Autodesk is launching Maya Creative to make content creation more accessible by lowering the barrier to entry for artists at smaller facilities. This more affordable and flexible version of Maya is a great option for anyone looking to scale capacity or access professional 3D tools.
VFX facilities, as an example, are being pressured to create high quality content, quickly, for streaming services working to engage their subscribers. Eight in 10 people used video on-demand services in the last two years according to a recent Statista survey.
“Although they’re increasing, production budgets are not keeping pace with consumer demand, which puts pressure on companies to do more for less,” said Diana Colella, SVP, Media & Entertainment, Autodesk. “As larger facilities enlist freelance artists and boutique VFX houses to scale workload capacity, there is more demand for affordable industry-standard tools. For studios to compete, creativity and efficiency are paramount.”
Maya Creative features powerful modeling, animation, rigging, and rendering tools for film, television, and game development, including Maya’s full industry-standard creative toolset: high-end 3D modeling; UV, lookdev, and texturing; motion graphics; animation deformation; camera sequencing; rendering and imaging; and data and scene assembly. Maya Creative also includes Arnold renderer to meet the demands of complex and photoreal VFX and animation workflows.
Maya Creative is available on both Windows and Mac, and artists can use it as it makes sense for their work through Flex, Autodesk’s pay-as-you-go option for daily product use. Autodesk’s goal was to introduce a cost-efficient option for freelancers, boutique facilities, or small business creative teams, who don’t need the same API access or extensibility required for larger production workflows.
Independent creator Clifford Paul said that Maya Creative gives him flexibility as a freelancer working on diverse projects. He is required to use a variety of programs across client work, and he can access and pay for Maya whenever he needs it.
DOC NYC Unveils Main Slate Lineup: 31 World Premieres; 24 Films Making Their U.S. Debut
DOC NYC--the documentary festival celebrating its 15th anniversary in-person November 13-21 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Village East by Angelika, and continuing online through December 1--has unveiled its main slate lineup. The 2024 festival presents more than 110 feature-length documentaries (including yet-to-be-announced Short List and Winner’s Circle titles) among over 200 films and dozens of events, with filmmakers expected in person at most screenings.
Opening the festival on Nov. 13 at SVA Theater will be the U.S. premiere of Sinead O’Shea’s inspiring portrait Blue Road--The Edna O’Brien Story, a breakout hit from the recent Toronto International Film Festival that honors the legendary Irish writer, who passed away just a few months ago at the age of 93.
Closing the festival on Nov. 21, also at SVA Theatre, will be the world premiere of Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn’s Drop Dead City--New York on the Brink in 1975, a look back at the circumstances and players involved in NYC’s mid-70s financial crisis. The festival’s Centerpiece screening on Nov. 14 at Village East is the World premiere of Ondi Timoner’s All God’s Children (also part of the festival’s U.S. Competition), a chronicle of a Brooklyn rabbi and Baptist pastor who join forces to create greater unity between their two communities, against all odds.
Included are 31 world premieres and 24 U.S. premieres, with eight of those presented in the U.S. Competition, for new American-produced nonfiction films, and another eight featured in International Competition, for work from around the globe. The Kaleidoscope Competition for new essayistic and formally adventurous documentaries continues, while the festival’s long-standing Metropolis... Read More