Ziva VFX 2.0 for Maya Released

Ziva Dynamics released Ziva VFX 2.0 – a soft-tissue simulation plug-in for Maya. The update offers various improvements to simulation performance.

The new version added Iterative Solver as an alternative to the default direct solver. Right now, it's an experimental feature and only supports the Backward Euler integrator.

The zSolver node got a new solverToleranceFactor attribute, which allows controlling the solution precision and solve time.

Additionally, Ziva Dynamics added the Cache Tet Mesh attribute to the zTet node, which saves built tetmesh to the Maya file improving the building performance at the cost of increased file size.

Moreover, Maya 2022 users can now use Maya Cached Playback – a feature allowing them to preview the simulation result.

The developers also overhauled the stability and performance of QuasiStatic integrators, used to generate blendshape targets. With this integrator, bodies will bend or stretch but will have no dynamics.

The release is not backward compatible; the creators warn that opening a new setup in the old Ziva VFX plug-in will cause Maya to crash.

Ziva VFX Utilities, a set of Python utilities, now include Scene Panel 2 – a new tool to view and organize nodes and edit their attributes. The updated tool added a Component View for the currently selected objects, a toolbar to perform common operations, and an improved UI.

Ziva VFX has a free 60-day trial, after that, the tool costs $50/month or $1,800/year.

See the full list of changes here and don't forget to join our new Reddit page, our new Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we are sharing breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.