WetaM Announcement

[@philosoaper]

the "available to everyone" is bullshit until we know a price

[@hyraxist]

Exactly

[@nathancreates]

"available to everyone" with a hollywood film budget.

[@leosmi1]

Use Blender

[@philosoaper]

@@leosmi1 while blender has improved a lot since the free blender campaign back in the day and it's quite capable.. USING IT.. drives me towards suicide. It still needs MAJOR work in it's user experience. In short, I would like to keep my sanity a bit longer,

[@leosmi1]

@@philosoaper that's true, the user interface is a mess, but Blender is open source and made by community, only the user experience will improve. All we should consider user at leat in parallel with other softwares.

[@aracturus6220]

Im never touching maya again... Houdini is the way to go.. this demonstrate how maya always needs to be incorporated with plugins in order for it to be usable in the industry

[@MattScottVisuals]

I'm with you! This video should have said "A new, usable version of Maya, that doesn't crash"...

[@MrFreyr13]

I really try houdini last 2 years, but in some cases it`s a shit. Some things is waaay better to do in maya with all it`s bugs and problems.

[@MattScottVisuals]

@@MrFreyr13 Yeah that's true, but for me the crashing was so frequent it just felt like an unfinished piece of software that would be embarassing to use in front of a client. Stability has got to be more of a priority I think.

[@DanielGarcia-ys7kj]

kk houdini fanboi

[@abdullahkolayl5337]

don't stuck only 1 software best way combine more than 1 tools like pros.

[@5amJones]

I would love to try this! Shame my computer won't be able to do it justice! Cool though, fair play weta.

[@kacktustoo]

Very interesting, I'm looking forward to seeing the full breakdown of features

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

Imagine if other companies would do this, lots of companies have amazing in-house tools that remain in-house, just a few days ago I discovered that Disney has a hair tool called Tonic for creating and controlling hair clumps that’s better than anything in Maya.

[@schmoborama]

my dingle-berries are better than anything in maya.

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

@@schmoborama Then sell you're dingle berries, im sure companies would love to use that in production.

[@schmoborama]

@@TheIcemanModdeler If all the schools had been completely suckered into teaching the use of my dingle-berries, I'd get 1600 bucks for them too

[@bigfisher42]

anything is better than anything in maya

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

David Alin It’s not that bad, I still like Maya, just Autodesk bought loads of plugins and the abandoned them. Bifrost is the last hope for Maya.

[@Munda36]

Its really great having to use this app for my Future Projects 🥰❣️.

[@twanduvigneau5809]

Holt shit, that's actually really fucking awesome, I don't think a "consumer" has ever had access to this kind of next level tooling in the industry. Very awesome work Weta!!!

[@Luxalpa]

Houdini?

[@kabeltelevizio]

We'll see what the pricing is.... I can't be a consumer if the monthly fee is a 500 usd...

[@DrHippo]

@@Luxalpa As much as I think houdini is awesome, I still think weta's tools will be on another level from what I've heard/seen. At least if it's truely what they use in house.

[@alancruz8356]

Why reinvent the wheel with houdini? Sure you can but time/dev costs? ..i rather pay subscription and be efficient with tried and true tools with top notch devs

[@mattbarkerart]

Awesome WETA team, please make it affordable for indie and freelance artists!

[@saran9736]

Sorry, they won't 🤣

[@mattbarkerart]

@@saran9736 you're probably right, here's hoping

[@casensitive3695]

Any updates on release ?

[@svenneve]

Will tools like Tissue, Synapse and Manuka become services in the future as well?

[@cherifaly6757]

Haha.. dream on... those will definitely never show up in public.

[@Nilblank2]

@@cherifaly6757 its not like weta is only doing it to have an edge over competition. Supporting software is the main problem. These packages are probably going to cost high and are for commercial use.

[@Tallacus]

The gods can only give us so much, that's why I rather support independent tools like Cascadeur

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

Is Tissue the muscle system used on LOTR, the one they used on Gollum? There is a muscle system plugin created by Ziva, not sure if it’s as good.

