Microsoft Playmation?
4 messages in this thread
Gee. Does this mean Hash is finally going to have to adopt some
standardized file format? (Maybe his "600-pound gorilla" is going to
stick a muscleized-and-spined banana where the sun don't shine….)
Oh well; I _was_ going to buy Playmation (it's still probably the best
character-animation software in existence), but since they clearly won't
be supporting the Amiga any more, I guess I can forget that….
Don't jump to too many conclusions about this… Hash did not say that
Microsoft was going to start selling Playmation, in fact, he sorta hints that
they (Anjon) will continue selling it. I tried calling Martin yesterday, the
answering machine said "you've reached Hash Enterprises' shipping and
receiving" but I knew it was Martin's voice. 🙂
<[Anjon] will continue selling [Playmation]>
Yeah, but are they going to _support_ it? Quite frankly, I was hoping
for an AGA version of Playmation, having sat down and thought out just
what I needed animation software for, and determining that it was for
"anima"tion, where the critters wouldn't necessarily have to _look_
realistic but they _would_ have to _move_ realistically (plus, to my
knowledge, there ain't another package available at _any_ price that makes
character-lip-synching as easy as Playmation does).
(If I already posted this message, forgive me for being an idiot; I
screwed something up in AutoPilot earlier tonight.)
Martin Hash called me back on Saturday… very interesting! He's going to be
helping Microsoft with "time-based authoring," whatever that means. I think it
means integrating some of his ideas about animation and choreography into
future Microsoft products. He told me more than this, but I think these
big-brush explanations are safer than spreading detailed gossip. 🙂
As far as I understand, this doesn't affect the development or sales or support
of the animation products in any way. Microsoft did not buy out Hash
Enterprises, Martin is just working on projects for them.