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Netherlands-based animation group MysticGD has launched the latest version of EMotion FX, its real-time character animation SDK.
EMotion FX is available for project development on a range of platforms, from PS3 to Wii, Xbox 360, Mac, iPhone and PC.
Version 3.8 adds a new ‘EMotion Studio’, which is said to be a fully command-based editor that supports undo/redo, multiple viewports and characters. MysticGD claim that EMotion Studio is fully customizable, scriptable and extensible through custom plugins.
Other additions to 3.8 include a new compression algorithm that makes motions up to 25 times smaller in memory, an enhanced deformable attachment system (making it possible to add new nodes to a skeleton either animated separately or as a whole), and advanced rendering that works with HDR, blooming, depth of field, normal mapping, specular mapping and rim lighting.
EMotion FX already includes full body skeletal and facial animation support, Lipsync, real time motion retargeting, PhysX Ragdoll support, and comprehensive exporters for Max and Maya.
Last year’s 3.7 release saw the SDK include real-time motion mirroring, the Footplant IK inverse kinematics solver, which makes planting feet on uneven surfaces easier, and a jiggle controller designed to help simulate the movement of hair, cloth and fatty tissues.
John van der Burg, development director at MysticGD, said the 3.8 release was a major step in the development and future of EMotion FX.
“A lot of work has been put into the new EMotion Studio,” he said.
“We believe good tools are the future of successful game middleware. Therefore we spent a lot of time writing a completely new EMotion Studio until we knew for sure that it was better than any existing on the market."
