What's New in General

Visualizing metadata in Viewport 2.0

You can visualize metadata assigned to vertices, edges, faces, or vertex faces on polygons in Viewport 2.0. Visualize your metadata as color, strings, or rays. Attach metadata stream(s) to your object, and visualize the metadata by enabling Display > Polygons > Metadata > Visualize Metadata via the Maya menu or enabling Metadata > Visualize Metadata via the marking menu. You can also use the showMetadata command.

• Visualizing metadata overview
• Visualize metadata in Viewport 2.0
• Visualize metadata using scripting
• Add metadata to your mesh using MEL scripting
• Edit metadata in Maya
• Remap the color range during metadata visualization
• Extrapolate color from vertices to faces during metadata visualization

Improved data exchange

• Import and export files on the cloud

  The File > Cloud Import/Export menu item gives you easy access to files stored on web storage solutions including A360, 123D, and Dropbox. See Import and export files on the cloud.

• Export to Unity

  With Maya and Unity installed on the same system, you can now deliver an unlimited number of polygons directly from Maya into your Unity project using File > Send to Unity. See Export a scene to Unity.

• Export to Unreal Engine

  With Maya and Unreal Engine installed on the system, you can now export polygons directly to your Unreal project using File > Send to Unreal. See Export a scene to Unreal Engine.

Visor content moved to Creative Market

HumanIK and MoCap sample content previously available in the Visor window is now available online for free at http://www.autodesk.com/maya-creativemarket-samples.

Autodesk Account

The Autodesk Subscription center has been replaced by the Autodesk Account web site, where you can track and manage your Autodesk products, licensing, services, and benefits with a single sign in. This simplified sign in process makes remembering and managing your account information easier.

See Autodesk Account in the Support section of the Help menu.

Game Exporter

Export models, skinned meshes, and animation clips more quickly and easily with the Game Exporter window, designed specifically for game content creators. Avoid navigating unnecessary technical details and options, focusing only on the FBX options that give the results you want.

• Export a model with Game Exporter
• Export animation clips with Game Exporter

FBX Import update

A new import option Update animation (keyed transforms) has been added to the FBX Import > Include section so that existing un-keyed transforms are preserved in their current state.

Node Editor tab support

The Node Editor now supports tabs so that you can visualize multiple graphs and edit them simultaneously, minimizing the need to re-graph. You can create new tabs, rename or duplicate them, tear any of them off into its own window, delete and restore them, and re-order them in the Node Editor. Tab information is saved with your scene.

• Create and use tabs in the Node Editor
• Create a node in the Node Editor
• Node Editor menu and toolbar

Alembic Write Creases

A new Write Creases Alembic export option lets you save mesh edge and vertex crease data to Alembic caches.

• Export All/Selected to Alembic

Reset selected channels

A new Reset selected channels selection preference option lets you clear the channel selection when another object is selected.

• Reset selected channels

Script Editor updates

Support for Scripting Tabs

A new button in the bottom pane of the Script Editor lets you add tabs so you can have multiple scripts open at once. Click or press + T in the Script Editor. The Source Type window opens and lets you choose either MEL or Python as the executer source language of the new tab.

• New Tab

Generate warnings for duplicate MEL variable declarations

You can choose whether or not to display warnings when a MEL variable is declared within the same scope as another variable with the same name. By default, warnings are suppressed. Disable the Suppress Duplicate Variable Messages option in the Script Editor History menu to enable the display of warnings.

• Script Editor History menu