OpenUSD v26.03 gets the SPLATS
OpenUSD v26.03 brings native Gaussian splats, a reference renderer, and WebAssembly builds, plus real pipeline speed and rigging work.
Re: Novation ArchViz Challenge opens
Re: Novation Challenge is live until June 9, 2026: one base building model, unlimited redesigns, plus a new Animation Category. No AI.
Autodesk ships Maya 2027
Maya Creative gets most of Maya 2027, while Maya 2027 adds Smart Bevel, USD tools, MotionMaker horses, and deeper Bifrost perks.
Comment: We Were Told Sora Would Replace VFX by Next Year. Awkward.
OpenAI has killed Sora before the proposed Disney deal ever closed. One expensive AI showpiece is gone, while the wider industry still shovels absurd amounts of money into data centers in the hope that a business model will wander in and introduce itself.
VINZI Atlux λ arrives on Fab
Atlux λ is now on Fab, bringing a virtual photo studio and one click renders to Unreal Engine, plus Mac support.
Handy RefTool 3.0 speeds Maya ref matching
RefTool bundles Maya reference camera matching into one UI, adds a fuller paid build, and keeps a free version for core workflows.
Save the date: ICE.ART 2026.I is in two weeks
The ICE.ART 3D Environment Conference 2026.I goes live on 7, 8, and 9 April 2026, each day from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM CEST. It is a webinar series, so your commute is the distance from your chair to your snack stash.
NanoGaussianSplats for UE5
NanoGS adds a UE plugin for big Gaussian splat scenes, with LOD clusters, culling, and GPU sorting to keep frames moving.
Redshift 2026.4 adds Redshift Live and expands support for Vectorworks
Maxon has released Redshift 2026.4. The update introduces Redshift Live as a new real-time render mode, drops Redshift RT, adds support for Vectorworks 2026 Update 4, and brings a set of rendering and workflow updates across the wider Redshift ecosystem.
glTF sample assets and fidelity site refresh
New glTF browsing and comparison pages make it easier to test assets, spot renderer quirks, and argue about pixels with evidence.
Unity ships Unity Studio for in-browser 3D
Unity Studio is out, bringing no-code 3D editing in the browser, link-based sharing, and a clear per-seat price with storage and bandwidth caps.
Forest Pack 9.3.5 broadens collisions
Forest Pack 9.3.5 spreads collision checks everywhere, adds .pmat in the Library Browser, and gives Effects new camera-aware tricks.
Sony to wind down Pixomondo
Televisual reports Pixomondo will be wound down after contracts finish, with VFX efforts set to refocus on Imageworks.
FlippedNormals Marketplace closes March 31
The store stops taking orders March 31 and file access ends April 30. Download your library now, then expect a leaner reboot.
JangaFX makes its layoff assistance programme permanent
Layoff Assistance is now permanent: eligible laid-off artists can get six months of the Janga tool access to rebuild reels without paying.
Cava / Serif updates Affinity
For those who don’t know the tool: Affinity is a free single app that combines vector, photo, and…
MotionVFX joins Apple
MotionVFX just went in house at Apple. Final Cut Pro editors get closer plugins, everyone else waits for the fine print.
Blender 5.1 is here
Blender 5.1 boosts animation speed, adds Raycast and Mask to SDF, and shaves time off shaders and nodes. Free upgrades feel nice.
Adobe settles US case over cancel terms
A $150M US settlement targets hidden fees and hard exits. Expect clearer terms, trial nudges, and simpler cancellation flows.
Dither Boy 6.0 brings animation and video polish
Dither Boy 6 rewrites the app, adds animation timelines and temporal variation, plus faster iteration and better video playback.
Maxon ships Redshift for Archviz
Redshift Archviz moves BIM scenes from waiting to tweaking, with real-time previews, assets, and a one-click hop to Cinema 4D for the fancy shots.
Adobe ships Rotate Object in Photoshop beta
Rotate Object arrives in Photoshop beta: rotate a cutout like it grew depth overnight, then upscale and Harmonize for faster comps.
Official Steam support lands on Unity roadmap
For those who don’t know the tool: Unity is a realtime game engine that ships to desktop and…
The GIMP Team boosts GIMP 3.2
GIMP 3.2 arrives with linked layers, vector layers, smarter non-destructive filters, and new export options. Less redo, more done.
Pixel Lab drops free Blood Hit Alembic
Blood Hit is a free pre-simmed Alembic blood hit, built for drag and drop gore beats across lots of 3D apps.
iCrowds 2.0.0: Ragdolls arrive, dignity leaves
iCrowds Generator 2.0.0 adds ragdolls for Blender crowds, so collisions can look messy in the good way, with less setup.
