Apex3D Animation Editor: Empowering Artists with Unprecedented Control

The Apex3D Animation Editor (AE) is a game-changing tool within Apex Engine, designed to provide developers and artists with the power to create, manage, and animate 3D assets with ease. Focused on flexibility and precision, the Apex3D AE integrates advanced features to streamline workflows and enable seamless project refinement. Here’s an overview of this innovative tool and its progress:

Features of the Apex3D Animation Editor

• Graphical State Machine and Blend Graph Editor: Apex3D AE includes a user-friendly graphical state machine and blend graph editor that simplifies the process of building character animations. Artists can construct connected graphs of animation states, where each state is linked by transitions that dictate how a character moves between behaviors.
• Hierarchical State Machines: These allow complex behaviors to be managed intuitively. Each state in the machine can be a blend graph, a simple animation, or even another state machine, ensuring that even intricate animations are organized without overwhelming detail.
• Extensible Animation Studio: The Animation Studio enables artists to author animation behavior with the same level of control as programmers, eliminating the need for coding. This feature democratizes the animation process, empowering artists to create sophisticated animations independently.
• Run-Time Animator: At the core of Apex3D AE is a highly versatile character animation system. With support for b-spline-based playback, dynamic animation modification, blending, and inverse kinematics, this system provides unparalleled flexibility and performance. Its modular design ensures that every step of the animation compositing process can be customized to suit unique project needs.

Progress and Current Status

• Project Timeline:
  • Started: January 30, 2025
  • Updated: January 8, 2025
  • Status: Paused 
• Completed Milestones:
  • Core Model Format Integration: Ensuring compatibility with essential 3D model formats. 
  • Standalone editor: Editor that works outside of the engine client, so work can be done offline.
  • Basic Conversion for Assets: Streamlining the asset import process for a variety of formats.
  • Generalized UX/UI: Developing a user-friendly interface with core tools to enhance usability.
  • Visual Scripting and Editing Interface: Providing a robust visual scripting environment for artists and developers.
  • Standalone editor: Editor that works outside of the engine client, so work can be done offline.
• Outstanding Tasks:
  • Common File Type Support: Focusing on comprehensive FBX conversion, including compatibility with tools like Max, Maya, and Blender.
  • Render Engine Integration: Establishing seamless communication between the animation editor and the render engine.
  • PBR Development and Support: Adding physically-based rendering (PBR) capabilities to enhance visual fidelity.

Future Enhancements

The Apex3D AE is designed with scalability in mind. Future updates will include engine integration for in-engine edits and additions to animations and animation blends, ensuring that developers and artists have the flexibility to work directly within the engine while refining their projects. Future updates will include additional feature support to cater to evolving industry needs, ensuring that developers and artists have access to cutting-edge tools for animation creation and refinement.

The Vision

Apex3D AE represents a commitment to empowering artists and developers alike. By bridging the gap between technical complexity and creative freedom, this tool allows teams to focus on crafting unique, immersive experiences for their games and interactive applications. Whether you're creating a dynamic character for a blockbuster game or a nuanced animation for a simulation, Apex3D AE ensures that the tools never get in the way of your creative vision.