One important thing, which enabled us to finish the animation on time, was 3D Studio's builtin scripting language MaxScript. MaxScript enables you to repeat often used modeling sequences (just like macros in other packages), but furthermore it allows you to extend the functionality of 3D Studio MAX. For example, this was very important for importing the CISKA data which otherwise would have taken several weeks if everything had to be done manually. Similarly, MaxScript was important for creating some of the secondary movements like the wheels or the tracked vehicle. These movements were created automatically from within a MaxScript and are controlled by the overall movement of the robots. This simplified the work of the animator considerably since only the robot as a whole had to be moved around. The eyes of the robots are another example of where MaxScript came in handy. For the movement of the eyes a specific script was written that integrates seamlessly into the environment of 3D Studio MAX. This script provides an "eye object" which is specialized to the movement of cartoon-like eyes. The fluid simulation, which appears in one scene also, wouldn't have been possible without MaxScript. This fluid simulation was originally developed completely independent of 3D Studio MAX. But thanks to MaxScript it was possible to create the input parameters for the simulation directly inside 3D Studio and later on import the result of the simulation and integrate the fluid into the scene. The simulation itself was running outside 3D Studio, even under an entirely different operating system.