Version 1.1.1

Release Date: October, 29, 2020

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What's New

The Animcraft 1.1 brings the new features in animation tools and improvements in user experience. While improving the features and refining workflows for existing tools. we have further expanded the toolset to include editing for FBX animation. Scene Editor, BridgeIK Rig, Animation Layer, Time and Keyframes Control now work together to enable character rigging and animation editing.

In this release, we have added support for another 3 animation platforms, which include Maxon Cinema 4D Blender and MMD. Animcraft can now work with most of popular software in the industry.

Animation and Scene Editor

Using the new scene editor, you can now load character with motions and author the data in the scene, then, send the result animation to any character in DCC software and game engines, or export it as FBX.

Animation Layer and Animation Concatnation Upgrade

We integrated the animation concatnation feature into the scene editor for creating the animation layer, and users can edit and add key frame based on it. This can be used to modify some animation in original FBX.

Time Control

With the time control tools you can now edit the animation much easier, Features include a new time slider, time block, frame rate, key frames control, and related UI in scene editor.

BridgeIK Rig System

BridgeIK is an FK/IK controller-based fully functional rig system, it can be automatically built from an animated character, then you can edit the animation with the rig and keyframe control.

History Undo Queue

Both in mapping window and scene editor, you can now use Ctrl+Z to undo the operations.

Viewport Navigation Upgrade

There are also improvements to several aspects of 3d viewport such as xray joint tool, TRS manipulator, Focus and Zoom-in, the overall user experience has been improved a lot.

6 Extra Import Animation Features

The new release enable users to utilize animation data with more parameters. You can now easily change the animation speed, frame rate, cycle number, also reverse, mirror, in-place the animations.

Partial Animation Import

A visual guided partial animation import tool can be quite useful if you only want to assign animation to some choosen parts of a character.

PhysX Based Dynamic Simulation (Beta)

The new PhysX based dynamic simulation system enables user to calculate the physical movement of character accessories.

Character Weapon Mapping Tools

We've added the weapon part into the mapping window, you can now map and retarget weapon and store the weapon animation into the library.

MMD Support (Need 3rd-Party Plugin)

The integration of MMD format allow users to drag and drop any PMD and PMX characters and animations into the 3D viewport and import them into the library. (3rd-party plugin is required, see document)

Blendshape Support

With the MMD support, the blendshape infrastructure are also added into the new release, the MMD facial animation now can be inspected as well.

Blender Support

Now Animcraft entirely supports Blender, users can import the animations to a Blender rigged character with the retarget features.

Cinema 4D Support

The Cinema4D support enables you to import animations from the library to a rigged character inCinema4D too.

Real-time Body and Finger Pose Library

this new release brings a real-time and intuitive body and finger pose library. You can quickly back and forth input and output the pose data between character and library.

Better FBX and Mapping Tools

Our FBX and mapping control tools are improved to enable even more precise and intuitive user experience.

a. Improved mapping and std-pose template

b. Record more bones in torso and shoulder to enable more precise control

Polished FBX and GLTF Importer

Our 3d viewport now is able to load almost all different FBX files which were exported from all different DCC software, also work with the GLTF from sketchfab.com. And this will be continued to upgrad in the later releases.

Resource Library Privilege Manage

New breed library structure allows you to define the user priviledge and control the library accessibility. With SQLite caching and privilege mangement, you can now easily achieve smooth team works without deploying, maintaincing and upgrading local servers and database.

Multimedia Library

Users can now import any videos and images (include GIF) into the new multimedia library, for quick referencing and sharing them within a team.

Version 1.0.5

Release Data: August, 6, 2020

New Features

FBX Workflow Total Upgrade

Animcraft now has comprehensive control abilities to deal with FBX. In the new version, it brings improved FBX viewport, better template tool, UI, and workflow, combining with retargeting tools, Maya (or other DCC software). Now you have full toolsets to handle the FBX in mocap, games, and animation workflow.