[@cherifaly6757]

@@TheIcemanModdeler yes, Tissue was used to create the muscle system in LOTR for gollum. Tissue started very, very long ago, much longer than Ziva. Ziva was founded in 2015, developed by James Jacobs experience, who previously worked on developing Tissue for Weta Digital and received an Oscar for it. Ziva does exactly what tissue does, probably much better and more artist friendly now.

[@amineroula]

Still waiting 😢😢😅😅😊😊

[@angosalvo5734]

don't hold your breath !

[@amineroula]

@@angosalvo5734 yep

[@rano12321]

it ain't happening

[@LoneWolf-tk9em]

My PC - "Don't even think about that"

[@pakapeta7772]

So u guys sold WetaM to Unity?

[@junechevalier]

My question is: would it be available for someone with maya license, or would it be behind pay wall on top of the maya license?

[@Nick-yo1te]

How do we get on the beta train!?

[@farzinmoayed2718]

OHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOD YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH

[@EscapeCondition]

Hope this is a start of a trend where these great tech companies release their proprietary add-ons.

[@morname8731]

so excited! ... it's cloud-based as a subscription service, well I'm not excited anymore.

[@vmpere2637]

This honestly looks insane

[@retroeshop1681]

This is a win win for everyone, hopefully not that expensive for smaller studios.

[@carbonx95.08]

I think you might be disappointed....deeply

[@retroeshop1681]

@@carbonx95.08 Nah, I don't think I will.

[@r-yan8573]

Weta is a GOAT

[@schmoborama]

... is that good or bad

[@UnrealMatter]

This was epic! Got goosebumps

[@ranaumair100]

Amazing really existed to see this software!

[@JM-dr1th]

Sounds cool, but cloud based :( Probably means streaming a video of it back to the user so working with it won't feel great

[@Vihefex]

No that's not how cloud base is going to work. Probably cloud based processing to avoid piracy, but you'll be working on your computer with your maya.

[@JM-dr1th]

@@Vihefex For sure it's to avoid piracy, will be interesting to see how responsive it is, a streamed video was just a guess but will be great if it's like what you said

[@diegogomez6634]

as a Maya user, Thanks!

[@fanimations2363]

This is nuts!

[@SupSupa10]

Please release Manuka render.

[@jhnart0647]

1. Hyped for this 2. I'm 15 and hoping to work for you guys in the future....any skills I should work on improving?

[@MichaelWilde3d]

whut?!

[@roberthintz4017]

I want to try out Barbershop.

[@24enyo]

Yes me too

[@aaronsbot]

DOPE! I want to see more!

[@GameDevAraz]

Wow! THIS IS IT! BRU!

[@thisarasandaruwan4653]

Weta guys are you ready to creat chandwich bosman cg face For black panther 2

[@daniK3102]

Best of the best!!!!

[@angosalvo5734]

Over a year now and there is nothing about these tools. Weta got sold to Unity now, so everything got canceled or what?

[@rossdanielart]

Pretty much.

[@RichardServello]

Cloud based really scares me. Does that mean the tools will be served on the fly or that you will need to remote into a server to use Maya? Either way this does not sound ideal.

[@Vihefex]

Unfortunately it's most likely the only way to avoid piracy.

[@crypt0sFX]

Hmm could it be that Blender finally has some competition?

[@SereneBobcat]

This is an absurd statement. Maya is an industry standard tool, Blender while great in how it helps to democratize CG, has no where the reach Maya, and Houdini, 3DS Max, or even Cinema 4D has. Not only that but most of these tools have been around for many decades longer than Blender.

[@crypt0sFX]

@@SereneBobcat I knew I'd trigger one of you. Take a joke once in a while.

[@SereneBobcat]

@@crypt0sFX There is no way to read an unfunny comment as a joke, maybe after a few weeks at the Jim Carry school of has beens you can come up with something better next time.

[@crypt0sFX]

@@SereneBobcat Before I go to this school, can you tell me if they still teach boomer tech like Maya there?

[@SereneBobcat]

​@@crypt0sFX Wouldn't know, not a boomer, I think you should do us all a favor a reply again in the Jerry Lewis method of funny, I think that's your school of funny and it will play better on the internet. Sit in front of mirror and make funny faces all day, it will be a laugh riot I promise. Get to it son.

