Autodesk Reveals 2015 Versions of Its 3D Animation Tools

Autodesk unveiled 2015 release of its major 3D animation tools that include 3ds Max, Mudbox, MotionBuilder, Softimage, Maya, and Maya LT. Maya LT, which is the newest addition to the lineup is a cost-effective 3D animation and modeling tool for professional indie game makers. Maya LT 2015:

• Offers cloud integration through the Maya LT interface
• Unfold 3D for creation of UV maps from 3D models
• Substance material integration for applying materials generated in the Allegorithmic Substance Designer procedural texture creation tool to 3D models

Autodesk also declared the accessibility of the 2015 Entertainment Creation Suite for 3D animation and visual effects. 3ds Max, Maya, Entertainment Creation Suites, and Maya LT can be obtained in two configurations: as a perpetual license or desktop subscription.

With innovative new tools like Bifrost, redesigned core parts of the applications focusing on performance and user friendly features, the 2015 releases simplifies complex tasks and allows artists to use their creative power.

The new features in 3ds Max 2015 are mentioned below:

• ShaderFX
• Point cloud dataset support for reality-capture workflows
• New viewport performance optimizations
• A redesigned scene explorer so artists can manage large scenes
• ActiveShade support for the Nvidia Mental Ray renderer
• New Python scripting support

Mudbox 2015 includes streamlined mesh refinement for retopologizing and new Sculpt Layer and Paint Layer groups for organizing and identifying specific layers in complex scenes. Softimage 2015 is the last release of Softimage and helps in:

• Alembic caching
• Allowing enhancements to the ICE platform
• Animatable weight maps in Syflex cloth

MotionBuilder 2015 highlights on motion-capture workflow that includes:

• A new plug-in for Microsoft Kinect to capture body movements.
• Animatable Depth of Field and Follow Focus camera options that supports in re-creating real-world cinematography elements.
• A library with 100 commonly required character animations in FBXformat.

Maya 2015 has the Bifrost procedural effects platform that supports an artist-friendly workflow for complex simulation and rendering tasks and is applied to:

• Near-photorealistic liquids
• XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator for easily creating highly detailed geometry, like hair, fur, and foliage
• Geodesic Voxel Binding for skinning characters
• ShaderFX, a new node-based visual interface for shader programming
• Support for Pixar’s OpenSubdiv libraries
• Enhanced polygon modeling tools
• Expanded UV options