Verve and GMK feature list comparison

#1 ..they are 2 different animals, however I can see how one might compare their cutscene-ish features. However, I could be wrong as I own GMK and not Verve at this point. Let's see what others say..

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I am interested to hear a detailed explanation..because I am looking into Verve..yet I feel it's videos don't give me the full grasp of what it does(it seems to have more power than any of it's previews are showing it to have). I would like to see it being "power-used" at least a little bit ..hint hint Phil! thx.

#2 Verve and the GMK are both capable of utilizing the full potential of underlying Torque Engine. Though I think that the feature inequality lies in the editor support.

In Verve's editor there is support for multiple cameras and camera views, applying Post Processing Effects to specific cameras, applying camera shake events, pathed objects on smooth bezier curves, 2D & 3D audio effects, applying and transitioning animations, enable/disable particle effects and lights, gui effects, the list goes on.

Editing a sequence is also non-linear. This means that you can create events in any order and place them at any position in the timeline. I'm not entirely sure that this is possible with the GMK, though I've not looked into it too far (anyone else care to share some light on this?). You can also adjust the playback speed, direction and loop or ping-pong the entire sequence.

Verve really is a cutscene editor in the truest sense, though I am not sure that the same could be said about the GMK's rendition. That is not to say that you can't use it to create your cutscenes, as I am sure you can. Verve gives you much more freedom and control over the state of the world and the entire sequence.

#3 @eb, I definitely need to work on marketing, thats for sure. The product is there, I just need to show it off. Unfortunately, time and money are both needed for that investment ;)

My focus at the moment is more along the lines of documentation and tutorials. Actually pushing sales comes later.

#4 Look forward to the documentation and tutorials Phillip.. I have both products and can see that they will work together nicely. Verve has cinematics for objects, animations and camera views, where as GMK has cut-scenes for camera only, in addition to it's great tool set for making things work when they should. The timeline functionality in verve is something like I am used to in Flash. So anyone who has used flash should be able to fall right in. I've not got stuck into Verve yet as I dont have the time, but with documentation and tutorials I'm sure that it will become second nature. Unfortunately for me at the moment its like being in a dark room without a torch, as Im eager to find the light switch. Can't wait to get stuck in! :)

#5 Thanks JulianR that's exactly what I needed to hear. I wanted to be sure both tools could be used together with out any issues before buying into the early adopter.

#6 Hey phillip, previewing the additional 'documentation and tutorials' will suit my needs just fine.

#7 Some of the early docs are up on my site, but I don't think they are representative of what the final docs will look like. Some of that content will stay and some will go.

Class List
Tutorial List

On an aside, man websites are a pain in the ass! I'll probably just end up slapping all of the textual documentation into a pdf and wack video tutorials up on Vimeo or Youtube.

#8 I think you're using the websites wrong, Phillip ;)
Just get a decent CMS, and it's not painful at all (and collaborative projects become easy and fun).

We need a breakdown of the cut-scene stuff in GMK now. Hoping the author posts his features and goals :)

#9 (Which CMS suites should I look at?)

#10 I can't keep up with how many are released..but here is a good site to use demos of the seemingly countless CMS packages here.

#11 @Phillip: Start a thread where you post your needs, and I will come in and yell DRUPAL at the top of my lungs :P

Does GMK's editor rely more on AI behaviours, rather than Verve's full control approach?

#12 @Ronny Bangsund
Yes, GMK Cut Scene Editor is operate with game logic, so you can make scenes with actual AI's and objects like in this video.

#13 Hi Phillip

If you need a CMS created and a basic layout I can do this for you in php with an admin interface, just say the word! Something like what I'm doing for my own website here www.something2play.com - still a work in progress though, should have it finished soon.

#14 Thanks for the offer Julian, but I wouldn't want to take up your time with my own little problems. I'm here to help you with yours!

Ronny, Verve's approach definitely different to that of the GMK, and they will suit different developers.

What I really like about Verve is the level of control over everything relating to the cinematic. Sure you can control everything in the scene, but you can also manipulate the timing of your events with pinpoint accuracy. Don't like an event triggering at 1second into the sequence? Change it to 931ms! Don't like the order of events? Just drag and drop the event wherever the hell you like!

#15 Seems to me like GMK is treating your models as actors with a script they follow, while Verve is like a puppet show :)
Different approaches I'd have to choose between (or maybe I'll put both on my wishlist).

#16 There is no reason why you can't get script based interaction in Verve either. There is the ability to literally do *anything* through the use of script callbacks. You can either call methods on an object, regular function calls, or evaluate an expression.

Its one of those tiny, simple features of Verve, but it makes a big difference.

#17 @Phillip - not a problem, if it helps you to get everything you need up and running to help us, and others with Verve then I'll be happy to help you. Would only take me half a day to get this done for you. Loving Verve! Have everything set on how I want to come up with some really cool stuff, just need to eat those words now.

#18 I have GMK, but I would like to use some of the advance cut scene features you have. So are these two products 100% compatible?

#19 I've not had any real experience using the GMK so I cannot offer much guidance here, but I guess it would depend on what you were trying to do.

If you offer up more information then maybe I could help you a little better. If you would prefer to take this to a private discussion, feel free to continue this via email.

Thanks John!