Shark 3D

Shark 3D is a 3D software program and engine developed by Spinor for creating and running interactive virtual 3D worlds. It is mainly used for developing video games (similar to a Game engine), producing films and TV series,[1][2] creating broadcast graphics,[3] and developing 3D applications.

Shark 3D
Original author(s)Spinor
Developer(s)Spinor
Initial releaseFebruary 2000 (2000-02)
Written inC++, Python
Available inEnglish
Type3D computer graphics, game engine
Websitespinor.com

Workflow

Animations are created by "playing" a scene as in video games within a simulated virtual world. This is different from software like Autodesk 3ds Max or Autodesk Maya where you create animations by hand-animating all individual movements.

By recording different characters and objects in different tracks, the animator can create a full scene in multiple iterations. For example, the animator can first play one virtual actor, and then play another while replaying the first one. Recording is physics based, so that a character or vehicle controlled live can physically interact with previously recorded characters and objects.

Features

Shark 3D contains:

  • A tool pipeline. Assets like meshes, textures and basic animations are not created within Shark 3D, but imported from separate tools like 3ds Max or Maya.
  • Authoring editor[4]
  • Physics based recording, replay and track editing
  • Shader editor
  • Renderer (live and render-to-file)
  • Sound system
  • Physics engine
  • Scripting

The core of Shark 3D is an authoring editor supporting templates and prefabs to reuse entities. Templates and prefabs can be nested to any level and edited live.[5] This allows building up complex scenes or objects with integrated behaviors (e.g. NPCs or complex camera systems based on simple building blocks in a flexible way).

Shark 3D is available for multiple target platforms like Windows and Linux based PC applications, mobile devices and consoles.

The software focuses entirely on real-time. For example, all soft lighting and shadowing in the Shark 3D renderer is completely real-time.[6] This is in contrast to other software packages like Autodesk Maya which are mainly non-realtime or various game engines such as Unity or Unreal Engine which use a mixture of real-time and pre-calculated lighting.

The software is highly modular and can be customized or extended on all layers.

Industry support

Clients
Screenshot from the engine

Companies using Shark 3D include Funcom,[7] Ravensburger Digital,[8] Marc Weigert,[9] Siemens, ARD/ZDF/Pro 7/Disney Junior.[10] In 2012, it was the second-most used real-time 3D engine in Europe after Unity.[11]

Awards

Awards given to products based on Shark 3D:

Third-party plugins

See also

References
  1. "Shark 3D Engine Interview". Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  2. "EFA Master Class 2014: "HIGH VALUE FOR YOUR BUDGET – The Creative Use of Virtual Production" with Marc Weigert, 2 - 8 June 2014". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  3. "Neue Gestaltungsfreiheit in der Bluebox". Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  4. "Let's get serious:How video game technology transforms other industries" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-08-28. Slide 4
  5. "Let's get serious:How video game technology transforms other industries" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-08-28. Slide 15
  6. "Shark 3D Engine Interview". Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  7. "E3 2004: DREAMFALL: THE LONGEST JOURNEY FIRST LOOK". Archived from the original on June 4, 2004. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  8. "Shark 3D based iOS-Game tops the German iTunes charts". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  9. "EFA Master Class 2014: "HIGH VALUE FOR YOUR BUDGET – The Creative Use of Virtual Production" with Marc Weigert, 2 - 8 June 2014". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  10. "Real-time Renderer Vector" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  11. "European Online Game Survey 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-08-28. Page 6.
  12. "PC Reviews". Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  13. "Xbox Reviews". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  14. "Dreamfall Game of the Year - PC (Jewel case)". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  15. "Weißer Elefant für fliegende Fische". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  16. "Preisträger 2007". Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  17. "vr3".
  18. "Cinector".
  19. "The Real-Time-Framework".
  20. "Integrating RTF into Shark 3D as a foundation for experiments on OFELIA".
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