Dynamation (software)

Dynamation was a 3D computer graphics particle generator program sold by Wavefront to run on SGI's IRIX operating system. It was introduced at SIGGRAPH in 1993. In 1996, Jim Hourihan received a Scientific and Engineering Award for the primary design and development of Dynamation. Dynamation could create behavioral particle systems that responded to gravity, air resistance, and other real world physics. It gave users an interactive environment to create and modify dynamic events such as water, clouds, rain, fire and dust. The interactive aspect of this software was revolutionary at the time. Users were able to change parameters and the particle system updated in real time.
The software was used to create visual effects in movies such as Twister, The Last Action Hero, Crimson Tide, and Starship Troopers. It was also utilized in the opening credits of Star Trek: Voyager to create an intricate interaction of the starship traveling through cosmic dust.
Dynamation's interactive particle engine has been integrated into the 3D computer graphics package Maya and is no longer sold as a separate product.

BLENDER

Blender is a free software 3D animation program. It can be used for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulating, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating interactive 3D applications. Blender is available for several operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, IRIX, Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD with unofficial ports for SkyOS, MorphOS and Pocket PC. Blender has a robust feature set similar in scope and depth to other high-end 3D software such as SoftimageXSI, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max and Maya. These features include advanced simulation tools such as rigid body, fluid, and softbody dynamics, modifier based modeling tools, powerful character animation tools, a node based material and compositing system and Python for embedded scripting.