Autodesk has announced the new features of its 2014 Entertainment Creation Suite, which comprises the latest editions of award-winning 3D animation, visual effects and creative tools Maya, 3ds Max, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Softimage and SketchBook Designer. The toolset is available in three configurations to meet demands of variously sized teams, budgets and projects: Standard, which includes Maya or Max with MotionBuilder, Mudbox and SketchBook; Premium (adds Softimage); and Ultimate (both Maya and Max included).
The Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite has been implemented by hundreds of customers to create their entertainment projects—most recently Paris-based game studio Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain) charged its team of 180 people to utilized the Suites to create their next video game, BEYOND: Two Souls. The artists were enable to translate title starts Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe into realistic, emotive digital characters using the Autodesk Suites in this player-shaped narrative game, which follows 15 years of the life of a young woman with superpowers (Page) and the government scientist analyzing her abilities (Dafoe).
Here is a glimpse at what the 2014 EC Suite will bring to the table:
Maya 2014
- Expanded, integrated modeling feature set
- Intuitive Grease Pencil
- New Paint Effects features
- Maya DX11Shader working with enhancements to Viewport 2.0 enables artists to work in high-quality, real-time environment that closely matches final output
- New Scene Assembly, File Path Editor and URI support tools help build and manage large and complex worlds
3ds Max 2014
- New Populate feature quickly generates moving or idle crowds with life-like reactions, activity
- Enhanced and more efficient Particle Flow toolset
- Performance-enhanced viewport now supports Microsoft DirectX 11 shaders
- Perspective Match and Vector Map tools help bridge 2D/3D divide
Softimage 2014
- New Camera Sequencer toolset allows cuts between multiple cameras, leaving original animation data unchanged
- Directorial control over scenes
- Improved CrowdFX and ICE features allow for passes and partitions with any aspect of ICE
- Improved High-Quality Viewport delivers higher fidelity interactive experience
- Easier integration into existing pipelines through improved support for animation data exchange via FBX
MotionBuilder 2014
- Improved efficiency in manipulating and refining motion-capture and other character animation data
- Linux support now available
- New motion capture workflow options
- Artist-friendly positioning, measuring and object selection methods
- Use custom viewport renderers
- API for file referencing
Mudbox 2014
- Single-click automatic and manual options to manipulate meshes, or control aspects of the output mesh with user-directed solution
- Artists can now concentrate on aesthetics during sculpt without altering underlying structure
- Enhanced multi-touch workflows now include support for stencils and additional touch-enable input devices
SketchBook Designer 2014
- Sketching, painting and image compositing workflows
- Easy color manipulation
- Mixed media workflows
- Unique transformation tool
- Dynamic user interface optimized for pen and mouse interaction
Details and license purchasing options can be found at www.autodesk.com/purchaseoptions.
