Autodesk/NaturalMotion deal
Kynapse and morpheme get to know each other a little better.
26 March 2009 - Autodesk, Inc., (NASDAQ: ADSK) and NaturalMotion Ltd., today announced that the companies are working to build an advanced integration between their respective popular game development products - Autodesk Kynapse artificial intelligence (AI) middleware and morpheme animation middleware engine.
“Animation and AI have become increasingly linked in modern game development, said Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion. “Pathfinding algorithms, for example, require reliable execution by the animation network; in turn, believable motion requires precise timing and steering by the AI system.”
“Autodesk and NaturalMotion believe there is tremendous potential to simplify the interaction between AI and animation for game developers, and to significantly enhance the user experience,” added Marc Stevens, Autodesk vice president, Games Technology Group.
NaturalMotion’s morpheme is robust animation middleware designed to give developers and animators unprecedented creative control over the look of their final in-game animation by allowing them to author and preview blends, blend trees and transition graphs in real time. Since its launch in 2007, morpheme has seen rapid adoption in the games industry, including customers such as BioWare, Eidos, Disney and many other leading publishers. The latest version, morpheme 2.0, adds natively integrated physics support for flexible addition and authoring of character dynamics.
morpheme is designed to integrate with euphoria, NaturalMotion’s revolutionary motion synthesis engine which recently debuted in Grand Theft Auto IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Autodesk Kynapse middleware is a world leading AI solution for games. This unique, high-performance, AI engine supports 3D pathfinding in destructible environments, including large-crowd pathfinding in complex terrains. It also delivers dynamic 3D topology analysis, team co-ordination and efficient tools that help automate production. Kynapse has been adopted for more than 80 AAA titles, including Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Fable II, Alone in the Dark 5, Crackdown, Medal of Honor: Airborne and Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. Autodesk also offers Autodesk HumanIK middleware, a solution for procedural motion adaptation and correction that helps to enhance existing animation engines.
About NaturalMotion
NaturalMotion Ltd. is a leading entertainment software company with offices in Oxford (England) and San Francisco (California). The company produces the widely-adopted animation technologies euphoria, morpheme and endorphin, used across the game and movie industries by companies such as Rockstar Games, LucasArts, Disney, Bioware and many others. Backbreaker, the company’s recently announced first in-house game is scheduled for release later in 2009.
For further information please visit NaturalMotion’s website www.naturalmotion.com
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualise, simulate and analyse real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, HumanIK and Kynapse are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Contact: Kim Willsher or Sally Brown, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, +44 (0)20 7403 8878
Mikael Lowenhielm, Autodesk, +46 (0)31 726 0000
Wes Phillips, NaturalMotion, +1 415 955 8515
Email: kimw@rlyl.co.uk or sallyb@rlyl.co.uk or Mikael.Lowenhielm@autodesk.com or wes@triplepointpr.com