A general purpose animator

ABSTRACT

During the 1980s, the simulation discipline has been revolutionized by the introduction of software for graphical, animated depiction of a running simulation on a display screen. Advocates of simulation animation have given several main reasons for using animation.There have also been some detractors who felt that animation was not always an appropriate tool. However, it has become clear that animation is here to stay. Discussion is shifting to comparisons among various animation tools and mapping out future directions for animation.Wolverine Software Corporation waited several years before beginning development of animation software. The company began animation development work in 1987, with the benefit of having observed and otherwise learned about the strengths and weaknesses of then-existing software.The preliminary results of the development effort are now available in product form. Wolverine has developed a general purpose animator. This software has a wide variety of applications and, thanks to its open architecture, can be used in conjunction with virtually any simulation software and in some non-simulation areas as well. For the IBM PC platform on which it runs, the product redefines several performance characteristics, most notably with its smooth motion and its geometry-based internal data structure.

REFERENCES

• 1: Crain, R. C., and Brunner, D. T. (1989). Extended Features of GPSS/H. In Proceedings of the 1989 Winter Simulation Conference (E. A. MacNair, K. Musselman, and P. Heidelberger, eds.).
• 2: McKay, K., and Rooks, M. (1989). WATMIMS JIT/Kanban Benchmark - Summary and Recommendations. In Proceedings of the 1989 Winter Simulation Conference (E. A. MacNair, K. Musselman, and P. Heidelberger, eds.).

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.7 Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism
          Subjects: Animation

Additional Classification:
  E. Data

  J. Computer Applications
  J.3 LIFE AND MEDICAL SCIENCES

      Nouns: ARMIS
  J.6 COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING

      Nouns: VENUS

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Performance, Verification