Microsoft open-sources 3D Movie Maker

Microsoft has open-sourced the code for 3D Movie Maker, an animation program it had originally released in 1995. 3D Movie Maker was an animation studio for children, giving users the ability to create animated movies. The source code is published on GitHub under the MIT License.

Microsoft 3D Movie Maker is similar to many later 3D-based rendering tools like Kid Pix 3D and Toontastic. Microsoft also sold a modified version in partnership with Nickelodeon, which included models, backgrounds, and effects from many shows.

Dialog boxes in 3D Movie Maker are the first documented appearance of Comic Sans, which was developed for Microsoft Bob but wasn't ready when that software shipped. Comic Sans later conquered office signage everywhere.

The program included a series of 3D character models, along with some music and voice clips. It was also possible to record voice clips and import audio files. The 3D renderer used in 3D Movie Maker is called BRender, and it was used in mid-'90s Argonaut Software PC games like Carmageddon and FX Fighter.

Argonaut Software is best known as the developer behind Star Fox on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super FX graphics acceleration chip that was used in nearly every 3D SNES game.

Microsoft itself won’t be publishing any updated versions of 3D Movie Maker as the official open-source repo will be static. Microsoft has open-sourced a few older applications in the past few years, including MS-DOS 1.0/2.0 and the original Windows File Manager.