3D Movie Maker, Microsoft's movie creator for kids, is now open source

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, and when it comes to access to a program's source code, there's nothing lost in asking. That's what led to the Twitter profile of Foone Turing, someone we know well for his experiments with software and hardware. What did Foone do? He asked Microsoft for the code of 3D Movie Maker, an old program for kids that dates back to 1995. Redmond not only agreed to the request, but also essential components of the program were released.

The story tells us that in early 1995, the Microsoft Kids subdivision (under the wing of Microsoft Home) presented 3D Movie Maker, a platform where children and adults alike could create their first three-dimensional movies. With a total of 40 actors, 12 scenes, multiple costumes and objects, voice samples, MIDI music, and the ability to record custom sounds, 3D Movie Maker served as a starting point for thousands of creators, and for a whole community that 27 years later remains very active. Oh, and the Comic Sans font too. No joke.

3D Movie Maker Goes Open Source

The problem is that 3D Movie Maker faces multiple technical challenges. Anyone interested in running that program today will have to deal with virtual machines or hardware from that era, but it's very likely that all that will change thanks to the intervention of Foone Turing. If the name sounds familiar, it's the same Foone who rediscovered ancient Windows errors and managed to run Doom on a pregnancy test. In early April, Foone asked Microsoft for the source code of 3D Movie Maker with the intention of optimizing/extending its functions, and a month later... Redmond published it on GitHub.

However, the story doesn't end there. 3D Movie Maker uses the BRender engine developed at the time by the British studio Argonaut Software. Argonaut is a name remembered in the Nintendo world for creating Star Fox, however, the BRender engine was used in some PC games, among which FX Fighter and the original Carmageddon stand out. Argonaut ceased to exist in 2007, but thanks to the goodwill of its former CEO Jez San, BRender also became open source.

Foone's first step will be to work on an updated version of the code, and then split it into two branches: Chocolate Socrates to create a modern installer that allows us to run 3D Movie Maker without major changes (something similar to Chocolate Doom), and Movie Maker Plus, focused on improvements and optimizations, such as removing the 256-color limit and adding more export formats. We'll definitely be waiting, but if you want to know more about 3D Movie Maker right now, you can visit forums like 3dmm.com, full of movies and resources.

Microsoft 3D Movie Maker on GitHub: Click here

Source: Ars Technica