Alias Opens SIGGRAPH With Big Maya 7 & MotionBuilder 7 Releases
Alias has lots to demonstrate and talk about at its SIGGRAPH 2005 booth #1312 at the Los Angeles Convention Center with the release of its Maya 7 and MotionBuilder 7 software packages.
Maya 7 builds upon the architecture and performance enhancements in Maya 6.5 with new and improved tools for fast, realistic character animation, streamlined modeling and texturing, stunning visual effects and increased productivity. It also incorporates Pixar's patented technology.
With the powerful new product features and the enhanced benefits of Maya Platinum Membership, including extended hotline access and improved response times, 3D professionals working in film, games, broadcast, digital publishing and design visualization are set to achieve more with the latest edition of this award-winning software.
"Maya 7 reflects our resolve to give artists the power to create groundbreaking computer graphics that tell better stories, enhance interactive experiences, and enable people to more accurately visualize products and designs," said Jill Ramsay, senior product manager for Maya. "We involved Maya users earlier and more extensively than ever before in our development process; the features and enhancements in this release have been guided by extensive feedback from leading studios and individuals worldwide. This is a must-have release."
A customer-driven feature of Maya 7 is a complete re-architecture of the Maya render layers functionality, so that multiple versions of objects, including materials, lights and cameras, as well as post processes such as Maya Fur and Maya Paint Effects, can now be managed in a single scene file.
"We have been an Alias customer for the past 13 years and in our opinion, Maya 7 is the biggest release we have ever seen," said Jonathan Brosseau, cto for Alpha Vision. "In the architectural visualization field, the 3D scenes tend to be very large and cumbersome, and we were truly blown away by the power and flexibility of the new Maya 7 render layer systems. Not only can we set specific attributes per layers on objects, shaders and lights, but we can also choose whatever renderer is required by a specific layer, all this within the same Maya scene. This makes it more convenient for us to use the power and continued integration of mental ray for Maya. Maya 7 is truly in another league."
Render layers can be rendered with any renderer integrated in Maya, streamlining the rendering process, as well as preparing renders for optimal output to the artists' compositor of choice, or to Adobe Photoshop or Macromedia Flash.
Maya 7 now also allows modelers, animators and technical directors to work on the same character simultaneously in a non-destructive way that maximizes productivity.
Maya 7 now incorporates Pixar technologies such as RenderMan and Pixar Subdivision Surface Patents. "We are very pleased to see Maya 7 using Pixar's patented technology,” said Dana Batali, director of RenderMan product development at Pixar Animation Studios. “This is very convenient for compatibility between Maya and our in-house tools, as well as a tremendous benefit for the many members of the Maya community who use Pixar's RenderMan, MTOR" and RenderMan for Maya products."
Games developers will find enhancements for their use, including Edge Loop and Edge Ring tools, UV unfolding, tri-planar and multi-mesh mapping, together with the inclusion of CgFX and ASHLI plug-ins, which allow hardware shaders for next-generation consoles to be previewed within Maya. Maya 7’s new Surface Sampler utilizes normal mapping and other data transfer methods between models of differing resolutions.
"The surface sampler in Maya 7 is a major tool for us in generating next-gen console assets and the results have been outstanding," said Simon Kirk, technical artist at Eurocom, a U.K.-based game developer. "Not only is it handling our next-gen console requirements for high-quality normal maps, it is a great tool for baking textures back to low poly current-gen assets. Rock solid, fast and easy to use: who can ask for more?"
Maya 7 builds upon the architecture and performance enhancements in Maya 6.5 with new and improved tools for fast, realistic character animation, streamlined modeling and texturing, stunning visual effects and increased productivity. It also incorporates Pixar's patented technology.
With the powerful new product features and the enhanced benefits of Maya Platinum Membership, including extended hotline access and improved response times, 3D professionals working in film, games, broadcast, digital publishing and design visualization are set to achieve more with the latest edition of this award-winning software.
"Maya 7 reflects our resolve to give artists the power to create groundbreaking computer graphics that tell better stories, enhance interactive experiences, and enable people to more accurately visualize products and designs," said Jill Ramsay, senior product manager for Maya. "We involved Maya users earlier and more extensively than ever before in our development process; the features and enhancements in this release have been guided by extensive feedback from leading studios and individuals worldwide. This is a must-have release."
A customer-driven feature of Maya 7 is a complete re-architecture of the Maya render layers functionality, so that multiple versions of objects, including materials, lights and cameras, as well as post processes such as Maya Fur and Maya Paint Effects, can now be managed in a single scene file.
"We have been an Alias customer for the past 13 years and in our opinion, Maya 7 is the biggest release we have ever seen," said Jonathan Brosseau, cto for Alpha Vision. "In the architectural visualization field, the 3D scenes tend to be very large and cumbersome, and we were truly blown away by the power and flexibility of the new Maya 7 render layer systems. Not only can we set specific attributes per layers on objects, shaders and lights, but we can also choose whatever renderer is required by a specific layer, all this within the same Maya scene. This makes it more convenient for us to use the power and continued integration of mental ray for Maya. Maya 7 is truly in another league."
Render layers can be rendered with any renderer integrated in Maya, streamlining the rendering process, as well as preparing renders for optimal output to the artists' compositor of choice, or to Adobe Photoshop or Macromedia Flash.
Maya 7 now also allows modelers, animators and technical directors to work on the same character simultaneously in a non-destructive way that maximizes productivity.
Maya 7 now incorporates Pixar technologies such as RenderMan and Pixar Subdivision Surface Patents. "We are very pleased to see Maya 7 using Pixar's patented technology,” said Dana Batali, director of RenderMan product development at Pixar Animation Studios. “This is very convenient for compatibility between Maya and our in-house tools, as well as a tremendous benefit for the many members of the Maya community who use Pixar's RenderMan, MTOR" and RenderMan for Maya products."
Games developers will find enhancements for their use, including Edge Loop and Edge Ring tools, UV unfolding, tri-planar and multi-mesh mapping, together with the inclusion of CgFX and ASHLI plug-ins, which allow hardware shaders for next-generation consoles to be previewed within Maya. Maya 7’s new Surface Sampler utilizes normal mapping and other data transfer methods between models of differing resolutions.
"The surface sampler in Maya 7 is a major tool for us in generating next-gen console assets and the results have been outstanding," said Simon Kirk, technical artist at Eurocom, a U.K.-based game developer. "Not only is it handling our next-gen console requirements for high-quality normal maps, it is a great tool for baking textures back to low poly current-gen assets. Rock solid, fast and easy to use: who can ask for more?"
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