Multimedia
Newsletters
Blogs
Whitepapers
Events
DCP Directory
Mill Directory
Edit Calendar
Advertisers
Reader SurveyBlended Family
Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Cynthia Wisehart
Understandably, the announcement that Autodesk intends to acquire Alias sent a flurry of apprehension through the Maya faithful. Alias president Doug Walker acknowledges as much but says — as you might expect him to — that the development will continue unabated and with the same commitment as ever. That reassurance is echoed by Martin Vann, vice president of Autodesk's media and entertainment division, who adds that 3ds Max loyalists also have nothing to fear from this remarkable union. The fact that 3ds Max has grown more powerful with every release, inspired in many ways by Maya, doesn't change the key driver: Artists like what they like, and need what they need, Vann says. Autodesk has long acknowledged the need for artists to choose their platform and/or work on multiple platforms — often 3ds Max and Maya together.
Citing 30 percent growth for both products over the past year, the two men reiterated their faith in the market and their belief that an increasingly broad demographic will use professional-level animation and compositing tools. There are no plans to change pricing, though one can imagine that with control over both products, Autodesk may explore some package options and other possibilities in time. Far too soon to tell.
So let's accept the foundation that Maya and Max will each continue on their merry way and that the user base for both will continue to expand — it's a prudent position that I have no reason to doubt. At the same time, it's also certain that Maya and Max will ultimately be different — ideally better — with this collaboration. Collaboration is the operative word, because, as Vann says, in addition to feature R&D and implementation, much emphasis will also be placed on the handshake — make that handshakes — among Max, Maya, and the advanced Discreet systems products.
It is far too early to speculate on exactly what kind of workflow options will come out of the melding of minds from Autodesk and Alias R&D teams. Both companies have a fine tradition of heavy R&D. Surely the .fbx format (which came under Alias' control with the Kaydara acquisition) will factor in, and implies the question: Will the open source community get to play? Another area of potential: Maya's history of integration with Renderman. (Next month, Sony Imageworks' John Monos will have more to say on that relationship). All in all, it's too early to elicit specifics from either company — at press time they are still two different companies. But looking at recent product trends at Autodesk — Autodesk Vault is just one example — it's clear that infrastructure and collaboration issues are high on the list.
“The definition of cutting-edge tools that empower artists is not only about the desktop,” Vann says. “It is increasingly about the pipeline.”
