the animation language
intro
al reference
scheme
animation tools
plugins
tutorials
references
download
search

Introduction

AL is a environment for procedural computer animation which provides a powerful modeling language, a language interpreter, and a set of interactive animation tools.
In addition, AL provides a complete interface to RenderMan compliant renderers including PhotoRealistic RenderMan (tm) and BMRT. The AL software is free and is available on Silicon Graphics workstations and PCs running the Linux operating system.
What's NEW:
  • As of 3/19/2002, a version of AL is available -- version 5.2a. This version is linked against BMRT 2.6 which solves the problem of ox crashing when querying BMRT 2.6 shaders.
  • Version 5.2 has been compiled with Red Hat 7.1 which should solve the problems folks have experienced running AL 5.1 on newer linux installations.
  • The OpenGL libraries are no longer statically linked which should allow local graphics hardware to be better utilized.

Download AL 5.2a Now

AL was developed by Steve May as a faculty/staff member at the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) which is a part of The Ohio State University. Steve is currently employed at Pixar Animation Studios and maintains AL in his spare time.


Images shown:
Horse Play (cropped) by Charles Csuri
An image from "Anatomy-Based Modeling of the Human Musculature" in SIGGRAPH 97 Proceedings by Ferdi Scheepers, Rick Parent, Wayne Carlson, Steve May
A frame from Butterflies in the Rain by Mark Fontana, Kirk Bowers, Steve May

AL: The Animation Language is Copyright © 1992-2000, Stephen F. May