html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Chaos has released Anima 6.0, the latest version of its crowd animation software.The update – the first since Chaos acquired Anima in 2023 – adds a complete new traffic simulation system, and introduces a new higher-performance viewport renderer. Integration plugins are available for 3ds Max, Cinema 4D and Unreal Engine 5, although there’s no longer any mention of Maya in the online documentation. An intuitive tool for less demanding crowd animation jobs Originally developed by AXYZ Design and acquired by Chaos in 2023, Anima is a crowd tool intended for architectural visualisation and less demanding animation work.It enables users to add animated characters to a scene without the complexity of a traditional AI- or particle-driven crowd simulation system. Users draw paths for crowd characters directly in the viewport, and place scene objects like furniture and traffic lights, along with areas for animated characters to avoid. Integration plugins are available for 3ds Max, Cinema 4D and Unreal Engine, and animated scenes can also be exported in FBX, OpenCollada or V-Ray’s .vrscene format. Anima 6.0: complete new traffic simulation system Anima 6.0 is the first update to the software in over two years, and it’s a pretty big one, adding Vroom: a complete new traffic simulation system.As with the crowd simulation tools, it’s intended to provide an intuitive way to achieve visually plausible results, without the complexity of more detailed simulations. According to Chaos, it can simulate “hundreds” of animated vehicles to populate city environments in visualizations, but has “limited scope” for traffic engineering studies. Simulate animated vehicles obeying international traffic rules Vroom uses a straightforward step-by-step workflow to simulate traffic.The Road tool lets you draw road networks in a 3D scene, then adjust their width and the number of lanes, the direction of traffic flow, and traffic rules. Vehicles can then be placed manually on the roads, or generated automatically, with options to control their density, the frequency of individual vehicle types, and driver behavior. Vroom then simulates the motion of the vehicles, including wheel movement and steering behavior, with built-in physics for vehicle inertia and response to bumps in the road. New, more modern interface and viewport render engine There are also some major changes under the hood in Anima 6.0, including an overhauled user interface, and a new 3D viewport engine.It is described as a “modern multi-target renderer” with support for DirectX 11, DirectX 12 and Vulkan – the OpenGL subsystem has been removed – improving performance and memory use. The library of stock 3D assets available with Anima subscriptions has also been expanded, increasing the cultural diversity of the character models, and adding over 40 animated vehicles. Is Anima still available for Maya? However, it isn’t clear whether the Maya plugin has been discontinued: Maya is still listed as a host app in the online FAQs, but there is no mention of Maya in the system requirements.We’ve contacted Chaos to ask if Maya is still supported, and will update if we hear back. Pricing and availability Anima 6.0 is available for 64-bit Windows 7+. The integration plugins are available for 3ds Max 2023+, Cinema 4D R26+ and Unreal Engine 5.3+.The software is now available rental-only, Chaos having discontinued perpetual licenses last year. Subscriptions cost $121.80/month or $717.60/year. There is also a free edition, Anima Lite, although rendering is very limited. Read an overview of the new features in Anima 6.0 on the product website Read a full list of new features in Anima 6.0 in the online release notes Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.