Overview

Maya is a popular, node-based 3D software suite, evolved from Wavefront Explorer and Alias Power Animator using technologies from both. The software used to be released in two versions: Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited; but is now sold as one software.
Maya was originally released for the IRIX operating system, and subsequently ported to the Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems. IRIX support was discontinued after the release of version 6.5. When Autodesk acquired Alias in October 2005, they continued Maya development. The latest version, 2011 (12.0), was released in April 2010.
An important feature of Maya is its openness to third-party software, which can strip the software completely of its standard appearance and, using only the kernel, transform it into a highly customized version of the software. This feature in itself made Maya appealing to large studios, which tend to write custom code for their productions using the provided software development kit.
A Tcl-like cross-platform scripting language called Maya Embedded Language (MEL) is provided not only as a scripting language, but as means to customize Maya's core functionality (much of the environment, commands, and tools are written in the language). Additionally, user interactions are implemented and recorded as MEL scripting code which users can store on a custom toolbar, allowing animators to add functionality without experience in C or C++, though that option is provided with the software development kit. Support for Python scripting was added in version 8.5.
The core of Maya itself is written in C++.

In addition to standard Maya Binary (.mb extension) scenes, project files can be stored as sequences of MEL operations saved as a human-readable file (.ma, for "Maya ASCII"). Containing all geometry and animation data, these files are editable in any text editor outside of the Maya environment, thus allowing for a high level of flexibility when working with external tools.
A marking menu is built into larger menu system called Hotbox that provides instant access to a majority of features in Maya at the press of a key.