ArtVisualizer Press Media | Archie Visual Design & Art Review

Autodesk® 3ds Max® CAT software is a character animation plug-in for Autodesk® 3ds Max® and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design software. CAT is designed by animators, for animators to take the tedious technicalities out of 3D character animation. Its complete toolset enables easy character rigging, non-linear animation, animation layering, motion capture import, muscle simulation, and more. CAT is fast, stable, simple, and packed with cutting-edge features that give artists an easier way to animate characters in 3ds Max.



Autodesk® 3ds Max® CAT software is a plug-in for Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2009 and 2010 and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2009 and 2010 software that is packed with new features that make life easier than ever for character animators. Highlights include:
CATMuscle Integration

CATMuscle
a fully scaleable solution for solving skin deformation problems—is fully integrated in 3ds Max CAT. CATMuscle provides you with the tools you need to achieve a smooth, organic skin deformation across a wide range of motion. It's easy to learn, and requires no understanding of anatomy.

CATMuscle rigs can be as simple or as complex as you wish, so they can suit your purposes whether you are working in film or game development.

Rigging
New rigging features include

* Setup Controllers
Layers can now have a setup controller rather than just a setup value. Any complex procedural animation can be configured onto the "Setup" or "Base" controller. Bones can also contain a setup controller, which is used to drive animation. These controllers can contain procedural animation such as constraints, and script controllers. Setup controllers for layers and bones are saved, and loaded with rig presets.

* Layer-Configuration Baking
Now each layer controller can save a mini clip file that defines all of the settings for that layer.

* New Rig Nodes
You can now add extra information, like props, muscle configurations and skin meshes, to rigs. The extra information is saved, merged, and/or deleted with the rigs.

* New Rig Saver
A new rig preset system allows you to save rigs by themselves, without their animation.

* New CATUnits Position, Rotation, and Float Controllers
These controllers are used to create rigs that resize with the CATRig when CATUnits are changed.

* New Inheritance Settings on Bones
Bones now have Inheritance options for Animation and Setup Mode. You can disable position, rotation or scale inheritance for the entire bone, including all layers, using a single toggle.

Layers

New layering features include

* Layer Collapsing Tool
A new layer collapsing tool allows you to collapse layers while preserving source keyframe times, keep constraints, and plot constraints to keyframes.

* New Layer Manager
A new layer manager has been written for complete CATRig layer management. It is both simpler and easier to use than the previous layer manager. Most layer operations can now be applied to many layers at once simply by selecting them in the layer manager.

CATMotion

New CATMotion features include

* Arbitrary Numbers of Feet Per CATMotion Limb
CATMotion now supports arbitrary bones as feet. You can turn any bone that is the child of a limb—a walking stick, for example—into a foot using a simple toggle.

* CATMotion Foot Nodes Automatically Placed on Ground Plane
Should your rig's setup pose not place the character's feet flat on the ground (for example, the "Da Vinci" pose), 3ds Max CAT can place them there automatically. Previous versions required the use of large offsets.

Please note: Autodesk 3ds Max CAT 2009 is only compatible for use with Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009. Autodesk 3ds Max CAT 2010 is only compatible for use with Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010.

For download trial product information, please refer to :
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=12299752