Huion Kamvas Slate 11 Review: A Practical Android Tablet That Also Draws
A compact, competitively priced Android tablet that works as a daily driver for sketching and notes, with solid performance, a surprisingly good screen, and a pen that is good for everyday work but not in Wacom territory for pressure and tilt nuance.
Let’s Build a Blender Hut This Weekend!
A free Blender Geometry Nodes hut generator with adjustable detail and clear reuse rules for personal and commercial projects.
FMX 2026 program goes live
The FMX program is live for the 30th edition, with RENO pipeline lessons, generative video craft, and European collab on Predator: Badlands.
A Lost Méliès Gag Film Resurfaces in 4K
A 45-second Georges Méliès slapstick short unseen for over a century is online again after scan and stabilization work.
Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 12 with decal warp
Substance 3D Painter 12 adds Warp to Geometry for decals, expands viewport post effects, and introduces flatten-in-stack exports plus new pricing details.
Neat LimbKit gives Blender a hand, literally
LimbKit is a free Blender 4.5+ Geometry Nodes tool for quickly blocking hands, feet, and some creature variants via adjustable procedural controls.
Nobe OmniScope gets Live Pack for on-set and live monitoring
Time in Pixels has released Live Pack for Nobe OmniScope Pro, adding SDI output, Livegrade integration, multi-input monitoring, recording, snapshots, focus peaking and loudness metering for on-set and live work.
OpenPBR BSDF reference code from Adobe
OpenPBR BSDF reference implementation for Substance is public as a small library with prepare, sample, eval, pdf API and multi-target compilation.
On a Mission: Creating “NO ONE’S LIGHT”
No One’s Light is what happens when you start with 50 sci-fi ideas, delete 47 of them for survival reasons, and end up with a five-minute animated short that still looks like an alien planet got a proper art department. Blender handles the world building and Geometry Nodes chaos, CloudRig keeps characters bendy instead of broken, and Nuke ties it together before final grading at HFF München.
Texturing XYZ puts SKAP online, pores included
Texturing XYZ’s SKAP turns 2K to 8K inputs into 16K skin maps in a browser, priced in credits at $1 each.
AdonisFX 2.0 brings Houdini support, anisotropic muscles, and triangle-level self-collisions
AdonisFX 2.0 is a big structural release: Houdini support arrives as SOP nodes, core solvers pick up anisotropy and triangle-level self-collisions, paint maps gain non-linear remaps, and the toolset gets a practical layer of “pipeline hygiene” improvements.
How Pixar Cheats a Skunk Tail
Kranzler talks Hoppers grooming and shading, including a layered wet-fur look and why skunks got a “cheated” tail.
MPC’s Cold Storage
MPC Paris delivered 575 shots on Cold Storage, from invisible fixes to slime, creatures and a nuclear finale. But how?
QuickSweep sorts your Premiere bins while you blink
EditingTools.io ships QuickSweep for Premiere Pro: one-click bin sorting, optional auto-sweep every four seconds, and an item-move history log.
BMD European Tour 2026 lets you touch the gear
Blackmagic Design’s Workflow Tour lands in Amsterdam and Berlin in March with ATEM ISO and Resolve sessions aimed at fast podcast delivery.
VFX School Closes and Leaves the Lights On
For those who don’t know the school: The VFX School was an online training platform focused primarily on…
Gradient Generator: free Cinema 4D tool for procedural gradients
Gradient Generator is a small, free helper for Cinema 4D 2025+ that generates gradient-based looks without turning your material editor into a museum of tiny sliders. It is compatible with Octane Render 2025+ (not required) and ready for Octane and Redshift users.
CrumplePop targets baked audio mixes
CrumplePop 2026 adds GPU processing and AI models that split finished mixes into editable stems inside SoundApp.
Autodesk adds generative 3D to Flow Studio
Autodesk introduces Wonder 3D inside Flow Studio, enabling text and image prompts to generate editable 3D assets.
tyFlow 2 adds CUDA fluid solver and 20 Infernos
tyFlow 2 integrates a CUDA fluid solver, adds 20 Inferno operators, and expands caching and collision features.
OmniStep 2.0 adds modules and dynamic collisions
OmniStep 2.0 adds a module system, dynamic collisions, and workflow tweaks for interactive animation inside Blender.
A World Divided: Shaping a Global WWII Epic at Overmind Studios
125 shots, six episodes, and a two-person team. VFX lead Tobias Kummer explained how Overmind Studios delivered geographic transformations, period cleanup, atmospherics, and a nuclear blast for A World Divided, built on disciplined templating and automation in Fusion.
Spline Mesher Pro rewrites Unity splines
Staggart Creations rebuilds Spline Mesher Pro with Jobs, Burst, fill meshes and editor LOD support.
