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Our News Category: Scroll by and see what happens in VFX, CGI, Post and more!
Quad Draw Comes to Blender
New Vulkan-based retopology add-ons make Blender’s mesh work feel like Maya’s Quad Draw, fast, intuitive, and production-ready.
FMX 2026: First Talks Confirmed and APD Project Submissions Open
FMX 2026 confirms early talks including VFX for Woodwalkers 2 and AI debate, and reminds industry to submit to Animation Production Days by February 4.
Blackmagic Camera 10.0 brings fan brains and pre-record tricks
Blackmagic Camera 10.0 adds pre-record, smarter cooling, and new API tools for PYXIS and URSA cameras.
Plasticity 2025.3: Now with Instances, Curves and Clouds
Plasticity 2025.3 drops a full toolset refresh: live instancing, SVG export, real-time curvature and continuity feedback, new materials and precision tools.
SMPTE updates its AI report: a roadmap for media engineers
SMPTE’s revised AI report defines where AI stands in media: open source, agentic systems, security, ethics, and data. Read before you automate.
Terrain Wrapping Made Easy: Kiri Engine’s Free Blender Add-on
Kiri Engine releases Mesh Wrap, a free Blender add-on that makes projecting and scattering 3D-scanned terrain pieces onto base geometry fast, precise, and non-destructive.
Painterly Trees for Blender: ShapeScape Studio Blooms
New Blender add-on ShapeScape Studio lets artists grow painterly trees procedurally with NPR shaders, custom meshes, and built-in animation.
KeenTools 2025.3 Brings Blender 5, Character Creator 5 & AE Exports
KeenTools 2025.3 expands host support with Blender 5, Character Creator 5 export from FaceBuilder and Alembic output from GeoTracker for After Effects.
Chaos ships V-Ray for Blender Update 2: macOS support, AI tools, faster distributed rendering, and a long list of bug fixes and GPU tweaks.
Substance Designer cleans up its nodes
Cleaner graphs, smarter noise, and a friendlier graph creation UI: Substance 3D Designer 15.1 focuses on making material authoring less fiddly.
Live FX 9.9: More Walls, More Nodes, More Fun
Bigger volumes, smarter nodes: Live FX 9.9 brings multi-GPU HDR output, Unreal integration, and new stage tools for virtual production.
Real-time Chaos: Vantage now inside Maya and Houdini
Chaos Vantage enters the DCC viewport. With V-Ray 7 updates, real-time feedback, volumetrics and AI materials now reach Maya and Houdini.
INSYDIUM Fused 2025.4: Faster NeXus, New GPU Sims, And a Procedural Animation Toolkit
The release of INSYDIUM Fused 2025.4 introduces a rebuilt NeXus core that accelerates GPU simulation performance while reducing…
Mocha Pro 2026: Refined, re-solved, re-edged
AI-assisted mattes, cleaner camera solves, and the return of the curve editor: Mocha Pro 2026 refines your roto and tracking life without reinventing the wheel.
Rigging for All: Epic Opens UE 5.6 Workshop
Epic opens its once invite-only rigging workshop for all: five days of Control Rig deep-dive, free and production-focused.
CityEngine 2025.1 Expands CGA Geometry Tools and Introduces Python 3 API
CityEngine 2025.1 arrives with a broadened toolset for procedural modeling, architecture, and urban layout work. The update focuses…
Mavis adds LUTs, Open Gate and a “Film Kit” to iOS camera app
Mavis Camera 7.4 introduces Film Kit: a $9.99 add-on with LUT workflows, Open Gate capture, MLUTs, and ATOMOSphere C2C upload.
The VES Handbook enters edition four with 95 contributors, new chapters on AI, NeRFs, real time engines and more. Pre orders open now, release Dec 18.
ABViewer 16: Not Sexy, but Seriously Handy
ABViewer 16 brings practical upgrades for anyone forced to open CAD files. Better 3D views, cleaner DWG export, and new G-code tools.
Checkpoint, fixed: Pixar ships RenderMan 27.1
Pixar refines RenderMan 27.1: better Lama layering, smarter checkpointing, memory savings, and fixes across Blender and Houdini bridges.
Mari 7.5: Multi-Paint, Texture Transfer and the Death of the Single Channel
Multi-Paint and Bakery-based Texture Transfer redefine Mari 7.5: eight channels per stroke, faster asset reuse, and fewer excuses for misaligned maps.
