First released in 2014 as a set of free tools, and now available as a commercial product, the Mari Extension Pack quickly became an essential part of texture artists' work in numerous leading studios. The developer's website user list includes practically all major global studios in the fields of full-length animation and gaming visual effects, including Weta FX, ILM, Pixar, EA, PlayStation Studios, and Blizzard.

The supplementary tools cover nearly all aspects of the Mari workflow. Mari Extension Pack 6 marks the beginning of a new series of long-term software support and is designed to be compatible with the ongoing Mari 6.x release cycle as well as the upcoming Mari 7.x release from Foundry.

As a result, the extension package has been updated to support the CY2022 and CY2023 specifications for the benchmark visual effects platform. The release notes list 172 new tools and over 200 new nodes, including a new set of Blend Mode nodes supporting over 40 overlay types, eliminating the need to use the Merge Node solely for overlay property control.

Users will also receive a new Circular Pattern generator and a new type of fractal noise called Fractal Alligator, replicating the "Alligator" noise from Houdini and Mari. The release also introduces a new 3D Scan Projection master, designed to expedite the process of creating texture projections on models acquired through 3D scanning.

Users will still need to perform cleanup, mask configuration, and blending manually, but the master simplifies the initial setup process. It automatically sets up projection cameras with the required images and dimensions, and also creates a fixed set of projection groups that can be added to the node graph or layer stack.
Significant improvements have been made to the quality of working with Mari's node graph. The key change is the support for custom node styles, allowing users to define colors and shapes for nodes.

Additionally, the update introduces Houdini-style features, such as the Quickmark bookmark system for node graph locations, node thumbnails support, and image annotations.

Mari Extension Pack 6 marks the first paid software update in nearly four years. Licenses for independent developers are now priced at 69 euros, while licenses for freelancers are priced at 109 euros. Both prices have increased by 10 euros. However, it's noted that Mari Extension Pack 6 will continue to receive free updates for the next "3-4 years."

Mari Extension Pack 6 is compatible with Mari 6.x and will have compatibility with the upcoming Mari 7.x release. Older versions of Mari are supported through the Mari 5 extension pack.