Feel the Pulse
Pulse Entertainment specializes in tools for creating 3D character animation on the Web, but its roots lie in game development. Perhaps that's why its technology works primarily in conjunction with Discreet's 3D Studio MAX, the software used by most game production houses for building virtual environments and animating 3D characters. Pulse Entertainment's new Pulse Creator 4.1 is a powerful and complex stand-alone application for creating Web 3D. But with this version, Pulse has upped the ante for flexibility by including Pulse Producer, a 3DS MAX plug-in that allows you to output character animations created in MAX, directly to the Web, completely bypassing Pulse Creator.
The previous version of Pulse's 3DS MAX plug-in worked simply as an exporter, requiring you to load the output into Creator, and then save it in a format that could be published on the Web and played using Pulse's free player plug-in for browsers. But Producer 4.1 is a full-fledged plug-in that serves as a utility. First you set up your animation in 3DS MAX, specifying distinct behaviors, which the user can trigger separately, with Note keys in Track View. Then you invoke Producer, specifying such options as texture size and format (JPEG or Targa), and whether to save the animation as efficient keyframes or file-bloating samples.
One useful new option to this version allows you to set mesh lightmaps on a per-object basis: choices include Alpha Glass, Chrome, and various reflection maps. Another option automatically sets behavioral objects as Character class, which you previously performed manually in Creator. You can choose not to export hidden objects, which is useful when outputting morphing animation, and you can even export audio. When you're ready to rock, click one button to convert your animation to Pulse format, and a second to convert that output to Web-publishable format and load it into your default browser -- near-instant gratification!
To get the most out of Pulse's technology, though, you've got to roll up your sleeves and get down and dirty with Creator -- a formidable program for producing interactive 3D web-based applications. For example, you can use Creator to stream behaviors and audio onto a character at run-time, instead of having to pre-load them. We have limited space here to tell you what's new in Creator 4.1, but it's easy enough to find out for yourself, if you're curious. All the software described here is free for downloading at www.pulse3d.com. Pulse makes money by selling licenses to those who want to use the technology on commercial Web sites, so you pay no fees until you upload your work. Once you do, Pulse charges $2500 annually for a base site license, and $15,000 and up for larger site licenses.
page 1 2 next >>