You can sort of do it, but it's not as intuitive. There also isn't a convenient way to step up and down subdivision levels in the same way as Mudbox. So what are the limitations? For one, there aren't yet built-in tools in Autodesk Maya for extracting normal and displacement maps from a sculpt as one would normally do in Mudbox. And yes, they work with a tablet just as you would expect. At times I forget I wasn't using Mudbox, so much so that I would press the ctrl+d hotkey, which in Mudbox subdivides a mesh, but in Maya duplicates one. You can get a ton of mileage out of the new sculpting tools. In fact, all of the default stamps and brushes are identical to the ones found in Mudbox. They behave exactly like their Mudbox counterparts but with some caveats. In short, the new sculpting tools now included in Autodesk Maya 2016 are excellent. Autodesk Maya is not only a powerful tool, it also has a large, supportive community. Skilled artists with Autodesk Maya can model, animate, sculpt, light, render, simulate particles, rigid bodies, fluids, fur, hair, forests, do extensive scripting and automation and more. Whether you're making a high resolution 3D hero character for a multi-million dollar effects shot while working at Industrial Light & Magic, or an animated company logo, Maya is involved. These tools provide a starting point to realize your vision in modeling, animation, lighting, and VFX.'īasically, Autodesk Maya is an application hub for 3D digital content creation. MayaÂ® 3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software offers artists a comprehensive creative toolset. It was a major upgrade!įor those not already familiar, what is Autodesk Maya? In Autodesk's own words: ' Comprehensive 3D animation software.

There were a lot of changes, features and tweaks between Autodesk Maya 2015 and the new Autodesk Maya 2016. This article covers some of my favorite feature highlights for the Maya 2016 release. Autodesk Maya 2016 has been out for a while now and I got to test drive it as part of my daily routine these past few months.

Maya2016