author
Sam
Weisbard
Chicago-based Studio/Maya consultant for training and production work
sweisbard@attbi.com
special
thanks to
Design Engine
for hosting these pages.
All about Alias|Wavefront and what they sell.
12.13.02
Alias|Wavefront is a software company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Graphics, Inc. a Unix workstation and server manufacturer in Mountain View, California. As such, they don't publish profit/loss numbers.
Alias|Wavefront Entertainment Products
AW figured out they could make money by selling training videos, books, DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs on the web store.
Maya Complete (SGI Irix, Windows, Linux, Mac OSX)
is a complete integrated
production package with
- modeling: polygon
and nurbs modeling, Artisan brush-based modeling, surface stitching, subdivision
surface modeling that converts to and from nurbs and polygons;
- rendering: Paint
Effects, 3D Texture Paint, IPR (Interactive Photorealistic Rendering),
lighting and optical effects;
- animation: skeletons
and inverse kinematics, constraints, Trax (nonlinear animation), skinning,
layered deformations;
- dynamics: particle systems, rigid and soft body dynamics.
Maya Unlimited (SGI Irix, Windows, Linux)
incorporates all the features
in Maya Complete and adds
- Cloth, including
collars, vents, cuffs, pockets, etc.;
- Fur, whether scraggly, curly, balding (all paintable with Artisan);
- Live, for synchronizing 3D objects and effects with background footage;
- Fluid Simulation, for oceans, clouds, and other fluids.
Maya RTA (Windows)
adds onto Maya Complete or Unlimited. Exports Maya scene data to Director for Shockwave3D delivery through a web browser. Also gives access to special behaviors in the Shockwave file such as triggers, actions, etc.
Paint Effects Plugin for Adobe After Effects (Windows, Mac)
I haven't seen enough information on this product so I don't know its features, but obviously there's a great deal of Maya's Paint Effects.
Alias|Wavefront Design Products
Sketchbook / Sketchbook Pro (Windows)
a 2d sketching, image annotation, and slideshow program designed for the Windows Tablet PC. The base software is free, bundled with every Tablet PC according to rumor. Right now the Pro version's features are unannounced.
Design Studio (SGI Irix, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX)
for designers who want the power of Studio, including all the import/export formats, all the mid-level rendering and animation tools, and most of the modeling tools of Studio (see below).
Studio (SGI Irix, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX)
for designers who need to build and verify organic models to G2 continuity.
What Studio adds over Design
Studio:
- allows creation of fifth degree and higher curves and surfaces;
- automates curvature continuity surface construction;
- checks for G0, G1, and G2 surface continuity, surface curvature checks,
and mass properties such as volume.
Advanced Evaluation, Advanced Modeling, Advanced Animation (SGI Irix, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX)
add on packages above Studio. These three packages together make up the difference between Studio and Auto Studio. Advanced Evaluation includes Highlight and Surface Curvature texture maps, the Evaluation portion of Eval Viewer (see below), along with other tools. Advanced Modeling includes Point Cloud tools and the Modeling portion of Eval Viewer or Spider (see below). Advanced Animation includes Inverse Kinematics and particle animation, among other tools.
Surface Studio (SGI Irix, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX)
Start with Studio, take out all the rendering (except on-screen shaded mode) and animation tools, and add all the high end evaluation and modeling tools in Advanced Evaluation and Advanced Modeling. Targeted at reverse engineering and Class A surfacing users who need to tweak shapes to the last tenth of a degree before releasing to tool.
Auto Studio (SGI Irix, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX)
features all of the available Studio tools including Eval Viewer/Spider. So it does include all the tools in Surface Studio, all the Advanced packages, etc.
Eval Viewer, Spider add-on or standalone (Eval Viewer on SGI Irix, Solaris, HP-UX, Spider on Windows)
standalone packages for handling point cloud data. Anyone doing reverse engineering from point cloud scans definitely needs these sort of tools as the first phase of the process. Pass cross sections through the data, decimate and smooth clouds, etc.
Direct Connect (SGI Irix, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX)
provide better translation of 3 dimensional surface geometry between the Studio math data and the target CAD package than standard formats such as IGES and STEP. Currently AW sells individual Direct Connects to SDRC I-Deas Master Series, Unigraphics, and Dassault Catia.
Portfolio Wall Standalone and Server (Windows)
media presentation package for design offices. Gesture-based commands let novice users interact with the database quickly and without much training. Server version allows remote submission of project images and movies to a central disk for browsing by design associates and managers. Can be paired with a touch screen flat panel wall display for use in public environment or in upper management, where resistance to keyboard use and complex interaction is high.
Alias|Wavefront also sells Consulting Services, both short term and long term, standardized Training classes, provides Educational discounts to institutions, educators, and students.