Lofted Surfaces and Retopo in 3DCoat 2025.15
3DCoat 2025.15 expands plane controls, improves Smart Retopo, updates Blender Applink to 5.0, and fixes sculpting bugs.
Godot 4.6-dev5 lands: D3D12 default, Delta Patching, Android Gradle, 2D boosts
Godot 4.6-dev5 goes live: D3D12 is now default on Windows, PCK patching gets efficient delta export, Android exports via Gradle land, and 2D rendering gets 1.1–7× speed boosts.
Cinema 4D 2026.1: Fluids, Distributions, and Practical Fixes
Cinema 4D 2026.1 introduces Liquid Flow for GPU-based fluids, new MoGraph distributions, a refined Take System, and numerous quality-of-life fixes.
Venice in Unreal: Scans Factory’s UE5.7 Demo Goes Public
Venice rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5.7. Scans Factory’s new free demo shows off Lumen, Nanite, and solid optimisation, just don’t expect DLSS 4.
Sony drops the new A7 V: 33 MP, 30 fps blackout-free and 4K 120p
Sony’s A7 V adds a 33 MP stacked sensor, AI-AF, blackout-free 30 fps bursts and 4K 120p video. A strong hybrid for still and motion work.
Framestore hosts World VFX Day 2025 live from London. Free talks, panels and meet-ups unite global VFX artists for one day only. And now you can see who the speakers are!
Optics 2026 Adds AI-Driven Masks, Upscaling & Depth Tools
ptics 2026 integrates into Photoshop via a new panel and adds AI-based tools (DeNoise, UpRes, Depth Map, Face ML), plus updated Sapphire filters for stylised looks.
Godot ARKit: Facial Mocap Without the Detour
Open-source plug-in GodotARKit links Apple’s ARKit and Godot 4 for real-time facial mocap using the Live Link Face app—no extra tools needed.
RapidPipeline for 3ds Max and Maya
RapidPipeline brings CAD & 3D data optimisation into 3ds Max/Maya: import, clean up, remesh, bake UVs and export, locally, quickly, without leaving your DCC.
Cascadeur 2025.3: Inbetweening De Luxe
Cascadeur 2025.3 adds Filament rendering, new inbetweening controls, quadruped rigs and twist bones, Windows-only for now, experimental but promising.
From Animatic to Art Direction: Previs Pro Adds Video Styling
Previs Pro introduces Video Style Grade, bringing AI-driven visual styling to animatics, combining storyboard, previs, and art direction in one workflow.
World Creator 2025.3 adds ORBX , Godot bridge and caves
World Creator 2025.3 brings ORBX export for OctaneRender, Godot integration and cave-mask terrain tools, adding flexibility for terrain export and engine pipelines.
Shapekeys: The angle on your mesh
CamKeys automates ShapeKeys by camera angle in Blender. Users say it mimics per-object FOV , the docs say it drives morphs.
New Trailer walks FMX 2026 home
A walking bus, a hopeful sunrise, and a nod to FMX’s roots: “Bus Buddy” drives the FMX 2026 trailer straight into the ROAD AHEAD.
FumeFX 7.5 ignites GPU acceleration: up to 5× faster smoke and fire sims, automatic CPU fallback when memory runs out.
Epic Games updates RealityScan: 2.1 out
pic’s RealityScan 2.1 brings LiDAR & SLAM import, server automation tools and improved UV and rendering support.
Black Friday Turns Blackmagic: 30% Off Cinema Gear
We rarely cover Black Friday promotions. Most are marketing fluff. But when Blackmagic Design quietly drops quietly reduces camera prices across Europe by up to 30 percent, that counts as news.
Unity’s 2026 Roadmap: CoreCLR, Verified Packages, Fewer Surprises
Unity maps out its 2026 engine roadmap: CoreCLR migration, ECS-GameObject unification, verified packages, and a fresh round of AI-assisted dev tools.
Nexus G1 Cinema Camera Goes Operational with First Field Footage
The Nexus G1 cinema camera is now field-tested with first footage out, slated for Q1 2026 at $3,300 (pre-order from $2,980).
