Blackmagic’s URSA Cine 17K 65: The Camera That’s More ‘K’ Than Your Keyboard
Blackmagic Design's URSA Cine 17K 65 camera showcases its 17K resolution and 65mm sensor in new films "Iceland" and "The Ranch," offering unparalleled cinematic depth and flexibility.
Chaos Project Arena: Ray Tracing Without the Hassle
Chaos introduces Project Arena, enabling direct V-Ray rendering on LED walls—no rasterization, no baking. Full ray tracing in real-time, straight from DCC apps.
Ready, Set, Animate: 120+ Game Animations Up for Grabs
120+ ready-to-use animations, compatible with Unreal Engine and Unity, available now—created using Xsens motion capture tech and Studio Recode’s rig.
Godot 4.5 Dev 1: The Feature Freeze Thaw Begins
Godot 4.5's first development snapshot introduces a "Mute Game" toggle, enhanced UID support, and addresses over 400 bug fixes.
Unity 6.1: Rendering the Future, One Pixel at a Time
Unity 6.1, set for release in April 2025, introduces Deferred+ rendering, Variable Rate Shading, and enhanced DirectX 12 ray tracing.
FumeFX 6.7 for 3ds Max: Stoke Up Your Sims
FumeFX 6.7 delivers fire presets, Arnold 2024 support, and Stoke MX compatibility for 3ds Max—now available for $695.
KitBash3D Assets Now on Envato: Worlds for Sale
Kitbash3D and Envato partner up: 3D assets now available via Envato Elements’ subscription.
Feather 1.1: Sketchsoft’s Plugin Now Adds the Missing Softness
Feather 1.1 adds Photoshop feathering based on masks, per-layer settings, and real-time previews, now supporting older Photoshop versions.
GIMP 3.0 lands after seven years of development: Non-destructive filters, real-time previews, improved PSD export, and layer multi-selection included.
ACES 2.0, Deinterlacing and Topaz: Mistika’s Triple Threat Update
ACES 2.0, AI deinterlacing, Topaz Labs and SDK support: Mistika Boutique and Ultima update integrates new tech for color, footage, and pipeline flexibility.
Dash 1.9 Makes a Splash in UE5 Asset Management
Polygonflow's Dash 1.9 update enhances Unreal Engine 5 asset management with a free content browser, advanced shaders, and improved organizational features.
Blender 4.4 Arrives: Slots, Planes, and Glare—Oh My!
Blender 4.4 launches today, introducing slotted Actions, a versatile Plane brush, an overhauled Glare node, and enhanced Cycles rendering. Dive into the details!
Wonder Studio Rebrands: Now Flowing with Autodesk
Autodesk rebrands Wonder Studio as Autodesk Flow Studio, integrating AI-driven VFX automation into its Flow cloud platform.
Zen UV 5.0: Unwrapping the Future of UV Mapping in Blender
Zen UV 5.0 introduces the Touch Tool, Auto Unwrap, Zen Sync, and full support for Blender 4.4, enhancing UV mapping workflows.
Trailmakers from Denmark!
Game trailers should make you interested in the game, obviously, and since we can't wait for Trialmakers 2, the trailer did its job - so, we are talking to the creatives behind the trailer!
MPFB 2: Blender’s New Character Generation Sidekick
MPFB 2 integrates seamlessly with Blender, enabling artists to create custom 3D characters with ease.
KitBash3D’s Gaea: Free Fantasy on Fab
KitBash3D’s Gaea fantasy architecture pack is free on Fab in March, featuring modular medieval buildings for Unreal, Blender, and more.
Animator Tal Minks introduces HandCraft Pro, a Maya plugin that captures hand movements via webcam, offering an alternative to traditional motion capture methods.
Baselight Goes Mac: FilmLight Introduces Baselight S and M
Baselight S and Baselight M bring FilmLight’s high-end grading tools to macOS with subscription-based access for freelancers and facilities.