• Support more flexible poses as standard pose, like A-Pose, Rest Pose, no strict T-Pose needed.
• Fault tolerance for some motion capture system. 1st frame can be set as standard pose when extract general animation data.
• Template match rate automatic analysis
• Some FBX importing bugs are fixed, like scale issues, texture map issues, and more.
• Visible, controllable, editable of Mapping, and standard pose panel.
• Resolve the conflict between multi-root bone structural FBX and multi-character FBX
• Better workflow and UI of batch importing FBX with templates.

3D Viewport Upgrade

With the improved QWER transform manipulator switching tools, alt+mouse button camera navigation, TRS transform handlers, camera focus, the new version is getting more and more comfortable to work with.

Fully Support Blender

Blender is getting more and more popular in recent years. Now Animcraft entirely supports Blender, and you can import and export animations between Animcraft and Blender, Indirectly, you have the ability of exchang animations among different DCCs with Blender.

UE4 Plugin Upgrade

• Based on the above FBX upgrades, support A-Pose and, Rest-Pose, improved the flexibility and accuracy.
• Support multiple character import without getting the character again.
• Fixed some bugs.

Animation Concatenation Upgrade

• Support speed adjust
• Automatic extract general animation data (.acd format) after saving concatenation result. The animation can be directly exported to Maya/Max/Blender or UE4/U3D

FBX to Adv Rigging Pipeline Upgrade

• More friendly UI
• Upgrade and bug fixes on Template tools

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Crash when getting a character from UE without an open command port.
• Maya visible keyframe won't be counted on to main animation track
• win7 cannot switch Language
• Some images can not be loaded.
• Redundant bone draws with group nodes.
• The bone scale on some character issues.
• Texture path issue when working with character texture maps.
• current pose save into scene (gltf)
• Some raw data cannot be imported to ac.
• Some users cannot download software from the website.
• Stutter issue with incorrect video card cable.
• The conflict between multi-root bone structural FBX and multi-character FBX
• Display template info in upload mode, let the user know if the motion finds the template.
• crash when orzrt cannot find, dialog added.
• no question sign if the repeated mapping in the main program and convert mapping window
• cannot fully clear unmapped mapping data.
• Crash when concatenation without select a folder.

Version 1.0.3

Release Data: July, 9, 2020

New Features

Animation Concatenation

You can concatenate any number of animation pieces together to a new animation clip. And the concatenated animation can be merged to the arbitrary character in Library and export as FBX or to UE4/Unity. And the parameters like animation transition range, turning speed, cycle number, offset values, etc, can be easily edited in the saved mini animation resource scene.

Local Database Cache

The new version has utilized SQLite to cache the resources. After a short time of refreshing and caching, everything will become faster and more smooth. This is also available in local network sharing deployment. Now your team can handle much more resources faster.

Extract Motions from FBX with Multiple Characters

If there is more than 1 character in a single FBX, the Animcraft can extract each motion from all players separately and store them into the library as multiple independent resources. If there is a template for the skeletal structure, it can also extract the general animation resource and get ready for exporting the motions to any other characters.

Blender Supports (Beta)

We've finished all the research tasks that how to port the Animcraft to Blender. And will bring the Animcraft for blend in the next version. Then you can share the animations among the Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, and Engines.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Crush when frequenct click resource library
• Optimize the Maya workflow and UI
• Importing accuracy
• Details in translation
• Fixed many unstable when work with Maya
• Batch export FBX with scale
• Unreal engine unicode in level
• Support unicode in MAX version
• Crash when template not found

Version 1.0.2

Release Date: May 26th, 2020

New Features

1. Auto-craft Preview

Automatic craft skeletal character preview with animation curve data in animation and pose library. Compatible with biped and quadruped  with wings, weapons and other accessories. This makes better visualization for the skeletal characters and it is also able to check the animation data integrity.

