TORONTO - Alias (www.alias.com) today announced that 3D character performance and animation system MotionBuilder V.6 is now available to customers on maintenance. MotionBuilder 6 software will be available to the public in late November.
MotionBuilder 6 delivers realtime character animation technology including an advanced Story Timeline and enhanced keyframing, intelligent character technology (such as auto-rigging with Human IK) and precision-animation tools.
MotionBuilder is now even better equipped to work in conjunction with most 3D animation packages. Version 6 includes a more intuitive environment with a high-level animation editor, redesigned properties viewer and the ability to emulate the hotkeys of other 3D packages. Its simplified camera controls make repetitive camera navigation tasks more clear and direct, and the enhanced viewer with new navigation hot buttons makes editing animation faster and easier. MotionBuilder 6 also features a redesigned transform manipulator and Handles, a new tool that gives artists complete control over selecting and manipulating objects. "Alias MotionBuilder 6 includes a host of exciting new character animation features that are optimised for today's media rich production pipelines," says Bob Bennett, general manager of product management for Alias.
MotionBuilder 6 natively supports FBX, an award-winning, platform-independent 3D authoring and interchange format, that allows MotionBuilder customers to quickly and easily acquire and exchange 3D assets and media from a wide variety of sources. FBX is widely supported by most 3D software packages and hardware manufacturers, as well as film and game studios.
MotionBuilder Standard 6 is priced at $995; and MotionBuilder Pro 6 is priced at $4,195, which includes one year of maintenance, offering technical support and upgrades for the duration of the maintenance term. MotionBuilder 6 is available for Windows XP Professional and Mac OS X. Alias will also offer a 30-day trial version of MotionBuilder 6 beginning November 29.