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Autodesk Maya 2015 review

3D artist Rory Björkman runs through some of Maya 2015s exciting features

3D artist Rory Björkman runs through some of Maya 2015s exciting features

Autodesk brings some really exciting new features with the release of Maya 2015: whether you are a game artist, love dynamics or modeling, or specialize in texturing, there are treats for all of us. There are too many to list in a short review, so Ill touch on a few key features that caught my eye.

With the release of Maya 2015 we see huge improvements in its UI layout, UV mapping, smooth skin binding tools, as well as enhancements to Viewport 2.0. The new version also sees the introduction of Bifröst for its procedural effects, capable of generating impressive fluid simulations which are easy on render times. Liquids and bullet physics for rigid and soft-body dynamics add a great level of realism to animated scenes.

With XGen I was able to quickly hash out several hairstyles in less than an hour, with tons of options

For scene population and increased control over hairstyles, the new XGen system is outstanding. Its ability to create shaders directly in Maya by using the ShaderFX Editor is a huge time-saver and great for previewing in real time thanks to Viewport 2.0. Mayas open subdiv support utilizes both CPU and GPU architectures for faster performance, which allows us to visualize displacement maps in real time.

Having plenty of experience with RealFlow to Maya, I was keen to try out the new Bifröst feature for its liquid simulation. I found it extra appealing as its integrated into Maya, cutting out the need for plug-ins and importing .bin files. You can render straight from the simulation without even needing to create a mesh, or bake it as a mesh for material application. The system is very easy to tweak for viscosity and flow, while being able to render and simulate very quickly to check how it looks before committing to a final batch render.

Mayas liquid simulation in action - © Rory Björkman

Mayas liquid simulation in action - © Rory Björkman

Another insanely cool feature is the new XGen system. Last summer Id spent a long week fiddling with nHair and trying to create a neat hairstyle for a character not that nHair is no good, but with XGen I was able to quickly hash out several hairstyles in less than an hour, with tons of options. Its very user friendly. You can easily influence hair or stubble flow by painting the direction of growth, and its a fantastic tool for populating scenes with geometry.

Creating quick and easy hair with XGen - © Rory Björkman

Creating quick and easy hair with XGen - © Rory Björkman

Being fond of my materials and texturing, I was very interested to try out the brand new Material Library (or MILA). It takes a little messing around to get used to it, but once I did, I found it was a vastly superior material to the MIA architecture, which I always found overly complex. Now we have the ability to layer and mix textures from bump maps, emission to SSS, and reflectivity to name but a few. Its the new all-in-one.

Some examples from Mayas Material Library (MILA) - © Rory Björkman

Some examples from Mayas Material Library (MILA) - © Rory Björkman

Something Maya has desperately needed for a long time is a re-haul of its UV mapping tools. Previously I would have avoided this at all costs, referring to a third party UV mapper, but not any more. The system works quite simply by selecting the geometry and then initiating the new UV Un¬fold tool. From there, just select the seams on the model in 3D space, cut and auto-unfold. The usual tools are still there, but there are also several new editing features, such as Nudge UVs, Normalize: Scale on Closest Tile, and Create UV Shell, which creates a UV shell from the current selection.

Mayas new UV system - © Rory Björkman

Mayas new UV system - © Rory Björkman

Some honorable mentions which I dont have the column space for are the Shader FX nodes, which are great for gamers! The Shader FX node-based editor allows you to have real-time feedback on effects in Viewport 2.0. And having battled with Ptex in mental ray last year, not quite finding a solution, its great that its finally integrated properly though Ive yet to find many tutorials or documentation on how it works! Often overlooked is color management; although not in the initial release, its included with Extension 1, and promises to make the linear workflow a much less complicated process.

I would absolutely say that Maya 2015 is worth every penny

I was able to create this scene in Maya 2015 using some of the new modeling tools, and most importantly the MILA materials, which are a huge improvement on the MIA. My only criticism is not actually Maya 2015 itself, but the lack of tutorials available. Autodesk have a tendency to rely on third parties to provide quality tutorials and guidance, which most of the time is fine, but for new and lesser-known features like Ptex there are very few if any. I particularly want to try Ptex in mental ray, as I am a MARI and Mudbox user, both of which support Ptex, but alas I could find no video tutorials at the time of writing.

© Rory Björkman

© Rory Björkman

All in all, I would absolutely say that Maya 2015 is worth every penny. It has definitely kept my attention as a loyal user and given me plenty of toys to keep me occupied. Autodesk supplies free 3-year licenses for students, standard licenses, and limited trials with all the features listed included as standard.

Product Details

Product: Maya 2015
Company: Autodesk
Website: www.autodesk.com/products/maya
Key features:

  • Bifröst Simulation Platform for liquids
  • XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator for hair, fur and foliage
  • Maya Bullet Physics engine
  • Geodesic Voxel Binding
  • OpenSubdiv support
  • Enhanced polygon modeling tools
  • New UV options
  • Improved Viewport 2.0
  • New ShaderFX editor
  • Multi-touch support

System requirements:

  • Microsoft Windows 7 (SP1), Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Professional operating system
  • Apple Mac OS X 10.8.5 and 10.9.x operating system
  • 64-bit Intel® or AMD® multi-core processor
  • 4 GB of RAM (8GB recommended)
  • 4GB of free disk space for install
  • Learn more about supported graphics hardware and drivers at this link: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?id=18844534&siteID;=123112

Score: 5 out of 5

Price:

  • $3,675 perpetual license, or $185 for a monthly subscription
  • £1,240 yearly desktop subscription, or monthly subscription from £155


Educational license: Free 3-year student license available
Release date: Available now

Related links:

Maya homepage
Try the free Maya trial for 30 days.
Find videos and more information about Mayas new features

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