Autodesk ships Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1
Autodesk has released Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1, the latest version of the multiphyics plugin for Maya, improving support for Maya’s Component Tags, voxel smoothing, volume rendering and USD workflows.
A powerful node-based simulation environment with a range of physics solvers
First released in 2019 alongside Maya 2019.2, Bifrost for Maya provides a node-based visual programming enviroment in which to author multiphysics simulations.
The plugin, an expanded version of Maya’s original Bifrost Fluids simulation toolset, includes solvers for combustion, granular materials and cloth as well as liquids, and is available free with Maya.
New in Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1: support for Component Tags
Key changes in Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1 include support for Component Tags, with tags now included when importing geometry into the Bifrost graph, or converting an output mesh to a Maya mesh.
There are also several new graph nodes, including mesh_scope, which can be used to visualise data on the points, faces and vertes of a mesh, and which is intended for diagnosing issues with meshes.
Better voxel smoothing and volume rendering
Existing features that get updates include the smooth_voxel_property node, which gets the option to choose Gaussian, mean or median smoothing, and to set the number of iterations used.
Viewport rendering of volumes is “faster, more accurate and more stable”, and translation of the volume can be skipped where the volume does not change, such as when editing paused simulation graphs.
Improved workflow, particularly for USD pipelines
Improvements to USD workflow include a new scene_info node for returning the location of the current file when working with relative paths, and two nodes for handling USD attributes.
There are also a number of UX improvements in the graph, including the option to detach a watchpoint from its connection wire. Find a full list of changes via the link at the foot of the story.
Pricing and availability
Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1 is compatible with Maya 2022+ running on Windows, Linux and macOS. You can find pricing information and system requirements for Maya 2024 itself in this story.
Read a full list of new features in Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1 in the online release notes