Product: LDI Offers Service Based On ActiveMotion

LookAhead Decisions Incorporated (LDI) has announced a new service for automatically generating motion for 3D characters based on its ActiveMotion software, which offers an alternative to motion capture for producing realistic motion for animated characters. Based upon motion generation software for robotic systems developed by LDI, ActiveMotion is an automated tool used to generate arbitrary and realistic motions for any multi-articulated character in any environment. Using ActiveMotion, a game developer or animator can cut their motion generation costs and time by as much as 90 percent. Rather than using cumbersome motion capture equipment and paying for expensive studio time, ActiveMotion automatically generates files in standard motion capture formats by harnessing the power of the CPU. It couples a physics simulator with proprietary Artificial Intelligence technology similar to worldchampionship chess programs to sift through billions of possible motion sequences in order to find those that are the most realistic and that meet the intended motion targets. “The ActiveMotion service can be used to generate basic human and animal motions such as walking, running, tackling, and jumping, but it is especially good for generating realistic motion for complex terrains, dangerous or specialized stunts, non-humans, or imaginary multi-limbed characters—all difficult or impossible to do with motion capture,” said Dr. Mukesh Dalal, President and Co-Founder of LDI. In addition, LDI is offering the service at a flat rate of $500 to generate or modify up to ten seconds of a specified animation for 1-2 characters for the first 10 customers. For these customers, LDI is also including a free one-year subscription to its software, when released.