3D ANIMATION SOFTWARE

Anim8or is a 3D modeling and character animation program that I have written over the past couple of years, not as a commercial endeavor, but because I love 3D graphics, animation, and programming.  While it is far from a complete professional level application like 3DStudio MAX or Lightwave, I believe that it has enough capability to be of use to others.
Version v0.95 is now available.  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.

Download Anim8or Installation Instructions Anim8or is very simple to install and run.  It is composed of a single executable file that can be put anywhere on your disk.  I have plans to add a plug-in capability sometime in the future, but for now, at least, life is simple: Download the latest version of the Anim8or program in the file animv095.zip below. Optionally download the PDF Anim8or user manual in the file animv095dPDF.zip below. Unzip them into your target directory.  (If you've never heard of  a "zip" file is, see the comments below.) Run the file anim8or.exe. That's all there is to it. Download Anim8or Executable The latest version Anim8or, v0.95c dated April 2, 2007 is available here: animv095c.zip I expect this to be the last update to v0.95.  The following bugs have been fixed: #095-064 - Bumpmap Texture/Material in Scripts Has Problems. #095-065 - GetAttribute Crashes on Nonexistent Elements. #095-066 - Initial GUI Settings Not Correct. #095-067 - ASL Function randseed() Doesn't Do Anything. Add texture coordinates to GeoSpheres. Add View->DefaultVisuals command to reset GUI and workspace settings to default. Set default value for scale controller expressions to 1.0 instead of 0.0. Fix several other minor ASL problems. Theprevious version Anim8or, v0.95b dated February 6, 2007 is available here: animv095b.zip The following bugs have been fixed: #095-051 - "f" Frame All Hot Key Continues to Zoom Out. #095-052 - ZNear Set to 50 in Object Mode. #095-053 - Canceling AVI Render Locks Output File. #095-054 - Materials on Shapes Within Groups are not Set When Project Is Loaded. #095-055 - View->Other->Light-n Always Selects First Light. #095-057 - GetAttributeOrientation() and GetAttributeInt() Don't Work. #095-059 - Modifying Cylinder Parameter in a Script Doesn't Immediately Take Effect. #095-060 - Transparent Shapes Hide Reference Images. #095-061 - Setting Material's Diffuse Color Forces Alpha to 1. There are some minor new features in this release: Left-hand toolbars are scrollable with the right-mouse button when they don't fit. There are some minor new ASL script features: New frame variable (like time) New orientation member variable added to shape type. quaternion references to x, y, z, and w components. normalize() and length() added for point2, point3 and quaternion. pseudo random number functions. GUI object with X, Y and Z axis enable members. The previous version Anim8or, v0.95a dated December 2, 2006 is available here: animv095a.zip There are no new features in this but the following bugs have been fixed: #095-017 - Incorrect Environment Map Reflection Calculation by Shaders. #095-040 - Importing a Sequence Crashes. #095-041 - Adding Bumpmap Textures to a Material in a Script Crashes. #095-042 - Middle-Clicking in Arc Rotate with View Pop-Up Menu Present Hangs. #095-043 - Implement shape.SetMaterial(). #095-044 - Various mesh.AddMaterial() Errors. #095-046 - Referencing Members of NULL Materials Can Crash Scripts. #095-047 - Arrays of Materials and other types Don't Work in Scripts. #095-049 - String Member Functions Don't Work on Array Elements. #095-050 - Crash Exporting Sequence with Missing Objects to .3ds format. Version 0.95 has some fundamentally new capabilities over v0.9. Graphic material shaders.  These show more realistic views of materials in the working views and can be used for very rapid image and movie generation.  They are available on computers with DX9 level and above graphics cards. A scripting language, called ASL.  Useful for modeling tasks and advanced controller functionality. Plug-ins.  Anyone can add new object export formats and parametric shapes by writing a plugin in ASL. Simultaneous shaded and wireframe views.  You can set the viewing parameters for each window independently. And of course many smaller new features and bug fixes. The original v0.95 release dated November 1, 2006 is available here: animv095.zip Using Anim8or under Vista Theoretically Anim8or should work under the Vista operating system without any problem.  