Download Autodesk Maya for Windows 10

Our Review

Autodesk Maya – advanced interface

If you’re easy to impress, it might be easy for Autodesk Maya to intimidate you. This program is actually a fully-fledged environment that was specifically designed for creation, so you’d expect it to be vast.

Honestly, nobody could prepare you for the first time you’ll run it. First, you’ll stare in awe at the plethora of menus, but moments after you’ll certainly discover that most menus have menus of their own.

However, make no mistake, each of Autodesk Maya’s components was carefully placed. The overall feel you’ll get from the program is nowhere even near cluttered or messy. Once you grow accustomed to the wide variety of features, you’ll become quite fond of it.

Bifrost Maya – fluid simulation tool

Bifrost for Maya is a brand new visual programming environment that uses dynamic solvers. This is quite important for 3D artists, as it enables them to create amazing effects in a quick, hassle-free manner.

A Bifrost Graph Editor is also included within Maya’s labyrinthic menus, and it can help you build custom graphs with ease. Among other things you could create with Bifrost, we remind of explosions, sand, dust, and snowstorms. All of the mentioned effects come with ready-to-use graphs.

Editor’s note: we’re not talking about the data structure and algorithm graphs. We’re actually referring to the awesome ones you see in games and CGI-heavy movies.

Arnold for Maya – ray tracing renderer

Another tool whose name doesn’t give away its main ability is Arnold. Arnold was specially designed to help you create and manage complex characters, but also complex lighting and scenery seamlessly.

Since this is one of Maya’s built-in features, you can see high-definition previews of its results and apply changes on the spot. This tool packs an artist-friendly user interface, but also simplistic, intuitive controls.

Autodesk Maya student & educator offer

As you might already know, Autodesk provides free access to an impressive number of its products to students, educators, and institutions. Among the most relevant, you can find Inventor, Revit, Maya, 3DS Max, AutoCAD, and TinkerCAD.

Therefore, if you’re a student or a teacher and feel that Maya might come in handy, you could get it for free. However, the education license you’ll receive has a set of limitations, compared to the other editions of the tool.

FAQ: Learn more about Autodesk Maya

• Is Autodesk Maya free?

Most certainly not, Autodesk Maya actually comes at a very high price for consumer users. However, if you’re a student or an educator, Autodesk offers educational licenses of Maya that are valid for three whole years. Additionally, you can download a 30-day fully-operational trial.

• What are the best Maya alternatives?

Although Autodesk Maya is one of the most powerful 3D modeling apps on the market, there are some alternatives you can consider. DAZ Studio, Autodesk 3DS Max, Houdini, Blender, Cinema 4D, and Sculptris are some of the best Maya alternatives you can try.

• Bonus: Why is Autodesk Maya called Maya?

In 1995, SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) bought and merged two 3D graphics software companies, called Wavefront and Alias. Following these events was the transfer of the Alias Sketch! project to the SGI platform. This project received a codename, Maya, which is the Sanskrit word for “illusion.”