2021.07.28 - Launch Announcement
Welcome to Ragdoll Dynamics, the real-time physics solver for Maya.
July 28th 2021
Today marks the launch of Ragdoll Dynamics and you are reading the announcement post for this moment. With Ragdoll, you'll be able to achieve faster and more realistic character animation with less work.
Read on to find out what it's all about.
Background
In 2012 I had an idea for a physics system suitable for animators.
The idea sprung from the mind of a Character Animator landing a job in Creature FX and being exposed to nCloth in Maya. The goal was simple; animate a piece of string in space. But, traditional tools failed us. The desired motion was too subtle and the level of control we had was too fine. Like laying bricks with a tweezer.
So we turned to physics simulation as a means of automating subtlety and focusing on how we wanted the animation to feel and what we wanted it to do, rather than spending time making it look like it belonged in the real world. But now we had the opposite problem; although the results were subtle, they were hard to control. Like playing Jenga with a tractor.
The process was highly technical, very few animators would endure that kind of process. If this was to become accessible to animators, something drastic needed to happen. Something to transform highly technical concepts into creative choices, something that could leverage the computational power of our workstations without overburdening the artist with nonsense.
It is now July 28th 2021 - the birthday of Ragdoll - and we may (finally) begin our journey towards exactly that.
What is Early Access?
Ragdoll is now in "Early Access" for the next 1-3 months.
During this time, we'll round off corners and improve the overall experience - including more tutorials, more documentation and generally being here for you as we both take our first steps into this together. Unlike most new technology, there has never been a physics solver for animators before; everything we do from here on out will be unexplored pastures, ripe with new discoveries.
So, if you're happy to dive into the unknown and learn the old-fashioned-way of trial-and-error, Ragdoll is yours. Alternatively, sit back, relax and watch other people suffer through the growing pains of an early-stage startup for the next 1-3 months.
We'll post updates both here and on LinkedIn during this time.
Early Bird
During these first 1-3 months, there's carrot.
Ragdoll Unlimited is the unrestricted, full version of Ragdoll. The full price of which is £1950 for a floating licence. But because it's early, the price is lowered to the price of Ragdoll Complete - £499 for a node-locked licence. This will be reflected in the total price during checkout.
Once early access is over - about 1 to 3 months from now - the price will return to normal.
Immediate Roadmap
The next 1-3 months will have a singular focus.
- Learning Material
That means tutorials, documenation, interface tweaks, bug fixing, performance improvements and everything in between. If you find yourself struggling with something, it's not you, it's Ragdoll. Let us know via chat or forum here and we'll aim for same-day or same-week fixes. That's what Early Access is all about.
Product Tiers
Ragdoll comes in 5 flavours.
- Trial
- Personal
- Complete
- Unlimited
- Batch
Each flavour is priced differently to enable access to everyone. For non-commercial users - namely anyone wanting to fool around with physics for their personal or student projects at home - there's a special version of Ragdoll. This version is identical to a node-locked version of Ragdoll Unlimited plus having free upgrades forever.
| Trial | Personal | Complete | Unlimited | Batch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Use | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Interactive Tools | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Python API | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Multi-Threading | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| JSON Import/Export | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Per-process Licence | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Perpetual Pricing | ❌ | £99 | £499 | £1299 | £199 |
| Floating Licence | ❌ | ❌ | £750 | £1950 | £250 |
| Monthly Pricing | ❌ | ❌ | £55 | £80 | £20 |
| Annual Upgrade Plan | ❌ | £0 | £250 | £650 | £99 |
Next Steps
Ready?
Click here to download and install Ragdoll for Windows and Linux, Maya versions 2018-2022. You'll have a whole month to experiment before having to make up your mind, so go nuts!