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Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames 2009)LOOP 2009EVA 2009ICIDS 2009 Interactive Storytelling
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Jump to: Software All product reviews |
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Introduction
N-Sided has given Quidam yet another major upgrade with version 3, in terms of both product features and licensing options. Performance has been greatly improved in may key areas such as painting, skeletal editing, and new features that improve your workflow such as the catalog system and external painting have been added.
The help file has grown from 150 to 194 pages since we last reviewed version 2.2 (read it here), and is a very well put together PDF that makes finding and learning the new features fairly straight forward. Also this time around we ran through both the PC and Mac versions of the product and noted that performance has increased on both operating systems.
So let's take a look at what Quidam 3 has to offer!
Overview
N-Sided has kept the same great UI found in Quidam 2.2 in this latest version, and have built on top of that to support the newest features in the product.
Figure 1: The Quidam 3 UI showing the new Catalog system (click for a full-size picture)
Catalogs
A new system has been added to store organized elements for use such as props, clothing, scenes, morphs, etc. When you first launch the catalog system it is preloaded with a number of objects and presets already so that you can start using it right away. It is extremely useful to be able to save all the transformations and scaling that you have made on your characters, and then use them with the one click system. This specifically works well with the new scratch mode that allows you to store and reply morph sequences, as you can bank them in your catalog for later use or for export.
Figure 2: Using a pre-made prop in the Catalog system to give the character a weapon after he was posed
This new system is not only for storing presets for your characters, but can also be used for environmental elements such as backgrounds, floors, lights, cameras, etc. So you now have very quick access to a well ordered archive, which improves the workflow tremendously. N-Sided has also included a lot of 2D and 3D content with this new version to aid you in building your scenes and to allow you to jump into using the product immediately. You can build complete scenes just by using the objects that are available by default. They have also included many new characters and props such as weapons and jewelry for use.
Skeleton Mode
One of the gripes I had with the previous versions of Quidam was with the skeleton mode, which had various usability quirks and a work around for saving models with modified skeletons. This new version improves upon these areas greatly, as you are now able to save your skeletal modifications in the .QUI files. This makes much more sense and is very efficient compared to the older method of storing the complete model in a .QDM file in order to keep the changes. So the work around of exporting the model is no longer needed and you are able to manipulate and reuse the skeleton just like the defaults! Overall this mode seems to have been completely revamped and the UI works much better than the previous versions, it now integrates much better into the overall application.
Texture Painting
One of the features I was really looking forward to when Quidam 3 was launched was the updated 3D paint module, which N-Sided claimed was fully rewritten to give better accuracy and much higher performance. You can adjust the resolution and resize the texture map, which works extremely well for building detailed textures. I found the brush strokes were much more accurate, and the performance was incredible when compared to the earlier versions. Quite honestly this seems like a brand new feature rather than an update, as it is so much more powerful than the previous version and the performance improvements alone are quite remarkable.
Figure 3: Using the 3D paint tool in Texture Studio to start painting our hero's cape red.
Another massive improvement to the texturing pipeline is the new external paint functionality. This allows you to edit your textures in your application of choice (i.e. Photoshop) and whenever modifications to the texture are saved it is updated automatically in the Quidam 3D view. Our company uses photoshop heavily as our primary tool for texturing, so having the ability to bridge in Quidam, like in our other DCCs, was a much appreciated feature.
UV Mapping
You can now easily add UV coordinates to objects that you import into Quidam, in order to work with the 3D painting. The UV AutoMapper lets you select a projection to apply on the object, and you are then able to fine tune the parameters and see the changes in real time. This makes it very easy to bring in custom props and objects and use all of the integrated functionality available in Quidam.
Figure 4: Setting up a helmet object with UV coordinates using the AutoMap Editor
N-Sided has also added an awesome new feature with the Move UV tool. This allows you to select a brush and manipulate the UVs with great accuracy, thereby deforming the texture rather than the actual model. You can see this in action here. This allows you to make changes and corrections quickly and with great accuracy.
Rendering
The overall rendering performance has greatly increased and the application as a whole seems much more responsive because of this. This was an area that I thought needed some work in the previous versions, so I am glad to see that N-Sided has addressed this. The renderer now also includes self shadowing in addition to the projected shadows that were available in earlier versions.
Versions
There are now three different versions of the product; the base Quidam 3, Quidam 3 Studio, and Quidam 3 Prime. The main differences in Quidam 3 Studio are in the exporting pipeline (preparation, optimization, and UV) and creating low poly versions of the characters and props. This version includes the Collada direct export, but if you want to export to 3D Studio Max or Maya you will have to purchase the additional plugins.
Quidam 3 Prime being the top package, includes the Maya and 3D Studio plugins, as well as licensing rights to integrate the generated models into one video game title. This is a fairly significant different when compared to the other versions, as it is the only version that includes licensing rights in an application. With Quidam 3 and Quidam 3 Studio you can use your rendered 2D images and animations but you do not have licensing rights to use the 3D models in your games.
Indie Licensing
There is also a special licensing deal for independent developers (which according to N-Sided means you have a turnover lower than €115000 on your last fiscal year). This allows you to license Quidam 3 Prime for €895 but also allows you to integrate models into an unlimited number of titles, instead of being bound to one title per license. This makes the product and licensing significantly more affordable to smaller studios and independent developers when compared to previous versions and licensing agreements.
MMOG / Virtual World Licensing
N-Sided has also added special licensing terms for developers of virtual worlds, allowing you to build NPCs and add avatar content quite quickly. You are given an unlimited number of seats for development and are able to integrate an unlimited amount of avatars in the game.
This licensing model is actually subscription based where you purchase an initial license and every year thereafter you renew your license agreement. The model is not based on the number of models used, but on the actual number of active players in your game world (an "Active Member" is defined by N-Sided as the number of users who logged into the virtual world once during the last 90 days before your license renewal) The initial cost for < 10000 subscribers is €1950 with a renewal of €1450, and it scales from there. You can read more about this here on their site.
Conclusion
When N-Sided announces a new version of Quidam, they really do give you a major upgrade. We saw this from the first version to the second, and now the third version adds even more major features and improvements. The catalog system, UV mapping, and texture painting could have warranted an update on its own, but the addition of the performance upgrades and skeletal system tweaks makes it even more worthy. They have also made the licensing more affordable to independent developers which is very nice to see, and the virtual world licensing is an interesting twist on scaling asset cost. Overall this version is definitely worth taking a look at, for both people new to Quidam as well as current users.
Resources
N-Sided provided a few good links for Quidam's features. Check 'em out.
Joe Woynillowicz is a co-founder and technical director of Creoterra Inc., a game technology company located in Toronto, Ontario.
