Article: A Giant Enters the Ring - The Battle of Digital Sculpting Sotfware

Over the past couple of years there have been two programs that have changed the work flow of 3D forever, Pixologic ZBrush and Autodesk Mudbox. Both are innovative and supply tools to the 3d artist that seemed like sci-fi programs just years back. With ZBrush quickly being adopted by the industry and Autodesk marketing Mudbox like the geniuses Autodesk is has formed a bitter rivalry that has topped the old Max Maya Wars of the early 2000's, but that is all about to change thanks to Avatar.

The Foundry and Weta are going to release the program they created for Avatar, it will be packaged under the name of "Mari". It will sure add competition to the already boiling digital sculpting and painting market, but it has tools that may top them all. Does this sound like DejaVu... it should. This is how Mudbox came to the market in the first place, it was produce for Lord of the Rings and sold after the movies were completed to the public. This also showcases one of Mubox's straights over ZBrush, it fits perfectly into the production pipeline without any bulky overhead. And from early looks Mari will offer the same productivity plus innovated tools to get tough jobs done right. An example, Mari will offer the ability to sculpt, paint, and animate. But not only animate mesh, but the deforming of mesh, and the morphing of materials. Adding these simple but effective features helped Weta produce very complicated scenes in Avatar and can only improve the current production work flow.

I am sure Mari's impact will be quickly felt in the industry. With the onset of a new wave of more powerful software to an increase in what the industry can produce and the standard in quality. It sure looks like Mari will be accepted with open arms... I wonder how but Autodesk will offer for this one.