In a field that constantly changing, MPC is committed to delivering world class visual effects. To do this we take 'off the shelf' tools and integrate them into our pipeline. However, there are times when we need to achieve very specific ends and to do this we have our own team of exceptionally talented software developers and computer graphics specialists who develop our very own in house proprietary tools. These include:

ALICE: MPC's in-house crowd system. It is an extensive proprietary tool-set designed for positioning and choreographing anywhere from a handful of characters to a horde of autonomous agents. Developed initially to fulfil the crowd requirements of Wolfgang Petersen's 'Troy', ALICE has undergone continued development to expand it's capabilities to meet the diverse needs of successive productions. Whether it be commanding disciplined armies or wrangling swarming aliens, herding lumbering mammoths or running a hyperactive Santa's workshop, ALICE has done it all.

… And ALICE doesn't shy away from the spotlight. In 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,' our most ambitious crowd show to date, ALICE was used, not just to populate wide shots and fill out the background with it's diverse cast of mythical creatures, but also to place and animate characters right up into the very foreground of shots. This was made possible by the fact that ALICE is fully integrated into MPC's animation pipeline, meaning on the one hand that motion capture, keyframe animation and physics simulation can be used interchangeably as inputs to its sophisticated animation synthesis engine. On the other hand it allows individual ALICE agents to receive the same attention to detail in terms of animation, muscle dynamics, cloth and fur as any hero CG character.

PAPI: is the 'Physics API', based on Havok, it facilitates the creation of scenes involving falling, colliding and constrained rigid bodies. Initially a simple scripting tool, developed for work on 'Troy' and 'Kingdom of Heaven', it has since been enhanced by the addition of a user interface, which means straightforward simulations can be set up at the click of a few buttons, while more complex scenarios, including breaking and shattering objects, can be controlled via 'events' set up through the interface. PAPI also integrates with ALICE, to enable interactions between crowd and physical elements.

Furtility: is MPC's next generation surface dressing tool kit, primarily used for creating photo realistic fur and hair for CG characters, it can also be used for the creation of anything from feathers to grass. Coupled with MPC's in house hair simulation software artists have full control over the fur movement and interactions. This control includes stiffness and weight as well as external and environmental effects such as wind, rain and movement. It recently created woolly mammoths for '10,000 BC' and a host of characters appearing in 'Narnia; Prince Caspian.'

ISIS: offers a full suite of software for digital set reconstruction. A series of 2D still photos of a building can be built into a full 3D model. The results can be seen in some of the set extension work on Tim Burton's 'Sweeney Todd'.