[@NZClayArtist]

Cool😎. Could you do Godzilla vs Kong next

[@josedavid9249]

boom!

[@DarioOrtisi]

I absolutely want to get my hands on Totara and Lumberjack.

[@ibcgamingsable]

Crazy Stuff, does someone know the background music :)

[@cherifaly6757]

I think It won't be expensive and I can imagine how much percentage cut down from the "new" maya subscription now goes directly to weta, smartass move and shame for maya's whole autodesk devteam, asking their customers to save maya's life. It really looks like godfather situation here, now autodesk can call weta a godfather and kiss their hands or A$$

[@IllSkillz]

any info about pricing ?

[@pappilonx]

All the best

[@EvilGunRinger]

I'll make it a consideration.

[@buster5661]

*Cost??*

[@samyehya]

Let's gooo

[@AllsonPerisVFX]

Excited for the app.

[@falconvisuals3357]

Weta N?

[@Xsopit24631]

simply amazing

[@dennislian1085]

What happend to WetaM?

[@syntaxcg]

unity bought all weta tools so they can't make it happen anymore.

[@hamidthephysicist6376]

Actually I'm amazed and I can't wait to put my hands on some of your tools . Will you be providing any muscle system tool?

[@AKThem06]

Will tissue be included?

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

Finally.

[@ababiya_worku]

This is a great News,really! I wish Manuka is also released like Pixar’s Renderman for Non-commercial use! But wait, why now? Weta, All this, for public use? I don’t understand! Let me guess! You guy are just flushing out this old tools for us instead of burning them and the new tools that you guys are using now for Avatar 2 and beyond movies are Powerful enough that you guys decided to give it for us, so, no need of using old tools! Hhhmm I get it now!!! Smart & great decision! Tnx!

[@littlecurrybread]

nutty

[@julez4002]

Blender gets close to Maya and then Maya just takes a quantum leap.

[@ReneAlex]

"close"

[@Tallacus]

Then that quantum leap just burns out Maya as greedy Autodesk seeks to keep it relevant. Autodesk is the worse thing to ever happen to any software sooner or later they will fall apart

[@ReneAlex]

@@Tallacus they are one of the biggest corporation in the area. They have basically no competition, it's not that they are not what you say they are, but be real; it's not an issue of principles is business, mean and blunt business. That's it. And they make software, it's a tool, everyone in the industry will not one day stop using it and leave them bc they are mean... SMH

[@AlanStreams]

I'm all about good tools but doesn't this harm Weta in the long run? Apart from the artists, these tools are what gives y'all the edge, are they not?

[@AlanStreams]

@@Jaredvic They could've just brought back Softimage. Logic seems flawed.

[@Crick2x9]

This could be saving Weta from bankruptcy for all we know. Doing work for studios is not very profitable. Remember Rythm and hues? Yeah... And this being subscription, it might be providing Weta with stable cash flow.

[@AlanStreams]

@@Crick2x9 That's a good point, actually.

[@someonewithsomename]

There's nothing groundbreaking in those tools relised. All the good stuff is still in-house. Everything shown in the video is done on a daily basis in vfx studios around the globe, just with different non-Autodesk software. I suspect, Autodesk made a very generous offer to them and it's just some quick buck for Weta

[@joeyhillerst258]

@@someonewithsomename Agreed. Probably it's just Autodesk throwing big bucks on the table convincing Weta to intergrate some of their tools into Maya. Some of these tools are probably just some of the most basic implementation which Weta (and also a lot of studios/VFX companies) have had for a while now so I'd probably not be too concerned about it harming or constraining Weta's development.

[@jonasmortensen1252]

Holy cow

[@juliensegreto299]

Sweat dreams are made of this... Did Weta Digital stop working on their own tools since Unity's acquisition?

[@pipeliner8969]

what a surprise, I like it!

[@AdrianParkinsonFilms]

So many apes.

[@tommykho4348]

interesting, and now im waiting for WetaB... XD

[@KyleTerryFilm]

Anyone got leads on the background music?

