Microsoft unlocked the source code for 3D Movie Maker in 1995 because someone asked for it

In 1995, the company’s Microsoft Kids division released a program called Microsoft 3D Movie Maker. Same year as the original Toy Story Proving that 3D computer animation of distinct length was possible, people could install software on their home computers that could stream rudimentary but creative 3D animated movies at 6 to 8 frames per second.

Apart from the release doraemon And Nickelodeon-specific versions of Movie Maker later, Microsoft hasn’t really returned to that program…yet. Scott Hanselman, Community Manager, Microsoft Developer Division, announced that Microsoft was Open source code for 3D Movie Makerposted to Github in a read-only repository Under license from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The code was released not because Microsoft has big plans for 3D Movie Maker but because Someone asked. Foone Turing’s self-described “hardware/software necromancer” asked Microsoft to release the 3D Movie Maker source code back in April because they wanted to “expand it and expand it.” Hanselmann and Microsoft Open Source Office Director Jeff Wilcox worked with Microsoft’s legal department to make this happen.

The 3D renderer used in 3D Movie Maker is called BRender, and it was used in the mid-1990s by Argonaut Software for computer games such as Carmageddon And FX Fighter. Turing has also been granted permission to BRender token released under the same MIT . license Like 3D Movie Maker Back in early April After asking permission from former Argonaut CEO Jez San.

We asked Hanselman why Microsoft took the trouble to put the 3D Movie Maker icon in after all these years.

Because there has never been an application like it, Hanselmann told Ars. “Even now 25 years later, there is a community that is excited about this tool.”

He is not mistaken. 3D Movie Maker still has a small but active user base content output I would politely describe it as “surreal”. Whether open source software leads to versions that can build and run on newer operating systems or an updated application with new features and better-looking output remains to be seen.

3D Movie Maker has another questionable achievement to its name: dialogs in 3D Movie Maker are the first documented appearance of Comic Sans, which was developed for Microsoft Pop But it wasn’t ready when this software was shipped. Comic Sans later conquered office signage everywhere thanks to its inclusion in Windows 95 Plus! Pack, Internet Explorer, and other Microsoft products from the 1990s.