RenderMan 27.2 adds USD and XPU updates
RenderMan 27.2 ships with USD, XPU and workflow updates aimed at production use.
Cinema 4D plugin for organic line growth hits the web
AlgoMesh releases Differential Line Growth, a free Cinema 4D plugin that iterates splines into organic curves.
280 free automotive Substrate materials for UE 5.7
Epic’s new Automotive Substrate Materials pack on Fab bundles over 280 vehicle-focused Substrate materials plus templates, setup assets, and calibrated maps, targeting consistent results across Lumen and the Path Tracer in Unreal Engine 5.7.3 and later.
The Grove 2.3
The Grove 2.3 adds direct drawing, subdivide and export improvements, Houdini Indie support and huge storage savings.
TweenFX is your free Friday tween sidequest
TweenFX is a free MIT-licensed tween animation plugin for Godot 4, with a demo release updated on 25 Feb 2026.
![A group of people in various poses, with a focus on a woman in white attire, overlayed with the text 'SWITCHX' and the tagline 'SWITCH [ANYTHING]. KEEP WHAT MATTERS.' The scene is set against a beach background at dusk.](https://i0.wp.com/digitalproduction.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/beeble-switchx-hero.png?resize=380%2C250&quality=72&ssl=1)
Beeble SwitchX focuses on easy background swaps
Beeble launches SwitchX, a cloud video-to-video model built for easy background swaps and relighting in 2K.
Adobe adds Quick Cut to Firefly Video Editor
Quick Cut auto-builds a first video draft from text prompts inside Firefly Video Editor. Beta starts now.
Nuke 17.0 rewires 3D and adds Gaussian Splats
Nuke 17.0 brings native splats, USD scene graph control, BigCat ML scaling and core performance gains.
VES Awards 2026 names winners and honours
VES Awards 2026 winners named across 24 categories, with Bruckheimer and Taylor receiving top honours.
5000 PBR materials, zero node wrangling
5000 PBR materials packaged for Blender Asset Browser, drag and drop, GPL licensed, priced for indies.
Revcut launches GDPR first Video-review platform
Revcut launches a European GDPR focused video review platform positioning itself as an alternative to US hosted services.
Redshift 2026.3 fixes displacement headaches
Redshift 2026.3 is a stability release focused on texture displacement, Hydra USD updates and host bug fixes.
Druckli Tools V2 expands Cinema 4D nodes
Druckli Tools V2 adds rebuilt Plane Split, new distributions and node utilities for Cinema 4D 2026.1 and later.
Grading Kraken: insights from the colour grade
Senior Colourist Dylan Hopkin (Shortcut Oslo) outlines the grading process behind the new sci-fi film Kraken, and how contrast, colour and AI-assisted tools were used to support storytelling.
Quixel Mixer dead, final offline version released
Quixel Mixer is discontinued. Quixel has published a final, free, unsupported offline build, with optional free asset packs that include 800+ assets.
Hive adds joint facial rigs to Maya
Hive Auto Rigger now builds full joint based facial rigs in Maya, priced at 40 dollars for the first month.
AFX Camera Tagger sorts your Resolve multicam chaos
Free Resolve script auto-tags camera metadata for clean multicam sync. Studio required.
DJV 3.3.3 fixes flipped export and adds Escape
DJV 3 brings sequence-aware browsing, expanded shortcuts, OCIO UI updates and flipped export fixes through 3.3.3.
Free Scene Nodes for C4D by Midlet Dufts
Midlet Dufts packages Cinema 4D Scene Nodes setups into usable assets for procedural scene work.
Lutbake adds one-key LUT export to Resolve
Time in Pixels releases Nobe LutBake, a macOS tool for one-key high resolution LUT export from Resolve Studio.
SynthEyes 2026 Speeds Up
SynthEyes 2026 adds a Mocha-powered affine point tracker, real-time GeoH previews and expanded USD support to cut solve iteration time.
FMX 2026 spotlights fire, fur and pipelines
FMX 2026 adds Wētā FX, Pixar and Illogic Studios sessions, plus new Premium Partners AMCRS, Accenture Song VFX and AYON.
Oscar animation directors go live online
Five Oscar nominated animation directors. One free Zoom panel. February 27. Register, log in, ask questions.
Blackmagic Schedules Free Resolve School
Blackmagic runs free live Resolve training from February to April covering edit, Fusion, colour and audio.
Foundry buys Griptape to “orchestrate AI”
Foundry acquires Griptape to add "AI orchestration" to Nuke and broader VFX pipelines.
Cascadeur on physics, AI and control
Cascadeur explains how physics solvers and local AI shape modern keyframe animation. Physics-assisted keyframing and AI-generated Inbetweening sound like shorthand for automation. In practice, they describe a layered system that revolves around explicit poses, timing and animator intent.
