Messiah FAQ

#1

If you have anything you would like to see added to an FAQ that would answer questions to those who don’t know about Messiah, please share.

I’ll start. . . don’t laugh. . . this is only a first draft. I’ll add more when people start helping me out. :slight_smile:

  1. What the heck is Messiah?!?

  2. So which Messiah do I want?

  3. Is there a modeler?

  4. When I am using Messiah, how do I delete an object, null, effect, etc… ?

  5. Is messiah:animate used extensively in the film industry as a post production tool?

  6. What makes messiah:animate different than other animation software packages?

  7. What are messiah:animate’s weaknesses?

  8. On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is crashing all the time and 10 is never crashes, how stable is messiah:animate?

  9. Is there a place I can read testimonials?

  1. What the heck is Messiah?!?

  2. When people refer to messiah they are usually speaking of one of three packages sold by pMG. a. The Lightwave Plugin, b. Animate and c.Studio.

a. The Plugin has been around for quite a while. It is what started it all. It is a plugin to Lightwave 5.5 -> 7.5 that allows for a considerably superior animation interface while still allowing you to use Lightwave’s proven rendering and shading. It is a little bit out dated but still holds many of the same “power” features of its bigger newer brothers, Animate and Studio.

b. Messiah Animate is the next generation up from the old plugin. It is a stand alone application that empowers animators with a very advanced rigging and animation toolset geared towards the animation of complex organic characters and shapes. Its strengths lie in its ability to integrate into a variety of packages including Cinema4D, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max and Maya.

c. Messiah Stuidio is basicly the same as Animate, in its feature set and ability to integrate into other packages only it includes its own powerful rendering and shading system that frees you from the need to render in a host application.

  1. So which Messiah do I want?

That all depends on what you are already familiar with. If you already know and are happy with the way your current software renders and just want to add on a very powerful animation system, then you probably want to go with Animate.

If you are new to 3D or are more interested in a complete solution then Studio is your baby.

  1. Is there a modeler?

No not currently. You will still need a modeling package to create your own characters. Fortunetly there are a lot to chose from and a lot more in the works. Wings3D, Modo, Silo etc. Messiah also reads in most major formats so your current 3D modeling package you are already familiar with should be all you need.

  1. When I am using Messiah, how do I delete an object, null, effect, etc… ?

Use the minus key “-” on the numeric kepad.

  1. Is messiah:animate used extensively in the film industry as a post production tool?

Yes. It was used as the main character animation tool for Jimmey Neutron. And a few effects shots for the first X-Men movie. And I’m sure as it matures it will be used more and more.

  1. What makes messiah:animate different than other animation software packages?

A lot of packages pack in features one on top of another without really thinking through how an animator would actually use those features. Messiah is unique in that it was built for animators. Animation isn’t just bolted on as a plugin. . . its the whole package. That combined with some crazy fast OpenGL, uber powerful expression editor and a development team eager to listen to it’s customers make it pretty unique. Oh. . . and it provides a unified animation interface to almost EVERY FRIGGEN RENDERER ON THE MARKET!

  1. What are messiah:animate’s weaknesses?

Well it doesn’t have a renderer. Or a modeler. But it isn’t supposed too so they aren’t really weaknesses. Man I really don’t think it has any. It used to gimble a lot but. . . they fixed that. It used to take a long time for scenes to load with the plugin attatched but they have fixed that. Armatures don’t easily provide access to the curves of the bones they controll. . . but I’m sure by the time I hit send on this post they will have fixed that. . . <They fixed it>

  1. On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is crashing all the time and 10 is never crashes, how stable is messiah:animate?

All software crashes eventually when you push it too hard. But I have found it to be the most stable 3D animation package I have ever used. I’d give it a 9.

  1. Is there a place I can read testimonials?

I don’t think so.

#2

Hey. . . I added your questions and answered them in the FAQ above.

I’ll delete yer post now. . .

#3

What will b included in the nexx patch or update???

U axd 4 faqs…

Well, this is a hot one.

#4

I never axed anything. If it is something any of us answer correctly it gets included in the main FAQ above.

I don’t know what will be included in the next update. Rumors suggest the renderer is being worked on and there have always been a few lingering features that were very helpful in the plugin that haven’t made the crossover yet.

