Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 8, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
For the new version of the software for Modeling, Animation, VFX and Rendering, Autodesk has revised the workflow for artist.
Workflow adn functionality in polygon Modeling have also been improved: Artists can quickly create, modify and arrange polygons that form highly detailed characters and environments. This is made possible, among other things, by a streamlined Mesh Smooth workflow, new Slide Edge features as well as optimized Boolean, Bridge and Bevel tools.
The performance of Maya 2008 was increased through multithreading as well as algorithmic acceleration. Thus, the Poly Reduce function is now intended to be up to 30 times faster for a 22k Face Poly Mesh – Poly Smooth even up to 4 times. Mental Ray translation into a 20k mesh (instanced 2,000) was accelerated by a factor of 20.
Autodesk has also worked on the tools for creating and displaying content for the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles: They now support DirectX HLSL Shaders in the Maya Viewport, a new Hardware Shader API, improvements to the high-quality Render View, and accelerated Mental Ray Texture Baking.
The animtaion system was also expanded. Skinning and Rigging toolsets, including non-destructive ski, allow artists and technical directors to implement ideas effectively, control repetitions and achieve results faster.
Autodesk plans to release the English version of Maya 2008 in September 2007. Maya 2008 is supported by the Windows and Linux operating systems (64-bit and 32-bit versions) as well as by Mac OS X for Intel-based Macintosh and PowerPC computers (32-bit version only).
The retail price is around 2,100 euros for Maya 2008 Complete (Standalone) and around 7,350 euros for Maya 2008 Unlimited (Standalone). The upgrade price from Maya 8.5 Complete to Maya 2008 Complete is around 870 euros, from 8.5 Unlimited to Maya 2008 Unlimited around 1,200 euros.
