This update brings new ways for artists to channel their creativity with enhanced tools and integrations. New Boolean operations increase workflow productivity, and Vertex Color enhancements give artists better visual feedback for objects. Maya also continues to build on its USD integration for a more seamless experience across teams.
Capabilities in Maya
New Options for Boolean Operations Several updates to the new Boolean workflow give artists more control when creating complex models.
Stack Interface: Modelers now have more control when adding and editing Input Objects and can quickly add selected meshes as Input Objects directly from the Stack Interface. Once an Input Object is added, selection can be made bi-directionally in both the Stack Interface and the Viewport. This significantly improves usability in the Boolean Stack.
Input Objects: Artists can quickly duplicate an existing object by simply right-clicking on it in the Stack. When editing inputs, performance can be significantly increased by disabling the new Interactive Update option. Additional settings allow artists to set the default behavior for any new Input Objects later added to the Stack. These changes allow for increased performance and improved usability while working with complex models.
In addition to these new features, Maya now includes many Boolean-related bug fixes, improving the reliability of user workflows.
Vertex Color Changes Artists can now display RGB channels individually or as a greyscale on meshes offering better visual feedback on the color of their objects. The Paint Vertex Color Tool has also been improved to restrict painting to individual RGB channels and display specific color channels as greyscale, preventing the accidental painting of other channels.
Improved USD Integration This update includes several enhancements and critical bug fixes for a smoother experience working with USD in Maya. Artists will benefit from improvements to material handling with extended support for MaterialX and increased support for native Maya shaders such as color correction and AMD's MaterialX Library. Additional updates include more accurate intensities for default lights, UI enhancements, and general robustness for Maya Reference workflows and "Edit as Maya."
What's New in Arnold This release introduces increased stability, performance, and bug fixes for the Arnold plugin. This gives artists a more user-friendly experience and compatibility with Maya when rendering their projects.
Consult the Maya 2023.1 release notes for further information. Check out What's New in Maya for a look back at how far Maya has come since 2016.
Visit the Maya Learning Channel for the latest how-to's.