Crowd Animation System from Vital Idea

Vital Idea Inc. has announced the forthcoming release of Crowd! 1.0, a program and SDK that allows artists to rapidly design complex crowds with behaviors that would take extensive scripting and keyframing to build manually. Crowd can create movements that appear random, or mix in keyframing for maximum control where needed. The program is designed both for film/broadcast animators and for game designers. Its C++ SDK can be used to integrate the crowds into real-time graphics engines,. Expected to ship in November 2003, Crowd is currently available for pre-ordering, and the company is also soliciting beta testers. The price for the main package is $9,995, while the server lists for $995, and a 30-day license of Crowd! can be purchased for $1,995.