Alias releases Personal Learning Editions of Maya 7 and MotionBuilder 7

Maya 7 Personal Learning Edition (PLE) and MotionBuilder® 7 Personal Learning Edition are now available for download at www.alias.com/mayaple and www.alias.com/motionbuilderple respectively. Maya 7 PLE and MotionBuilder 7 PLE are special versions of Maya Complete and Alias MotionBuilder Standard that provide free access to the software for non-commercial use.
With the Personal Learning Editions, industry professionals and those interested in breaking into the world of 3D have an opportunity to learn with the same industry-leading tools found in professional production studios around the world. Demand for skilled artists remains high and the Maya and MotionBuilder Personal Learning Editions allow anyone to develop sought-after 3D skills.
MotionBuilder 7 PLE software offers almost every feature found in the commercial version of MotionBuilder 7 Standard including: advanced real-time animation tools; unique story timeline performance environment; auto rigging; motion editing; motion layering and storytelling tools. MotionBuilder 7 PLE also allows artists using any commercial 3D software that supports the FBX file format to open these files in PLE so they can evaluate the productivity tools with their existing content.
Maya 7 PLE software offers almost every new feature found in the commercial version of Maya Complete 7 including: Alias MotionBuilder full-body IK technology; new polygonal modelling and UV tools; specialised visual effects tools such as a new Toon Shader; advanced render layers technology, and faster, more seamless connections between Maya and other key production software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Maya 7 PLE users can also take advantage of four separate renderers - Maya software, hardware, vector and the award-winning mental ray for Maya renderer.
New this year, PLE users will have the ability to import and export files between the Personal Learning Edition of Alias MotionBuilder 7, the foremost real-time 3D character animation productivity suite for games, film, broadcast and multimedia production, and the Personal Learning Edition of Maya 7, the industry’s leading modelling, animation, visual effects and rendering software. This ability allows artists to evaluate a simulated production pipeline.
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