Leading up to SIGGRAPH 2017, Autodesk released a series of updates for its media and entertainment tools, including Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection, Autodesk Maya, Shotgun, Arnold, Autodesk 3ds Max, and Autodesk Flame. Engineered with the intent of streamlining and accelerating production on films, TV shows, games and immersive experiences, the new releases include enhancements that aim to connect creative workflows and teams, helping them bring their stories to life.
“The continued growth of AR and VR and steady flow of new productions from Netflix, Amazon and others, mean animation and VFX houses are in more demand than ever. We’re focused on helping our customers create, connect and compute faster and more efficiently so they can balance their increasing project loads with tighter schedules and budgets,” shared Chris Bradshaw, senior vice president, media & entertainment, Autodesk. “Everything we’re showing at SIGGRAPH streamlines production and equips artists with the tools to handle nearly any creative scenario.”
New subscription benefits have been announced for the Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection, including on-demand compute resources to scale rendering pipelines via Cloud Rights and Autodesk’s drawing tool, SketchBook for Enterprise. Additionally, Media & Entertainment Collection subscribers can take advantage of an Arnold 5-Pack promotion–starting Sept. 7, 2017, new Media & Entertainment Collection subscribers will get an Arnold 5-Pack promotion at no additional cost.
Maya 2018
Maya 2018 offers additional character creation, motion graphics, and rendering functionality. The motion graphics toolset now includes dynamics and new instancing capabilities. Maya 2018 is available with the latest version of Arnold, including new features and core architecture improvements. These Maya 2018 updates are built to empower artists to create content and to tell stories through lifelike characters and environments and dynamic motion graphics. A complete list of new improvements in the release, is available here.
Shotgun
Continuing the intent of making media collaboration easier, faster, and more secure for studios of all sizes, Shotgun has introduced features to aimed at simplifying workflows, easing creation tool integration, and strengthening security. Shotgun 7.2 introduced plug-and-play integrations to accelerate workflows; updates to RV; and new single sign-on. The latest updates in Shotgun 7.3 continue to build on Shotgun’s foundation for by adding improvements that make it easier for site administrators to run and manage Shotgun. Shotgun 7.3 features include smart data retention for improved site performance and community-driven enhancements including improved action menu items (AMIs) and the ability to restart your own site.
Arnold v5.0.1
Arnold 5.0.1 attempts to build on the strengths of the recent 5.0 release, and includes new functionality like AOV shaders for cryptomatte workflows, thin film for standard surface shader and additional updates and optimizations. Arnold 5.0.1 is available with the latest versions of Maya and 3ds Max or as a plugin for additional DCC applications. Arnold is now available for free to educational institutions through the Autodesk Education Portal.
3ds Max 2018.1
The newest update to 3ds Max adds VR authoring tools for design visualization artists and generalists; 3ds Max interactive, a VR engine that simplifies the creation of immersive and interactive architectural visualizations; and additional UX and UV unwrap improvements. It will be available to check out in a 3ds Max to VR Workflow demo at the Autodesk booth.
Flame Family 2018.
Flame Family 2018.2 introduces new tools that expand pipeline integration possibilities. Some new features in Flame 2018.2 are Pybox, a python scriptable software handler for processing images via external renderers; projector functionality, map inputs and a contextual menu in action; smart merge for the connected conform workflow; and the ability to drive the batch environment via scriptable commands.
For more details, visit Autodesk at SIGGRAPH 2017 at booth #801 or online here: http://area.autodesk.com/siggraph2017.
