Autodesk Maya 2025.2 with Updated Extensions

Autodesk has released Maya 2025.2 , the new version of its 3D software for visual effects, animation and game development. The updates add a new machine-learning-based ML Deformer for generating fast, interactively poseable approximations of the output of complex character rigs. There are also updates to the accompanying LookdevX, Arnold for Maya and USD for Maya plugins, including the option to import USD blendshapes into Maya.

Check out the new ML Deformer in Maya 2025.2


ML Deformer creates interactively poseable approximations of complex rigs
Like its namesake in Unreal Engine, Maya 2025.2’s new ML Deformer uses machine learning to create a fast approximation of complex deformations. It enables users to take characters with complex, slow-to-process rigs and train the deformer to represent the deformations they generate in the character mesh. An animator can then work more interactively with the machine-learned approximation, before switching back to the original at render time.
Intended for background and crowd characters
The ML Deformer learns from an animation sequence that provides a range of motion of the target geometry, which can consist of motion-capture data, keyframe animation, or random motions generated by the deformer’s built-in Pose Generator functionality. It is possible to train multiple different models and switch between them, with a Training Results window helping to assess the effectiveness of the trained AI models. You can read more about the workflow and the current known limitations of the deformer in the online documentation: Autodesk recommends it for characters “where precision isn’t critical”, like background and crowd actors.


Updates to LookdevX, Arnold for Maya and USD for Maya
The ML Deformer is the only new feature in the core application listed in the release notes, but Maya 2025.2 also includes updates to several of the accompanying plugins. Material authoring and look development toolset LookdevX for Maya 1.5.0 features a new Ramp node (shown above) and better viewport display of Arnold materials. The integration plugin for Arnold itself has also been updated, with Arnold for Maya 5.4.2.1 supporting the new features from Arnold 7.3.2, including toon tone-mapping. USD for Maya 0.29, the latest version of Maya’s USD workflow plugin, now supports the import of USD blendshapes. There are also a number of workflow improvements, including the option to copy and paste USD prims in Maya’s Outliner, and new options for USD export.

Autodesk Maya is an industry leading 3D digital content creation software used extensively by movie, game, and FX studios both big and small. It features a wide range of tools for every step of the creation process, including (but not limited to) modeling, rigging, animation, FX, rendering, motion graphics, and more.
Autodesk Maya 2025 presents features updates throughout Maya’s core toolsets, adding 3ds Max’s Smart Extrude system, and a new Deformation widget and unified Motion Trail editor for rigging and animation. Look development toolset LookdevX gets native support for MaterialX shading graphs, and USD for Maya gets support for bulk loading and unloading of USD prims. Simulation add-on Bifrost for Maya now includes the Bifrost Ocean Simulation System from the older Maya Fluids toolset, while Autodesk’s Arnold renderer gets better GPU rendering.

What's new in Maya 2025


Unlock your full creative potential and improve collaboration in Autodesk Maya with new and improved modeling, animation, and simulation capabilities, as well as more tightly integrated open-source technologies, like LookdevX and MayaUSD.
Autodesk helps people imagine, design and create a better world. Everyone—from design professionals, engineers and architects to digital artists, students and hobbyists—uses Autodesk software to unlock their creativity and solve important challenges.

Owner: Autodesk Inc.
Product Name: Maya
Version: 2025.3 with Updated Extensions *
Supported Architectures: x64
Website Home Page : www.autodesk.com
Languages Supported: multilanguage
System Requirements: Windows **
Size: 4.7 Gb