16.03.25: DESIGN FOR FILM: Bridging Art, Costume & VFX @ HFF Munich
The symposium Design for Film at HFF München explores the intersection of Art and Costume Departments with VFX, tackling workflows, communication, and education.
Let’s fix it in Pod 06 Plugins with Brian Fox
In this episode, Bela and Christoph glint and glow a little bit brighter than usual... Thanks to plugins. They talk about the history of plugins, their place among other software extensions like Gizmos and Shaders and ask themselves if OpenFX is really the API to rule them all.
DaVinci Resolve 19: Free Beginner’s Guide Now Available
Blackmagic Design releases a free beginner’s guide for DaVinci Resolve 19, including training materials and free assets for hands-on learning.
Autograph Starter: Free Motion Graphics Tool with a Twist
Autograph Starter offers a free, feature-rich motion graphics and VFX compositing tool with seamless DaVinci Resolve integration, enabling professionals to create high-quality projects without some limitations.
Marmoset’s Material Library Drop: Free Textures for Toolbag 5
Marmoset releases a new batch of free materials for Toolbag 5, including textures and assets for game development, animation, and VFX artists.
D5 Render 2.10: Path Tracing in Real-Time—No, You’re Not Dreaming
D5 Render 2.10 introduces real-time path tracing, an automated City Generator, enhanced night skies, weather effects, and new AI features.
Godot 4.4: The Engine That Could (and Did)
Godot Engine 4.4 introduces Jolt Physics integration, embedded game windows, interactive in-game editing, and more, enhancing usability and performance.
3d-io introduces Unwrella-IO, a standalone application offering automated UV unwrapping and packing, streamlining workflows for 3D artists and game developers.
SketchUp 2025: Better Visuals, Smoother Workflows
SketchUp 2025 enhances realism with photorealistic materials, environment lighting, ambient occlusion, and improved interoperability with Revit and USD export.
Good News!
Because the world is the way it is (Gesturing at ... everything), here is a collection of good news!
OpenScatter: Scattering Objects in Blender Just Got Breezier
OpenScatter, a free Blender add-on, offers advanced object scattering with features like texture masks, guide curves, wind animation, and object collision.
Oscars: ‘Flow’ and ‘In the Shadow of the Cypress’ Take the Spotlight
Latvia’s Flow wins Best Animated Feature, while Iran’s In the Shadow of the Cypress takes Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards.
Road Creator Pro: Paving the Way in Unreal Engine 5
Road Creator Pro introduces a versatile spline-based workflow for creating realistic roads in Unreal Engine 5, featuring customizable components and seamless terrain integration.
Nuke 16: Compositing Without the Copy-Paste Circus
Foundry releases Nuke 16.0, introducing multi-shot compositing, faster review workflows, and improved BlinkScript functionality for streamlined post-production.
Blender: 3ds Max-Inspired Material Editor Now Available
Blender users can now streamline their workflow with a new 3ds Max-inspired Material Editor, offering features like node-based material creation and one-click shader access.
Plasticity 25.1: Slicing Through Models and Streamlining Workflows
Plasticity 25.1 introduces new commands and a revamped UI to enhance surface modeling workflows.
Affinity 2.6 adds machine learning selection tools, RAW format updates, brush panel search, and improved layer handling across Photo, Designer, and Publisher.
Datacolor LightColor Meter: Precision in Light and Color
Datacolor’s LightColor Meter provides precise light and color temperature measurements with Bluetooth connectivity and app control.
Mesh Cleaner for Blender
VFX artist Rob Dickinson releases Mesh Cleaner, a free Blender add-on that fixes common 3D model errors with a single click.
Technicolor Studios on the Brink – MPC, The Mill, Mikros Animation at Risk
Technicolor Group faces potential closure of MPC, The Mill, and Mikros Animation, putting thousands of VFX and animation jobs at risk.
HitFilm & Imerge: Artlist pulls the plug
Artlist discontinues HitFilm and Imerge, ending support for the FXhome apps. No new licenses, no updates—users must migrate or stick with the final versions.
