REALTIME 3D ANIMATION HAS ARRIVED - Mine Racer Demo

[ceql]

No need for 3rd party video editing software. I personally am an avid 3D user and the plugin now enables me to produce my portfolio and show reels without being dependent on the end viewer having the right software installed.

sounds like good intentions, but instead of simply running a video and having the correct codecs, you are essentially asking the end user to run executables? I think that asking prospective employers to run foreign exe's might not be easy due to virus precautions and all... Plus, most demo reels are on tape anywayz?

Also, having everything displayed in realtime also means that you can't prerender all the neat shaders/effects you might wanna show off!

just my 2c's...

[scott robinson]

ceql

I agree that many companies still demand a showreel on a tape but please give us developers a chance.

This is a new format. I admit things are still not up to the standard of rendered cgi but within a couple of years things will change.

Look at the quailty of some games coming out now. For example half life 2 and compare the cgi in the to say final fantasy (the film).

Realtime rendering is bound to be behind standard rendering but I am trying to work with some new technology to push boundries a little.

Isn't it nice to know you can use multiple camera angles without having to re-render and re-edit

[ceql]

hehe Sorry, I didn't meant to sound too negative!

There's definetely some awesome stuff being done in realtime 3d though... (mmmm the work being done on Realtime SSS looks promising :d~~~~ ) Okay, maybe a more valid question might be, what does your technology offer over other realtime apps like director/Shockwave? ;)

[ceql]

opps! double post while server busy message :p

[azazel]

Any chance for standalone version? Import FBX and output exe for example...... or at least Maya plugin would be nice.

[dantea]

"REALTIME 3D ANIMATION HAS ARRIVED"

Kinda reminds me of this press release:
http://cgw.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=Archives&Subsection=Display&ARTICLE_ID=165111

[scott robinson]

guys guys please

I am an artist I just hoped for some feedback on mine racer which was a project I did in my spare time for the pure love of anything 3D and because I need to find work in the industry.

If you have any technical feedback then the guys over at screensavermax.com will answer your questions most gladly

This wasnt suppose to be a 'press release' it was just the I hoped to find others who would like what we are trying to do.

I havent made any money out of this project, thats not the reason for do Mine Racer, I just want to get a job in the business and I thought this might help.

All I know as far as the plugin goes is that when its released there will be a buget version and a professional version.

I am just the Beta tester and artist helping out a very good friend of mine not a salesman.

thank you for you feedback

scott

[ssmax]

"I think that asking prospective employers to run foreign exe's might not be easy due to virus precautions and all... Plus, most demo reels are on tape anywayz?"

Well having worked for quite a few games companies myself (Which I believe is the direction that Scott is talking about) I've seen more and more artists showing off their work in 3d engine = executables, as its relevant for the job they are applying to do (In fact I've met artists who can do great cutscene stuff but totally suck at working on ingame stuff). Of course programmers for games companies always show off EXE reals so I wouldn't worry about those kind of companies having a problem with it ;)


"Also, having everything displayed in realtime also means that you can't prerender all the neat shaders/effects you might wanna show off!"

Quite true but then again it depends if you are showing off realtime or production art skills. Also this will become less of an issue as graphics hardware continues to evolve at the rate it has been as the barrier between them will become more blurred.


"Okay, maybe a more valid question might be, what does your technology offer over other realtime apps like director/Shockwave?"

Well firstly its more of a streamlined process, you model and animate in Max and click export and you are done. You don't need both Max & Director packages - the plugin is considerably cheaper compared to Director. We will support more high end features than Directors 3D. If you wish to use your Director movies as screensavers you must use something like ScreenTime which can cost around $999! The resulting executables/shockwave files can be a bit more bloaty than the ScreenSaverMax equivalent.


"Any chance for standalone version? Import FBX and output exe for example...... or at least Maya plugin would be nice."

A standalone version is not on the cards at the moment but we are considering Maya, Lightwave and possibly some kind of GMax setup.


"Kinda reminds me of this press release:
http://cgw.pennnet.com/Articles/Art...TICLE_ID=165111"

Can't quite understand this one as this seems to be a fast hybrid scanline meant for production images - mayeb I'm missing something here?


As for more info on the product (Blatant plug sorry):

It is intended initially for creating screensavers but it does have some interesting cross over uses. A few games companies are already using it to preview their ingame cutscenes and prototype game ideas and art styles. Also it is being used to promote games (Quite handily their assets usually modelled in Max can be just used as is!) as can been seen already at SCi's Futurama games website www.futuramatehgame.co.uk.


Some breaking news is that we have decided to release two different versions of the product:

"SSMax Standard - cost $100
Standard Edition will enable Dynamic and Logo screen savers to be exported from Max 4 and 5 scenes. Although owners of the Standard Edition will be free to distribute the screen savers they generate with the software, they will NOT be entitled to charge for them.

SSMax Professional - cost $300
Professional Edition enables Dynamic, Logo, and fully animated Movie screen savers from Max 4 and 5 scenes. Owners of the Professional Edition will be free to distribute unlimited screen savers commercially.

Both versions will be available for download in Demo mode - Demo version will not export SCR files, but you can still preview screen savers within the Demo software.

Both versions will be made available at the end of June 2003."


Sorry for the long post ;)

Regards,

The ScreenSaverMax Team.

[MDuffy]

Greetings,

Just keep in mind that many of us won't view something that's part of an exe, especially on our work machines. The threat of viruses/trojans is just too high. Heck, I won't even watch anything Bink related because of the stupid EXE. Plus I don't have MAX installed here anyways, so these kind of technologies give you are really limited audience. Might be cool for doing pre-vis on a game, but it is definately not the best way to showcase your work. And if you are putting it on a demo reel for anything other than a game company, chances are they won't run an .exe either.

