jQuery.extend(Drupal.settings, {"basePath":"\/","CTools":{"pageId":"page-7f3c65ec2ecaf8ab4b608b8111a0ed1f"},"googleanalytics":{"trackOutgoing":1,"trackMailto":1,"trackDownload":1,"trackDownloadExtensions":"7z|aac|avi|csv|doc|exe|flv|gif|gz|jpe?g|js|mp(3|4|e?g)|mov|pdf|phps|png|ppt|rar|sit|tar|torrent|txt|wma|wmv|xls|xml|zip"},"lightbox2":{"rtl":0,"file_path":"\/(\\w\\w\/)sites\/default\/files","default_image":"\/sites\/all\/modules\/lightbox2\/images\/brokenimage.jpg","border_size":"2","font_color":"000","box_color":"fff","top_position":"","overlay_opacity":"0.6","overlay_color":"000","disable_close_click":1,"resize_sequence":"0","resize_speed":100,"fade_in_speed":100,"slide_down_speed":100,"use_alt_layout":0,"disable_resize":0,"disable_zoom":0,"force_show_nav":0,"loop_items":1,"node_link_text":"","node_link_target":0,"image_count":"Image !current of !total","video_count":"Video !current of !total","page_count":"Page !current of !total","lite_press_x_close":"press \x3ca href=\"#\" onclick=\"hideLightbox(); return FALSE;\"\x3e\x3ckbd\x3ex\x3c\/kbd\x3e\x3c\/a\x3e to close","download_link_text":"","enable_login":false,"enable_contact":false,"keys_close":"c x 27","keys_previous":"p 37","keys_next":"n 39","keys_zoom":"z","keys_play_pause":"32","display_image_size":"","image_node_sizes":"()","trigger_lightbox_classes":"","trigger_lightbox_group_classes":"","trigger_slideshow_classes":"","trigger_lightframe_classes":"","trigger_lightframe_group_classes":"","custom_class_handler":0,"custom_trigger_classes":"","disable_for_gallery_lists":true,"disable_for_acidfree_gallery_lists":true,"enable_acidfree_videos":true,"slideshow_interval":5000,"slideshow_automatic_start":true,"slideshow_automatic_exit":true,"show_play_pause":true,"pause_on_next_click":false,"pause_on_previous_click":true,"loop_slides":false,"iframe_width":"600","iframe_height":"400","iframe_border":0,"enable_video":0},"thickbox":{"close":"Close","next":"Next \x3e","prev":"\x3c Prev","esc_key":"or Esc Key","next_close":"Next \/ Close on last","image_count":"Image !current of !total"}});
<p>Dedicated to Addressing the Needs of Next-Generation Productions</p>
<p>Maya 6.5 Now Available to Download for Customers on Platinum Membership Prog=<br />
ram</p>
<p>Toronto, Canada - January 31, 2005 - Alias revealed today the latest<br />
version of its award-winning Maya software package, focused on meeting the<br />
demands of the most challenging next-generation productions. Maya 6.5 is a<br />
performance-driven release optimized to meet the needs of games, film,<br />
broadcast and digital publishing professionals seeking dramatic performance<br />
enhancements while working with massive datasets. By re-architecting the<br />
software to boost performance across the package, Alias has prepared Maya<br />
to provide the power and reliability to work with the heaviest models,<br />
scenes and animation data. Customers on the Maya Platinum Membership<br />
Program can download the software today at<br />
(<a href="http://www.alias.com/maya/support" title="http://www.alias.com/maya/support">http://www.alias.com/maya/support</a>). Maya 6.5 will begin shipping worldwide<br />
in February 2005.</p>
<p>"This latest version of Maya proves the dedication of Alias to meet the<br />
needs of the game development community," comments Stephen White,<br />
programming director, Naughty Dog, Inc. "Maya continues to evolve as a<br />
critical tool in our game development process and this version addresses<br />
many important current needs as well as features critical to the future of<br />
game development." Naughty Dog is widely regarded as one of the most<br />
forward-thinking games developers, having produced the highly acclaimed and<br />
successful Crash Bandicoot(tm) and Jak & Daxter titles with Alias products.</p>
<p>"Maya 6.5 was clearly driven by daily production demands," says Dirk<br />
Bialluch, managing director at Lightstorm 3D. "Overall performance has<br />
increased drastically and working with Maya feels much more fluid in almost<br />
every aspect. With the tight level of integration reached in Maya 6.5, we<br />
switched our complete render pipeline to mental ray." Lightstorm3D is a<br />
German-based computer graphics firm offering advanced 3D and animation<br />
solutions for film, broadcast, computer games, internet and visualization.</p>
<p>Tools for Managing Large Datasets</p>
<p>In response to a massive increase in scene file complexity within the 3D<br />
community, Alias has introduced new scene segmentation features to Maya.<br />
These enhanced tools give artists more control over scene load times,<br />
project collaboration and overall data-handling performance.</p>
