Autodesk has quietly released news of updates to their range of 3D and animation software packages.

Autodesk Maya 2009 is now shipping, giving you unprecedented control over polygon modeling and UV texturing through a wide range of new features and workflow enhancements. Maya 2009 also brings new scene management functionality, increased support for collaborative workflows, and new and improved toolsets that will enable you to create stunning effects and characters. Celebrating 10 years of development this year.

Mudbox 2009 is also now shipping. Designed by a bunch of well-respected industry professionals who understand how the industry works, Autodesk Mudbox 2009 software is a premier digital sculpting and texture painting solution. The intuitive, familiar user interface and high-performance, creative toolset empower modelers and texture artists to create highly realistic 3D assets for games, films, television, and design.

Toxik 2009 is the compositing and visual effects tool for artists working in film, television, and design. Combining Toxik 2009 with Autodesk Maya 2009 software results in a high-efficiency, iterative, collaborative environment, accelerating everyday workflow and facilitating an extra dimension in 2D imagery. The Toxik creative toolset includes keying, color correction, tracking, camera mapping, paint, spline-based warping, motion blur and depth of field capabilities.

Autodesk also introduces MotionBuilder 2009 software, available after October 14th, as one of the most significant releases of the software since its inception. Specific features include high-quality, interactive visualization capabilities within the 3D viewport through support for new hardware shaders, an intuitive new toolset for creating real-time rigid-body simulations, and improved pipeline integration support through expanded Python scripting language abilities.