2. Flexibility
From retargetable effects to field weighting, it's the Swiss Army Knife of character animation production. Models can be modified during animation production without fear of destroying the animation or having to re-weight characters.

3. Expandability  
messiah boasts one of the easiest and most powerful plug-in APIs in the business. It sports a very non-restrictive structure that allows for more exotic needs to be addressed. For example, an effect module is not required to be a motion or displacement module, it can be both, if needed. Also, messiah's plug-ins are not just add-ons, but can become an integrated part of the program.

You are not required to write plug-ins to expand the system, however, messiah also has an easy to use scripting language, messiah:script. messiah:script comes with well over 450 functions for use in script palettes and expressions. messiah:script's itself is highly expandable since the available functions can easily be expanded via plug-ins and other scripts. There is no limit to the number of functions that can be added to the system.

4. Ease of Use
messiah has a deceptively simple interface. While you work with the program, you slowly begin to appreciate how it hides the well established complexities of other software. From its smart bone weighting to effect retargeting to the consistency of methodology, your appreciation of messiah's ingenuity will increase with every use.

To aid in the overall workflow, we've taken special care with regards to program consistency. For example, our "Learn Once, Use Often" methodology make it very easy to get around the program; you can count on knowledge gained in one area of the program to be useful in others.

5. Reusability
Asset reuse can be key in reducing production costs. From its inception, messiah was designed to allow for easy reuse of assets. From field weighting to Setup files, reusability has always had a very high priority. For example, our Setup file system works with the Groups feature to store files that can be recalled with an easy double-click. Full characters or parts can be created that also have character controls, allowing Setup files to operate as mini character programs.

1. Setup
messiah's exclusive Setup mode is designed specifically for the busy technical director. But this does not mean that it requires a library of technical knowledge. The idea was to make the job much easier for professionals and more accessible to newcomers.

Setup not only makes the job of setting up characters fun & efficient, it also allows for non-destructive animated character modifications. This means that you can edit a character's setup even after it has been fully animated! This is a major point of efficiency and can reduce costs during production.

2. Skeleton & Deformation
Nearly all character animation in any 3D package begins with creating a skeleton for that character. A robust system is simply a must. In messiah, we made skeleton creation and deformation our primary focus from the very start. The result is simply the best combination skeleton/deformation system on the market.

Creating bones is a simple point & click operation and the bones are easily modified interactively. It's a joy to use because no weight map painting is required. The weighting is handled in an intelligent manner eliminating the need for direct weighting. And in those cases where you may feel compelled to weight specific areas directly, the skeleton's bones are compatible with our field weighting tools, which allows for easy character replacement.

And then there is our Muscle Bones. Naturally they are perfect for areas that need squash and stretch on arms, legs, bodies, tails, tentacles, etc. But as you start playing with muscles you'll find so many more great uses for them.

3. Hierarchical Expressions
Many artists shy away from expressions because they believe them to be difficult. However, messiah has become famous for its unique, easy to use expressions system. Whether you have years of experience creating expressions, or you're a complete novice, you'll find messiah's expressions a breeze. For beginners almost everything can be done with point-and-click simplicity. For more advanced users, expressions can be entered entirely by hand just as easily.

4. Armatures
messiah's exclusive Armature system provides a direct visual method for creating character and program control. Armatures can be used for anything from stick figure animation and facial animation controls, to character selection sheets and command interfaces.  (In the image at right, a simple Armature controls what items are visible in the Item List for animating.

Armatures' power lies in its actions system. An action can be a command, script, or plug-in module. When combined with messiah:script, Armature creation can be extremely easy. And when writing plug-in module actions with our plug-in API, the possibilities character and program control are limitless.

5. Animate Immediate
In most character animation systems, you must first select the object, then click & drag the mouse to transform that object. With messiah's Animate Immediate mode, object selection & transformation can be performed in one fluid motion. Direct feedback during selection & manipulation make this possible, creating the feeling that you're much less a software operator, and more of a puppeteer.