When VR-Forces added ‘scenario events’ back in release 4.3, the intent was to support a Master Scenario Events List (MSEL). In operations-based or discussion-based exercises, a MSEL provides a timeline and location for expected exercise events and injects -- actions that push the scenario forward.

NADS miniSim driving simulator uses DI-Guy to inject realism into its driving environment

The recent holiday season marked the one-year anniversary of DI-Guy joining the MÄK team "“ and what a year it has been! From increasing DI-Guy performance and ease-of-use, to developing new ways to control characters, to building more realistic character simulations, and to creating much more content out-of-the-box, 2014 has been the year of DI-Guy.

With such a strong year in the records and such a strong product on the shelf, it makes sense that the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) trusts DI-Guy’s human character simulation in its NADS miniSim„¢ driving simulator.

May is almost here and we are getting really excited "“ we can’t wait to finalize and release DI-Guy 13 at MÄK! This will be DI-Guy’s first major release as a part of MÄK. While there is a ton of new stuff going into this release, I wanted to share some pics of several of the new characters we are adding. Enjoy this sneak peek and feel free to comment if you have questions! (Click below to read more.)

DI-Guy 13 is almost here and we can’t wait for you to try it out. Here’s a rundown of some of the new features you can expect and what they mean for you.

Streamlined Appearance Configuration System - This system reduces the need for hundreds of different appearances and allows you to view which carried objects can be used by specific characters. In DI-Guy 13, enjoy using the same character body with a variety of carried objects (guns, phone, video camera, etc) and different heads to customize that character’s appearance. This means that instead of modifying hundreds of soldiers with a new weapon, for example, just add the new weapon to a list of character-appropriate objects.

Ever since MÄK acquired the DI-Guy product line from Boston Dynamics in December, we have been working hard to make sure the transition for DI-Guy customers is as seamless as possible. The product line is still supported by the same DI-Guy developers (who are now part of the MÄK team), and we have continued development based on the original DI-Guy 13 roadmap. However, we are making a change to the way DI-Guy license management is implemented: DI-Guy products will now be licensed the same way the rest of the MÄK product suite is licensed. These changes are mechanical in nature and in no way affect the legal rights associated with product usage. We believe these changes will improve your experiences using DI-Guy. The changes are quite limited, as DI-Guy has always used FlexLM - the same license management software used by all MÄK products. This blog is designed to explain the changes and discuss their rationale.

Existing MÄK customers
If you are already using other MÄK Products and are familiar with MÄK licensing, DI-Guy 13 licenses onward will work the exact same way they work for other MÄK products. We will also start distributing DI-Guy 13 licenses in the same file with other MÄK products.

Hosted licenses
Our license software supports both hosted and node-locked licenses. Hosted licenses use a license server allowing the software to run on any machine that can connect and check a license out from the license server. Node-locked licenses are licenses that are restricted to a single machine. Before the transition to MÄK, most DI-Guy customers received node-locked licenses, as hosted licenses came at an extra cost.  MÄK does not charge extra for hosted licenses; our goal is to provide the licenses in the format which works best for you. We issue hosted licenses by default, as we do for all of our products. However, node-locked licenses are still available upon request.

Whether you’re simulating characters on a plane, emergency responders tending to a car accident, soldiers fighting for a foreign military, or a businessman walking down a busy Brooklyn street, DI-Guy gives you the content to create scenarios in whatever setting you need.

But if you’re like us, you might need to see it to believe it. So go on, take a peek at some of the new character content available with the just-released DI-Guy 13!

As you can tell, we’ve been busy updating our character content with detailed bump maps and highlights, but we haven’t forgetten about the non-human models needed to set up realistic scenarios. Here are a few of the vehicles, city street props, and weapons to make your scenario pop with realism.

Enhanced Company Operations Simulation (ECOSim) is known for its ease-of-use, rapid scenario generation, runtime operator control, and realistic & reactive human simulation. The short video below explains how easy it is to set up a scenario with DI-Guy humans in ECOSim, MÄK’s company-level training simulation that teaches leaders how best to deploy troops, UAVs, convoys, and other assets. Watch how easy it is to place a hostile or friendly squads into the scenario and see how the civilians and townspeople react through the Small Unit Leader Interface (SULI) and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) feed.

At MÄK, we are constantly seeking ways to improve our products by diligently researching the latest technologies that will elevate our fidelity and performance. In this blog, we’ll tell you how we’re doing exactly that by integrating the photogrammetry process into our human content pipeline.

Photogrammetry is the science of making measurements from photographs "” we’re using it to make a high-resolution 3D mesh. We expertly capture photos of a subject, use specialized processing software and post-processing by our team of 3D artists to make hyper-realistic, high-performing humans for DI-Guy, our Human Simulation software. DI-Guy’s ability to support multi-texturing via albedo, bump, specular, gloss, and ambient occlusion allows us to retain the minute detail of these captures while delivering them in low-polygonal, high-performing models. The DI-Guy artists use industry-leading tools such as ZBrush, 3D Studio Max, Maya, and Photoshop to translate these models from reality to virtual reality. As you can see from the photos and videos, the results are impressive. 

While the results of this method are arguably the best quality humans in the simulation market, the benefits do not end there. In the design and implementation of this technology, we created what our 3D artists call the PortaScan Studio, a portable photogrammetry studio that allows them to travel anywhere to create custom human content for simulations. Imagine this: Private First Class (PFC) John Miller shows up for training where he is scanned and added to the DI-Guy library, along with his fellow trainees and comrades. He then dons an Oculus Head-Mounted Display and enters the training scenario. As he looks to his left he sees PFC Mike Marshall (not a stock avatar mind you, but Mike’s actual visage!) and to his right, his Captain. Talk about full immersion.