Datasheet

Chapter 1 ✦ An Introduction to Maya

Maya’s Roots

Maya’s roots go as far back as the roots of 3D. It was a time when Alias and

Wavefront, as separate companies, made up “two” of the “big three” leaders in

3D animation. The third leader was the company, Softimage, which was then

purchased by Microsoft. Eventually, Silicon Graphics bought the two competing

companies and pooled their years of tech savvy experience together, forming

Alias|Wavefront. Alias and Wavefront both offered top-of-the-industry 3D packages.

So, when the companies started working together, under one roof, they set out to

make one, next-generation, super-app. The result was Maya.

Meanwhile, Softimage set out to create a next generation application called Sumatra,

which became plagued with Microsoft’s game plan, falling more than three years

behind Maya’s release schedule. Eventually, Softimage was purchased by Avid and

Sumatra was finally released as XSI. During these three years, most of the high-end

film and animation market shifted toward Maya. Maya proved its worth again and

again. It’s easy for artists to use. Its open architecture enables techies to tinker under

the hood, rewiring the application’s workings to custom suit the needs of the most

demanding animators in the world.

To be fair, a lot of other 3D animation software companies were nipping at

Alias|Wavefront’s tail. The fierce competition in this industry is one of the reasons

that 3D animation packages have become useful tools in the last decade. As a result,

artists and technicians can now comfortably produce 3D animation. It is no longer an

almost impossible feat.

Maya for Windows

In the beginning, high-end 3D packages were only available on costly Silicon

Graphics computers, which were dedicated to this task and often used for little

else in a production facility. Alias|Wavefront recognized that by porting to Windows,

Maya would be available to a wider audience. In addition, its affordability would

make it accessible to the masses.

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