<p>Scene segmentation enhancements include new file referencing options such<br />
as proxies, reference locking and the ability to save changes back to a<br />
reference, as well as enhancements to existing file referencing features.</p>
<p>Additionally, the range of large CAD datasets that can be imported into<br />
Maya 6.5 has been expanded through the addition of the new STEP translator<br />
that allows efficient importing of files from most major CAD packages.<br />
Importing OBJ files on Windows platform is also significantly faster and<br />
the FBX=AE plug-in is now included with Maya. The FBX plug-in allows for the<br />
exchange of 3D assets and media between a wide variety of applications.</p>
<p>Stunning Performance Improvements</p>
<p>Maya 6.5 is loaded with performance improvements throughout key areas of<br />
the software, which assists artists in dealing more effectively with their<br />
large scenes and datasets. New with Maya 6.5 is mental ray for Maya<br />
Satellite, and a host of new features (including rapid scan-line rendering)<br />
that stem from the integration of a new mental ray 3.4 core.</p>
<p>Modeling - Many polygon and UV texturing operations in Maya are now orders<br />
of magnitude faster, helping artists achieve their desired look with much<br />
greater efficiency. A series of enhancements have also been made to the<br />
polygon bevel tool.</p>
<p>Animation, Character Setup and Deformers - Toolsets have all been<br />
optimized, resulting in a more efficient workflow for character animators.<br />
Wrap deformer setup is many times faster in Maya 6.5 as are cluster<br />
deformation and sculpt tool deformations. Optimizations to the soft<br />
modification feature permits animators to quickly manipulate many vertices<br />
at a high-level - an ideal workflow accelerator for those working with<br />
dense datasets. Animators can now get better results when copying smooth<br />
skin weights between models with differing topologies and take advantage of<br />
the new ability to bind to non-joint objects and maintain max skin<br />
influence.</p>
<p>Large Address Awareness - Maya artists using the Windows XP platform can<br />
now take advantage of up to 2.6 GB of memory for Maya.</p>
<p>Rendering - Alias is introducing a new network rendering option that<br />
supplements the mental ray rendering capabilities within Maya 6.5 by taking<br />
advantage of the processing power of other networked computers. This allows<br />
artists to achieve faster rendering results including Interactive<br />
Photorealistic Rendering (IPR), improved interactive and batch rendering<br />
performance and faster pre-lighting of both textures and vertices. The<br />
mental ray for Maya Satellite feature comes free with Maya Complete (2<br />
CPUs) and Maya Unlimited (8 CPUs) and is available for the Windows, Linux<br />
Spain and Portugal, +33 1 44 92 81 60; Italy, 39 039 6340011; Japan and<br />
other parts of Asia Pacific, 81 3 5797 3500 and Latin America, 770 393 1881.</p>
<div class="links"><ul class="links inline"><li class="comment_forbidden first last"><span><a href="/user/login?destination=comment%2Freply%2F85191%23comment-form">Login</a> or <a href="/user/register?destination=comment%2Freply%2F85191%23comment-form">register</a> to post comments</span></li>
</ul></div>
</div>
<div class="left_inner_box_bottom"> </div>
</div>
<!--[if !IE]> End left box inner page <![endif]--></div>
<!--[if !IE]>End left content<![endif]--> <!--[if !IE]>Start right content<![endif]-->
<span class="field-content"><a href="http://forums.applecentral.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/537782/Analyst_sees_iPad_killers_less#Post537782" target="_blank"> Analyst sees iPad killers le...</a></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="views-row views-row-5 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field-title">
<span class="field-content"><a href="http://forums.applecentral.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/537649/Small_business_accounting_soft#Post537649" target="_blank"> Small business accounting so...</a></span>
<span class="field-content">Introducing the App Hall of Fame!</span>
</div>
<div class="views-field-body">
<div class="field-content"><div class="body-row" id="body-row-213485"><div style="background:#F5F5F5;">App discoverability continues to be a real issue. With the fast churn of apps in the App Store, an app has only a few weeks of promotional life in it before it‚Äôs largely forgotten. There are a few things developers can do to fix that, but those... | Read more »</div></div></div>
<span class="field-content">Gobliiins Are Coming</span>
</div>
<div class="views-field-body">
<div class="field-content"><div class="body-row" id="body-row-213486"><div style="background:#F5F5F5;">In the midst of the huge Q4 launch schedule, the cult classic, Gobliiins, as well as the rest of the trilogy, are being ported to the iPhone in all of their original glory. The Goblins trilogy was a quirky Atari/Amiga game series from the early 90‚Äôs... | Read more »</div></div></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field-title">
<span class="field-content">myPhoneDesktop – Chrome to iPhone Extens...</span>
</div>
<div class="views-field-body">
<div class="field-content"><div class="body-row" id="body-row-213469"><div style="background:#F5F5F5;">Anyone who has used myPhoneDesktop knows that it is a fantastic tool for streamlining your onscreen workflow. Instead of having to type line after line into your phone directly, you can use myPhoneDesktop to type from your computer directly into... | Read more »</div></div></div>
<span class="field-content">AutoVerbal Talking Soundboard Pro helps...</span>
</div>
<div class="views-field-body">
<div class="field-content"><div class="body-row" id="body-row-213471"><div style="background:#F5F5F5;">Being able to speak and communicate with others is something that many of us take for granted. It‚Äôs not so easy for many folks though, in particular for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, as well as those who have suffered various brain... | Read more »</div></div></div>
<span class="field-content">Get Your Roast Right With ‘Time To Roast...</span>
</div>
<div class="views-field-body">
<div class="field-content"><div class="body-row" id="body-row-213473"><div style="background:#F5F5F5;">Roasting meat, in the cooking world, is about as simple as it gets. The greatest roast recipe I‚Äôve ever found is from Michael Ruhlman‚Äôs website, with the recipe titled, ‚ÄúThe World‚Äôs Most Difficult Roasted Chicken Recipe.‚Äù | Read more »</div></div></div>
MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, Apple Expo, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacNews, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corporation. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corporation. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders. Not responsible for typographical errors.
</div>
</div>
<div class="footer_bottom"></div>
</div>
<div id="bootom_foo_ter">All contents are Copyright 1984-2010 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by <a href="http://www.icreon.com">Icreon</a>.</div>
<div id="newuser-popup" style="font-size:14px">Greetings, and welcome to the new MacTech web site! Our home page is designed to be your <cite>Industry Dashboard</cite> -- so you can have a snapshot of all that's relevant in the industry in one easy location. Many readers tell us that because the information is updated so frequently, they are now checking the site multiple times a day.
Here's a quick run down of the features on the new web site, which can be subtle.
<UL><LI>We're running regular raffles. If you want free stuff make sure to register. <a href="/register">It's easy and only takes a minute!</a>
<LI>Registering for the site allows you greater functionality.
<LI>The first few blocks are original content from MacTech (for geeks) and our sister web site, MacNews (for general users)
<LI>Below that are MacTech's scanners, which scan the web and organizes it into News, Rumors, and Documentation. Updated every 15 minutes.
<LI>Our Whitepapers, Screencasts, and Videos section give you insight into great products
<LI>The Community Search narrows your search to the most relevant of Apple related sites for better results
<LI>The forums give you a place to ask questions, and share your knowledge.
<LI>Our partners at MacUpdate, MacPrices.net and the Jobs Boards keep you up to date
<LI>Want to see all the news in one big list? Check out our new <a href="/firehose">Information Firehose</a>
<LI>And, don't forget the Apple Central area, and ads throughout the site. Advertisers are what make the site possible</UL>
We truly hope you <a href="/register">register</a> so that we can keep you up to date about new features as they are implemented. And, please use the BETA button in the top right to provide us any feedback, suggestions or bugs. We love to hear from you. </div>
<!--[if !IE]>End pop_up<![endif]-->
<!-- Google Analytics now handled by Google Analytics Module in drupal -->
<!--VISISTAT SNIPPET//-->
<script type="text/javascript">
var DID=13280;
var pcheck=(window.location.protocol == "https:") ? "https://sniff.visistat.com/live.js":"http://stats.visistat.com/live.js";
