Antics is to fall in love with — both as a previz tool and as a rough blocking tool and as one of the most easy to learn and customize machinima-making tool so far (they allow for direct import in .3ds format). (Also, I can totally imagine bringing in the renders into AfterEffects to convert to cartoon-ish form to make production quality cartoons!). I especially love the camera shots and transitions, the intuitive keyframing and smart camera sync’s, although their zoom/navigation system is a bit confusing — and lack of custom shortcuts is almost as painful as building in SL. Their basic build system is SketchUp-esque (well, sans push-pull - you have to click the wall button to add walls), but it’s intuitive to block out a 2d floor plan and then to click add walls. Like other OpenGL programs, their textures are limited to base 2’s. Interestingly, the system is powered by a command line system (such as “go to chair”) with more-or-less obvious theatre syntax.
They’re kind enough to offer a free unlimited version (it just lacks premium content). And they happen to be running a medical competition when I chanced to find them, so here’s my entry–basically the first thing I made in Antics:
