Autodesk Announces New AI Tools for Maya, 3ds Max, and Flow Studio

Autodesk, Inc. (Headquarters: California, USA / President and CEO: Andrew Anagnost, hereafter Autodesk) has announced new AI features and workflow enhancements to be integrated into Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, and Autodesk Flow Studio.

This update provides an environment that reduces the daily production burden in animation, VFX, modeling, rendering, and pipeline management, allowing artists to focus on more creative tasks.

Autodesk positions AI not as a "technology to replace production," but as a "technology to support creators' creativity." The newly announced tools also aim to reduce repetitive tasks and technical burdens while respecting traditional production pipelines.

New AI Animation Feature in Maya: Dramatically Streamlining Quadruped Animation Generation

Maya's AI animation tool "MotionMaker" has added a new motion generation feature for quadruped animals. This allows for the generation of complex movements such as a horse's walk, trot, canter, and gallop, as well as their natural transition animations, in just seconds.

Traditionally, quadruped animation has been an area requiring advanced expertise and lengthy adjustment work. In particular, expressing smooth transitions between walking states required many man-hours. With MotionMaker, AI can automatically generate a natural base motion, enabling animators to focus on more important creative tasks like character acting and timing adjustments.

The generated animation data is fully editable and can be applied to other quadruped animals such as deer and bison. It is expected to be utilized in a wide range of applications, including games, film, and pre-visualization production.

Integration of "Wonder 3D" into Autodesk Flow Studio: Generating Editable 3D Models from Text and Images

A new generative AI model, "Wonder 3D," has been integrated into Autodesk Flow Studio. Wonder 3D can automatically generate 3D characters and objects based on short text prompts or reference images.

Because the generated models are output as editable 3D data, they can be directly incorporated into various workflows, such as concept exploration, background asset creation, and pre-visualization production.

In addition, a new "Flow Studio Launcher" has been added to Maya, allowing for more seamless access to collaborative workflows with Flow Studio.

Autodesk Flow Studio (formerly Wonder Studio) is a cloud-based character and film production platform that utilizes AI to generate editable CG scenes from live-action footage. It automates many processes, including motion capture, camera tracking, clean plate generation, and character pass generation, and can integrate with production tools like Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, and Unreal Engine.

Expanding AI Utilization with LookdevX and Autodesk Assistant

Autodesk is also expanding the use of AI across the entire production pipeline, including lookdev and routine tool operations. Maya's lookdev tool "LookdevX" has added a new "Generative Textures API," allowing studios to directly connect the generative AI services they use to rapidly explore various texture variations within Maya. Furthermore, a tech preview of "Autodesk Assistant" is provided for Maya and 3ds Max, enabling users to quickly search for necessary features and information through natural language questions, facilitating its use in daily production workflows. These AI features support the creation of an environment where creators can work more efficiently within the tools they use every day.

Updating Not Only AI but the Entire Production Pipeline: Enhancing Sequencer, Bifrost, Smart Bevel, and OpenUSD Workflows

In this update, in addition to AI features, functional improvements related to the entire production pipeline have also been made.

The new "Sequencer" features a high-resolution timeline and has been redesigned from the ground up for multi-cut management. It allows layout work and scene composition to proceed more efficiently,