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Animasia 3-D now available

In 1995, Michael Lutynski wowed the Apple IIGS world with Animasia 3-D, a commercial product that Jerry Kindall of II Alive magazine called “a solid, usable 3-D animation tool” and “the most user-friendly 3D program I’ve ever seen”.

Three years later, in 1998, Michael reclassified Animasia 3-D as shareware, making it available to Juiced.GS subscribers for only $10.

Fast forward almost a quarter century, and it was time for Juiced.GS and Animasia to renew their relationship. In our latest issue, editor Ken Gagne interviewed Michael, which revealed three surprises.

Animasia is now freeware

While chatting with Ken, Michael made the spontaneous decision to reclassify Animasia once again, declaring that the full product is now available for free.

The documentation had been lost — but now is found

The original printed manuals were produced using literal copy and paste, so though the Teach and GraphicWriter III documents still exist, they lack the many screenshots and other art that were inserted into the hardcopy — a loss that Michael lamented.

Upon hearing his regret, Ken and Juiced.GS associate editor Andy Molloy sprang into action. Scouring eBay, Andy managed to procure one of the Animasia manuals from a KansasFest alumnus; meanwhile, Ken got in touch with Ian Brumby of Australia, who had the other manual. Together, Andy and Ian were able to scan Animasia’s complete documentation as PDFs.

A new version of Animasia is in the works

Although the next update has no ETA, we’re excited that Animasia 3-D, last released as v1.1b1, will finally exit beta!

In the meantime, the Animasia 3-D v1.1b1 has been added with Michael’s blessing to the Juiced.GS online store as one comprehensive package; and from the Internet Archive, where the software and documentation are available separately. Animasia is available at no cost from both sources. Please enjoy this recovered, repackaged classic!