Autodesk, the leader in 3D technology and the maker of 3DsMax and Maya got five-year exclusive license for Disney’s Xgen Arbitrary Primitive Generator technology which was used by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The technology for Xgen was presented back in 2003 at Siggraph in a white paper by Walt Disney for creation of generated fur, feathers, and foliage. From that time the technology was used in several Disney’s animation like Tangled, Toy Story 3 and others for simulating foliage, flowers, grass and trees.
Director of Studio Technology at Disney Animation, Dan Candela: “With Autodesk’s Maya as a core piece of our toolset, we’ve developed over 100 plug-ins and extensions for the platform to enable our artists to create a movie of the quality of ‘Tangled’ within necessary time and budgetary limits.“
Source and full article: Autodesk