In Animation, every frame tells a story. Maya has been the creative partner for the same from ages. But, it was been a manual and time consuming process. With the advancement of animation workflow with AI, the story has changed. In this technical blog article, we will discuss about Maya’s AI animation tool.
Let’s explore why MotionMaker in Maya, added in 2026.1 version, is a must have for animators and how it’s reshaping the art of motion.
What is MotionMaker?
It is a generative AI animation toolset baked into Maya. The goal is to speed up the Animation pipeline and increase productivity of a 3D studio.
In a typical Animation workflow, an artist spend hours tweaking keyframes or cleaning up motion capture data. MotionMaker changes that. It generates natural looking animations for biped and quadruped characters in a fraction of the time. Autodesk like to say it “80% of the way there”. That’s the beauty of this Autodesk AI tool, it handles the technical work so you can pour your energy into creative genre.
Animating character motion is easy with this AI animation tool. Just define the character’s start and end positions or sketch a guide path (also known as creating a motion path) in the viewport. It automatically generates the in-between movement. For final tweaking, a 3D animator will refine the base motion.
In totality, Motionmaker works on:
- AI (Artificial Intelligence)
- ML (Machine Learning)
- Motion capture data
What is Autodesk MotionMaker used for?
As mentioned earlier, MotionMaker in Maya creates believable animation in a faster manner. All thanks to the powerful animation workflow with AI powered tools.
Autodesk’s team trained its AI models on motion capture data from human performers and animals, ensuring every step or leap feels authentic. Whether you are animating a soldier running through a warzone or a deer having a river water, the movements have natural quality.
The MotionMaker Editor gives you the entire toolset to do so. It slots neatly into Maya’s workflow and letting you layer in keyframe animations or motion capture data. Along with animation cleaning, it lets you tweak pacing and proportions.
For studios, this AI animation tool is a game changer. Previz and layout phases are all about testing ideas fast. By automating these rough animations through it, the teams can iterate quickly and experiment with different animation styles. Big studios can churn out more content, while Indie ones can compete with the deadlines.
But it’s not just about efficiency. It sparks creativity. You can prototype your ideas without wasting hours into setup. Imagine mocking up a zombie horde’s shuffle for a horror game, then tweaking it to feel eerily unique. The tool’s quick turnaround helps you to create various versions of your animation.
In a nutshell, it’s an AI automation with a human touch, keeping you in full control.
Can MotionMaker replace manual keyframe animation?
No.
Let’s be real. No any AI animation tool is plug-and-play perfection. It’s AI-driven approach gives you a nearly believable character motion. But, the animator has to refine it for the final animation, as per client requirement.
MotionMaker in Maya is not here to replace the 3D animation artist. It is here to collaborate. No any such tool can convey emotion and feelings, like we human can do manually.
You can coin it as a future of animation pipeline and workflow. AI and human creativity are here to team up, not for competing. Studios can produce richer stories faster, and animators can spend less time on repetitive tasks. Whether you are a solo artist or part of a 3D team, it empowers you to speed up the process.
Details of MotionMaker webinar – the AI animation tool
Date: 25th June, Wednesday
Time: 11 am PT / 2 pm ET (Please convert it to your time zone)
Trainer: Evan Atherton (Senior Principal Research Scientist, Autodesk)
Topics:
- What is MotionMaker, and how does it work in Maya?
- What AI models and data power it?
- What animation challenges does it solve?
- What features and controls put you in charge?
- What’s next for MotionMaker and AI-driven animation in Maya?
Webinar link: Click the link to get registered for the webinar
Evan has been in the core development team of Autodesk AI animation tool, MotionMaker.