Every time I get to have an interview with Autodesk, the first question on my mind is whether Autodesk plans to merge 3ds Max and Maya into a single product. As a follow-up to GDC, I had a chance to speak with Rob Hoffmann concerning the future plans of 3ds Max and Maya.
In response to my first question, Rob laughed and quickly explained that Autodesk has no plans to eliminate either product. He further stated that both products have seen record sales over the last several quarters and since both products are profitable, it would not make sense for Autodesk to risk alienating their userbases.
In fact, Rob continued, “we’re actually building our development teams” for both products insuring that all platforms are supported including the Mac and Linux versions of Maya. Autodesk recently released a Universal Binary version of Maya 8.5 for the Macintosh that runs on all Macintosh systems including the Intel PowerPC platform.
Both products still have their original development teams in place and although there is some healthy competition between the teams, the communication channels are open allowing both products to benefit from the expertise on either team.
Rob mentioned that very few studios use a production pipeline that is focused around just one product. In the future, Autodesk plans on increasing the interoperatablity between each package using the FBX file format. The goal is to “remove the headache” for users said Rob. Future versions will also include a strong mix of productivity enhancements and new features. So, whether you’re a Maya user or a 3ds Max user, the future looks good.
In addition to the recently released Maya 8.5, Autodesk also announced the release of 3ds Max 9 Extension: Productivity Booster. This update includes over 30 productivity enhancements including support for Windows Vista and DirectX 10 support (Figure 1). The update will be available for subscription customers on March 29, 2007.
Figure 1: The new 3ds Max 9 Extension: Productivity Booster update includes many new improvement for animation characters.
You can learn more about the current versions of 3ds Max and Maya at the Autodesk web site at www.autodesk.com.
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