MWSF Product - Alias|Wavefront Releases Free Non-Commercial Version Of Maya For The Mac [Updated]

by , 1:20 PM EST, January 8th, 2002

Alias|Wavefront has announced the development of Maya Personal Learning Edition for those interested in learning the Maya app. The Learning Edition is designed for graphics students or consumers as a tutorial introduction to the Maya graphics software. According to Alias|Wavefront:

Alias|Wavefront(tm), an SGI company, today announced that it is developing the Maya Personal Learning Edition(tm) which will provide users of Mac OS X and Microsoft(r) Windows( with unlimited, free access to Maya(r). Maya Personal Learning Edition will give 3D graphics and animation students, current industry professionals, and those interested in breaking into the world of computer graphics (CG) an opportunity to explore the award-winning Maya Complete(tm) software, in a non-commercial capacity. Maya Personal Learning Edition will be available in February of 2002.

Maya Personal Learning Edition

Maya Personal Learning Edition grants anyone with the desire to learn more about Maya, or 3D computer graphics in general, a free seat of Maya for non-commercial use - registration renewable yearly. Those using the Personal Learning Edition will have full access to the toolsets of Maya Complete including NURBS modeling, animation, inverse kinematics, Maya Artisan(tm), Maya Paint Effects(tm), particles, dynamics and Maya's advanced rendering capabilities. The Maya Personal Learning Edition restricts users to non-commercial applications through the display of a watermark on images as well as through the use of a special non-commercial file format. Moreover, Maya Personal Learning Edition cannot be used with industry-standard plug-ins.

Alias|Wavefront has also committed to supporting the Maya Personal Learning Edition community with a web-based user center. This center will provide access to learning materials, discussion forums, content exchanges where users can share work and galleries in which Maya Personal Learning Edition users may exhibit their projects.

You can find more information about the Maya Personal Learning Edition at the Alias|Wavefront Web site. The Maya Personal Learning Edition is available as freeware.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Holy Heck! This is a big move from Alias|Wavefront, and a huge bonus to many Mac users who are curious about 3D work. Maya is a fabulously expensive software package, and is well out of the reach of all but the most professional of users. Obviously the folks at Alias|Wavefront hope to lure more people to their product by offering this free version, and we say it's a good move. Think you can make the next 3D feature movie? Now you can find out.

Alias|Wavefront