But beyond that. . . its anyone’s guess. Probably even Lyle’s. I think software development is a pretty fluid thing.

#5

Here’s one for you: How about a difinitive evaluation of Messiah’s OpenGL Hardware requirements?

Will M:A work with other plugins in the host application such as Cloth, Hair and Fur?

#6

How extensive is Messiah’s geometry support?

Can I get my Alias NURBS and SubD’s in there? ie is it just like native geometries, since it was a plug-in before? Hair is asking too much I think, but yeah I would.
And yes I do know ZBrush is a perfectly suitable alternative, but I would like older or different models to work, and I haven’t developed a pipeline/preference.
Love what I’ve seen so far btw. It blows me away in contrary to what some other packages show in their commercials! Definitely on my wishlist.

#7

pmG finally removed the advertising for:

  • Autorig2,
  • Walker, as well as
  • Python
    from their website so my initial request doesn’t apply anymore.

BTW. You can still use Autorig1 from earlier versions with 2.2/5.2 if you put Auto_Rig.mp into the plugin folder.

Best regards,

#8

#7 needs to be updated as well since Messiah has a renderer now.

#9

Hi there

I wanted to find out about getting Messiah in countires that don’t have Paypal.
No paypal means payment is not possible(?)
Are you only selling to some approved countries?

Also do you post a dongle to all your web customers?
Or maybe there’s no download version?

#10

Spin99

I purchased Messiah with just my debit card and with direct email communication with PMG
so that things would speed up …
i am not a pal of paypal…i dunno why…

cheers JB

#11

How soon after ordering does one usually recieve the goods (assuming one is in the continental US). Free shipping is cool, I’m just curious (and impatient).

#12
  1. What are messiah:animate’s weaknesses?

Umm. The FAQ is a bit too rosy. Here are some weaknesses I have experienced personally:

  1. Not all features working to their full potential (no autorig, cloth is a bit spotty) Edit: Soft body is absolutely horrible. Forget collisions with bone deformations.
  2. OGL is buggy, even on uber high end certified hardware/drivers. I keep on getting refresh problems when switching between lightwave and messiah, where menus are covered by pieces of previous applications. - FIXED
  3. Gimbal lock nightmares. Try rotating anything 180 degrees in pitch. Have fun. Not very intuitive to have to work around this issue.
  4. Renderer is useable for pro work if the user REALLY REALLY wants to make it work. Its not as fast or intuitive to work with many surfaces or develop shaders. I certainly havent been struck with the desire to switch over from lightwave.
  5. Help documentation…Or lack thereof. True the community will try to help as much as they can and thats nice. But lets face it, good documentation either makes a 3d package or breaks its chances of becoming embraced by the mainstream.

Having said all that, you wont see me abandon this program. It has alot of brilliant features which have been covered quite thoroughly allready. I just wanted to point out that its not a perfect program with “no weaknesses”. It is in my best interest to see these weaknesses dissapear.

-stooch

#13

hi wegg,
is there any way to animate a robot? tried using bone deform, motion blender…but still cant get it right…please advice…thanks!!

cheers,
hotees~

#14

What happens in Lightwave if the computer you’re loading the scene on does not have Messiah? Do you see the animation still? And for that matter, how does it deal with Lightwave network rendering when presumably LW needs the Messiah data?

Thanks.

#15

you would need to bake your animation for that.

#16

it have a renderer!

#17

Does Messiah have available, or are there any plans to offer a Muscle System Pluggin or feature similar to that which Maya has?

#18

Messiah already has muscle bones. They are pretty powerful. Especially when combined with displacement maps.

#19

Muacle bones gives you a fantastic and easy starting point for your muscle system. If you want additional secomdary on the musclea you can use sbds, but frankly, muscles have such a short secondary that I think you’re better off creating time independent secondaries using expressions rather than simulation.

#20

Hi. I am trying to follow the tutorial about “rigging” the character “Butch”.
Everything works fine, untill I try to do this: (Next, select the Hand_Left bone and turn on Calculate IK for it, then select IK_Goal_Hand_Left for its Goal. You should notice that the arm will jerk over to the null as soon as you do that.)

When I try this, nothing happens, no arm movement, nothing.

(The IK_ Goal_Hand_Left) does not seem to work.

Please, what am I doing wrong?

Thank you, Ed.