Smoothed meshes can now be previewed along with the mesh cage, which remains editable while viewing the smoothed mesh underneath. This feature alone is likely to be one of the most popular amongst modelers. 

The good news, for some users at least, is that Maya appears mostly unchanged. Much of what is new in Maya 2008 will appear to experienced users as subtle changes, if they are noticed at all. The real benefits of Maya 2008 become apparent after using it for a few days. Many users are likely to find their Maya 2008 experience to be more flowing and direct. Although the feature list for Maya 2008 may seem short at first glance, the rich workflow improvements more than add up. Experienced Maya users will find the app to be significantly smoother overall, while new users will have less ramp-up time getting to know this incredibly dense piece of software.

Autodesk Maya 2008 is offered in two versions: Maya 2008 Complete and Maya 2008 Unlimited. Boxes include Windows/Mac/Linux versions. Maya Complete sells for $1,995, Maya Unlimited for $6,995. Upgrades from Maya 8.5 cost $895 for Maya 2008 Complete and $1,245 for Maya 2008 Unlimited. U.K. & euro pricing was not available at the time of this writing.

Fred Galpern is currently the managing art director for Blue Fang Games, located just outside Boston. He is also a co-creator of the game development program at Bristol Community College. Since entering the digital art field more than 12 years ago, Galpern has held management positions in several game and entertainment companies, including Hasbro and Looking Glass Studios. He began his art career in comic books and also has interactive, print and web design experience.