MASSIVE (Multiple Agent Simulation System in Virtual Environment) is a high-end computer animation and artificial intelligence software package used for generating crowd-related visual effects for film and television.

Overview[link]

Massive is a software package developed by Stephen Regelous for the visual effects industry. Its flagship feature is the ability to quickly and easily create thousands - or millions - of agents that all act as individuals. Through the use of fuzzy logic, the software enables every agent to respond individually to its surroundings, including other agents. These reactions affect the agent's behaviour, changing how they act by controlling pre-recorded animation clips, for example by blending between such clips, to create characters that move, act, and react realistically. These pre-recorded animation clips can come from motion-capture sessions, or can be hand-animated in other 3D animation software packages.

In addition to the artificial intelligence abilities of Massive, there are numerous other features, including cloth simulation, rigid body dynamics and graphics processing unit (GPU) based hardware rendering. Massive Software has also created several pre-built agents ready to perform certain tasks, such as stadium crowd agents, rioting 'mayhem' agents and simple agents who walk around and talk to each other.

History[link]

Massive was originally developed in Wellington, New Zealand. Peter Jackson required software that allowed armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to fight, a problem that had not been solved in filmmaking before. Regelous created Massive to allow Weta Digital to create many of the award-winning visual effects, particularly the battle sequences, for the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films. Since then, it has evolved into a complete product and has been licensed by many other visual effects houses.

In production[link]

Massive has been used in many productions, both commercials and feature-length films, small-scale and large.

Some significant examples include:

• 7aum Arivu
• The Lord of the Rings
• Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
• Avatar
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• King Kong (Jackson 2005)
• Flags of our Fathers (besides battle and crowd scenes, even shots of seacraft crossing the Pacific were created with Massive)
• Carlton Draught: Big Ad
• Mountain, a television commercial for the PlayStation 2 console
• I, Robot
• Category 7: The End of the World
• Blades of Glory
• Eragon
• Happy Feet
• 300
• The Ant Bully (the first film to use computer animated characters as Massive agents rather than motion capture. Also first to use facial animation within Massive)
• Buffy ("Chosen")
• Doctor Who ("Partners in Crime")
• Changeling
• Speed Racer (Car A.I. and crowds)
• WALL-E
• Up

See also[link]

• Crowd simulation
• Multi-agent system
• Fuzzy logic
• Emergence

External links[link]

• Official site of Massive Software
• Official site of Weta Digital
• Official site of an(i)ma Software
• Official site of SpirOps Software

Educational Partners[link]

• Americas
  • Ringling School Of Art & Design - Sarasota, FL http://www.ringling.edu/
  • Savannah College Of Art & Design - Savannah, GA http://www.scad.edu/
  • Gnomon School Of Visual Effects - Hollywood, CA http://www.gnomonschool.com/
  • USC School of Cinematic Arts - Los Angeles, CA http://www-cntv.usc.edu/
  • Coastal Carolina University - Conway, SC http://www.coastal.edu/
  • Drexel University - Philadelphia, PA http://www.drexel.edu/

• Europe
  • Bournemouth University - Dorset, United Kingdom National Centre for Computer Animation http://ncca.bournemouth.ac.uk/
  • University of Teesside - Middlesbrough, United Kingdom School of Computing http://www-scm.tees.ac.uk/

• Asia Pacific
  • Media Design School - Auckland, New Zealand http://www.mediadesign.school.nz/
  • Kasetsart University - Chatuchak, Bangkok http://www.ku.ac.th/aboutku/english/

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (December 2006)