Autodesk announces Maya 2008, 3ds Max 2008

Autodesk today announced new versions of its modeling and animation packages Maya and 3ds Max.

According to the manufacturer, Maya 2008 provides more workflow efficiency for artists in the film, television, game development, design and manufacturing industries. Also, the software offers improved polygon modeling, performance increases through new algorithms as well as multi-threading to take advantage of multi-core processors, new tools such as HLSL shaders and a hardware shader API to enhance the look of games on current game consoles , as well as more flexibility for character setup and animation.

Maya 2008 is expected to be available in September with upgrade pricing starting at $899 for the "Complete" version and $1249 for the "Ultimate" package. Standalone prices are $1999 and $6999, respectively.

Artists and designers get an update for 3ds Max, which mainly addresses the need to overcome challenges associated with large and complex 3D scenes, Autodesk said. The software includes a new viewport technology, a new scene explorer, new rendering options, a new review toolset, as well as new workflow tools. Autodesk said that 3ds Max 2008 will be available in October, with the upgrade carrying a price tag of $795. The full version is priced at $3495.