However the OS and graphics drivers have a lot of new things to do to make this happen with the added complexity of Vista's new compositing desktop.  There are several things you can do if you experience problems with this. 1.  Unfortunately there are a lot of problems in many drivers.  This is especially true for Inter grpahics chips but can happen with other manufacturers.  If it's not working for you, the first thing to do is see if there is a newer driver for your graphics card.  Quite a few people have reported that a newer driver has fixed their Vista problems. 2. Another thing you can try is running Anim8or WinXP compatible mode.  Right-click on anim8or.exe in the file manager and select XP Compatible mode in the menu that pops up.  This causes Vista to run Anim8or in a mode that is more like Windows XP which more drivers can handle. 3. You can also try running Anim8or as Administrator.  The O.S. permission settings may not allow Anim8or to run with the default user settings. Download Anim8or User Manual Manual version 0.95 dated November 1, 2006: animv095dPDF.zip Chinese Language v0.9 User Manual Here's a Chinese version of the User Manual version 0.9 HTML format: anim8v09_chinese.rar  It was translated by Yanxin Zhou who also has a Chinese forum on Anim8or at: http://a8.dopic.org Czech Language v0.9 User Manual Here's a Czech version of the User Manual version 0.9 HTML format: animv09dHTML_cz.zip  It was translated by Jakub Zika with a little help from his grandfather. Italian Language v0.85 User Manual Civic Settantuno has translated v0.85 of the Anim8or User's Manual into Italian.  Here's a link to his online translation: http://jesolo.altervista.org/grafica/m_anim8or1.html Portuguese Language v0.85 User Manual A Portuguese language version of the User Manual version 0.85 in HTML format animv085dHTML_pg.zip is available for download.  It was translated by Mario Pacheco. Spanish Language v0.7 User Manual A Spanish language version of the User Manual version 0.7 in html format animv07d_es.zip and in PDF format animv07dPDF_es.zip  are also available for download.  These were made by Professor Enrique Clara of the Cuyo National University in Mendoza, Argentina. French Language v0.7 User Manual A French translation of the User Manual version 0.7 is available here: http://taboweb.free.fr/anim8orfrenchdoconline.html.  You can also download a copy to yuo computer from here:  animv07d_fr.exe.  The translation way made by Mr. Daniel Tabonet.  Here is a link to his web site http://taboweb.free.fr/ . Palm PDA iSiloX v0.9 User Manual Barry has an iSiloX version of the User Manual for Palm PDA's.  You can download it from his site here:  http://www.btinternet.com/~taxi_mania/images/anim8or.zip Help File Here's .chm help file for v0.95 of the Anim8or manual: anim8orhelp.chm.  To use it, simply download it to your computer and double click on it in your file explorer.  And here'r a .chm file for v.085: anim8orhelp_v085.chm. These files were made by Emil Johansson and Harmen Kampinga so give them a big thanks! Here's a link to a help file for v0.81 of the Anim8or manual: anim8orhelp.hlp.  It was made by Mark Mcvitie and is posted on his site (to help keep my bandwidth under the limit).  To use it, download the file and store it in the same directory as your Anim8or.exe file.  Don't forget to give a big thanks to Mark, too! Anim8or Tutorials: These tutorials are designed to show you how to use Anim8or, whether you are a beginner or an experienced 3D animator.  You will find that many techniques are similar to those used in other programs.  But 3d animation is an inherently complex endeavor.  And minor differences between different programs can be a source of frustration.  I hope that these tutorials may be of some use to you. I strongly suggest that you work through the Eggplant tutorial, especially if you are new Cs is designed to introduce you to the concepts of 3D modeling, and especially to how Anim8or modeling works.  For an introduction to animation, you should do the A Simple Walk tutorial. At the bottom of this page is a list of links to  other sites with Anim8or tutorials/ How to Make An Eggplant I've had several request to describe how I made the "eggplant" at SIGGRAPH that was made into a real world statue.  Well, it's done with a simple variation on the block method which starts with a cube and extrudes and warps its faces.  