[@EditorDaniels]

Singularity by Black Math

[@KyleTerryFilm]

@@EditorDaniels you are a god send, sir.

[@makermovingpictures872]

WOW!!!

[@NoahPfister]

Oh my god, yes. This is gonna be so awesome.

[@SeniorAdrian]

I have a deeper question. As an artist why work on projects if the final movie is bad? "Apes" and maybe "Kong" were the only good one shown here. That said i cant wait to try Weta M. Maybe this way more talented people like the artists who worked for these projects cand make great movies.

[@AerysBat]

A bad movie with good VFX is still fun and interesting work for a VFX artist. Plus, money.

[@polygon4399]

what

[@Ch1llco]

Yeeeeet

[@Shadbolt001]

This is great!!!

[@eyewishwalrus]

I still spin out h3ere in New zealadn such a quality company exists, so so cool, I live in christchurch not wellington but would love to see inside one day or work with them,

[@incrediblesarath]

Wow!

[@ProFilmGuy]

YESS!!!

[@ivideogameboss]

Blender has a lot of catching up to do for sure

[@Nick-yo1te]

Craaaaaaazyyy

[@VickyCsc]

Wow... ❤️❤️❤️👍🔥🔥

[@mistertamura6190]

The way everyone is going subscribe-to-use is depressing and holding back a lot of talented artists.

[@JM-Games]

As cool as this is, with Epics funding, blender excels. * Note, I use maya not Blender

[@xox8717]

No it won't Blender is a joke in comparison to Maya can't handle one of weta's digi double without FPS dropping lol and Epic funding won't help it much since it has been two years now :)

[@JM-Games]

@@xox8717 Have you seen the latest features of Blender? You need to do your research.

[@xox8717]

@@JM-Games Features don't matter if the performance is crap and not usable for serious work.

[@JM-Games]

@@xox8717 You clearly don't have any experience in 3D modelling. The performance on Blender is great, some of the biggest VFX artists and 3D game artists use Blender, if you don't consider that "serious work" what is?

[@edh615]

@@JM-Games The performance in Blender is NOT great, it's large scene handling is behind other software, and this is lightyears ahead of blender in built tools.

[@RyanKingslienVertexSchool]

Love it!!!

[@krawieck]

Looks dope

[@markl1478]

Why not upload a video of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the wallpaper is cool

[@masamiakita993]

rip i guess

[@GustavoRibeiro-fi7nb]

OOOMMMMGGGG

[@traxmaeus9892]

The Game Changer !

[@arupsan]

Awesome....

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

With all those plugins for Maya why doesn't Weta create their own program and add the rest, modelling, rigging, etc, bet it would be a whole lot better than what Autodesk is doing to Maya.

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

John Grey I’ve only been using Maya for over 20 years and been working professionally in games for 10 years, but what do I know.

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

John Grey Maya 4.5 is the version I started using and I don’t care what some random person says online. Autodesk is garbage and we need more competition, they’ve already made the tools that u see in this video so I’m pretty sure they can add the rest, maybe not all but the core architecture which is ancient in Maya by the way.

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

John Grey If you’ve indeed been using Maya for many years than u would know the state that it’s in, Xgen Core and IGS a buggy mess, Mash hasn’t been updated in years and the Mash devs made a sep plugin instead of adding that to the program. Maya Ideas(feedback) website of which I have contributed to is filled with years old requests with hundreds of votes that haven’t been addresses, fewer and fewer additions to modeling, etc. Autodesk buys plugins then they abandon them and it’s a reason why it’s a fractured mess and also why a lot of users have moved to competitors. Bifrost is the last hope for Maya, if they abandon that then it might as well be dead.

[@Luxalpa]

@@johngrey5806 Which statements? You haven't contributed anything. You only said that you know better than the other guy but you haven't brought any arguments :(

[@tstone9151]

I don't understand how Maya is considered bad? Sure, it's useless without plug-ins but so is every other DCC application besides Houdini. If XGen is buggy, buy Ornatrix or Yeti (one time purchase). Maya has the best rigging tools and the best API for developers with the most comprehensive documentation. If you want to argue Houdini is better, sure, but I'd argue they compliment each other

[@DeepakRajan]

Damnnnnnnn

[@SamLanena]

Hats off to you incredible boffins!