Boris FX Suite Expands with Three Audio DAWs
Boris FX expands its Suite with three full DAWs (Sequoia, Samplitude, and Music Studio) adding professional audio production, mastering, and music creation tools to its postproduction ecosystem.
Blender Studio drops “Storm” rig for Blender 5.0
Blender 5.0 gets Storm: a new Blender Studio character rig with CloudRig body, shape-key facial system, pose library and Blender-only compatibility.
Beyond VFX dives into AI Ethics
AI meets VFX and ethics: Beyond VFX returns on 26 Nov 2025 with VES and ICE.ART. Join Ben Lock, Victor Perez, Frank Govaere & Dr Jana Sedlakova and Agon Ushaku for a free panel.
Here comes Silo 2026.0 with Blender bridge
The developer Nevercenter has released version Silo 2026.0, introducing a significant new feature: the Silo Blender Bridge plugin,…
KeyShot Studio 2025.3 expands material and lighting control with OpenPBR, Cryptomatte, and better GPU speed. Real pivots, both literal and figurative.
SuperSplat 2.14 adds full video export
SuperSplat v2.14 adds WebM/AV1 + VP9, MOV/MKV export, frame-range and framerate controls. Browser-based editor gets properly production-ready for splat video output.
RealityScan Mobile 1.8 with Tools for On-the-Go Scanning
Version 1.8 of RealityScan Mobile introduces three capture modes (including AR Guidance), mesh clean-up tools, focus peaking, capture timer and watertight mesh output: ideal for everybody capturing on-the-go.
Sapphire 2026: Film Burns, Whip Cuts & Builder Love
Sapphire 2026 blends analogue charm and new-gen tools: FilmBurn, MochaWhip, Lens Flares and a more transparent Effect Builder.
CEUM 2025 Recordings Online: Cities, Pipelines & Python
All CEUM 2025 recordings are now online. The CityEngine User Meeting covers procedural-city workflows, ArcGIS-based planning pipelines, and fresh Python 3 support — a compact update for anyone working in urban-scale visualization.
Ribbon Rules: Substance Painter 11.1 goes Vulkan
11.1 trades OpenGL for Vulkan and adds a precise Ribbon tool, symmetry for fill layers, physical-size displacement, and 75 new presets.
Blender 5.0 – it’s here!
Blender 5.0 is finally here — with ACES/PQ-HDR, high-geometry support, UI tweaks and a fresh release cadence for production pipelines.
Text2Spreadsheet bridges AE and spreadsheets with one click
Text2Spreadsheet exports all text layers in After Effects to a spreadsheet for editing, then re-imports them in one click. Simple.
World VFX Day 2025: Global Line-Up Revealed
WētāFX, ILM, Framestore, Adobe and more join World VFX Day 2025 this December, streaming live from London.
The free BranchK toolkit for Houdini gives environment artists hierarchical capture and deform tools, download and test now.
Photoshop Joins Overlord 2.6
Overlord 2.6 links Photoshop to After Effects for the first time, with a new image scale selector and expanded 265 MB transfer limit.
Blender 5.0 hits release candidate!
Blender 5.0’s release candidate is live. Expect ACES 2.0, smarter Geometry Nodes, and a sleeker UI before the final launch later this month.
Marvelous Designer 2025.2: MetaHumans, Pleats & Keyframes
Marvelous Designer 2025 introduces direct MetaHuman DNA import, pattern-to-trim/accessory conversion, pleat creation and expanded keyframe control.
Arnold 7.4.4: better hair, bloom & light-sampling
Autodesk’s Arnold 7.4.4 lifts hair realism, adds aperture-bloom modes and speeds global-light sampling. Worth a test in your next render?
Autodesk 3ds Max 2026.3: A modest update with key workflow tweaks
3ds Max 2026.3 arrives with more precise Conform modifier controls, dynamic material switching, USD workflow improvements and an updated Arnold plugin.
Pixar’s RenderMan 27.0
Pixar’s RenderMan 27.0 lands with final-frame XPU rendering, multi-GPU scaling, deep compositing, and a production-ready Stylized Looks suite.
Corona 14: Gaussian Splats, Night Sky & fabric-material
Chaos launches Corona 14 with Gaussian Splats for scene context, new AI-tools for materials and upscaling, Night Sky for night builds and a procedural Fabric Material.