2. Quadruped Support

The quadruped animation data can be imported in Animcraft from 3ds Max and Maya as general data, then the animation can be import into any other quadruped characters in 3ds Max and Maya

(currently only work with Maya and 3ds Max)

3. Pose Library (beta)

Pose, as a new resource type, is added into this version of Animcraft. As the same as animation, once the pose data has been imported in Animcraft library, it can be import into any other  characters in 3ds Max and Maya. Craft preview supported too.

4. Resource Management Speed Up

Naming convention and folder structure have been modified, yield the much faster reading speed. Also getting ready for the next version's massive resources management systems, millions of animations, characters and poses resources can manage in local database.

5. Online automatic upgrading available

Improvement

Improved accuracy of importing fbx to ac

Bug fixes

• FBX reading crashes.
• More stable batch converting
• Finger inaccurate when max, maya exchange.

Version 1.0.1

Release Date: Apr 28th, 2020

Bug Fixes：

• License validation automatically.
• More stable 3ds Max exporting. Adding several backup operations if failure.
• Animcraft to 3ds Max connection upgrade, more stable.
• Maya can only import 1st frame os animation
• More than 10 crashes and small issues.
• Fixed all unicode issue of UE4: project path, skeletal mesh name, motion name and character library path name

New Features：

• Exception catching tool, automatic generate log when crash, the user can choose if send the error log
• (Beta)FBX reader in 3d Viewport Major rewrite (Utilizing FBX C++ SDK)

• 10X speed up
• Reading texture map
• More stable, fixed some errors and bugs
• Automatical support .obj, .dae, 3ds etc format (FBX SDK)

• Support 3ds Max Bones data import and export.
• Batch import FBX & BVH files.
• Batch and automatical extract acd general animation from FBX (if there is template)
• Batch extract contents from .max and .bip files(3ds Max installation required).
  
• （Alpha v1.1 Coming Soon) Pose Library
• （Alpha v1.0 Coming Soon) Motion and Pose Crafting automatical adaption tools.

Version 1.0.0

Release Date: Apr 8th, 2020

• Import animation with inheriting character's orient
• 3ds Max import animation with terrain plane
• Maya importing at least 5X faster
• Maya foot tip retargeting algorithm upgrade and acceleration
• Maya Human IK support
• Mixamo importing optimization
• Framerate feature, display and control when importing
• Add Unreal Engine Plugin button for better experience
• FBX to GLTF rewrite and convert back with proprietary API
• BVH direct read and import into animcraft library
• Batch and command line convert 3ds Max and BVH files UI and feature improved
• Bug Fixes:

• (Issue) 3ds Max Import long animation become slower and slower gradually
• (Issue) FBX display error when there is vertical bone 

• Others:

• Support 3ds Max 2020
• Support Maya 2020
• Online userspace and licenseing system
• Changed a lot of icons

Version 0.4 Beta

Release Date: Feb 2020

• Unity 3D direct import animation
• Unreal Engine direct import animation (script)
• Quadruped Character Support (Beta)

• Rewrite 3D viewport, at least 10X of speed up
• Viewport PBR Shader Support
• Language Switch System (will support more languages in future)
• Rewrite 3ds Max exporter from maxscript to C++ Plugin
• 3ds Max animation group export feature
• Batch and command line export animation from 3ds Max
• Batch and command line render GIF

Version 0.3 Beta

Release Date：December 2019

• Animation Tag Feature
• Folder Tag
• Tag Group
• 3ds Max UI to QT
• Batch Export Animation from Maya

Version 0.2 Beta

Release Data: September 2019

• Quadruped Support (Experimental)
• Extract Animation from Non-CS-Originated FBX
• Auto resume TPose Plugin for Maya and Max
• Rig Converter, FBX to 3ds Max CS with Skin, Rig and Animation
• Extrace Animation, Mesh, Shader, Textures from any FBX Skeletal Mesh
• Internal Mapping Window
• Animation Merger

Version 0.1 Beta

Release Date: May 2019

• Maya export .acd to animcraft
• 3ds Max export .acd to Animcraft
• Switch Preview Figures
• Animation import to Maya Rig
• Animation import to Maya Skeleton
• Animation import to 3ds Max CS Bone