Sculptor Animation Toolkit is an add-on for 3ds Max, a software package commonly used to animate films, movies, and games. The contemporary demands of technical theatre require a simple, flexible plotting tool that retains awareness of the restrictions of physical equipment and Sculptor Toolkit fills this niche by combining the safety and robustness of Stage Technologies control systems with the creative freedom enjoyed in a modern 3D animation environment, says the company. The toolkit excels when applied to venues and productions with many hundreds of automated axes and scenic elements such as revolves, hydraulically-driven, custom-built machinery, lifts, stage trucks and rotating winch trolleys, saving hours of .plotting time with smart shortcuts.
Sculptor Toolkit can be used from as early as the initial concept stage for a production allowing preemptive collaboration between artistic and technical departments. As the show is pre-visualised by the creative team, real world data such as drum capacities, rigging angles, and speed and acceleration requirements can be easily gathered and manipulated in the animation world, ensuring that the equipment choice and placement will fulfill the creative vision whilst retaining realistic parameters. The toolkit presents clear, visual feedback of all the potentially complex mechanical and safety restrictions and as a result the animations can be used with confidence as initial show cues, minimising valuable stage time during technical rehearsals.
Mike Kovacic, a senior project engineer with Stage Technologies in Australia and developer of Sculptor Animation Toolkit, described the creative potential opened up by this new add-on, "By combining these different types, the toolkit supports the plotting of mechanical assemblies we haven't yet dreamed of. We have only just begun to scratch the surface of what this toolkit is capable of."
(Jim Evans)
