What makes Autodesk Maya the best 3D Software for animation?

The advent of computer graphics goes back to the 1940's where the very first computer assisted graphics began in many different fields across the world.  Initially CG was more research based and used mainly by the millitary. It was only later that CG was used in film, TV and art.

One of the most popular software used to create three dimensional computer graphics in today's time and age is Maya by Autodesk. Created by combining three existing softwares, (The Advanced Visualizer by Wavefront Technologies, Thomson Digital Image (TDI) Explore, PowerAnimator by Alias, and Alias Sketch!), the first version of Maya was released in February 1998 by Alias Systems Corporation. It wasn't until 2005 that Autodesk bought Maya.

What makes Maya so popular with the artists is the fact that Walt Disney Feature Animation worked closely during the development of the User Interface. The User Interface is very intuitive and clear. All the functionalities are neatly arranged into categories and sub categories making it simpler for the artists.

Since its inception Autodesk Maya has been used to create visual assets for many movies, television and web series, games, et'cetera.

Users define a virtual workspace to implement and edit media of a particular scene. This software can be used to create 3D models such as characters, props and backgrounds; to unwrap the models for texturing. Maya is also used for adding controls to the 3D models, this process is called rigging. It is also used to animate or add motion to various objects in a 3D space using a timeline. Once the animation is done, virtual lights are added into the scene to render high quality sequential images when compiled may result into a video. Maya can create dynamic particle systems and stimulate fur, hair and cloth. It also supports procedural modelling and texturing. It also has a huge library of visual assets that can be used to create elaborate and mesmerising graphics. The node based material creation offered by Maya helps artists script visually to create stunning graphics.

Reasons why a 3D artist should learn Autodesk Maya:

• Maya is the one stop shop for all you 3D needs.
• It is compatible with Windows, Linux and OSX.
• Maya is used by top feature film animation studios.
• Award winning films use Maya.
• Maya offers a free student liscence making it financially easier to learn.
• There is a lot of learning material available both online and offline.
• Maya supports various file formats making transitition of work between other software easy.
• Maya is built in a way that makes collaboration amongst huge teams effortless.
• It is one of the few software that support NURBS Modelling.
• Many people across the world use Autodesk Maya which has created a huge online community where knowledge and information is shared openly.
• The chances of landing you dream job drastically increase when you know Maya.
• Learning a robust software like Autodesk Maya will help make the transition to other proprietary software easier.