3D Movie Maker (commonly shortened to 3DMM) is a children's

computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...

developed by

Microsoft Home Microsoft Home is a discontinued line of software applications and personal hardware products published by Microsoft. The Microsoft Home brand was first announced by Bill Gates in a presentation on October 4, 1993. These applications were designed ...

Microsoft Kids Microsoft Home is a discontinued line of software applications and personal hardware products published by Microsoft. The Microsoft Home brand was first announced by Bill Gates in a presentation on October 4, 1993. These applications were designed ...

subsidiary released in 1995. Using the program, users can make

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s by placing 3D characters and props into

pre-rendered Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typ ...

environments, as well as adding actions, sound effects, music, text, speech and special effects. Movies are then saved in the .3mm

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

. The program features two helper characters to guide users through the various features of the program: The character McZee (voiced by Michael Shapiro), shared from other Microsoft Kids products like Creative Writer, provides help throughout the studio while his assistant Melanie provides other various tutorials. In

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

3D Movie Maker, the user is instead guided by

Stick Stickly Stick Stickly is a fictional character created by Agi Fodor and Karen Kuflik, that appears on the television network Nickelodeon. He is an anthropomorphized popsicle stick with googly eyes, a jelly bean nose, and a small mouth. He was the ho ...

. Developed in accordance with Microsoft's broader ambitions towards multimedia software in conjunction with the release of its then-new

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

home computer operating system, 3D Movie Maker is built on

BRender Argonaut Games is a British video game developer founded in 1982. It was known for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES video game ''Star Fox (1993 video game), Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX chip, and for ''Croc: Legend o ...

, a software rasterized 3D graphics engine created by

Argonaut Software Argonaut Games is a British video game developer founded in 1982. It was known for the Super NES video game '' Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX chip, and for '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'' and the ''Starglider'' series. The company was ...

. The models and backgrounds were made by Illumin8 Digital Pictures (a now-defunct graphics studio) using Softimage modeling software, while the cinematic introduction and help sequences were made by Productions Jarnigoine, a now-inactive production company founded by Jean-Jacques Tremblay. In 1998, a user named ''Space Goat'' created the website 3dmm.com that allows users to upload movies and mods for 3DMM. 3dmm.com is still used today by many 3DMM enthusiasts. Following the

open-sourcing Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Open ...

of the licensed BRender engine prior in similar fashion, Microsoft released the source code of the program under the

MIT License The MIT License is a permissive software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts very few restrictions on reuse and therefore has high license compatibility. Unl ...

in May 2022, following a request by Foone Turing on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

a month earlier.

Overview

Filmmaking in 3D Movie Maker is a straightforward process, allowing users to create various kinds of movies with ease. By default, 40 actors/actresses are available (each with 4 different costumes and a number of actions), as well as 20 different

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

s. Twelve different scenes are available to the user, each containing several different static

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

s. While the actors and props are rendered as polygonal meshes with affine texture mapping and basic shading, the scene backgrounds instead are

images with an associated

depth buffer A z-buffer, also known as a depth buffer, is a type of data buffer used in computer graphics to store the depth information of fragments. The values stored represent the distance to the camera, with 0 being the closest. The encoding scheme may ...

that is compared against the runtime-rendered meshes so that aspects of the scene at hand can appear to occlude the meshes once a character or prop is placed behind a static object from the background. Many sample voice and

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

music clips are included, but original voices can be recorded using a

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

while external .

wav Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced or ) is an audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on personal computers. The format was developed and published for the first time in 1991 ...

and .MIDI files can be imported. In 3DMM, movies are recorded from frames in quick succession, featuring a destructive editing paradigm. Whilst pre-created animations (such as walking or dancing) can be applied to actors and made to run over a number of frames in sequence, unlike conventional animation software, the interface explicitly does not expose any distinction between abstract

keyframes In animation and filmmaking, a key frame (or keyframe) is a drawing or shot that defines the starting and ending points of a smooth transition. These are called ''frames'' because their position in time is measured in frames on a strip of film ...

and inbetweens. 3DMM stores the positions of the characters and objects for each frame. Lending itself to the hardware limitations of the time when computers with performant 3D graphics rendering were more out-of-reach for most families, the game's internal movie playback

frame rate Frame rate, most commonly expressed in frame/s, or FPS, is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (Film frame, frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer animation, and moti ...

was capped to 6-8 frames per second, depending on the system. A finished movie can only be viewed inside 3DMM using the virtual auditorium or the studio, unless converted to a video file format with a

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

utility. The application's user interface is centered upon a theater building consisting of several rooms: the ticket booth, where the user is greeted by McZee and then asked to play or create a movie; the

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians * Lobby (food), a thick stew made in Leigh, Greater Manchester and North Staffordshire, like ...

and

concession stand A concession stand, or refreshment stand (American English, Canadian English), snack kiosk or snack bar (British English, Irish English) is a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, amusement park, zoo, aquarium, circus, f ...

