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Top News: the most relevant updates for post, VFX, and real-time production. Releases, acquisitions, funding, major industry moves, and deadline-relevant changes, curated for impact and practical relevance rather than volume. Fast to scan, links to sources, minimal fluff.
Artineering Flair 1.2 for Maya hits macOS
macOS support lands for Maya 2024+, licensing expands to floating and perpetual, and lines get darker with negative light response. Also: Unreal beta.
ZEISS CinCraft LensCore targets Nuke lens looks
LensCore brings lens profiles, ray-traced lens behavior, and physics-driven controls to Nuke, aiming for fast, repeatable lens looks across sequences.
Autodesk launches Project Falcon
Project Falcon is a free, browser-based kitbashing tool that exports USD and STL, aiming to speed up hard-surface blockouts and handoffs.
PlayCanvas updates SplatTransform to 2.0
SplatTransform 2.0 brings sparse voxel grids, new GPU cleanup filters, URL inputs, and a new coplanar merge path. Less splat chaos, more control.
FilmSet kit lands in KitBash3D
Finally, a kit that lets you build a film set without filing a rental PO. 139 models, 112 PBRs, and game ready bits for Unreal.
RISE: Fallout Destroys LA, Politely
Los Angeles gets procedurally wrecked, Area 51 gets sand-blasted, and the Caswennan gets treated like a flying film set. We play 20 Questions with RISE.
DriveCompare brings ASC MHL offload checks to macOS
DriveCompare does the boring part of film data right: compare, sync, verify, ASC MHL, Netflix-style checksums. No subscription tantrums required.
OptiDraw paints animated meshes inside Unity
OptiDraw by Run2Go Studio targets in editor mesh texturing in Unity, including skinned meshes, UDIM tiles, layered workflows, and a channel packing utility.
Theory Accelerated shifts Paradigm 1.0 for Houdini
Paradigm 1.0 lands for Houdini: faster GPU liquids, better emission, a Tank node for open water, and a very honest list of what is still missing.
Free Tire Rig Generator for Blender Automates Tire Deformation
Tire Rig Generator is a free Blender plug-in that automatically builds and skins tire rigs for pressure, ground deformation and tire pivoting. Vehicle wheels, finally allowed to suffer accurately.
Project Violet links Houdini and MetaHuman
SideFX drops Project Violet, a Houdini 21 tutorial series that mixes MetaHuman characters with Houdini rigging and simulation workflows.
ArcBrush turns image editing into a node graph
ArcBrush ships free for Windows and macOS with 75 nodes, batch export, sprite sheets, texture helpers, and optional paid AI credits.
VES releases On-Set VFX Data Guide
The VES drops a CC-BY on set data guide and hosts a May 12 webinar, because nobody enjoys rebuilding reality from half a slate photo.
Abstract brings native InstaMAT and InstaLOD on Linux
Abstract has released public preview Linux builds of InstaMAT and InstaLOD, adding native support for RHEL-compatible production environments, Blender and Maya integrations, GPU acceleration, and automation-friendly deployment.
VirtuCamera 2: The Weird Byte goes Android
VirtuCamera 2 lands with Android support, refreshed UI, updated DCC plug-ins, and a Python API. Yes, your phone is still the camera now.
FMX gehts a new head for the 30th Birthday
FMX celebrates its 30th edition with a planned handover: Mario Müller steps down after 2026 and Agon Ushaku takes over the mantle for 2027 and onwards.
World Creator 2026.4 adds expressions and decals
World Creator 2026.4 brings expressions, decals, terrain normal blending, VRAM scaling, and a free Community Edition that lets you learn, not deliver.
Anthropic funds Blender, ships Claude connector
Claude gets a Blender connector, plus patron money for Blender core work. Your pipeline gets a new helper. Your lawyers get new reading.
Autodesk Flow Studio adds AI Rigging and Neural Layer for character workflows
The Flow Studio update introduces automated rigging, video-driven animation, neural rendering enhancements, and export to Maya, Blender, and Unreal.
Blackmagic Design updates Resolve 21 beta 2
Resolve 21 beta 2 goes less flashy and more useful: Studio gets more AI toys, Photo capture grows up, and background tasks get serious.
Reallusion ships Headshot 3 for CC5
Headshot 3 arrives for Character Creator 5 with single photo heads, mesh wrapping, texture tools, and an early bird bundle through May 31.
