#IPAS
Regarding your question: What is IPAS?
The two other replies you got are accurate, but I'd like to elaborate and make
it a little clearer for you.
An IPAS is a small program you buy separate from 3D Studio, to do a specific
function. For example, you can buy an IPAS that will take an object and "melt"
it over several frames to make an animation of the object melting. This would
be difficult with just the standard menu options that come with 3D Studio but
is very easy with the melting IPAS.
There's a place on the standard 3DS menu for calling IPAS routines. An IPAS
routine works with dialog boxes similar to the ones in 3DS. Each IPAS has a
dialog box with applicable settings. For example, the Melt IPAS asks you how
fast the object should melt and how the big the puddle should be.
There are different IPAS for all kinds of tricks: exploding things, putting
skin on objects and so forth. Because anyone can write an IPAS, the kinds of
IPAS that are available depends solely on what the independent developers
decide to do! That in turn is fueled by customer demand, so you can see that
we have a good thing going here.
The whole area of IPASs is a bit like the wild west right now, with new ones
coming out all the time and lots of room for people to invent new ones.
Michele