Autodesk Updates Maya, 3ds Max and MotionBuilder

Archive republication: This article was originally published on 25 March 2021. It has been translated into English and lightly updated for clarity while preserving the original reporting and context.

Autodesk 2022 Releases

Autodesk released coordinated updates for Maya, 3ds Max and MotionBuilder. The 2022 cycle covered USD integration, animation and rigging, modelling, rendering, Python 3, security and workflow improvements.

Maya

Maya’s headline changes comprised USD integration, revised animation tools, a new rigging workflow, community-driven modelling updates, faster rendering with Arnold 6.2, Python 3 as the default interpreter and smaller interface improvements.

The USD plug-in loaded and edited large datasets, including multi-gigabyte files. It added a non-destructive data-editing workflow and support for complex variants.

Animation updates included a Ghosting Editor for inspecting spacing through time. The Time Editor gained cached playback and additive animation clips, while the Graph Editor received new filters.

Rigging changes introduced procedural, topology-independent workflows. Component Tags and Deformer Falloffs provided new methods for defining membership and weighting and for transferring that data between geometry and deformers. The deformation toolset also gained Solidify and Morph deformers.

The new Sweep Mesh tool created geometry procedurally and exposed attributes for direct adjustment. A Game Vertex Count plug-in estimated how Maya assets would affect an engine’s in-game vertex budget before export.

Arnold 6.2 added imagers for light mixing, bloom and denoising, alongside GPU updates, expanded USD support and OpenColorIO v2 integration. The OCIO implementation included native support for ACES workflows.

Smaller usability work included a revised interface, faster startup and configurable preferences. Historical release details were published on the Autodesk AREA blog.

3ds Max

The 3ds Max release concentrated on protection from malicious scripts, workflow efficiency, Arnold rendering, Bake to Texture and the floating viewport.

Scene Security automatically detected and removed known malicious scripts. Modelling improvements covered frequently used tools including Relax, Smart Extrude, Slice, Extrude, Symmetry and AutoSmooth.

Arnold received a new render-configuration window with a faster Qt-based interface. Quicksilver settings also moved to Qt, and viewport bloom could be synchronised with Quicksilver. Arnold RenderView gained light mixing, denoising and bloom controls for post-processing an image without leaving the render view.

Bake to Texture simplified navigation and map-type selection so common maps could be baked with fewer steps and less complex material setup. Floating viewports could be switched to full-screen presentation mode through a keyboard shortcut.

Historical 3ds Max information was published on the Autodesk product site.

MotionBuilder

MotionBuilder’s three principal changes were Python 3, developer-focused improvements and workflow refinements.

Python 3 became the default on Windows and Linux. The Python command-line tool added file-processing and rendering functions, while the MotionBuilder API was expanded. Managing multiple script tabs in the Python Editor also became easier.

Workflow changes reduced the number of steps required for animation tasks. The FCurve Editor could display true quaternion rotation properties, and a new Add to Body Part property simplified keyframing character extensions. Character Controls required fewer actions when expanding IK auxiliaries and selecting individual effectors.

The original release notes remain in the MotionBuilder 2022 documentation. These are historical releases; verify plug-in, Python, USD and scene compatibility and test upgrades on copies before production use.