The Foundry held an event showing off the latest in Mari 2.0 now features, most notably, a state of the art layering strategy similar to photoshop, being non-destructive, allowing for layer masking, and the ability to have procedural and adjustment layers which contain many of the former shader modules in the previous version of Mari.

the revolutionary features in MARI 2.0’s new state of the art layer system. Including Procedural Layers, Mask Groups and Shared Layers

The new layer system in Mari has all the features one would expect from modern layer based applications, where every channel is now a full and non-destructive layer stack in Mari, and shaders can now use layer channels to control attributes such as specularity, displacement, diffuse, etc.

Mari Also has Updated Photoshop file support, working seamlessly with Photoshop and further proving the new layer system as every layer in Photoshop becomes a Layer in Mari upon import.

    Mari 2.0 brief feature rundown includes:
  • Layers, accessed from either the Layers menu or from within the Layers palette, allow you to set up complex layer stacks for channels. For more information regarding layer integration, please refer to the Layers chapter in the Mari User Guide.
  • Procedurals and adjustments can now be added using the Layers menu or palette. Procedurals and adjustments contain many of the former shader modules.
  • Channels now contain layer stacks with mask, procedural and adjustment data. Channels can be used in shader component inputs to specify how shaders impact individual channels.
  • Shaders no longer operate on a modular system. Instead they use inputs to control how lighting, ambient occlusion, and specularity (among other components) interact with given channels.
  • Importing and exporting can be done for channels, shaders, and layers now, and provides the option to export layers in a flattened state.
  • Sharing layers into a layer stack or as new channels allows you to quickly transfer paint made in one layer to another.
  • New selection methods allow you to select, lock and hide patches, objects, channels, and faces (or a combination of these).

Mari 2.0 is available as a 15 day trail, and you can purchase Mari 2.0 for Windows and Linux at a price of $1,995 here.