Thursday, October 24th, 2013 Posted by Jim Thacker

Autodesk lifts geometry export cap from Maya LT


Maya LT: Autodesk’s cut-down version of Maya for indie games work. The new Extension release raises the cap on exported geometry from 25,000 to 65,000 polygons, and removes it entirely for export to the Unity engine.

Autodesk has released an extension for Maya LT, its $795 cut-down version of Maya aimed at indie games work.

The new features (listed in full below), include the NEX retopology toolset and improved Booleans from the recent extension release to Maya 2014 itself.

But more significantly, they also address one of the most contentious limitations with the software: the fact that exported geometry was capped at 25,000 polygons.

That limit has now been raised to 65,000 if you export to FBX, and removed entirely if you export directly into the asset folder of a Unity project.

Good news for anyone working on indie titles for non-mobile platforms – and something that may make even established Unity developers look again at Maya LT.

Maya LT Extension 1 is available now as a free download for users on subscription and pay-as-you-go plans.

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE: Key features in Maya LT Extension 1 include:

  • Improved Interoperability with Unity
    A new “Send to Unity” workflow allows artists to export 3D assets with unlimited polygon counts from Maya LT directly into the asset folder of a Unity project.
  • Increased Polygon Count for Export
    Export high-resolution models or scenes up to 65,000 polygons in the Autodesk FBX asset exchange format to the desired game engine.
  • New Retopology Toolset
    First integrated in Maya 2014 and now part of Maya LT, NEX modeling technology streamlines the retopology workflow. Artists can optimize meshes for cleaner deformations and better performance using a single toolset within Maya LT.
  • Advanced Booleans
    Maya LT now employs a robust and efficient new library for faster and more reliable Boolean operations on polygon geometry.
  • FBX Export Improvements
    Advanced support for exporting accurate geometry normals (binormals) facilitates consistent surface shading when assets are rendered in-engine.

Read more about Maya LT on the Autodesk website