Click here to learn more. Also see the flash animated version of this tutorial below in the "Links to Other Sites" area. Modeling a Hand This model of a hand was also built using the block modeling method.  Take a look at the tutorial to see how you can make one yourself. A Simple Walk This is an example of how to make a simple walk cycle.  There are three parts, in case you want to skip around.  It shows how to design a basic character, animate a walk cycle for it, and finally make a short .avi movie of it walking.  It's not too fancy, but it shows how to use several parts of Anim8or.  Click here to see how. Tutorials by Anim8or Users: Here are some tutorials created by some talented Anim8or users: Lighting Effects This tutorial by Laszlo Korosi shows some cool lighting effects that you can do entirely in Anim8or, including glows, star bursts and atmospheric effects.  There are some cool animated images to see, too. Click here to learn more. Interior Lighting Effects Another excellent tutorial by Laszlo Korosi shows step by step how to do realistic interior lighting.  Click here to learn more. Shadows This tutorial by Laszlo Korosi shows how to add shadows to your projects.  Shadows increase the realism dramatically,  Click here to learn more. Springs and Coils Learn to make springs and coils and other curly things.  Lloyd Shoenbach's latest contribution shows how to use Anim8or to make them all.  Click here and see for yourself. Tires and Jet Engines This tutorial shows how to make tires, dragster tires, and simple jet engines.  It was written by Duane McCollough who has a web sit at www.npwt.net/~duanem/.  Click here to learn how. Reflections Want to learn how to make images with reflections?  These notes by Lloyd Shoenbach show how to use Anim8or and Paint Shop Pro to create reflections on flat surfaces.  Click here to learn how. Toon Rendering Notes Want a quick way to make your models into toons?  Check out this simple technique here described by the very talented jeb.  It's based on an idea by donkeyslayer. Animated Writing Notes Have you ever wanted to animate a pencil writing a message?  Then take a look here at this inventive scheme devised by jeb. Focal Blur Laszlo Korosi has another tutorial showing how to make a focal blur effect using Anim8or and Paint Shop Professional. It's not true focal blur, but it's quite effective and uses Anim8or in some clever ways.  Click here to learn more. Focal Blur (2) Steve McQueen also has written a tutorial showing how to make a focal blur effect using Anim8or and Paint Shop Professional. It uses the Render Depth Channel feature that was added in v0.85.  Click here to learn more. Boolean Subtraction Laszlo Korosi wrote another great tutorial on Boolean subtraction.  You can use one object to carve out a section of another with this useful technique. Morph Targets VBSmiles wrote this tutorial on using morph targets to make a flag wave in the breeze.  If you want to learn how they work this is the place to go. Links to Anim8or Tutorials: These are links to Anim8or tutorials on other web sites.  If you know of any others that you think I should include here, let me know. Eyeball Tutorial This detailed tutorial shows you how model and animate a realistic human eye with Anim8or.  It was written by Andrew F. (headwax)  Shadow Tutorial This tutorial shows you how to use the various kinds of shadows that Anim8or offers.  It was written by Adam M. (Hihosilver)  Modeling a Sword Adam M. (Hihosilver) also wrote this tutorial on modeling a sword. Box Modeling a Bird Head This tutorial shows how to model a bird head using Box Modeling.  It shows how to add new edges and merge vertices. This tutorial was written by Elias Marzan.  They are from his web site which has many other Anim8or related items. Simple Texture Mapping Learn how to make a custom texture that fits your models using Paint Shop Pro in this tutorial.  Another tutorial by Elias. Poser4 Morph Targets Steve Shanks from Poser World has a tutorial on making morph targets for Poser 4 figures with Anim8or and UVmaper, an excellent free program written bhttp://www.geocities.com/elimar48/tutorials.htmly Steve Cox.  (Wow, that's a lot of Steves!) Links to Other Sites with Anim8or Tutorials: These are links to Anim8or tutorials on other web sites.  If you know of any others that you think I should include here, let me know. Elmar48 wrote quite a few tutorials for earlier versions of Anim8or that are still very useful:  http://www.geocities.com/elimar48/tutorials.html