Maya, Softimage, Mudbox and Motion Builder, 2010 editions

Autodesk has presented at Siggraph 2009 its suite of Maya, Softimage, Mudbox and MotionBuilder products in its 2010 version.

Coinciding with Siggraph, Autodesk has presented the 2010 version of its Maya, Softimage, Mudbox and MotionBuilder solutions. As for Maya, the main novelty is that the Nucleus dynamics engine has been implemented in Hair, Maya Fluids Effects and Fur. This will allow, for example, to create interactions between hair and fabrics in a simpler way. Autodesk has also included a node-based image composer (inherited from the 'extinct' Toxik), where you can perform any effect such as rotoscoping, color correction, creating stereoscopy, or manipulating 32-bit images (HDR). Another novelty is that matchmoving has been modified and network rendering from Maya has been made easier, adding five additional nodes to the Render batch.

Other improvements include the unified Maya Nucleus simulation system with Maya nCloth and Maya nParticles, plus Maya Fluid Effects, Hair and Fur; 3D tracking camera with integrated MatchMover and greater flexibility in distributed rendering.

As for Mudbox 2010, its new features are mainly related to increased compatibility with Photoshop and Autodesk FBX, SDK and interface.

MotionBuilder 2010 now offers faster overall performance, expanded physics capabilities, productivity-boosting animation workflows, and improved interoperability with Maya, 3ds Max, and Softimage through an optimization of the MotionBuilder 3D animation engine. Non-linear editing has also been improved, making it faster now with the stories tool. Regarding posture control, it is possible to capture postures and apply them to other objects for quick reuse of animations.