NAB: Autodesk Unveils 2016 Updates

Autodesk is looking to keep pace with the growth and dispersal of media and entertainment work with updates to some of its key 2016 software editions, including Maya, 3ds Max and Flame.

“Our 2016 software is more intuitive, connected, powerful, scalable and accessible than ever before,” says Autodesk SVP Chris Bradshaw. “Our tools’ expanded flexibility enables new and seasoned artists to more easily navigate industry disruptions so they can keep telling great stories, without compromising quality.”

Here are some of the key improvements announced at NAB Show:

Maya 2016: Significantly faster and easier to use. Performance improved with parallel evaluation system that takes advantage of the CPU and GPU to increase playback and character rig manipulation speed. A new look and feel plus updated hypershade showcase improve artist-friendly workflows. New capabilities in Bitfrost include adaptive foam and guided simulations for more realistic liquid sims.

3ds Max 2016: Better collaboration and ease of use. New node-based content and tool creation toolkit “Creation Graph” allows users to extend 3ds Max with geometric objects and modifiers — users can package and share graphs with each other. Externally reference objects to scenes and animated/edit material on the XRef object in the source file without having to merge to scene. New Design Workspace provides easy access to object placement, lighting, rendering, modeling and texturing tools.

Flame: New releases of Flame and Flame Premium feature new look dev tools, connected workflow, faster interactive performance and more. Look dev tools include interactive GPU shader toolkit for 3D color correction (Lightbox), interactive Matchbox shader application to texture maps without leaving 3D compositing scene, and color management workflow enhancements.

Entertainment Creation Suite 2016: Includes all the new features and updates to Maya and Max ’16, plus enhancements to Mudbox 2016 (new sculpting tools and relax brush for smoothing surfaces) and MotionBuilder 2016 (story tool updates and enhancements).