Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 12, 2015. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Basefount, the Chinese developer of the crowd-simulation tool, announced the release of version 3.6. As a special treat, Basefount also points to the new "Zombies Agents Library". This can be used to build shots with the undead based on presets in which the herd starts moving or climbs a wall.
New Features
A new engine was implemented for the release: with the Language Control System, the crowds can be controlled with normal language commands, i.e. without node connections, programming, etc.
The agents also respond better to geometry. This means they can move along a surface, avoid geometry or move into it. As a whole or in parts. Because agents can now also land gently on the surface of a mesh object or walk towards it, "flying" agents can be created that behave similarly to insects.
The PhysX infrastructure has also been improved. According to the developer, the physical simulation now runs much more stably. A joint-protection mechanism is now intended to completely prevent joints from falling apart. The clothing simulation is also intended to work seamlessly now.
Another improvement is the collaboration with 3ds Max; among other things, the entire render pipeline can be set up directly in Max. Speaking of render features: Character Cache Shave Support, V-Ray Object ID and Multi-Matte, Arnold SubD Surface Render and much more have been added.
You can find an overview of the new features of Miarmy 3.6 here.
The new features are compiled in Tech Demo 10:
The zombies were also given their own clip, with a classic helicopter scene:
This demo shows several projects from 2013 in which the crowd-simulation solution was used:
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