Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 19, 2013. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The Maya plug-in Miarmy release 2.0 is intended to have a faster and stronger physical inrastructure than the previous version. According to Basefount, Body Collision Detection works faster, clothing can be generated more easily and its simulation optimised better. Miarmy 2.0 also contains an intelligent Pre-RBD Bone Generator.
According to Basefount, another reason for the improved performance is the optimised engine, which is up to ten times faster than before, particularly in Terrain, Geo and Zone Channel Optimisation. New Action Layers and a modified Blend Enging allow the animations of individual AI agents to be controlled more precisely, according to Basefount. The GUI and render support have also been revised.
Miarmy is said to be used increasingly for crowd simulations in Asian VFX studios as well as at Gradient Effects and Luma Pictures.
Miarmy 2.0 is compatible with Maya 2011 and later on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The Express Edition is free, while the Professional Edition costs 960 US dollars.
You can download the free version of Miarmy 2.0 here.
You can find the complete feature list and all further information here.