RealBlend brings mesh painting back to Unity
New Unity mesh painting tool targets Polybrush users with in editor vertex colour and mesh editing features.
Neat Video 6.1 updates OFX and host support
Neat Video 6.1 adds Baselight 7 support, new default profile controls and OFX updates across Windows, macOS and Linux.
EIZO Previews First OLED ColorEdge
EIZO is bringing OLED into the ColorEdge lineup. The company is previewing an OLED ColorEdge model under development, positioned for 4K HDR workflows and featuring refined ABL luminance control, a status indicator, built-in calibration sensor technology, and ColorNavigator software demos at NAB and MPTS 2026.
SideFX launches central Houdini learning hub
SideFX consolidates Houdini tutorials into a structured Learning Library aimed at students and production artists.
KIRI Engine releases free Scatter for Blender
KIRI Engine releases Scatter, a free Blender add on offering click, procedural and physics based object placement.
PFTrack update tidies Maya and LiDAR workflows
PFTrack update refines Maya export, LiDAR error handling and Survey Solver node logic for Studio and Enterprise users.
InstaLOD 2026 Targets VR and Animation Pipelines
InstaLOD 2026 adds VR delivery targets, raytraced shadows and full GLTF USD animation support for real-time pipelines.
D5 Works launches with 42K models and no comission ?
D5 Works
lists 42K models and 2.2K materials and claims zero commission, with D5-native delivery via D5A and D5M.
Resolve 20.3.2 tidies up the edges
Resolve and Fusion Studio 20.3.2 refine trims, speed up AI scaling and fix a long list of real world bugs.
Arnold adds lines, points and faster volumes
Arnold update adds NPR shaders and accelerates OpenVDB volumes up to five times in official tests.
Mnemonica sets out to fix digital cinema memory
Mnemonica Archive addresses digital film by treating preservation as an active, monitored process rather than passive storage.
Live FX 9.9: New Unreal Engine workflows, in a 3-part tutorial
Assimilate has published a short three-part tutorial series for combining Live FX 9.9 with Unreal Engine in virtual production. The videos cover GPU Texture Share on a single system, an nDisplay workflow that outputs multiple render streams, and a Switchboard setup that enables live Unreal edits
Quad Wrap offers quad-first retopology, no magic wand
FlippedNormals releases Quad Wrap, a Blender retopology tool focused on manual quad layout and mesh wrapping.
Kangaroo Builder learns to move faces between meshes
Kangaroo Builder for Maya adds Landmark Warp, a topology transfer tool aimed at moving blendshapes between meshes without matching topology.
PureRef 2.1 adds grids lines notes and control
PureRef 2.1 ships with grids snapping drawing tools image management updates and a long list of workflow fixes.
Katana 9 deepens USD and previews Hydra 2
Katana introduces UsdSuperLayer, new USD lighting and material nodes, and alpha Hydra 2 viewer support.
Nevercenter speeds up Milo 2026 and drops VR quietly
Milo 2026.0 moves to Unreal Engine 5.7, adds raytracing on Mac, pathtracing on Windows, faster lighting, workflow tweaks and removes VR.
Blender 5.1 Beta Improves Performance, Workflow, and Compositing
Blender 5.1 enters public beta with a familiar focus on refinement rather than disruption. The update brings targeted improvements across animation, compositing, UI, and USD export, offering a smooth and predictable upgrade path for artists already working in Blender 5.0.
130 animations, one rig, zero drama
Quaternius releases a second Universal Animation Library with over 130 humanoid animations, free for commercial use.
Download IKEA furniture as 3D models, minus the trolley
A community script allows direct downloads of IKEA’s web 3D models, skipping the store visit and the measuring tape optimism.
New 3D Pose Reference Tool for Character Artists
HAELE 3D announces Pose Studio, a fully editable 3D pose reference tool for character artists with anatomical view toggles. Still in development.
Topiary Generator grows procedural foliage in Blender
Topiary Generator converts any mesh into procedural topiary foliage in Blender using Geometry Nodes, available for $15.
RapidPipeline Plugin Brings One-Click CAD Prep to Unreal
RapidPipeline launches a native Unreal Engine plugin that lets artists import, clean and optimise CAD/3D assets locally inside the Unreal Editor.
One click exports and zero patience for menus from Blender to Unreal, Unity and more.
A free Blender add-on offers fast exports to Unity, Unreal and Godot using collections and selection logic.
Crocotile 3D Gets Projection UVs Tool and Workflow Additions
Crocotile 3D version 2.6.5 introduces a projection UVs tool, grid snapping, export options and animation control enhancements.