San Rafael, California, December 24, 2007 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced that its end-to-end game development software solutions have been used to develop most of the top-selling games this holiday season. Holiday games developed using Autodesk products include Ubisoft's "Assassin’s Creed," BioWare's "Mass Effect," Flagship's "Hellgate: London," Infinity Ward's "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," Harmonix's "Rock Band," Insomniac Games' "Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction," and Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCE) "Heavenly Sword."
Ubisoft's "Assassin’s Creed" is one of the most anticipated PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, and PC games this holiday season. The game features intuitive free-form third-person adventure gameplay with acrobatic rooftop chases. Players can climb buildings, cliffs, pathways, and platforms within the game, all crafted with software. This complex character navigation was achieved using a suite of products including Autodesk 3ds Max modeling, animation, and rendering software, Autodesk MotionBuilder character animation software, and Autodesk HumanIK middleware, all integrated into the game engine. 3ds Max was used for developing 3D characters and environment models; both 3ds Max and MotionBuilder were used for animating in-game characters; and HumanIK provided characters with a fully functional inverse kinematics system.
Elspeth Tory, project manager of animation at Ubisoft, stated, "For games like 'Assassin’s Creed' that use a lot of motion capture technology, MotionBuilder from the 3ds Max series is truly effective. We captured material on our motion capture platform, used MotionBuilder to adjust and clean up animations, and brought them into 3ds Max. 3ds Max is a perfect tool dedicated to game development, helping us bring a large amount of assets very quickly. HumanIK helped us make the game look more realistic and gave us the freedom to move the protagonist anywhere within the game environment."
Infinity Ward used Autodesk Maya modeling, animation, and rendering software to model and texture all props, vehicles, and characters in "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare." "Call of Duty 4" is the first game in the "Call of Duty" series not set during World War II. This first-person shooter game for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo DS takes place in global war hotspots, where players can switch between fierce enemy forces as either a US Marine or a British Special Air Service soldier.
Joel Emslie, lead character artist at Infinity Ward, explained, "‘Call of Duty 4’ required us to rethink the vision of 'Call of Duty.' Our art team gained experience using Maya from previous 'Call of Duty' games and built a modern world from scratch. We took full advantage of Maya's capabilities, from polygon modeling to our first attempt at motion capture animation. In fact, Maya's Surface Sampler proved to be the best solution for projecting powerful normal maps onto our geometry. The flexibility of Surface Sampler is the best in its field."
The action role-playing game "Mass Effect" was developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 using 3ds Max and Autodesk Mudbox digital sculpting software. In "Mass Effect," players assume the role of Commander Shepard, tasked with saving galactic life from an ancient mechanical race. Adrien Cho, the main technical artist at BioWare, said, "We used 3ds Max to create all characters, weapons, interactive objects, and environments in the game. Characters modeled in 3ds Max were detailed using Mudbox to sculpt more realistic expressions and feelings with genuine emotion."
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) used Autodesk Maya during the creation of "Heavenly Sword." "Heavenly Sword" is a game designed for the PlayStation 3 console centered around themes of revenge, courage, and self-discovery. During the adaptation of visual effects for the next generation of gaming consoles, the introduction of Ambient Occlusion maps contributed most significantly to SCE's graphical quality. The ability to add soft contact shadows to all targets and environments helped make the visuals of "Heavenly Sword" more realistic. The mapping functionality of Maya and mental ray provided all artists with a quick and highly efficient way to produce these graphics. The Transfer Maps tool in Maya software also allowed artists to generate and convert Ambient Occlusion from high-polygon models to low-polygon models, further enhancing their work quality.
3ds Max served as the cornerstone of the production pipeline for Flagship's "Hellgate: London." "Hellgate: London" is a PC role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic London. The studio used 3ds Max to model most of the game's demonic creatures, resilient human survivors, and the ruins of fire-scorched London. Phil Shink, art director and co-founder of Flagship Studios, remarked, "3ds Max provides a powerful, flexible, and open environment that excels in every aspect of game development. It is equally well-suited for level creation, character modeling, and animation, and MAXscript allows us to build many of our art tools directly within the application."
Insomniac Games used Maya to create "Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction." This game, playable on the PlayStation 3 console, is the latest installment in the series, focusing on the misadventures of the anthropomorphic Lombax named Ratchet and his robot companion Clank. The studio's artists used Maya to model characters and environmental assets, establish UVS, assign shading, and precompute dynamics for larger destructible targets. Chad Dezern, art director at Insomniac Games, commented, "Maya is a customizable general-purpose tool with a flexible workspace that meets our specific needs. The software's precise modeling tools and advanced UV editing features helped us achieve our expectations for the Ratchet and Clank series."
"Rock Band," Harmonix's latest game for music enthusiasts, was created using 3ds Max and MotionBuilder. Playable on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 2 consoles, players can sing, drum, or play as the lead singer or bassist in a virtual band, either solo or online. Ryan Lesser, art director at Harmonix, said, "We use 3ds Max in every individual project at Harmonix, from 'Amplitude' to 'Guitar Hero' and now 'Rock Band.' In 'Rock Band,' 3ds Max serves as our character creator, level editor, and animation tool paired with MotionBuilder. Despite my ability to work with all major 3D toolkits, 3ds Max has consistently been our studio's go-to tool for all aspects of video game development."
**Autodesk for Games Overview**
Autodesk's end-to-end solution for game development includes Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software; Autodesk MotionBuilder character animation software; Autodesk Mudbox digital sculpting software; and Autodesk HumanIK middleware.
**Autodesk Overview**
Autodesk, Inc. is the world's leading supplier of 2D and 3D design software for manufacturing, construction, media, and entertainment markets. Since the introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of advanced digital modeling solutions, helping customers experience their ideas before they become finished products. Fortune 1000 companies use Autodesk tools to visualize, simulate, and analyze real-world effects during the design process, saving time and money, improving quality, and encouraging innovation.
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