Bifrost is included in the Maya installer. To download the most recent Bifrost installers, as well as older versions, see Download and Installation.
What is Bifrost?
Bifrost is a visual programming environment inside of Autodesk Maya for creating stunning procedural effects for film, TV and games.
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Create realistic simulations and effects – from explosions to cloth.
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Scatter objects procedurally to build detailed environments.
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Create and edit Universal Scene Description (USD) scenes with an open-source USD integration.
Bifrost overview video (5:16 min.)
Environment made with Bifrost’s scatter node by Henry Yamin
Tenside’s Shadow to Shine music video made by Phil Radford
Cosmic vortex made by Bruce Lee (video: 11 sec.)
Aero particles simulation
Before and after of Eggs of Space made by Edouard Sisternas
Why use Bifrost?
Deliver highest quality
Produce stunning simulations and effects like combustion, snow and particles with professional tools.
Reduce pipeline complexity and costs
Seamlessly create and render effects without having to leave Maya.
Boost productivity
Output more, faster with procedural generation and visual programming.
What can you do with Bifrost?
Mystical blue whale made by Amid Rajabi
Enchant audiences with astounding visuals
From colourful explosions to densely forested worlds, Bifrost empowers aspiring and skilled technical artists to create physically accurate content in the Bifrost Graph, a node-based visual programming environment.
Bifrost graph and simulation in Maya that produces a colourful powder explosion rendered with Arnold
Build graphs for studio-wide use
Create custom graphs in the Bifrost Graph Editor and package them up for artists at your studio to use easily across different shows, scenes and shots.
Boiling pot made by Pipe Studio with Bifrost (video: 9 sec.)
Embrace open standards
Available as an open-source project, the integration of USD in Bifrost for Maya fosters better collaboration on complex effects and empowers you to customise your pipeline.
“We used Bifrost to scatter everything that enriched the fantastic forest sequence in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. “
– Thomas Kutschera, Head of Groom CFX, Pixomondo
“'Learning Bifrost is like navigating a storm, but with Bifrost Bootcamp, I was soon sailing it with confidence.“
– Axel Lelaquet, Rubika Graduate
“[With Bifrost for Maya], we were able to get results that were photorealistic and that worked for our show. “
– Sean Willis, Senior Technical Artist and Pipeline TD, Crafty Apes
Features
Simulations and effects
Deliver natural-looking effects like combustion, snow, particles or waves with Aero, MPM, Particles and BOSS systems. (video: 5 sec.)
Scattering and instancing
Create large-scale complexity for world building or set dressing with expressive scattering and instancing tools.
Ready-to-use templates
Access a variety of pre-built compounds and graphs to use as a starting point for creating your own effects.
Geometry nodes
Work at the lowest level of mesh creation, organise with component tags and create geometry inside the Bifrost Graph.
Procedural USD
Assemble, organise and edit USD assets non-destructively with the flexibility of the Bifrost Graph.
Workflows and use cases
Bifrost helps Pixomondo streamline VFX creation
Discover how Bifrost was used to create the Fantastic Forest sequence in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Bifrost procedures for film and TV at Crafty Apes
Explore practical production applications for harnessing Bifrost’s procedural capabilities on shows like Star Trek: Discovery.
How Bifrost’s particle system creates realistic sand
Learn how Bifrost was used to enhance a Sapporo Beer spot with rippling zen garden sand patterns.
Resources
TUTORIALS
Bifrost YouTube videos
Improve your Bifrost knowledge and skillset with videos by industry professionals.
COMMUNITY
Bifrost users Discord
Ask questions, browse popular topics, and share knowledge with a growing community of users.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bifrost is a visual programming environment in Maya used for procedurally building effects, like explosions, combustion, sand, snow and more. With powerful scattering and instancing tools, Bifrost is also used to craft detailed environments and objects.
Bifrost is used by 3D artists and technical directors at animation, visual effects and game development studios.
Yes, you can run Bifrost at no additional cost with an active Maya subscription.
Maya can run on Microsoft® Windows®, Apple® macOS® and Linux®. See Maya system requirements (US Site) for details.
Your Maya subscription gives you access to install and use the three previous versions. Available downloads are listed in your Autodesk Account after subscribing. See also previous releases available for subscribers.
With a subscription to Maya software, you can install it on up to three computers or other devices. However, only the named user can sign in and use that software on a single computer at any given time. Please refer to the Software Licence Agreement (US Site) for more information.
Launch your trial software and click Subscribe Now on the trial screen or buy Maya here. When buying your subscription, enter the same email address and password combination you used to sign in to your trial. Learn more about converting a trial to a paid subscription.
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