Autodesk on Monday introduced Maya 8, the latest version of its 3D modeling, animation and rendering software. Improvements in this upgrade include scalable multi-threading for better performance on multiprocessor computers, polygon bridge and transfer polygon attributes, support for high dynamic range (HDR) and floating-point images, geometry caching, an optimized mental ray 3.5 core, and more.
Maya 8is available in a 64-bit version, but only on Windows and Linux. Mac users will need to run the 32-bit version. Pricing is US$1,999 for Maya Complete and $6,999 for Maya Unlimited. Upgrade pricing for Complete 7 users is $899, while Unlimited 7 owners will need to pay $1,249.
System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.4.6, a G5 processor, 1GB RAM, 450MB free hard drive space, a hardware-accelerated OpenGL video card, a three-button mouse, and Firefox, Safari, Netscape 7, or Internet Explorer 6.0. Autodesk did not indicate if the software is a Universal Binary.