; the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

for watching movies, a projecting room for tutorials for 3D logos and tips, an idea room for movie ideas (also where the talent book stands); and the studio for movie-making tools. The V3DMM version of 3DMM removes the surrounding

diegetic Diegesis (; , ) is a style of fiction storytelling in which a participating narrator offers an on-site, often interior, view of the scene to the reader, viewer, or listener by subjectively describing the actions and, in some cases, thoughts, o ...

theater interface and thus restricts viewing movies only in the studio. The two common

s used by 3D Movies are .3mm and .vmm. .nmm was a third file format once used by 3D Movies, but since the release of the "Nickelodeon 3DMM" add-on to 3D Movie Maker, which combined both editions in one program, this has been deprecated by the ".3mm" file format. The

Comic Sans Comic Sans MS is a sans-serif typeface created and designed by Vincent Connare and released by Microsoft Corporation in 1994. Designed as a non-connecting script, the typeface draws inspiration from comic book lettering, to emulate the informal ...

font, originally intended to be used for

Microsoft Bob Microsoft Bob was a Microsoft software product intended to provide a more user-friendly interface for the Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems, supplanting the Windows Program Manager. The program was released on March 10, ...

, made its first appearance in 3D Movie Maker. Michael Shapiro, the voice actor for McZee, later went on to voice

G-Man ''G-man'' (short for "government man", plural ''G-men'') is an American slang term for agents of the United States Government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ''G-man'' is also a term ...

in the ''

Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...

'' series.

Versions

* A

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or Miniature wargaming, miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules ...

for 3DMM was released with characters from the popular children's

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series ''

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...

''. It consists of 11 new scenes, 5 new characters and 96 new voice lines. *

3D Movie Maker is a Nickelodeon-themed version of 3D Movie Maker. This version includes 12 unique actors and 11 unique scenes from ''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American Television comedy, comedy animated television series created by Joe Murray (animator), Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Australian ...

'', '' Ren & Stimpy'' and ''

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'' is an American animated television series developed by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. It is the fifth Nicktoons, Nicktoon after ''Doug (TV series), Doug'', ''Rugrats'', ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' and ''Rocko's Modern Li ...

''. An unofficial expansion pack allows Nickelodeon actors, props, scenes, music and sounds to be used in the original ''3D Movie Maker''. * Demo versions: These only feature the studio, do not allow the opening/saving of movies and only feature two actors and one prop. They are Bongo, Nakita and a red

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

for 3D Movie Maker, while for Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker they are Ren,

Stimpy Ren Höek and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat are the title characters in the Nickelodeon animated series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' and its 2003 spin-off '' Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"''. Series creator John Kricfalusi created the characters ...

and a spaceship. A demo version was distributed with the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Interactive CD Sampler (1996).

Third-party

Several user-made expansion packs and animation tools exist, such as: * 3DMM Animation Pro (2002): Binds mouse movements to the keyboard, which allows directors to create more fluid movements on the screen. * Doraemon Expansion Pack: This pack was only released in Japan. * 3DMM Expansion Pack (2003): A user-made expansion pack known as "Frankie's Expansion" after its creator Frank Weindel, who introduced the first new textures, actors and objects to the software since release. * Virtual 3D Movie Maker (V3DMM; 2004): An unofficial third-party expansion management program that allows users to include their own customized expansions in their movies and allow them to be freely distributed. Notable expansions include characters from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'', ''

PaRappa the Rapper is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was originally released in Japan in 1996 and worldwide in 1997. Created by music producer Masaya Matsuura in collaboration w ...

'', and other notable media icons. * 7gen (2005): A

GUI Gui or GUI may refer to: People Surname * Gui (surname), an ancient Chinese surname, ''xing'' * Bernard Gui (1261 or 1262–1331), inquisitor of the Dominican Order * Luigi Gui (1914–2010), Italian politician * Gui Minhai (born 1964), Ch ...

for creating V3DMM expansions. * 3DMM Pencil++ 2: A program for editing 3D Movie Maker datafiles that allows users to edit expansions. * Nickelodeon Expansion Pack: An unofficial expansion pack that adds all the actors, props, textures, scenes and sounds from Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker.

Reception

''Alamo PC Organization'' wrote: "This is not a program one masters in a few days, or even weeks. It is a wonderful demonstration of technological advancement for Windows 95 graphical programming possibilities. This program in the hands of casual, perhaps even dedicated home users, is not a threat to any commercial animation firm." Aaron Matterson of ''Joystick Division'' said that "it looked impossibly goofy even by 1995 standards, but didlove it, and it taught me many things about my own creativity, the art of storytelling, and a strange, terrible humanoid creature named McZee". '' CNET'' said "Still, it's encouraging to see what kids can do--and want to spend time doing--with 3D Movie Maker. It ain't a master class from Scorsese, but it's better than a repeat viewing of Ace Ventura"

References

External links