CAT Showcases CAT 2.0 Beta, CATMuscle

At the recent SIGGRAPH 2004, Character Animation Technologies debuted its beta software for Character Animation Toolkit (CAT) 2.0, due for release in the 4th quarter of 2004. CAT is a plug-in for 3ds max that is touted as increasing overall speed, efficiency and flexibility in creating fully customizable rigs and animation sequences for film and video game artists. The company also showcased two new initiatives at the same SIGGRAPH show: CATMuscle, due in the first quarter of 2005. a new muscle deformation system, and CATRuntime, which provides non-sliding footsteps and seamless motion blending at runtime. In addition, CAT announced that its CAT 1.2 animation software has been adopted by game studios including Relic Entertainment, Remedy Entertainment, Obsidian Entertainment, Relentless Software, GlyphX Games, and Rainbow Studios.