ZoneLAB for Resolve: Ansel Adams and even more zones…
ZoneLAB adds a Zone System grid to Resolve, then lets you grade by zone, export overlays, and match cameras and log spaces.
Material Maker 1.6 tunes graphs and exports
For those who don’t know the tool: Material Maker builds procedural textures and painted looks with node graphs,…
Beeble adds CorridorKey green screen model
CorridorKey lands in Beeble Background Remover. Pick MatAnyone or CorridorKey before upload, then export RGBA or alpha for comps.
Fusion Studio 21 beta is here
Fusion Studio 21 goes harder on motion graphics, fonts, USD and deep comps, plus Windows ARM64. Also ships RAW Player and Proxy Generator.
HiPhyEngine wants clean sims in Blender
HiPhyEngine lands in Blender with unified rigid, cloth, hair, and soft body sims, plus snow and sand. Windows and Linux only.
Natsura 0.6 adds effectors and Nanite export for Houdini Foliage
New growth controls, a new assembly workflow, and a long changelog full of speedups, warnings, and some very honest rough edges.
Autodesk Flame 2027: metadata and depth maps
Flame 2027 keeps frame metadata intact, adds frame annotations, and brings Depth maps plus OCIO 2.5.1. More pipeline glue, fewer hacks.
Samplitude 2026: the DAW that learned new video tricks?
Samplitude 2026 targets faster sessions, smoother video playback, and remote control. Suite users get new routing and tighter SFX handling.
Chaos V-Ray 7 Update 3 goes real time
Viewport real time meets offline finals in one workflow. Update 3 adds AI lighting help, new materials tools, and tighter review loops.
GoPro MISSION 1 targets compact cinema capture
GoPro MISSION 1 goes after real productions: 8K, Open Gate, timecode sync, and a lens swap option later in 2026.
Epic Games ships Twinmotion 2026.1
Twinmotion 2026.1 goes harder on camera realism and faster lookdev, then quietly fixes the boring stuff you actually feel daily.
Maxon Autograph 2026 is here
Maxon Autograph went free for individuals, learned USD, and picked up OpenFX. Nice.
Maxon ships Cinema 4D 2026.2 update
Cinema 4D 2026.2 brings a clothy viewport brush, a darker sky, and a truckload of bug fixes. Your crash logs may feel lonely.
Adobe brings Color mode to Premiere beta
Premiere beta gets Color mode: new grading controls, Operations, Clip Grid, and color management that tries to keep editors in flow.
Cargo 3.0 merges two asset libraries
Cargo 3.0 folds two libraries into one app, adds smarter search, and hands you hundreds of free assets so you can start dressing scenes today.
Marvelous Designer 2026.0 adds 3D Pencil and lacing
Draw patterns on an avatar, auto-route laces, flip to toon materials, and tighten export controls. Marvelous Designer 2026.0 aims at faster iteration.
Thomas Riedel buys ARRI
ARRI changes hands, keeps Munich HQ, and lines up a Eurovision camera debut. Big signal chain meets big glass.
Blackmagic Design turns DaVinci Resolve 21 into a photo app
DaVinci Resolve 21 adds a Photo page, deeper AI helpers, more Fusion graphics, and tidier audio timelines. Big toolbox energy.
Chaos launches free V-Ray for Blender Community Edition
Chaos has released a free Community Edition of V-Ray for Blender
, giving solo users access to the renderer for learning, portfolio work, teaching and smaller freelance tasks. The catch is not especially well hidden: the free tier comes with clear limits on output, support and production features, while the paid version keeps the heavier pipeline machinery.
Resolve 21, Fusion, Fairlight Live, and many, many boxes!
NAB 2026 turns into a platform push: 100G SMPTE 2110 live gear, Resolve Photo Editing workflows, new Fairlight live mixing, and a bigger Fusion core.
Neat Video 6.1.2 adds Vegas 2026 and Nuke 17
Neat Video 6.1.2 shows up with M5 Pro and M5 Max support and fresh host app compatibility, so your denoise keeps pace.
FMX 2026 adds animation, lens talks and of course AI
New sessions span performance animation, AI workflow debates, and lens science, with cloud and software partners joining the mix. Just three weeks until FMX! Wuhu!
Reallusion Announces 2026 Vision: Redefining 3D Production through Hybrid AI
As the AI revolution redefines the creative landscape, Reallusion is proud to unveil its latest technology roadmap, positioning the company at the forefront of the next era of hybrid media creation.
