Maya is among the oldest and most established 3D tools in entertainment. Artists use it to model characters and environments, rig them with skeletons and controls, animate them, simulate cloth, hair, fluids, and effects, and render the result. Its animation tools, including a powerful graph editor and rigging system, are the reason it became the default in animation studios. Plug-ins and scripting in Python and MEL let studios customize it to their pipelines.
Newer features include Bifrost, a visual programming environment for procedural effects and simulation, and the Arnold renderer, which is built in. Maya connects with other pipeline tools such as Houdini, Unreal Engine, and Substance, and many studios use it as the central animation tool in complex workflows. Machine learning features appear in areas like animation retargeting and mesh tools, though it is less AI-centric than newer products.
Maya is sold by subscription and is expensive, with discounted education licenses and a lower-cost option for small studios and freelancers earning under a threshold. It has a steep learning curve and is demanding on hardware. Blender is the free competitor, and has gained wide adoption, particularly among independent artists. Houdini is the leader in procedural effects, and Cinema 4D is popular in motion design. Maya remains most valuable to artists who aim to work in established animation and VFX studios.