Autodesk’s Maya 8.5 3D animation, modeling and rendering software, which began shipping in January, is now more things to more people: a universal application for both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Mac computers that also runs on the Microsoft Windows and Linux platforms. Version 8.5 is built around the new Maya Nucleus unified simulation framework, which lets artists create elements that interact, in a 3D animation, with other dynamic objects, such as fluids, cloth and rigid bodies. Maya nCloth, which is the first module of Nucleus, offers artists the ability to quickly direct and control a range of simulations, including cloth, plastic, metal and other materials. Believable cloth-on-cloth simulations with complex cloth collisions can be created more easily. Also new in Maya 8.5 is Python scripting, an open-source programming language that helps accelerate facility-specific custom script development and plug-in prototyping to extend and automate Maya production pipelines. Pricing starts at $1,999 (Maya Complete, standalone) and upgrade at $899 (for Maya Complete 8, standalone).

www.autodesk.com/maya