Esperient Creator
| Developer(s) | Esperient Corporation Inc. |
|---|---|
| Stable release |
2008 (3.5)
/ November 28, 2008 |
| Operating system | Windows (2000, XP or Vista) |
| Type | 3D computer graphics |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.esperient.com |
Esperient Creator is an interactive 3D application authoring tool for the creation of visual computing applications including video games, simulations, real-time interactive presentations and 3D user interfaces for either standalone or web based delivery.
The software user interface is based on a ‘What You See Is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) editor interface and supporting specialist editors for animation and scripting of scenes, objects and media in real-time. Creator applications can communicate with 3rd party applications through ActiveX/COM interface or a TCP/IP port. Creator authored scenes can be distributed as executable applications or .esp files viewed with a freely distributable viewer.
The engine behind Esperient Creator is based on DirectX 9.0c, and includes support for the advanced pixel and vertex shader effects.
History
Esperient Creator was originally called Cosmos Creator and developed as a game authoring tool by Radish Works Inc in 2003,[1] a 3D games software development company established by Michael Bailey, the President of Esperient. All rights to the Cosmos Creator were acquired by Right Hemisphere Inc in 2004 [2] and the product was renamed Deep Creator.
After making the acquisition, Right Hemisphere's core business evolved to focus on Enterprise sales of their core Deep Server platform and 'Creator' was sold as part of an interactive training solution to fortune 1000 companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. While 'Creator' proved to be a valuable tool for Enterprise customers it was never actively marketed as a standalone product for creative media solutions or the visual computing market that lie outside of Right Hemisphere’s core business areas. As a result it has been described as one of the best kept secrets in 3D.
The Esperient Corporation was founded by the development team of Deep Creator in October 2007 to acquire and then continue the development of Creator, then owned by Right Hemisphere Inc. In April 2008, Esperient signed an Asset Purchase Agreement with RHI to acquire 'Creator' and all associated assets subject to Esperient being able to arrange the necessary funding.
In May 2008, Esperient Creator 3.0 [3] was launched and is now used by seven of the top ten aerospace and defense manufacturers including Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and United Technologies. The company’s products are also used by leading design agencies including Animation Research, Armstrong White, Pixel Graphics, Speedshape and Sonalyst Studios. In the education and research sector, Esperient Creator is used by more than 30 universities for interactive media, games, simulation, architectural visualization and augmented reality.[4]
Features
- Integrated Authoring Environment
- Fully integrated development environment with What You See Is What You Get integrated editing and runtime preview. The WYSIWYG editing environment provides designers and developers with instant visual feedback for animation, interaction, real time shadows, pixel shaders and post process effects during the creation of the interactive 3D visual computing applications. The fully integrated development environment enables all aspects of an interactive 3D project to be created, modified and published inside a single application.
- File Import
- Support for over 30 3D file formats.
- 3D modelling software workflow integration
- with Autodesk 3DS Max, Maya and Softimage XSI via the RH file format
- 3D Modeling
- over 60 inbuilt modeling primitives and polygonal modeling tools and an extensive modifier/alteration system for parametric modification of primitives and imported meshes.
- Interactive Animation
- Keyframed, procedural and real time physics based animation support
- Dynamics
- Rigid Body Dynamics, Pivots/Joints and Vehicles based on Newton Game Dynamics physics engine
- Lighting
- Dynamic Lighting and multiple realtime shadow techniques
- Particle Systems
- dynamic particle systems for smoke, steam and related special effects, including attractors/deflectors - called gravity objects and currents
- Scripting
- Support for Lisp and CScript real time application scripting
- Shaders
- advanced support for pixel shaders model 3.0 and vertex shader effects including Bumpmapping, Normalmapping, volumetric imaging, real-time shadows and full screen post process effects. Software ships with over 100 premade shaders effects files.
- Plug-in development
- through SDK which enables 3rd parties to create plugins for both the authoring environment and/or specific projects
- Publishing and deployment
- scenes can be published to Microsoft Windows executable, or to distributable .esp file viewable with Esperient Viewer or via the Esperient Creator Active-X embeddable viewing component.
- Rendering architecture
- based on Microsoft DirectX 9.0c
References
- ↑ "Radish Works LLC - The home of Cosmos Creator". Radishworks.com. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ↑ http://www.righthemisphere.com/company/press_releases/16Nov04.pdf
- ↑ http://www.esperient.com/images/stories/PDFs/news/esperientassumesdeepcreatordevelopment11may2008.pdf
- ↑ "Company Profile". Esperient.com. Retrieved 2008-12-15.