Adobe’s Substance 3D Sampler 5.0: Now with Path Tracing
Adobe's Substance 3D Sampler 5.0 introduces AI-powered 3D material creation and photogrammetry.
Arnold 7.3.7.0: Casting Light on Glass and Gloss
Autodesk's Arnold 7.3.7.0 introduces enhanced glass shadows, improved global light sampling, and faster scene updates.
Unlocking Unreal Engine 5’s February Freebies: From MetaHumans to PCG Tools
Unreal Engine 5's February free courses cover MetaHuman animation, PCG tools, VR development, and more.
Assetify v.2: Turning Blender Assets into Game-Ready Gold
Streamline your Blender workflow with Assetify's automated texture baking, UV unwrapping, and multi-format exporting.
Let's do a 3D reconstruction of the Museum of Western and Eastern Art with Rhino and Blender in Odessa (Ukraine)!
Mastering Ink in Substance 3D Painter
Achieve lifelike tattoos on digital skin with Ehsan Kiani's Tattoo Master Tool for Substance 3D Painter.
Illuminate Your Blender Scenes with Free God Ray Generator, no prayer necessary
Add atmospheric god rays and glimmering dust particles to your Blender projects effortlessly with Giorgi's free setup.
Twinmotion 2025.1: Real-Time Rendering with Advanced Atmospheric and Lighting Features
Twinmotion 2025.1 introduces volumetric clouds, projector lights, and enhanced orthographic view rendering, setting new standards in real-time visualization.
HouseCraft: Your New Architectural Sidekick
Transform basic geometry into detailed, destructible structures in Blender with HouseCraft, now featuring FBX export for seamless integration into game engines.
DNEG’s Brahma Acquires Metaphysic
Brahma, the AI division of DNEG, has acquired Metaphysic, a leading developer of AI content creation technologies, to accelerate the development of AI-powered products for content creators across industries.
DJI’s Osmo Mobile 7: Stabilization So Smooth, Even Your Cat Videos Will Look Cinematic
DJI unveils the Osmo Mobile 7 Series, featuring advanced three-axis stabilization, ActiveTrack 7.0, and a Multifunctional Module for enhanced smartphone videography.
Ucupaint 2.2: A Fresh Coat of Paint for Blender Texturing
Ucupaint 2.2 introduces a revamped UI with direct layer channel adjustments.
Blender Gets Lit: Free Tools to Manage Your Render Passes
VFX artist Robert Rioux releases Render Manager and Light Editor add-ons to streamline complex scene management in Blender.
SuperSplat 2.0 introduces HTML viewer export, Timeline for camera animations, new project file format, and AR/VR modes.
Mufasa heads to MPC
The Prequel of a remake of a animated movie, based on a Shakespeare play... and still worth watching! We got a Chance to talk to Audrey Ferrara, MPCs VFX Supervisor for Mufasa
Redshift 2025.3: Lighting the Way to Better Renders
Maxon's Redshift 2025.3 enhances volume scattering, USD procedural support, and introduces experimental compatibility with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs.
Adobe’s FireflyAI Video Generation Now in Beta
Adobe launches its IP-friendly generative AI video model, Firefly, now available in public beta for Creative Cloud users.
Richard Rosenman Unveils IK Studio: Advanced Inverse Kinematics Plugin for After Effects
IK Studio introduces sophisticated inverse kinematics capabilities to After Effects, enhancing animation rigging and VFX workflows for professionals.
FilmLight sends your frames!
FilmLight’s Nara simplifies media workflows and improves collaboration. And you don't even need to have Baselight in your pipeline! The latest version enables seamless progress reviews, approvals, and compliance processes—all without proxies. Interested?
Level Up Your Game Design: Max Pears’ Ultimate Asset Pack for UE 5
Max Pears introduces a comprehensive Level Design Kit for Unreal Engine 5, featuring over 300 unique assets to streamline your game development process.
