Sorry your browser is not supported!

Earlier today SGI/Alias uncovered the eagerly awaited Maya 6 is now ready for purchase.
I'll be attending a preview showing of the product in the very near future and so will be able to go more indepth in the new features; but as it stands it is looking bigger and better than ever.

This will be the first title released from Alias since they dropped Wavefront from thier name to mark thier 20th birthday last August.

So what features make Maya 6 is a must?
Well Alias don't appear to have taken the fact that Softimage|XSI has been unparralled in animation pipelines sitting down.

They've added a number of new features particularly to give you less linear animation options as well as making it far easier.
Trax has been updated with a new and 'easier' UI, it also can handle longer and more complex expressions and constraints.
Most impressive is the interactive abilities with MELII.

Alias are also boasting how much faster Maya6 is over 5, with optimised pipelines and 64-bit compatibility. Alias say that many operations are almost 5x faster than they once were!

MEL also now has access to the networking and html through a built-in web-browser. This allows for more scripted networking events over plugins as well as better online help and plugin possibilities.

Finally a welcome to Maya6 is Soft Modeling. Something that only 3D Studio Max users have really benifited from. Infact the entire 3D Modelling tools and pipeline have been rebuilt from the ground up and many of the problems in Maya5 are now gone. Development should now be easier than ever!

Dynamics have also been revamped, with more control over particles and shapes. Creating breath-taking realistic waterfalls with combinations of the Fluid plugin and the new partical Dynamics should be alot simpler and more predictable results now.

As with all Maya products there are numerous bug fixxes making this the most stable and power Maya to date.
I definately look forward to seeing what it can do within the next few weeks.