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.