It's Symbiotic Design: Maya To XAML Exporter
Using Alias | Maya with Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) .NET 3.0
DOWNLOAD BLEND to easily edit and view the XAML created by Maya to XAML
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/expression-blend/default.mspx
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Release Notes
This plug-in allows designers to create compelling 3D user interfaces in Maya and export to XAML, the next generation application GUI markup language for windows and the web. Objects created in Maya can be used as hit targets, windows forms controls, and more. Because the objects are kept as vector data in the interface, the user can scale the entire application and keep the same look and feel. Look for future export features like animation, mesh optimization, xml formatting, and the ability to specify the WPF target type template for Maya objects.
A Quick History of Maya and XAML/WPF
Incorporation of 3D design in video production, computer generated animation, and graphics has created a sea change in the entertainment and media industry ,with the evolution of faster computers and more accessible broadband information access. At the advent of designing in 3D in the digital space, people could envision the advantages and features that this type of design could have in desktop applications and the internet. However it was difficult and time consuming to implement. Resulantly it took some time for this technology to get a foothold in the market.
In the mid to late 1990's companies such as Silicon Graphics (SGI) first explored the possibilities of 3D to enhance the user experience. SGI broke ground with the first 3D chat and web player called "Cosmo Player". This application was comprised of basic 3D modeling tools that could create realistic environments where people could meet online in a virtual space. They could assign themselves a selected Avatar and put that object into an Open GL rendered scene along with other individuals in the same virtual space. This scenario has become more practical and realistic in more recent times with faster processors and broader technology access.
There were detractors to this setup. SGI hardware was costly and they realized that they needed to stay on top of their competitors like Max and Lightwave on the Windows platform. Competitors, such as Alias, released a version of Maya for both Mac and Windows. Like Apple Mac OS of today, Alias Wavefront was able to develop the software to run on a cheaper Intel chip. The goal to have entirely real-time photorealistic 3D on desktops by 2010 had been set by most software companies in the graphics sector. 2010- what a revolutionary year that could be when the best in graphics is available to the common PC not just industrial computers.
SGI's commercial assets included Alias, software applications. SGI announced a spin off of their core graphics into a separate company and Microsoft purchased Softimage, among other IP (Open GL). They both believed there was a future lay in developing these applications. Meanwhile, SGI banked their future on highend hardware and the Irix OS that is used in medical fields and large government organizations, which is now "Tits up" says the CEO of SGI.
Another player in this field was an upstart company based in San Francisco, Macromedia. They developed a vector based UI called Flash. Their attempts at creating a desktop application platform were not as successful. They ran a quick launch with Macromedia Flex but ran into cost issues and Flashes downfall being no windows integration and no propagation into the offline user experience. This tool was not as attractive to desktop developers because it lacked the integration with core operating system functionality and the desktop development tools. Arguably, other products tried to fix these shortcomings with jGenerator, later known as Lazlo, an open source tool. Flash was developed as a web platform and pushed into the desktop and kiosk markets. They looked at it from the top down instead of bottom up and pushed a web product as a desktop development tool, vs. a desktop development tool as a web product. Flash will remain a widely popular platform for the web and will always be the cross platform leader in vector UI.
Maya went from IRIX (SGI) to running on Windows (the same is true for Softimage), and Alias was just acquired by Autodesk. Alias won an academy award for Mental Ray, "a highly programmable computer-graphics renderer incorporating ray tracing and global illumination to realistically simulate the behavior of light in computer-generated imagery.
"Alias|Wavefront's Maya received highest honor the Academy can bestow - an Oscar® statuette for the development of a 3D animation, dynamics, modeling, and rendering production tool known as Maya. With its significant and dominant impact on the motion picture industry, the Maya software package offers a robust and widely used commercial visual effects tool with a rich infrastructure for extension and customization.", so photo realistic that it has changed special effects in the motion picture industry. Download a free version of Maya Personal Learning Edition at www.alias.com.
Better graphics is the single most important feature of a compelling UI, and upstart companies such as Wavefront and Apple realized this. Enter a surprising player in this field, Microsoft. Microsoft applications have not been known for their compelling user experience (except windows media player :). Windows is a form meets function application, having none of the aqueous design like Mac OS X, for example. The dark horse in this race, Microsoft made a non- headline-making purchase of Softimage. Was this a peek into what they hoped to add to their user experience? I can only imagine that Microsoft's rationale for this was to fill the gaps with Avalon, their next highly anticipated Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Forms predecessor.
Enjoy!
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