Autodesk launches Maya 2026.3 & Creative 2026.3
Maya 2026.3 packs Bifrost rigid bodies, Graph Editor channel sets, Flow connectivity, and an upgraded USD asset resolver.
Xsens reinvents its Link suit: 4D stretch fabric, Wi-Fi 6E, one-click sensors, and fewer cables. mocap setups just got a lot less sweaty, or at least easier to keep (reasonably) clean.
Foundry Opens Nuke 17 Beta: New 3D System, New Variables
Nuke 17 Beta modernises its 3D system, adds a Variable framework and revamped annotation tools: compositors can now test them all.
Unreal Engine 5.7: foliage, PCG and in-Editor AI
Unreal Engine 5.7 adds Nanite Foliage (experimental), production-ready PCG and Substrate, new virtual-production tools, and an AI Assistant. Test first.
Rack ’n’ Mini: Sonnet Turns Mac mini into Studio Hardware
No more desk spaghetti: Sonnet’s xMac mini (2024+) mounts up to two Mac minis in a 2U rack, adds PCIe via Thunderbolt, and finally brings order to your studio.
Ucupaint 2.4.0 with alpha channel and decal-constraints
Ucupaint 2.4.0 adds dedicated alpha channel, decal-stick option, UI overhaul and faster VDM baking.
Xencelabs Pen Display 16 Lite: 4K OLED in a 12 mm Shell
Xencelabs launches the Pen Display 16 Lite, a 12 mm, 1.2 kg 4K OLED tablet with Super AG Etching and EMR pen support. The device targets mobile artists who need wide-gamut color accuracy on the go, with pricing starting at US$ 800 and the full Pen Display 16 Bundle listed at US$1250
Beeble launches SwitchLight 3.0
SwitchLight 3.0 from Beeble brings full video-frame PBR pass generation and relighting workflows.
Blender Foundation launches “Blender Lab” innovation hub
The Blender Foundation is launching Blender Lab, a new sandbox for prototyping features in Blender, aimed at faster iteration, acedemic research and development.
Spotlight Generator for 3ds Max Automates IES Light Setup for Corona and V-Ray
ArchvizTools releases Spotlight Generator, a free script for 3ds Max that automates IES spotlight placement for Corona and V-Ray. Version 1.0 targets faster lighting workflows in arch-viz and VFX production by generating renderer-ready IES lights directly on selected geometry.
Blackmagic Camera 3.2 turns your iPhone into a live streaming unit—now with native YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitch streaming, plus SRT for pro use.
KitBash3D’s “DieselPunk” kit free till 18 Nov – retro-futurism ahoy!
KitBash3D’s $245 “DieselPunk” 3D kit (1,395 meshes and 4K textures for Unreal 5) is free on Fab until 18 Nov 2025. Cinematic-grade, no LODs.
Procedural Roads Ahead: Blender Add-on “Roads” Lays Asphalt with Vertices
Blender add-on “Roads” builds procedural roads from vertex extrusions. Fast, planar, parametric and $10.
SpyderPro goes full HDR with receipts (C2PA)
Datacolor’s SpyderPro adds 12,000 nits support, 3D-LUT export, and C2PA metadata embedding. Targeted squarely at post pros, not hobbyists.
Phantom Media Group: Milk, Lola, Tippett, PhantomFX and Spectre Unite
Milk, Lola, Tippett, PhantomFX and Spectre now share a roof. Phantom Digital Effects forms Phantom Media Group to align global VFX talent.
City Life for Crowds: iCrowds Lands in Blender
iCrowds, the new Blender add-on from iCity’s creator, brings smart Sims-style crowds, seven simulation systems, and 100k agents to 3D production.
Sculpt-Offs, Anniversaries & Anatomy: ZBrush Summit 2025 celebrates 25 years
ZBrush turns 25 and Maxon is celebrating online, 7-9 November, with live Sculpt-Offs, artist sessions and a first look at what’s next for ZBrush.
Procedural Thursday: CityEngine Users Meet Online Tomorrow
Tomorrow, 5 p.m. CET: CityEngine User Meeting: free, online, and full of procedural nerds. Bring your node graphs.
Das Element 2.2: Major Step Forward for Asset Management
The new Das Element 2.2 release strengthens 3D handling, adds dynamic permission controls and custom Python action hooks to make studio asset management even smoother.
