon, Martin Hash and his band of code writers are developing one of animation's most interesting products, Animation:Master. Now at Version 9, AM 2002 for the Mac and PC is by far the best learning environment for CG animators and an excellent package for solo artists and small shops creating independent narrative work. Although this inexpensive program isn't appropriate for the kind of infrastructure and integration tasks required by a large studio environment like Pixar, it allows the lone animator to do character animation work in the style of the big houses.
Animation:Master (at $299) has maintained a focus on character modeling and animation in an application that offers a wide range of features that are found in animation programs in the $2,000 price range. At first it might seem like an advantage that applications like 3DS Max or Maya offer so many different modeling and surface types, but in many instances these raise compatibility issues for plug-ins and internal workflow. Frequently, the choices overwhelm animators who want to concentrate on performance rather than technical directing. Animation:Master's strength is that it provides a powerful yet straightforward process for character animation without the need for plug-ins.
The interface is clean and the workflow simple. A Project Window on the left side of the screen shows the main areas of the program in a hierarchical vertical list with folders for Sounds, Materials, Objects, Images, Actions and Choreography. Access to the controls and features of any of these areas are accessed through tabs in the Properties panel. A collapsible timeline appears adjacent to the project window. Tool bar, color scheme, and keyboard shortcuts are customizable. AM works with both Direct3D or Conix OpenGL.
The underlying foundation for character animation is modeling and rigging. Animation:Master begins with an elegant and extremely straightforward patch modeler that has been copied but not really equaled by many of the competing animation packages. Hash patches are the closest things to “drawing” a model and with the development of 5-point patches and “hooks,” the system allows for improved technical and organic models. AM won't let you read CAD files to make a specific car or jet fighter; you will need 3DS for that, but you will be able to create characters, cars, and environments quickly with precise yet simple tools.
Hash patches allow an artist to stitch together a model with an amazingly simple tool set. Like NURBS and other mathematical surfaces, patches are very efficient compared with polygons and provide a resolution-independent model. Because of the addition of AM hooks in the past few years, a modeler can vary the density of a mesh for a given area of a model, and this also helps reduce the size of the file. This is important for playback performance, realtime manipulation of complex characters and for overall speed when moving through scenes.
Rigging and boning characters is as complex as you care to make it, and AM uses familiar bone icons controlled by spherical (a representation of a vector), vector, or Euler rotations. There are 12 constraint types for animation and motion capture data, a system developed over several years by a team that works directly with animators. The workflow is straightforward and relatively easy to learn.
The main strengths of AM's animation are the Actions and Poses capabilities. These are both ways to save motion and reapply them when needed within a performance. The concept of nonlinear animation was developed by Softimage|XSI, but because the launch of the XSI was delayed, Maya, LightWave, and 3DS have added similar features. Animation:Master's Actions and Poses allow for the blending of motions along a timeline that is their version of nonlinear animation.
An AM action is a series of frames that can be dropped into the timeline, saved, and reused. There are skeletal actions that control the bones for motions such as running, jumping, and waving and Muscle Actions to control the skin for squash and stretch, bulging muscles, and facial expressions. Poses use sliders that are associated directly with the model rather than a set of keyframes. Eye blinks, hand grasps, and facial expressions can all be directed using Pose Sliders. Neutral positions, for example, the eyebrows, would be set to zero. Up and down positions would be determined along a numerical scale of 100 to -100. All the above motions have an associated channel with familiar value graphs using curves and control points to edit the motions. Because AM was developed for traditional animation, its hold and overlapping actions are very well integrated. From a workflow point of view, the access to these tools seems to have been guided by artists with experience with exposure sheets (a dope sheet for lip synch is included) and traditional animation. Indeed, Playmation, an early incarnation of AM, was developed in conjunction with Will Vinton Studios.
To put this in perspective, AM at about $300 has the majority of necessary character animation tools found in Maya, Max, Soft, etc. for sophisticated animation but not motion picture special effects. In a few instances, AM's implementation of a particular feature actually rivals the higher-priced software. So what makes the high-priced packages worth the big bucks? Mainly the problem-solving versatility best exploited by a technical director working in a sophisticated studio environment. This may represent a disadvantage for the lone animator who is concentrating on something other than photo-real characters.
Individual animators, unlike a commercial production studio or film effects houses, are not called upon to quickly turn around a completely new effect that will be matched into a film backplate. If your goal is to do work in the style of Shrek or Monsters, Inc. the majority of the performance is doable in Animation:Master. Yes, PDI, Pixar, and others have their own animation system (that may or may not be based on a Soft or Maya base), but these are not films that can be undertaken by individuals. The sheer overhead of the big tech packages is simply not streamlined for individuals. To be fair, a clear-headed animation teacher could point you to an efficient workflow in these packages, but out of the box there are thousands of pages of documentation.
Having said that, a great animator can achieve his goals in any of about five software applications. As I have written many times since 1998, all the animation products have been copying each other and pursuing a user-defined (and relatively consistent) ideal. AM has the advantage of a very small team and virtually no plug-ins. That means that all the parts of AM and all the features work together. This is not always the case with other animation programs.
AM is capable of photo-real work, but this is not its strength, though the recent edition of a radiosity type solution has enabled impressive soft light effects. The program offers a wide range of features including dynamics, particle effects, fur, rotoscoping (and multiple rotoscope images), decaling, surface deformations, onion skinning, hard and soft body dynamics, flocking and procedural surfaces. Version 9 adds Relationships, a powerful visual scripting solution allowing an action or pose to control another action or pose. Multiple dependencies can be set up this way. Again, all the features are developed by a small code team and are solidly integrated. There is even a built-in compositing system.
Procedural surfaces are particularly powerful, allowing for node upon node of mathematically generated surfaces. Their virtue is that they are resolution-independent surfaces that avoid common bitmapped image softness and aliasing problems associated with texture maps. AM's layered mapping system allows procedural surfaces and texture maps to be used separately or together. It takes awhile to get the hang of procedural textures, but the results are worth the effort, particularly for environments and landscapes. Overall, the feature list for rendering is extensive and the raytracer is fast, but not blistering. Unfortunately, AM does not write out RIB files for use with Pixar's RenderMan shader language.
In the spirit of the product's traditional focus, Martin Hash makes CGI movies and shorts at the same studio where AM is developed. As a result, the product is heavily tested in-house and a workflow for a specific project informs the workflow for the user base.
Tutorials on the Hash.com site (check out Martin's Minutes) and a reasonable selection of free models are very helpful for getting started quickly. The product has a very loyal fan base that is willing to share their experience online, and if you are still in need of help, the free tech support is very responsive.
AM could use a camera that actually conforms to photographic standards (f/stops and focal length) when matched to standard aspect ratios and film back dimensions. Also, the ability to split up render passes for specular, reflection, transparency, ambient, and diffuse layers seems like a natural addition, considering that the compositing feature is built in. Given the overall strength of the product, a professional camera-matching tool would also be useful. AM is also in a position given their strong community base to do what Poser has done (with the help of DAZ models) by offering a selection of state-of-the-art figure models. Scripting support would also be welcome.
AM remains a refreshing example of a small company with focus and passion. Character animators and storytellers will find this may be the best tool to get them started or to establish an independent career making shorts.
Animation:Master 9.5 is a free download for AM 9.0 users. New features include AM:Community (an Internet-connected interface that allows peer-to-peer chat), sprite particles, and improved hair simulation. Version 9.5 will be reviewed in a future issue.
