Alias|Wavefront's Maya Brings All the Guts and Glory of Real Life to Games
ATLANTA, May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether it is creating a non-intersecting,
deforming, polygonal character, an exquisitely complex pre-rendered
background, or a shockingly realistic blood-spatter, game developers can do it
using Maya(TM), Alias|Wavefront's next-generation 3D animation software
product. The world's leading game creators including Naughty Dog, Rare and
Acclaim, have welcomed Maya software and the advances it brings to game
development. Maya places the highest quality animation tools in the hands of
game developers who can achieve unprecedented levels of realism and
productivity within a system that is incredibly fast and completely
customizable.
"We're very excited about Maya," explained Jason Rubin, co-founder and
president of Naughty Dog, developer of the hugely successful "Crash
Bandicoot." "As a game developer, you really must have one cohesive system.
Alias|Wavefront has always provided this and continues to improve on that
commitment with Maya."
Realism
With Maya, Alias|Wavefront introduces a breakthrough approach to bringing
digital characters to life. Tasks such as applying inverse kinematics, lip
sync, and lattice deformations are vastly simplified in Maya. Artists can use
Maya's particle system to bring ultra-realistic effects such as smoke, flames,
or flowing water to their game. They can set their game in pre-rendered
environments that include intricate detail and lush textures which
significantly add to the richness and believability of gameplay.
Productivity
"We are impressed with the depth of Maya's animation tools," explained
Cyrus Lum, executive director of advanced technologies at Acclaim Studios,
creators of innovative games such as "Turok the Dinasour Hunter" and
"Quarterback Club." "Having such a powerful system that is so easy to use
makes our animators much more productive."
Alias|Wavefront has developed a system architecture that was built, from
the ground up, to deliver unmatched speed. Maya offers artists an environment
where they can work in real time on a complex scene complete with lights,
textures and dynamics.
"We've seen a one million polygon level running on Maya and could hardly
believe the speed," said Jason Rubin. "Without a doubt, the increased speed
of the software means an increase in the speed and quality of content
creation."
Extensibility
Maya's extensibility has drawn rave reviews from customers around the
world. The OpenMaya C++ API, combined with Maya's embedded scripting language
(MEL), lets programmers extend the native power of Maya through a rich, high
bandwidth programming interface. For programmers, this means the ability to
write custom tools and edit their own features from within Maya's UI without
having to move back and forth between a software package and proprietary
tools. This is also a tremendous benefit to artists who only need to learn
one UI and can access the in-house tools quickly and easily within Maya.
"It certainly gives us more freedom than we ever had before. Even
software engineers are into it, which is excellent because they can customize
the software to run the way we need it to," explained Simon Farmer, production
manager at Rare Inc., developers of best-selling titles "Donkey Kong Country"
and "Killer Instinct."
Alias|Wavefront is bringing artists to the next level in game development
by providing superior animation tools, stunningly realistic effects and
productivity enhancements within an open and extensible system.
SOURCE Alias|Wavefront
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CONTACT:
Alexandra Walsh of Alias|Wavefront,
416-362-9181, or awalsh@aw.sgi.com
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