RePro connects Pomfort Livegrade and Nobe OmniScope for a unified on-set-to-post workflow. Real-time streaming, shared looks, and synced scopes cut guesswork.
Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision 2, and Beyond!
HDR isn’t just a jungle of acronyms on your TV box—though it may feel that way. To bring some order, we sat down with Michael Hackl from Dolby to talk about Dolby Vision, how it compares to HDR10 and HDR10+, how it is made, and what’s new in Dolby Vision 2.
Camera Arrays for the Gaussian Age
Camera Array Tool for Blender creates surface-based camera rigs and exports 4DGS-ready image data for Gaussian Splatting workflows.
Free WaveManager Brings Procedural Motion to Maya
WaveManager for Maya adds procedural wave motion to any rig via expressions: no keyframes, full control, free download.
Neat Video 6: Smarter Noise Reduction for Nuke and Beyond
Neat Video 6 automates what used to be manual: GPU tuning, CPU balancing, and memory management. The result: up to twice the render speed and half the RAM usage inside Nuke, Premiere, and Resolve. A quiet but meaningful upgrade for anyone tired of watching progress bars instead of pixels.
Video Mocap: Reallusion’s AI Gets Moving
Reallusion adds online AI motion capture to iClone: Video Mocap turns footage into editable animation for $2.50 per clip.
Blender 4.5 LTS lands
lender 4.5 LTS arrives with studio-grade support; the Blender survey shows where users stand; and Blender 5.0 beta is already here, so its time to plan your upgrade.
Off-Grid, On-Tape: EditingTools.io Launches Local Timecode Notes Server
EditingTools.io brings offline collaboration to live productions with its new Live Timecode Notes Server for macOS.
Continuum 2026: AI masks, fixes, and faces
Continuum 2026 upgrades AI masking, keying, and transitions. Face ML, Matte Refine ML, and smarter Pixel Chooser save time on tedious isolation work.
FMX 2026 celebrates 30 years of digital media creation. Stuttgart, May 5–8, 2026. Theme: “The Road Ahead”. Book your rooms, time flies.
Mesh2Motion Update 6 Adds Explore Library and Rebuilt Rigs
Update 6 gives Mesh2Motion a new Explore Library, rebuilt Blender rigs, and smarter bones for birds, dragons, and quadrupeds.
The Mill Returns
The Mill is back. TransPerfect revives the iconic VFX studio with returning talent and a global creative push.
Peakto for Premiere: search your footage like never before
At Adobe MAX 2025, CYME launched “Peakto for Premiere Pro”: a plugin giving editors AI-search across local and shared media without the cloud.
Photoshop 27.0: Now with Harmonise, Upscale & Firefly Video
Photoshop 27.0 is official. You get Harmonise, Generative Upscale, Firefly video export, and selectable AI models. Test before rollout.
Open HDRI: 25 Free 29K HDRIs (More to come)
A new online library offers 25 free HDRIs at up to 29K resolution, all under a CC0 license. Open HDRI provides ultra-high-quality lighting environments without sign-ups, tracking or licensing headaches.
3D Measure Master brings CAD-style precision to 3ds Max
The new plugin 3D Measure Master adds CAD-style measuring tools to 3ds Max, creating editable and renderable geometry for true 3D dimensions.
No hard hats mandatory: 120 Free Construction-Site Props for Unreal & Beyond
Environment artist Marcos Frazao releases 120 free semi-modular construction-site assets via Epic’s Fab marketplace. Nanite-ready, 4 K textured, and available for Unreal Engine: no dust, no steel-toed boots, and definitely no hard hats required.
Flix 8.0: Foundry’s story hub gets serious about Storyboard Pro
Foundry’s Flix 8.0 tightens its Storyboard Pro link, retools shots UI, refines ingest monitoring, still “priced on request”, which probably means “too expensive”.
SLAPSHOT has released its AI Camera Tracking tool: what used to take a day or more can now take under ten minutes according to the developer.
ASUS unveils 32″ 8K HDR Mini-LED ProArt monitor. Yes, 8K.
ASUS launches its 32″ 8K HDR Mini-LED monitor, the ProArt PA32KCX with great brightness and pro-features. Not for everyone, but if you edit 8K or need huge desktop real-estate, this is serious.