Research Blog Study Task 2 - Mayas Accessibility

Maya is the main, industry standard software used for 3D animation. it has been used for character modelling, rigging, VFX, animating and much more so it seems that there isnt really much else it can go. But animators and studios are constantly wanting to improve the quality of their 3D animations and that means the technology has to go further. This is want makes Maya so accessible, the fact that the software is highly customisable and allows for plugins. But this means that the software is in an incomplete state and is constantly being updated while this in itself isn't a bad thing its an example of how the software is lacking. Anything an animator might want the software for is to be waited for the next instalment of maya, or if your company big enough (looking at you Disney) you have to make your own plug ins. Disney was actually the ones to suggest that the software have a custom bar so that each animator can have the required tools needed in easy to reach places of their choosing, just like a real studio desk. They had specialist departments for hair and effects so they were going to need access to their commonly used tools not necessarily the modelling and rigging tools. This function is definitely one of the things that makes maya a much more accessible software. But to get to the point where you can use this you need to work on a steep learning curve as even our tutors have said they don't know everything about Maya. And here is possibly Mayas biggest limitation. The fact that no one fully understands every aspect of it, so fully comprehensive animations might not be made because an animator has missed a feature of Maya.