Any 3dsmax alternatives that can compare to Golaem Crowd ?

[stevesideas]

I would include Massive but that is way beyond my budget.

I can't find anything that would run with max that compares to the features of Goleaem crowd.

[joconnell]

https://secure.axyz-design.com/anima...-software-home - not sure how good it is though. MiArmy for maya looks great too, there doesn't seem to be any max equivalents. What type of distance will you be from the characters and what type of movements do they need to do?

[stevesideas]

I have seen the axyz thing advertised but I heard it wasn't that good. It really does look like a Maya job after all.

I'm doing this for personal learning and understanding and also to benefit my portfolio. I have an F1 scene that I'm animating and I would love to have crowds in grandstands. I've seen so many comps in post using Nuke etc and I'm wondering if 3d is the only way to go. I wonder if I could use billboards. They won't that close to the camera. I just need it to look as real as possible. I'm not sure the characters from AXYZ look that great. I've used them in past projects and yes, it is probably my lack of skill but I've never managed to get them to look that great. Maybe from a distance they might work better.

[stevesideas]

For instance. Look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5XAFaOIIZo

I can see there is a lot of work involved to get all this done but the characters and animations look terrible.

[stevesideas]

This is interesting:http://www.cgarea.net/adidas-brazuca...reakdown-reel/

Looks like they are using AXYZ characters. Looks like more time spent on shaders, bip animations etc.

[stevesideas]

I'm giving Anima a trial go.

[joconnell]

You could use lots of motion capture on pre rigged axyz characters, point cache them to a few different models, then use forest or railclone to scatter the animations around a stadium - http://www.itoosoft.com/tutorials/tutorial_stadium.php

[stevesideas]

Thanks for that link. I didn't see that tutorial on itoo. Looks like it could work really well.