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Microsoft 3D Movie Maker

Product
Developers: Microsoft
Last Release Date: 2022/05/04
Branches: Entertainment, leisure, sports

2022: Open Source Code

In early May 2022, Microsoft opened the source texts of the 3D Movie Maker program, which allows children to create films, placing three-dimensional characters and props in a pre-formed environment, as well as adding sound effects, music and dialogues. The code is written in C++ and published under the MIT license. The program was developed in 1995, but remains in demand by enthusiasts who continue to publish films in 3mm format, as well as develop fashions and extensions with the implementation of new scenes, characters and props.

The code was restored from the Microsoft archive and published as is, without adaptation for assembly by current compilers (Visual C++ 2.0 is required for assembly) and work on current hardware. Microsoft also received consent to open the code used in the BRender 3D engine program. The BRender code in the 3D Movie Maker repository is published as of 1995, but more recent versions are also available for download - BRender-1997 and BRender-v1.3.2, open under MIT licenses. At the same time, the SoftImage SDK is not included, which must be obtained separately[1]

Microsoft revealed the source software for creating 3D Movie Maker films

3D Movie Maker is a child-centric program that allowed users to create animated films. The program included a number of 3D character models, as well as music and voice fragments, and in combination with pre-rendered backgrounds, it was possible to create a video scene behind the scenes. You could also record voice clips and import audio files to create a film. In addition, it was in 3D Movie Maker that the famous Comic Sans font first appeared.

Although the official versions of 3D Movie Maker did not go beyond the initial release, enthusiasts developed a number of expansion packages to make it more useful. Apparently, it was in response to the actions of one of these enthusiasts that Microsoft decided to publish the source code of the program, since Scott Hanselman from Microsoft shared this news in response to a message from Foone on Twitter.

Although Microsoft warns that the user will not be able to use the application from this source code on modern hardware, developers can experiment with it and potentially update it for modern software. Microsoft itself will not publish updated versions of 3D Movie Maker, since the official open source repository will be static, but users can create and work with their own repositories.

Over the past few years, Microsoft has been increasingly leaning toward open source software. The PowerToys program has been revived in recent years as open source software and gets frequent improvements thanks to the development community. The Calculator app for Windows 10 was also opened several years ago and even transferred to smartphones.[2]

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