Real-Time Node Previews in Blender—Because Guesswork is So Last Year
Tired of blind node adjustments in Blender? Shader View offers real-time previews directly above each node, streamlining your shader creation process.
Simplify Your Blender to Unreal Workflow
Scott Rafferty's BlenderCollection2Empty script automates the conversion of Blender collections to empties, streamlining the export process to Unreal Engine 5.
REDCINE-X Pro Beta now supports Nikon's N-RAW format, enhancing post-production workflows for Nikon Z9 and Z8 users. The first light at the end of the struggle-for-intenal-RAW-tunnel!
OnPoint Studios Hosts Virtual Production Event in Berlin
OnPoint Studios is hosting a virtual production event in Berlin, featuring industry experts and showcasing advancements in motion capture and real-time graphics.
Blender 4.4 Beta Makes a Splash
Blender 4.4 enters beta, introducing Slotted Actions for animation, an overhauled Glare node in the Compositor, and updates to Grease Pencil and Geometry Nodes.
LightWave 2025: Something is coming
LightWave Digital unveils LightWave 2025, introducing RIPR for real-time HDR previews, enhanced Rhiggit tools, LW Construct for rapid asset creation, and a versatile Cel Shader for stylized rendering.
Tiny Hair Shader: Making Blender Hair Shine
Tinocky (of Tiny Eye Fame) introduces Tiny Hair Shader, a procedural tool for Blender enabling easy creation of stylized hair with adjustable properties.
Flow’s Custom Blender Plug-In: Water Sim That Made a Splash
The Blender plug-in behind Flow’s water scenes is now public—get ready for technical precision in your water simulations!
OpenUSD 25.02: Technical Tweaks for the Speedy Frame Wrangler (Yes, Really)
OpenUSD 25.02 refines API calls, performance, and stability with a suite of focused technical improvements.
Pulldownit 6 for Maya: Shattering Expectations with New Features
Pulldownit 6 introduces the Edge Fracture Tool, enhanced dynamic long cracks, and improved performance for instanced shapes in Maya.
Blender’s New Add-on: Because Waiting Forever Isn’t a Workflow
Samuel Francis introduces the Animation Render Time Estimator, a free Blender add-on that predicts total render times for animations.
Adobe's latest update introduces Project Assets workflow, Shell parameter for primitives, adaptive subdivision, and VR camera preview enhancements. Also: The "Substance 3D Asset Library" is now fully available for all Subscribers without any limits.
Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF Body: Full Power, No Extras
Blackmagic Design introduces the URSA Cine 12K LF Body for $6,995, allowing professionals to rig their setup with existing accessories.
Fab’s Freebies: Let’s grab some pot
Don't miss out on Fab's latest limited-time free content, featuring an Asian-themed environment, a clay pots collection, and an interaction management system, available until February 11th.
FilmLight REMOTE: Next-Generation Remote Color Grading
FilmLight introduces a new remote grading solution with JPEG-XS, NICE DCV, and full control surface integration.
More ALEXA 35, Less Budget—But Still ARRI
ARRI introduces the ALEXA 35 Base Model, a lower-cost version of its flagship ALEXA 35. The new model offers the same sensor and image quality but trims the price tag by making advanced features available as separately licensed upgrades.
“Node-It”: Organize Your Blender Shaders with (Almost) Zero Fuss
Blender add-on "Node-It" simplifies shader workflows with automated organization, color coding, and labeling tools. Designed to save time and frustration.
Delta Quad: The Add-On That Tames N-Gons in Blender
Delta Quad, a Blender add-on, turns N-gons into clean quads with ease, optimizing 3D modeling workflows for professionals.
Twixtor Goes Solo
Revision Effects introduces Twixtor Standalone , combining standalone flexibility and machine learning-based retiming to elevate slow motion workflows.
ASUS ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV
Let's not faff about: 5K Screens? Really? I tested one, and here are the results - the Use Case is not what you might think it is.