EIZO ColorEdge CS3200X adds 31.5-inch 4K
A new 31.5-inch 4K ColorEdge lands with wide-gamut presets, HDR targets, and one-cable USB-C power for tidy desks and tidy color.
OpenPGL joins ASWF
OpenPGL lands under new open source stewardship, with a sandbox start and a clear goal: faster, cleaner path traced frames.
LUTs, Tags, or ICC: Getting Colours Right in Resolve on a Mac
For years, proper monitoring in DaVinci Resolve meant a Blackmagic I/O box and a calibrated display. On recent Macs, Resolve has become more predictable without dedicated hardware, but that does not make calibration optional. Here is where the situation has improved, where it still falls apart, and why Rec.709 scene remains the least bad common denominator.
AutoCut brings AI cleanup inside Premiere Pro
AutoCut moves the boring cleanup into your timeline: silences, captions, takes, and more, with a trial and three pricing tiers.
Open Light: Procedural HDR Lighting Without the Texture Archaeology
Open Light is a new tool that generates procedural HDR light textures. It builds softboxes, gobos, Kino Flo style sources and other modifiers as 32-bit EXR or HDR files, with support for ACEScg and resolutions up to 4K.
Today: ICE.ART 2026.I kicks off on April 7
ICE.ART 2026.I begins April 7 at 5:00 PM CEST. Physics sims, Q and A, prizes, then stages and splats across three nights.
dy Install Libs adds Library Manager to Houdini
dy Install Libs ships Library Manager for Houdini, turning library installs into clicks instead of JSON wrangling.
RealityScan 2.1.1 adds better COLMAP support and new XMP export options
RealityScan 2.1.1 is a maintenance release, but a practical one. Epic updates COLMAP exchange, adds new XMP with image list export options, cleans up mask export, and fixes a long list of editor, alignment, and CLI issues.
Beeble Background Remover hits Cloud app
Background Remover unbundles fast AI masking into a standalone workflow with preview, refinement, and RGBA or alpha-only exports for comps.
Procedural Clouds with Cycles focus
Procedural Clouds lands on Superhive with Blender 4.5 to 5.0 support, Cycles targeting, GPL licensing, and three pricing tiers.
CameraMatch AutoSetup v6 speeds photo matches
Jamie Cardoso ships CameraMatch AutoSetup v6, a one click camera match script for 3ds Max and Blender, with Maya queued next week.
Adobe DNG becomes ISO standard (Not an April Fools joke)
DNG just got an ISO badge. That turns a popular RAW container into a formal standard and makes archives and pipelines a little less spooky.
Alpha Pixel adds Gaussian Splats to Cinema 4D
Scan a place, drop it into C4D, then art direct it like motion graphics. Gaussian splats just got a lot less precious.
Boris FX welcomes Vegas Pro
Vegas Pro gets a new owner and a fresh 2026 release, with offline AI, new titling, and ProRes RAW support landing right out of the gate.
Chaos Vantage 3 update 2 adds Toon
Toon shading meets splats and VDB export in Vantage, while Enscape 4.17 quietly tidies DLSS, lights, and exports. Less drama, more frames.
Arnold 7.5.1 comes with Flow Render Tech, Volume AOVs, and MIKKTSpace
Autodesk has released Arnold 7.5.1. The update adds the Flow Render tech preview with 2,400 free cloud render minutes per month, alongside custom AOVs for volume shaders, MIKKTSpace normal mapping support, Windows CPU rendering optimizations, and a range of shading, USD, and API changes.
3ds Max 2027 is here.
3ds Max 2027 adds Smart Bevel, Noise Plus, and Field Helper, plus faster modifiers and a cleaner viewport for daily scene wrangling.
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.
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.
Sony to wind down Pixomondo
Televisual reports Pixomondo will be wound down after contracts finish, with VFX efforts set to refocus on Imageworks.
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.
OctaneRender 2027.1 alpha goes neural
OctaneRender 2027.1 alpha chases cleaner viewports, smarter lights, and more USD. Test it like it is spicy, because it is.
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.
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.
ProductionCrate Plug-in Suite with docked footage database
ProductionCrate bundles a huge asset library in its Suite, so you can grab a glow, a glitch, or an explosion fast, then pay for it yearly.
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.
Abstract ships InstaMAT 2026 Curves Brushes
InstaMAT 2026 adds editable curve painting, smarter symmetry, and fresh mesh masking, plus pricing tweaks that matter for teams and freelancers.
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.
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.
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?
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…
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.
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.
![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.
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.
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.
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.
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.