Developer: Autodesk
Type: 3D modeling, animation, rendering
Website: Autodesk - Maya

Maya is one of the most popular and powerful 3D animation packages on the market. Maya is used by companies like ILM, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Namco and Square. It´s been a leading tool in the development of the visual effects for Final Fantasy, Shrek, Ice Age, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and almost every other high profile visual effects production.

There are two versions of Maya available:

1) Maya Complete

Maya Complete is the most common version. It is a very powerful and advanced modeling, animation and rendering software. It contains Paint Effects, particles, dynamics, a complete set of tools for character animation, mental ray for two networked hosts and many, many other features.

2) Maya Unlimited

Same features as Maya Complete but also comes with:

• nCloth
• Hair
• Fluid Effects
• Fur
• Live
• mental ray for Maya Satellite for 8 hosts

Subscription / Subscription with Gold Support

With an annual subscription for Maya you will get:

• Upgrades (includes major releases and extensions)
• Learning Resources
• Knowledgebase
• Subscription Center Access
• Prior Version Use

You can also select Subscription with Gold Support and you will get in addition to the above:

• Web Support
• Telephone Support
• Ask Autodesk Forums
• Issue Reporting/Tracking

Subscription with Gold Support is highly recommended when you work with important projects. To ensure you´ll always stay up to date with the latest version of Maya you´ll need a Subscription.

PDF with more information

Hardware locks

A hardware lock, or dongle, is a tiny device that you put on the USB port that enables you to move your Maya license from one computer to another. They currently work with 32-bit and 64-bit Maya for Windows, 32-bit Linux and PPC and Intel Macs.

Network licenses

A network license lets you set up a license server that can distribute a specified number of licenses to any computer in your network. That way you can easily share licenses between users and computers.