Key features of Maya

Create physically accurate and incredibly detailed simulations in a single visual programming environment. 

Deliver natural looking effects like smoke, snow, or particles with Aero, MPM, and Particles systems.

Use Bifrost’s scatter nodes to procedurally scatter objects like trees or stones.

Create great-looking effects, such as explosions and dust storms, right out of the box with prebuilt graphs.

Use powerful interactive groom tools to create realistic hair and fur for your characters.

Create highly realistic rigid, soft-body, cloth, and particle simulations.

Load and edit massive data sets in a matter of seconds using USD in Maya.

Import USD data as native Maya data and export native Maya data as USD data.

See quick previews of USD scene structure using the Hierarchy View window.

Work directly with USD data in common Maya editors, such as the Outliner, Attribute Editor, and Channel Box.

See USD natively alongside Maya data in the viewport.

Procedurally create and manipulate USD data with visual programming.

The Maya USD plug-in is available as an open-source project for studios to customize as needed.

Review animations faster and produce fewer playblasts with cached playback in Viewport 2.0. (video: 12 sec.)

The Unreal Live Link plug-in lets you stream animation data from Maya to Unreal in real time. Whether working between the two in a virtual production environment or building your next game, you can now work on character assets in Maya and see your work reflected immediately in Unreal as you make changes.

Make high-level animation edits with a nondestructive, clip-based, nonlinear editor.

Create, view, and modify animation curves using a graphical representation of scene animation.

Sketch poses over time, define motion arcs, mark up a shot, or add comments and annotations to your scene.

Precisely visualize movement and the position of animated objects over time.

Enhance character and object animation with powerful deformation effects.

Access high-quality motion capture data right in Maya.

Create sophisticated skeletons, IK handles, and deformers for characters that deliver lifelike performances.

Seamlessly bind any modeled surface to a skeleton using skinning.

Easily transfer animation between skeletons that have the same or different skeletal structures.

Create 3D models using geometry based on vertices, edges, and faces.

Construct 3D models from geometric primitives and drawn curves.

View and edit the UV texture coordinates for polygon, NURBS, and subdivision surfaces in a 2D view.

Sculpt and shape models more artistically and intuitively.

Accelerate performance with interactive workflows.

Use Arnold Render View to view scene changes in real time, including lighting, materials, and cameras.

Use Arnold for production rendering on both the CPU and GPU.

Model materials such as car paint, frosted glass, and plastic, and preview renders in the viewport.

Build shading networks by creating and connecting rendering nodes, such as textures, materials, and lights.

See accurate previews of final colors in the viewport and Render View.

Use MASH to create versatile motion design animations with procedural node networks.

Create branding, flying logos, title sequences, and other projects that require text.

View a scene in both Maya and Adobe After Effects at the same time.

Create Maya scripts and write plug-ins using Python 3.

Customize how Maya looks and works to suit your pipeline.

Create large, complex worlds more easily and manage production assets as discrete elements.