[@PotentStudios]

Eh, give blender a couple weeks. 😂

[@fridje]

Right lol imagine using maya in current year

[@invaderzod8092]

@@fridje I can imagine that.

[@z_tiger311]

No it doesn't, also blender's performance is very very very bad, it can't handle what Weta makes , blender doesn't even have some basic features like real grouping....etc which is essential in big productions 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sonnyrikhi]

the only benefit/^&*^* is that one artist who is working at Weta wont think for a while shifting to other studios, bcoz he will still have the same tools there. this way weta will be out of artists soon, as some countries with very low taxes would be better alternative for them.

[@slax4884]

Nice :)

[@framebyframegames]

More Alita less Gemini Man

[@kaproductions777]

♥♥♥♥♥

[@Saint24avenue]

👍👍👍

[@CelestialxPanda]

Blenders got most of this. And its Freeee! 🤣🤣🤣

[@z_tiger311]

No it doesn't, also blender's performance is very very very bad, it can't handle what Weta makes :)

[@edh615]

@@z_tiger311 do not exagerate

[@z_tiger311]

@@edh615 It's called "exaggerate" kiddo & it's a FACT otherwise show me productions like what Weta does in Blender :)

[@AmitKumar-te6vw]

I'm here to see how houdini and blender fanboys lambasting Maya.

[@SiaarZH]

That open source movement really starting to push back huh, weta?

[@sonnyrikhi]

This will hurt weta in long run for sure. I wish instead they have acquired Maya & softimage and start developing on their own. Weta will give guns to its competitors and will have bullets on its back. Very sad for me. If financial trouble is there, why don't they ask. I m sure Cameron and Spielberg will lend a hand to Peter Jackson to keep it alive. Alliance with devil is no good. Keep in mind what Microsoft did to softimage and SGI.

[@sonnyrikhi]

On a lighter note, weta is thought to be immortal. What are they fearing.

[@sonnyrikhi]

@@ryanbailey3176 history suggests something different. When SGI was big and pc only had 3d studio dos version. Softimage was acquired by Microsoft in hope PC is bigger market. They abandoned existing product and instead campaigned they are making next gen product "Sumatra(XSI)", which will give same power on pc than competitive products were five to ten times expensive. SGI (same as weta now) thought making Maya will let them hold a bigger market and bigger profits. Though Maya survived on its Merits , SGI lost hold of 3d market and were left with servers only market, which they eventually lost too. So maybe manuka renderer will be there, weta will suffer. It's not about getting initial big dollars it's about market in bigger and longer terms. And second problem is autodesk has similar products in their portfolios . Remember shake in apple or even DOS from IBM. Do you know Tim Paterson, I m sure you know Bill Gates.

[@AerysBat]

The reason Weta is doing this is almost certainly because of the rise of Houdini and the broader plugin ecosystem. There's Ornatrix, Massive, Ziva, and plenty of other alternatives that make Weta's small in-house tools less of a competitive edge than they used to be. The tools may still be better, but licensing them could be worth more at this point. An added bonus is that they can let artists outside of Weta train with their tools prior to hiring them. As for an "alliance with the devil" - WetaM represents work they have built on top of Maya, which they are now opening up and selling. They've been using Maya like this for decades, but the relationship is business, not friendship. If Autodesk showed any risk of causing harm to Weta's productions, they would get dropped in a heartbeat.

[@UnknownDino]

As a Blender user, I'm kind of jealous now but at the same time, I'm happy for the new tools artists are going to enjoy.

[@twanduvigneau5809]

Never too late to start on another tool, maybe play around and see if it works for you (if it's affordable)

[@roguethink]

Stick with Blender, the new feature updates like geometry nodes gives you a lot of these abilities seen in this video(object scattering). Check out some of the city examples people have already made, it's amazing.

[@redpeel]

You are a great guy unlike other blender users u are happy for maya!

[@malypavel25]

Makes you wish weta used blender 😂

[@柏峪]

华哥牛皮！