Share

Bifrost FAQ

What is Bifrost?

Bifrost makes it possible for 3D artists and TDs to create complex effects in Maya quickly and easily using a new visual programming environment. TDs can create custom graphs in the Bifrost Graph Editor and package them up for artists at their studio to use across different shows, scenes, and shots. Artists can also take advantage of a wide array of ready-to-use graphs to create effects like fire, smoke, explosions, sand, and snow right out-of-the-box.

Previously, Bifrost included the following features:

  • Bifrost Fluids, a procedural framework that can create simulated liquid and aerodynamic effects using a FLIP (fluid implicit particle) solver.
  • BOSS, the Bifrost Ocean Simulation System.

With Bifrost for Maya, two additional features are included:

  • Bifrost Graph, a new node-based, visual programming environment where you can build procedural graphs to create effects such as sand, fire, smoke, and explosions.
  • bifcmd, a tool that executes these procedural graphs directly on the command line.

Who is Bifrost for?

Maya artists and TDs.

Where can I buy Bifrost?

Bifrost for Maya is included with the Maya installer. To obtain the most recent Bifrost installers, as well as older versions, see Download and Installation.

Is Bifrost the same as Bifrost Fluids?

Bifrost for Maya includes the existing Bifrost features, Bifrost Fluids and BOSS, plus the new Bifrost Graph, a node-based environment for building procedural graphs to create effects such as fire, smoke, explosions, and even sand and snow. Also included is a command line tool that can execute a graph independently of Maya.

If you are a current user of Bifrost Fluids and Boss, you can continue to use these features with Bifrost for Maya.

I already use Bifrost Fluids and BOSS. If I installed the new Bifrost, can I still use these features?

Yes.

Old installations of Bifrost, that is, Bifrost Fluids for Maya can co-exist with the new installation of Bifrost for Maya. You do not need to uninstall the older plug-ins; however, only the version that was most recently installed will be loaded by default. To load a different version of the plug-in instead, browse to it via the Plug-in Manager in Maya, or edit the bifrost.mod and vnn.mod module files to point to the version you want. You can find the .mod file at the following locations:

  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Modules\Maya (Windows)
  • /usr/autodesk/modules (Linux)
  • /Users/Shared/Autodesk/modules (macOS)

If you do uninstall these older plug-ins, however, Bifrost Fluids and BOSS will be re-installed via the new Bifrost for Maya plug-in.

How do I render my Bifrost graph?

Maya installations with Bifrost include a compatible version of Arnold for Maya (MtoA). However, if you have installed a more recent version of Bifrost, then you might require a more recent version of MtoA as well. For the minimum required version of MtoA, see the release notes for your version of Bifrost — alternatively, simply use the latest version available on the Autodesk Accounts portal.

For renderers that do not support rendering Bifrost content directly, you can export to standard formats such as Alembic and OpenVDB.

How do I get a license of Bifrost?

Your Maya license allows you to run Bifrost. For details, see Bifrost Licensing.

Is Bifrost available for free with a Maya subscription?

See How do I get a license of Bifrost above.

Are there other ways to get access to Bifrost?

Yes. See Download and install Bifrost for Maya to obtain the latest Bifrost installer for the version of Maya that you are using.

Is there an educational license available for Bifrost?

While there is no specific educational license for Bifrost, Bifrost is included with the educational license of Maya. See also How do I get a license of Bifrost?.

Do Maya LT customers with a perpetual license have access to Bifrost?

No.

Can I use Bifrost with Maya Creative?

When the Bifrost for Maya plug-in is installed with Maya Creative, you can run Bifrost graphs created in Maya, such as custom rigs and other effects, but you cannot edit or create new Bifrost graphs.

If you open a scene that contains Bifrost graphs, you can make other (non-Bifrost) changes, play back, and then re-save: the graphs will continue to work.

Important:

Liquid and other simulations created with Bifrost Fluids are not supported for playback. You will get an error message if you open a scene that contains a Bifrost Fluids simulation or BOSS ocean surface. However, the simulations still work when you re-open the scene in Maya with Bifrost even if you re-save the scene from Maya Creative.

What are the minimum system requirements for Bifrost?

Visit this page for the Maya versions and platforms supported by each Bifrost release, and this page for the minimum requirements of each version of Maya.

What platforms are supported by Bifrost?

Bifrost for Maya is supported on the Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms.

Is Bifrost compatible with 3D assets created in non-Autodesk 3D animation tools?

You can import and export meshes using the Alembic format, volumes and points using OpenVDB, and volumes using Field3D. USD assets are also supported.

Note:

If you are using a custom extension of USD, then you need to rebuild the Bifrost-USD plug-in to work with your USD assets in Bifrost. You can get the Bifrost-USD source files at https://github.com/Autodesk/bifrost-usd.

Where can I find the Bifrost community forums?

You can find a link to the forums in the Bifrost Graph Editor Help menu, on the online help front page, or at the Community Hub on the AREA.

Where can I find tutorials and other training materials on Bifrost?

Visit the AREA and YouTube to learn how to build graphs and create your own effects. You can also refer to the Bifrost Help for additional learning content. After you have Bifrost installed, you can select Windows > Bifrost Browser to access a variety of sample graphs that you can import into your scene to help you get started.

What support resources are available?

Bifrost is currently supported as part of the Maya support.

Was this information helpful?