Just wanted to throw in my $0.02.

Michael Duffy
mduffy@ionet.net

[Marc Andreoli]

Scott: if you just want some feedback on Mine Racer, then you should probably have posted this in the 'finished work/work in progress' section...

Anyway, I think it is cool to have a realtime version of your demo reel, it shows that you have the technical knowledge for the creation and optimization of realtime content, always a good thing if you apply for that kind of job.

But you might also consider capturing the sequence (or parts of it) as a movie, because a lot of companies want to streamline their resume/reel review process as much as possible (especially the first round), so they prefer not having to deal with installing anything. Some bigger companies won't even look at anything other than VHS tapes...

SSM team: I think dantea was just referring to the title, "REALTIME 3D ANIMATION HAS ARRIVED" sounds about as revolutionary as "3D Renderer Offers Texture Mapping" ;)

[ssmax]

The current virus situation is extremely unfortunate and I take your valid point of being cautious of running foreign executable files. I'm confused by 'Plus I don't have MAX installed here anyways, so these kind of technologies give you are really limited audience' as you don't need Max installed to run the resulting screensavers.

We may consider doing a version where the exporter simply exports data files to distribute that don't suffer from the virus issue so easily and have a trusted install once screensaver software system that will playback the data.

Despite these problems I'm not so sure its a totally limited audience that is provided for by the technology as Scotts Mine Racer screensaver has been downloaded over 800 times the past week :airguitar

In the case of a showreel for a post production company I can understand it may not be the best way to distribute your work but certainly adds another interesting option.

Regards,

The ScreenSaverMax Team.

[scott robinson]

thank you so much for your positive feedback Marc

[TapioKa]

Hi there,

You wanted feedback so here's mine:

1. I don't like executables without an install shield. I didn't know where the file went, and had to go looking for it. Plus, you should not assume that the person would know it's a screensaver or know what to do after they clicked on the executable. Why can't the executable play the file directly? This is just as bad as not having the right codec.

2. The demo is nice, but gets boring real quick. Personally, I would make your loop longer, or show some other animations. Music or sound fx would be a nice addition.

3. A Reverse camera angle would be nice, to make it like wipeout xl.

Thanks for showing. A nice piece.

:)

[dantea]

Originally posted by Marc Andreoli
SSM team: I think dantea was just referring to the title, "REALTIME 3D ANIMATION HAS ARRIVED" sounds about as revolutionary as "3D Renderer Offers Texture Mapping" ;)

Finally, someone who understands humour!

[scott robinson]

ok I admit it wasn't the most thought out title for a thread

I was at work and in a rush

scott

[scott robinson]

ok - finally found a server to put the HI RES version of Mine Racer on

and here the link

http://erutufon.packts.net/erutufon-public/index.php?q=f&f=%2F_WELCOME_TO_ERUTUFON_PUBLIC_FTP_

go to my folder 'scott robinson' of course and in my folder you will find some mp3's of music I have written and a folder saying 3d_miner_racer in there is the hi-res file its 9meg so this is really for the broadbanders.
right click on the zip file and save target as etc...

Hope you all like it

scott

[JA-forreal]

Hey that's great and it gives me an idea for Blenders own built-in Realtime exe. export feature. An export to a screen saver format should be possible via pyhton. Cool 3d sceen saver btw. I just dumped the old Maxtrix one for this one.

[scott robinson]

ok - apparently www.screensavermax.com have annuonced the product release for around the begining of July.

ScreenSaverMax will be offered in two versions:

SSMax Standard - cost $100
Standard Edition will enable Dynamic and Logo screen savers to be exported from Max 4 and 5 scenes. Although owners of the Standard Edition will be free to distribute the screen savers they generate with the software, they will NOT be entitled to charge for them.

SSMax Professional - cost $300
Professional Edition enables Dynamic, Logo, and fully animated Movie screen savers from Max 4 and 5 scenes. Owners of the Professional Edition will be free to distribute unlimited screen savers commercially.

Both versions will be available for download in Demo mode - Demo version will not export SCR files, but you can still preview screen savers within the Demo software.

Both versions will be made available at the end of June 2003.

[greekdish]

ok, my whole problem with all these Max plugins to export to executables is that its PLATFORM SPECIFIC!!! Hey creatives out there...how about thinking of the other people out there who dont have PC's!?!?!? :shame:

Whatever happened to industry standards?? :wip:

[ssmax]

Hi,

Due to the current unfortunate situation where people have a phobia about downloading SCR and EXE files we have recently added support for the export of screensaver data files. There will be a single SCR file freely downloadable from our site that will playback these data files - the point being that you only have to download one SCR file once and then you can happily download as many screensaver data files as you want without worry.

This also of course leaves the option for us to write applications to playback the data files on other platforms - Mac & Linux I imagine. This isn't a priority just yet but its certainly on the list of things to do. Incidently a number of people have quite happily had our SCR files running under Linux....

Regards,

The ScreenSaverMax Team.

[scott robinson]

woops already answered sorry

[ssmax]

We are pleased to announce that a demonstration version of our ScreenSaverMax plugin for Discreets 3d Studio Max v4&5 is now freely available for download.
With ScreenSaverMax you can create three types of screensaver: Logo - for simple 3d spinning logos, Dynamics - lots of objects bouncing and tumbling around your screen, and Movie - full play back in real time of your Max animations.

More information, the demo, and example screensavers can be found on the website: www.screensavermax.com.

The full commercial release of the product will follow shortly.

Kindest regards,

The ScreenSaverMax Team.

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