GPU Override is a mode that works with the Evaluation Manager to accelerate deformations if either Serial or Parallel modes are selected.Serial mode uses the Evaluation Manager, but limits evaluation to a single core (serial evaluation) and is used to troubleshoot correctness issues.Parallel mode uses the Evaluation Manager to perform parallel evaluation across all available cores.Select from 3 new evaluation modes in the Evaluation section of the Animation (Settings) preferences : Previous versions of Maya included only a single evaluation system (DG mode). The new system is multithreaded to take advantage of the computing resources available (cores and graphics processors). “The Evaluation Manager is a new parallel evaluation system that helps increase the speed of both playback and manipulation of character rigs. Check out Blazing fast character rigs with Maya 2016 for tips and tricks on this.
Although, there are still limitations with tools like follicles (though nDynamics are supported in parallel in the Extension 1 of Maya 2016) and using influence objects with verts that don't run in parallel, at least there are resources to help you learn how to speed up your Maya rigs even more. But I have seen improvements in speed with animation curve playback, making working with dense data and even with several characters skeletons possible at real-time playback. Mocap HIK editing doesn't yet work with Parallel evaluation. What might have been a 5 fps playback will likely be in the 20 to 30 fps for a game rig. Depending on your hardware, Maya now can push more data onto the GPU to speed up things significantly. For animation and rigging, this removes a big bottleneck in the deformation pipeline that was stuck on a single CPU and by multithreading it, speeds up skinning and overall animated rig playback. The big push for 2016 was getting Maya running faster - the dependency graph, the core of Maya is now threaded, giving a boost in performance across the application.
Of interest is the added Multi-touch gesture support on tablets that are equipped with N-trig technology like the Surface Pro 3… though this really is nothing that will make people switch from existing tools and workflows. There were some uv editing and some brush updates, like a long needed “relax” brush to balance topology density and better controls for fall off. Mudbox 2016 hit the improvement slump this year, while there was a big push to integrate the sculpting engine into Maya. There are core improvements to working with the Story non-linear editor tool but read on to see why this is a must upgrade. MotionBuilder 2016 has finally gotten the software back in development and the team has taken a big step to get ready for future improvements. This allows users to create complex tools and modifiers for modeling (and animation as of the extension 1 release) that no longer require a programmer's time and compiled plugins. This is a big change as last year I reported that 3ds Max animation speed was back up to a useable framerate and Maya had dropped down to a slow crawl.ģds Max 2016 focuses on a new node-based, visual programing environment (similar concept to the ICE system in the now sunset Softimage) called the Max Creation Graph, or MCG. This means that for many animators and TDs getting character rigs running above 24ps during playback is now possible. Maya 2016 animation and deformation speed has had a huge boost with the new multi-threaded “parallel evaluation mode” and GPU speed boost.
For bigger studios and long run projects that lock to a single version of the software and don’t update for 5 years, this isn’t a great choice, since you will burn money on new features and software updates you won’t ever use.
For freelancers and small shops scaling up for a big job that don’t need a full purchase commitment to then be stuck with unused ageing software, this is a really great model. Subscription based licensing is soon to be the only choice when you want Maya - with options of Monthly *$185 SRP† (Online store only), Quarterly *$460 SRP†, (Reseller only) Annually *$1,470 SRP†. Flexible subscriptions, real time animation and procedural creation are the name of the 2016 game.įirst up, let’s address the big change from Autodesk - the new licensing model.