A plug-in for 3ds Max (formerly 3D Studio) from the Media and Entertainment division of Autodesk, Inc. (www.autodesk.com) that enables two-footed characters (people, cartoons, robots, etc.) to be animated automatically. A generic skeleton is used to define the path of movement, and the user's own character design is overlaid onto it. Its advanced features include forearm segmentation for realistic movement and function curves that are quaternion-based. Character Studio was marketed under Autodesk's Discreet software imprint until 2005 when Discreet was re-branded. See 3ds Max.