MARI Non-commercial 3D texture painting software will allow artists to learn at their own pace

London, May 10, 2016 -  Leading creative software developer The Foundry has today announced the launch of MARI Non-commercial. The free, non-watermarked version of the company’s Academy Award^®-winning 3D texture painting software allows artists to work on personal projects and learn at their own pace. 

“With our non-commercial products, we want to give artists all the time they need to get familiar with the software. They can work on personal projects such as making their demo reels stand out from the crowd, or simply use our extensive free tutorials to thoroughly learn the software—for as long as it takes,” says Andy Whitmore, chief product officer at The Foundry. 

MARI Non-commercial enables artists to use intuitive paint tools to texture 3D meshes for VFX, animation and games projects directly in the 3D environment, and offers powerful layering, adjustments, procedurals and advanced masking. With access to professional-level features and workflows for an unrestricted timespan, artists can hone their talent and gain experience that will help them develop the skills top entertainment studios seek out in their 3D texture artists. 

“Having a non-commercial version of any of the tools we use (and MARI is one of the important ones) is the best idea you could ever come up with,” says Laurent Taillefer, CG supervisor at Atomic Fiction. 

“When we hire people on our teams, something I pay a lot of attention to is how autonomous they are; for someone to be autonomous, having access to a non-commercial version at home is the best way. You just install it, start to work, develop your skills, consider your questions, find out what’s not working for you—so when you meet professional artists, you know exactly what to ask, you know exactly what you need to work on, and then you can just become a better artist.” 

MARI is the second product that the company has offered for non-commercial use at no cost to artists; it has previously made its NUKE compositing, editorial and finishing software available in the same manner. 

MARI Non-commercial is available now. For more information and to download the software, visit The Foundry online.

About The Foundry 

The Foundry is a leading global developer of creative software used to deliver high-end visual effects and 3D content for the design, visualization and entertainment industries. The portfolio empowers artists to create inspiring and technical images and visual experiences in media production (film, commercials, episodic television, gaming, and virtual and augmented reality), and product and industrial design. 

The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in London, with offices in Silicon Valley, Manchester, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Dublin and Austin. In November 2015 Alex Mahon was appointed as CEO while Bill Collis became president. 

Clients include Pixar, Mercedes-Benz, ILM, Double Negative, The Moving Picture Company, Walt Disney Animation, Weta Digital, Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Skullcandy. 

In 2015, the London Stock Exchange named The Foundry one of its “1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.”