Delivers Faster, More Efficient Tools and Workflows for the Creation of
Sophisticated 3D Environments, Characters and Performances
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:
ADSK) today announced Autodesk Maya 2008 modeling, animation, visual
effects and rendering software. The new version of the Academy
Award-winning product focuses on providing improved workflow efficiency for
artists in the film, television, game development, design and manufacturing
industries. Maya has been used in the creation of countless high-profile
projects such as the Pan's Labyrinth and Spider-Man 3 movies, as well as
the Resistance: Fall of Man, and John Woo Presents Stranglehold games. Maya
2008 will be showcased at the Autodesk booth (#703) during SIGGRAPH 2007,
held at the San Diego Convention Center August 7-9.
"Artists need production-proven solutions that they can truly depend
on," explained Marc Petit, Autodesk Media & Entertainment senior vice
president. "With Autodesk Maya 2008, we have placed considerable emphasis
on raising the reliability bar higher than ever before. Designed for
multi-core workstations, the 2008 release provides artists with an
optimized application that includes new creative tools in modeling and
animation to help artist meet demands quickly and easily."
"On all fronts Autodesk has improved Maya software's arsenal of tools,"
noted Rob van de Bragt, animation director at post-production facility The
Mill. "Maya 2008 offers more flexibility in its modeling, rigging and
rendering tools than ever before." The Mill recently used Maya on the Audi
A5 ad Lines, the Playstation 3 commercial This Living, the Absolut
commercial Protest, as well as the Comfort ads City Stop and Do The Moves.
Insomniac Games relies on Maya as a modeling and animation tool for
several titles including Resistance: Fall of Man. Chad Dezern, art director
at the facility said: "When a problem comes up, artists can usually work it
out using the Maya toolset. When we need to build on the software, Maya
offers an extremely flexible API, which makes it a great hub for our
proprietary modeling tools."
Highlights of Maya 2008
Increased polygon modeling efficiency:
-- Maya 2008 enables artists to quickly create, manipulate and place
polygons that form highly detailed characters and environments, through
a streamlined Mesh Smooth workflow, a new Slide Edge feature and
improvements to Booleans, Bridge, Bevel and other tools.
Overall performance improvements for greater efficiency:
-- With Maya 2008, Autodesk continues the task of optimizing the
software's toolsets to provide greater performance through both
multi-threading and algorithmic speed-ups. For example*:
-- The Poly Reduce function is now up to 30 times faster for a 22k face
poly mesh, and Poly Smooth is now up to 4 times faster
-- The Maya nCloth cache performance up to 3 times faster on a cache of
10k vertices
-- mental ray translation for a 20k mesh instanced 2,000 times is over
20 times faster
Tools for creating better looking games:
-- Maya 2008 is better equipped to create and display content destined for
the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 game
consoles. It offers support for DirectX HLSL shaders in the Maya
viewport, a new hardware shader API, enhancements to the high-quality
render view, accelerated mental ray texture baking performance, and
more.
Increased flexibility for character setup and animation:
-- Building upon the Maya software's advanced, customizable animation
system, Maya 2008 delivers improved skinning and rigging toolsets,
including new, non-destructive skin editing capabilities. These
enhancements allow animators and Technical Directors to efficiently
explore ideas, manage iterations and get superior results, faster.
For a complete list of new features and enhancements in Autodesk Maya
2008, visit: http://www.autodesk.com/maya .
Pricing and Availability
Autodesk anticipates that Maya 2008 will be available in English in
September 2007. Maya 2008 will be supported on the Windows and Linux
operating systems (64-bit and 32-bit versions), as well as Mac OS X for
Intel-based Macintosh and PowerPC computers (32-bit version only).
Autodesk suggested retail pricing is US$1,999* for Maya 2008 Complete
(Standalone) and US$6,999* for Maya 2008 Unlimited (Standalone). The
upgrade price from Maya 8.5 Complete to Maya 2008 Complete is US$899*, and
the upgrade price from Maya 8.5 Unlimited to Maya 2008 Unlimited is
US$1,249*.
Platinum Membership is available for purchase simultaneously with the
product purchase or upgrade. The Autodesk suggested retail price for Maya
Platinum Membership starts at US$1,299* per year. Platinum Membership
customers qualify for access to the latest software updates, technical
support case management, valuable product extensions and e-learning
materials. For more information about Maya Platinum Membership, please
visit http://www.autodesk.com/maya-support .
Maya Learning Tools
A variety of Learning Tools are available for Maya, ranging from
introductory to advanced skill levels. Learning Autodesk Maya 2008 |
Foundation is a new book that enables users to quickly familiarize
themselves with Maya 2008. It offers a hands-on introduction to key Maya
tools and techniques by enabling users to create and animate characters
based on the Sony Pictures Animation feature film Surf's Up. Learning
Autodesk Maya 2008 | Foundation is priced at US$69.99*. For additional
details, please visit http://www.autodesk.com/learning-tools .
* International pricing may vary
PRESS: Maya 2008 imagery is available on Autodesk's website at
http://www.autodesk.com/maya-pressimagery .
** Performance data is based on comparisons with Autodesk Maya 8.5,
based on tests conducted or commissioned by Autodesk over a controlled
network, with test participants having varying levels of experience with
the software. All benchmarks were run on an HP xw6400 workstation under
32-bit Windows XP Service Pack 2 configured with 2.66GHz dual processor,
dual core with 3Gb of RAM and an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500 graphics card. As
with all performance tests, results may vary based on machine, operating
system, filters, and even source material. While every effort has been made
to make the tests as fair and objective as possible, your results may
differ. Product information and specifications are subject to change
without notice. Autodesk provides this information "as is," without
warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the
manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment
markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has
developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping
solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real.
Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize,
simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to
save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional
information about Autodesk, visit http://www.autodesk.com .
Autodesk, AutoCAD and Maya are registered trademarks or trademarks of
Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. mental ray is a
registered trademark of mental images GmbH licensed for use by Autodesk,
Inc. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion
Pictures arts and Sciences. mental ray is a registered trademark of mental
images GmbH licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. All other brand names,
product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk
reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any
time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical
errors that may appear in this document. (C) 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights
reserved.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO )
Contact: Brittany Bonhomme, 514-954-7419
Email: brittany.bonhomme@autodesk.com
SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.autodesk.com/
Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Brittany Bonhomme of Autodesk, Inc.,
+1-514-954-7419, brittany.bonhomme@autodesk.com
|
