SAN FRANCISCO - Autodesk (aotodesk.com0 has released Maya 2020, giving animators, modelers, riggers and technical artists a host of new tools and improvements. Building on the powerful animation features introduced in Maya 2019, Maya 2020 adds more than 60 updates that animators will notice in their day-to-day work. The release also includes Arnold 6, which can now be used for production rendering on both the CPU and GPU, as well as significant performance enhancements and new simulation features to Bifrost, the visual programming environment in Maya.
Users will experience faster animation playback and more predictable results thanks to the cached playback feature. New animation bookmarks allow users to mark, organize and navigate through specific events in time and frame playback ranges. Viewport improvements allow artists to interact with and select dense geometry or a large number of smaller meshes faster in the viewport and UV editors. And modeling enhancements will allow users to spend more time modeling and less time cleaning up their models, thanks to new remesh and retopologize features.
Additionally, there are rigging improvements designed to simplify rig and character TD work with matrix-driven workflows, nodes for precisely tracking positions on deforming geometry, and a new GPU-accelerated wrap deformer.
“As the demand for entertainment content continues to explode, artists need tools that augment the creative process, enabling them to work faster and put their best creative foot forward,” says Chris Vienneau, senior director, media & entertainment products, Autodesk. “Building features driven by community feedback and making sure artists at every stage of production are able to work efficiently have been development priorities for Maya 2020. This latest update is designed to help artists carry out their vision with greater speed, while also making the creative process more fun and engaging.”
Maya 2020 is now available as a standalone subscription or with a collection of end-to-end creative tools within the Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection.