Is it true that Pixar has also been using Autodesk Maya?

The Pixar Studio & People
#1

I’ve did some research because I was planning on using Maya to make the Toy Story characters and sets. I heard that Maya is similar to Marionette. When I was in the movies watching Toy Story 3, I kept thinking about Marionette and the amazing animation Marionette could do to make TS3.

I even heard that Toy Story 1 might’ve used Maya but I thought at first that ALL of Pixar’s shorts and movies were made in Marionette but then it dawned on me that Pixar’s older movies and shorts used Maya while their newer movies and shorts used Marionette…

Hmmmmmmmmm!!!

Marionette Vs. Maya… let the comparison battle… BEGIN!

#2

Some studios have proprietary software like Pixar. ALL of them use Maya. And the “incredible Animation” in any of Pixar films has nothing to do with the software. Every other studio is making films that have as much technical prowess–just none of the story saavy.

Don’t get caught up in a silly debate like this. Just learn to draw.

#3

I was at a TS3 panel and they said that they do use some Maya. Maya didn’t exist when the first Toy Story came out, so that’s when they developed Marionette. But, as CartoonBoy said, the software has nothing to do with the quality of the film. Any software can make good animation in the hands of a skilled person.

#4

Marionette and Maya are not exactly the same, feature-wise. That is, one’s not a direct replacement for the other.

I would say the models are (mostly) created in Maya, and (mostly) animated in Marionette.

#5

I don’t think we are allowed to talk about Marionette outside of Pixar, but if you do your research, you can find some discussions about it on the internet. (Hint: It may be called differently…)

But yeah, even though it’s probably user-friendlier for animators than any other tool I’ve seen, it’s still the animators who make the movies, not the software. So just use anything you’re comfortable with. People have achieved amazing things with any software.