Key features for visual effects studios

Explore the tools at your disposal to craft astounding visual effects that leave a lasting impact.

Simulation and effects

Deliver natural-looking effects like combustion, snow, or particles with Aero, MPM, and Particles systems.

Scattering and instancing

Create large-scale complexity for world building or set dressing with expressive scattering tools.

Story Tool

Switch between and combine different takes into a single animation with clip-blending and nonlinear animation.

Animation curve editing

Create, view, and modify animation curves using a graphical representation of scene animation.

Universal Scene Description

Load and edit large data sets quickly and work directly with data using native tools.

Integrated Arnold renderer

Use Arnold Render View to view scene changes in real time, including lighting, materials, and cameras.

More features of the Media & Entertainment Collection

Modeling

Retopology tools

3DS MAX, MUDBOX

Reduce complex and high-resolution assets, or traditional modeling work by automatically reconstructing polygonal mesh data as clean, quad-based topology with uncompromising accuracy.


Smart Extrude

3DS MAX, MAYA
Take polygon modeling to the next level through industry leading Smart Extrude which enables you to interactively extrude to Add To or Take Away from the mesh to quickly create expressive content.


Mesh and surface modeling

3DS MAX, MAYA
Create parametric and organic objects with polygon, subdivision surface, and spline-based modeling features. 


Comprehensive UV Editing Toolset

MAYA, 3DS MAX, MUDBOX
View and edit the UV texture coordinates for polygon, NURBS, and subdivision surfaces in a 2D view.


Modifier stack workflow

3DS MAX
Conceptualize, iterate, and explore design ideas using a range of industry-defining modifiers that are nondestructive and easy to use. 


Rigging and animation

Character setup

3DS MAX, MAYA
Create sophisticated motion systems for rigged characters including deformations that deliver lifelike performances.


Blue Pencil toolset 

MAYA

Sketch poses over time, define motion arcs, mark up a shot, or add comments and annotations to your scene. 


Animation curve editing

3DS MAX, MAYA, MOTIONBUILDER

Create, view, and modify animation curves using a graphical representation of scene animation. 


Story Tool

MOTIONBUILDER

Switch between and combine different takes into a single animation with clip-blending and nonlinear animation.


Evaluation Manager

MAYA

Review animations faster and produce fewer playblasts with parallel evaluation, GPU accelerated deformers, and background caching.  


Plug-in support

3DS MAX, MAYA, MOTIONBUILDER, MUDBOX 

Extend capabilities with support for powerful third-party plug-ins.


Effects

Bifrost visual programming environment

MAYA

Create physically accurate and incredibly detailed simulations in a single visual procedural programming environment. 


Simulation and effects

MAYA

Deliver natural looking effects like combustion, snow, or particles with Aero, MPM, and Particles systems. 


Scattering and instancing

MAYA

Create large scale complexity for world building or set dressing with expressive scattering tools.


Ready-to-use-graphs

MAYA

Create great-looking effects, such as explosions and dust storms, right out of the box with prebuilt graphs.


NanoVTT

MAYA

Render volumes that closely match Arnold renderings directly in the viewport with NanoVTT.


Interactive hair grooming

MAYA

Use powerful interactive groom tools to create realistic hair and fur for your characters. 


Look development

LookdevX

MAYA
Graph shading networks and create materials for USD objects with an artist-friendly look development system. 


Rendering

Arnold GPU

ARNOLD
Switch seamlessly between CPU and GPU rendering. 


Standard Surface shader

ARNOLD

Produce a wide range of materials and looks with this energy-saving, physically based uber shader.


Imagers

ARNOLD
Use Bloom, Light Mixer, Noice, and OptiX denoiser imagers to control lighting effects and automatically denoise after each render.


Flexible and extensible API

ARNOLD

Integrate Arnold into external applications and create custom shaders, cameras, light filters, and output drivers.


Universal Scene Description (USD) support

ARNOLD

Maximize the power of USD with Arnold in production scenarios.


Universal Scene Description (USD) workflows

Lightning speed 

MAYA

Load and edit massive data sets in a matter of seconds using USD.


Seamless import/export

3DS MAX, MAYA

Import USD data as native Maya or 3ds Max data and export native Maya or 3ds Max data as USD data.


Lightweight previews

MAYA

See quick previews of USD scene structure using the Hierarchy View window.


Open source and fully customizable

The USD plug-ins for Maya, Bifrost, and Arnold are available as open-source projects for studios to customize as needed.


Pipeline integration

Python 3

3DS MAX, MAYA, MOTIONBUILDER

Create scripts and write plug-ins using Python 3.


Customization

3DS MAX, ARNOLD, MAYA, MOTIONBUILDER, MUDBOX

Customize how software looks and works to suit your pipeline. 

 


Scene Assembly tools

3DS MAX, MAYA

Create large, complex worlds more easily and manage production assets as discrete elements.


Software security

3DS MAX, MAYA

Use scene security tools to protect your work against malicious scripts that could be part of scene files.


glTF support

3DS MAX

Publish assets from your 3ds Max scene to glTF for use in web applications, online stores, browser games, and other online outlets.


Ready to take the next step?