Microsoft is making the code for 3D Movie Maker open source, a version compatible with modern PCs is expected soon.
Managing the code of our software, whatever it is, is a complex thing. Licensing and other intellectual property protections sometimes make all of this very tricky. Unless you decide to make it open source. Today, it is an emblematic software, 3D Movie Maker, who is entitled to it. And the reason is quite unusual.
Microsoft makes 3D Movie Maker code open source
If it was enough to ask for the source code of a software, it would be known. But whoever tries nothing has nothing, certainly. The tweetos @Foone simply asked Microsoft to make the code of 3D Movie Maker, software now 27 years old, open source, this to be able to add new bricks to it. Microsoft does not own the BRender engine the program is running on, which could have been a problem, but the owner of the rights to that engine said it would be happy to do so if it could find a copy. Luckily, someone had a copy of the engine, and Microsoft was able to make the entire code open source.
A version compatible with modern PCs should soon see the light of day
Released in 1995, 3D Movie Maker allowed users to easily create movies by placing cartoon-like characters and other objects in pre-rendered environments. According to PCGamer, Foone wants to make the software compatible with modern PCs and add features, including sharing created videos. “I hope to have the basic modernized version next month or in a few months, depending on the problems I encounter.”
The original source code for the project is now on GitHub, under the MIT license. As RockPaperShotgun points out, the program’s BRender engine was also used for games like Carmageddon 1 & 2. In other words, opening this code could also lead to improved versions of these games made by fans.
Hey friends – we’ve open sourced the code to 1995’s Microsoft 3D Movie Maker https://t.co/h4mYSKRrjK Thanks to @jeffwilcox and the Microsoft OSS office as well our friends in legal and those who continue to put up with me being a nudzh. Thanks to @foone for the idea! Enjoy. https://t.co/6wBAkjkeIP
— Scott Hanselman 🇺🇦 (@shanselman) May 4, 2022