A new Houdini deformer makes geometry bend like latex, offering smoother results for VFX artists — check the details and usability here.
Unreal Engine 5.6: Enhanced Tools for Virtual Production
Unreal Engine 5.6 introduces usability improvements for virtual production, including better World Partition tools, Lumen updates, and procedural Megaworlds biomes.
Bright Idea: Free Rim Light Tool for Nuke Artists
CompAcademy's free 2D Rim Light Tool for Nuke simplifies rim lighting in 2D workflows, offering flexibility and control at no cost.
Adobe After Effects Beta: HDR Preview for Precision Workflows
The latest After Effects beta introduces HDR composition previews, supporting more accurate workflows for HDR-ready monitors.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer 14.1
The latest update to Adobe Substance 3D Designer brings new functionalities and fixes that streamline your creative process. Here’s everything you need to know.
Free Modular Bakery Shop Assets for Unreal Engine – Download Now!
Epic Games has released a free Modular Bakery Shop asset pack, featuring 76 highly detailed static meshes, including PBR materials for realistic rendering. Available only for a limited time, the pack is ideal for Unreal Engine users seeking to create a bakery or café environment.
Autograph 2025: Sign Here for New Features
Left Angle's Autograph 5.1v0 introduces a revamped UI, 3D text extrusion, and enhanced interoperability with DaVinci Resolve and After Effects.
DJI Flip: Pocket-Sized Drone
DJI's Flip drone combines folding propellers, 4K video, and obstacle avoidance for vloggers/creators who need a drone as portable as their coffee cup.
Import-Maya-Shaders: Bridging Maya and Blender
Tired of re-creating shaders from scratch? Import-Maya-Shaders offers a free solution to convert Maya's aiStandardSurface shaders to Blender's Principled BSDF—just don't expect it to handle your shader spaghetti.
ComfyUI now supports NVIDIA Cosmos, transforming AI video generation into a serious tool for VFX pros. Text-to-video meets production pipelines—but test first!
Digital Domain Lets Agatha Fly
The prettiest Marvel show this year was "Agatha All Along" Time to ask Digital Domain how they did that!
Free for All: Post Manager Adds Render Compositing to Photoshop
Post Manager, a Photoshop add-on for render compositing, is now free. Manage multi-pass workflows directly in Photoshop—simple, stable, and cost-effective.
Free ZibraVDB for Unreal: Smoke, Fire, and Simulated Chaos
ZibraVDB's new free version brings volumetric simulation tools to Unreal Engine, letting artists create smoke and fire effects in real time.
Chaos Unleashes V-Ray 7 for Cinema 4D
V-Ray 7 for Cinema 4D introduces Gaussian splat rendering, OpenPBR support, and enhanced Sun & Sky model.
VES Awards 2025: Nominees Unveiled—Prepare Your Applause (and Renders)!
The Visual Effects Society has announced the nominees for the 23rd Annual VES Awards, celebrating excellence in visual effects across film, television, animation, and more.
Unreal Engine Gets a Hair-Raising Tool
New free tool "Hair Cinematic Tool" for UE5 simplifies grooming workflows for realistic hair in real-time cinematics.
Photoshop’s New Live Co-Editing: Real-Time Collaboration Without the Coffee Runs
Adobe introduces Live Co-Editing in Photoshop, enabling multiple users to edit cloud documents simultaneously in real time.
Blender 2025: New Features, Same Blender Charm
Blender reveals exciting updates for 2025, including simulation nodes 2.0, Online Remote Assets, and Sculpting Layers.
HDMI 2.2 offers 96Gbps bandwidth, supports 16K, and introduces 4K at 480Hz. But is your pipeline ready for this tech leap?
BlenderCraft: Bringing Minecraft-Style Worlds to Blender
BlenderCraft merges Minecraft-style environments with Blender’s tools. With 300+ blocks, a draggable inventory, and procedural magic, it’s a voxel dream.