Maya vs Maya LT

Maya and Maya LT both are advanced modelling, sculpting and animation software used for creating different styles of animation. They are used by individuals as well as organisations for the commercial production of animation works. They are used in designing assets for games and movies. Both come with robust sculpting, animation, texturing and visual effects features. Both softwares were developed by Autodesk. Maya LT can be understood as a subset of Maya which is specialized for gaming purposes. There is always been confusion in choosing software for the work which would be best suited for them. So let’s understand the key differences between these softwares.

Maya is also an animation software developed by Autodesk so it is also known as Autodesk Maya. It is not free but its trial version is available for free for a limited time period. It was initially released in 1998. It is written in different programming languages like C#, C++, Python, MEL etc.

Advantages of Maya

• It is an all in one software from modelling to animation along with visual effects.
• It is an industry-standard software which is widely used in gaming and animation organizations.
• It allows editing along with animation which makes it the best choice for animators.
• It allows a large number of plugins to enhance its capabilities.
• It allows files from different software like ZBrush, Blender etc.

Disadvantages of Maya

• It is an expensive software.
• It is difficult to learn as it provides complex features and functionalities.
• It requires a high processor along with the graphic card to run this software.

Maya LT is also a 3D animation software but it was built for developing video games. It comes packed with all the components which make game development very easy. 3D character files can be easily imported into this software and then programming is done to control the characters. It has special features for IK (Inverse Kinematics) and FK (Forward Kinematics) rigging, toon shading, modelling, deformation etc.

Advantages of Maya LT

• It has specialized tools for helping game developers to work on complex projects.
• It provides inbuilt environments, rigging features, lighting effects etc.
• It allows a large number of plugins to enhance its capabilities.
• It is easy to install and configure.

Disadvantages of Maya LT

• It is not available for Linux operating system.
• It is heavy software which requires memory and disk space.

Following is a table of differences between Maya and Maya LT:

	Maya	Maya LT
1.	Maya can be understood as an advanced animation software which comes with advanced tools to ease the 3D animation process.	It can be understood as animation and modelling software specialized in building video games.
2.	It is available for different operating systems like Windows, Linux, MacOS etc.	It is not available for Linux operating system.
3.	It is more expensive than Maya LT.	Its monthly plan is cheaper than Maya’s.
4.	It does not have camera sequencer functionality.	It provides camera sequencer functionality.
5.	UV editors functionalities have been enhanced with UV Toolkit.	It provides revamped UV editor.
6.	It supports interactive grooming with the help of a clump modifier.	It has ShaderFX for building realistic shading materials.
7.	It has pre-built structures for rigging.	It comes with automatic rig functionality.
8.	It is popular for making animated movies.	It is popular among game developers.