Alias continues tradition of 3D innovation with Maya 7

The 3D innovation thing continues for Alias with Maya 7 which was launched at SIGGRAPH last week.

A press release states Jill Ramsay, senior product manager for Maya as saying,"Maya 7 reflects our resolve to give artists the power to create ground-breaking computer graphics that tell better stories, enhance interactive experiences, and enable people to more accurately visualize products and designs"

Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited box shots.

"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" he added.

"One such customer-driven feature is a complete re-architecture of the Maya render layers functionality, which means 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" he further added.

Render layers can be rendered with any renderer integrated in Maya, including the latest mental ray® for Maya technology streamlining the rendering process, and prepares renders for optimal output to the artists' compositor of choice, or to Adobe® Photoshop® or Macromedia® Flash®. Maya 7 also boasts new functionality that streamlines the workflow between Maya and Photoshop - as well as Adobe Illustrator®, Alias MotionBuilder®, and popular CAD applications.

Animating Characters is Faster, Easier and More Accurate Than Ever
The integration of the industry-leading full-body IK solver from Alias MotionBuilder makes rigging and posing characters simpler and more precise, as do paintable Blend Shapes and Wire deformers. Maya 7 now also supports collaborative, parallel workflows through its ability to iteratively substitute geometry and allow modelers, animators and technical directors to work on the same character simultaneously in a non-destructive way that maximizes productivity.

New Tools Deliver Industry's Most Comprehensive Modeling and Texturing Feature Set
Maya 7 introduces RenderMan® - compatible variable creasing on smoothly subdivided polygon meshes, allowing precise and intuitive control between smooth and hard edges. Portions of the subdivision surface implementation in Maya incorporate the use of Pixar Subdivision Surface Patents. "We are very pleased to see Maya 7 using Pixar's patented technology. 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," said Dana Batali, director of RenderMan product development at Pixar Animation Studios.

Features Requested and Refined by Leading Games Developers
A host of other enhancements specifically requested by the games-development community include 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 also helps artists optimize scenes without loss of visible detail through a new Surface Sampler, which utilizes normal mapping and other data transfer methods between models of differing resolutions.

Innovative Visual Effects and Illustration Tools
Developed by Alias' principal scientist Duncan Brinsmead, an incredibly powerful new Toon Shader leverages Maya's unique Paint Effects to support a wide range of non-photorealistic rendering styles; it affords extensive control over line style, placement and width, and features interactive previews in near real-time of even the most complex scenes. Among the many enhancements in Maya Unlimited, Maya Hair can now be transplanted from one character to another, Maya Fur is now integrated with Maya's dynamic curve technology, and Maya Fluid Effects" benefits from a new High Detail solve mode for dramatically increased realism.

Pricing and Availability
Maya 7 begins shipping shortly and pricing remains unchanged from Maya 6.5 - Maya Complete 7 is US $1999* and Maya Unlimited 7 is US $6999*. Upgrade pricing from 6.5 is US $899* for Maya Complete and US $1249* for Maya Unlimited. Both Maya Complete and Unlimited are available on the Windows®, Linux® and Mac OS® X platforms.

* International pricing may vary.