Bifrost for Maya

Bifrost for Maya has finally arrived! Complete with an arsenal of nodes, Bifrost will allow you to create a visual programming (nodal-based) approach at building deformers, FX, rig functionality and much much more. Whilst this isn't a completely new methodology to the 3d scene - it is for Maya. It will certainly be interesting to see how it compares to the likes of Houdini.

Check out the announcement video here: https://youtu.be/qZKoDrw_EBA

My gut says that whilst this will provide a powerful new approach for creating FX with Maya, it will not be enough to rival the brute force that Houdini allows the user with its point-based approach, but i'll reserve judgement until I give it a go.

Highlights:

• Ready-to-Use Graphs—Artists can quickly create state-of-the-art effects that meet today’s quality demands.
• One Graph—In a single visual programming graph, users can combine nodes ranging from math operations to simulations.
• Realistic Previews—Artists can see exactly how effects will look after lighting and rendering right in the Arnold Viewport in Maya.
• Detailed Smoke, Fire and Explosions—New physically-based solvers for aerodynamics and combustion make it easy to create natural-looking fire effects.
• The Material Point Method—The new MPM solver helps artists tackle realistic granular, cloth and fiber simulations.
• High-Performance Particle System—A new particle system crafted entirely using visual programming adds power and scalability to particle workflows in Maya.
• Artistic Effects with Volumes—Bifrost comes loaded with nodes that help artists convert between meshes, points and volumes to create artistic effects. 
• Flexible Instancing—High-performance, rendering-friendly instancing empowers users to create enormous complexity in their scenes.
• Detailed Hair, Fur and Fuzz—Artists can now model things consisting of multiple fibers (or strands) procedurally.

 Any version 2018 onwards will be compatible with this new plugin.

Here are some tutorials to get you started:
Bifrost Basics: Part 1
Bifrost Basics: Part 2
Bifrost Basics: Part 3
Make Custom Peak/Push Deformer

All kinds of shennanigans!