Siggraph

Massive Software’s big news at Siggraph 2007 is the release of Massive 3.0, it’s popular AI-based animation system. The company’s approach with the new release is to push beyond Massive’s well documented crowd capabilities generally and into more of the nuances and specifics. Among the additions: dynamic hair and fur, simulation passes, more Subdivision Surfaces, and especially interesting–”lanes,” which lets animators lay down directional lanes on, or in, terrain, and set up paths for characters to travel, efficiently simulating street, water, or pedestrian traffic.

Massive 3.0, of course, is also now available on the Windows platform, which is a huge leap–”a turning point for the company,” in fact, according to the company’s unusually effusive CEO, Diane Holland.

When not singing the gospel of Massive generally, Holland, in her spare time, is also acting as an unofficial filmmaking advocate for the nation of New Zealand, where Massive is based following its revolutionary birth during the making of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. For the record, Diane says New Zealand is “an amazing place” to live and make movies. If you want to visit, give her a ring–she says she has plenty of room and “people can even stay at my house.”

Now that’s enthusiasm. (But check with her at the Massive booth, #1428, before you just pop in unannounced…)

–Michael Goldman