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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.
Redshift 2026.2: Texture Displacement and UV Context Arrive
Redshift 2026.2 delivers texture displacement, new UV context tools, IES light refinements, and better Mac stability.
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.
Rendering the Inferno at RiseFX: The Lost Bus
128 shots, 15 sequences, and GPUs on the brink: RISE FX’s Oliver Schulz explains how his team built the burning world of The Lost Bus.
Resolve 20.3 brings 32K support, metadata tools and stability fixes
DaVinci Resolve 20.3 rolls out: 32K on M5 Macs, more flexible metadata and HDR10+ export, plus a slew of bug patches.
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.
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.
Photoshop AI in practice
Following the integration of Adobe Firefly, there are now AI systems from partners. Flux Context Pro and Nano Banana are useful additions for Photoshop-AI in practice.
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.
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.
KeyShot Studio 2025.3: Cryptomatte, OpenPBR, and a Real Pivot
KeyShot Studio 2025.3 expands material and lighting control with OpenPBR, Cryptomatte, and better GPU speed. Real pivots, both literal and figurative.
Houdini Equinox 2025 HIVE Session Recordings Online
The session videos from Houdini Equinox 2025’s HIVE event are now live! Covering Houdini 21’s car-destruction RBD tools, CFX for creatures, ML workflows and major production case-studies.
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.
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.
New add-on for Blender brings onion skinning layering into full 3D
the new “3D Onion Skinning” add-on for Blender gives you ghosted frames in 3D so you can see motion timing and spacing without flipping frames manually.
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.
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.
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.
Houdini 21: Like good wine (Part1, VFX & Geo)
Houdini 21 polishes the chaos: production-ready MPM, neural surfacing, smarter Pyro, and Vulkan viewport upgrades: all taste-tested for real-world use. (Part 1 of ???)
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.
Moho 14.4 Goes on a Side Quest: 2D Meets Game Engines
Lost Marble’s Moho 14.4 “Side Quest” links 2D animation with game engines via glTF export, plus Smart Bones in 360°, smarter particles, and smoother strokes.
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.
Analog Soul, Digital Body: ARRI Film Lab Arrives
ARRI’s new OpenFX plugin Film Lab emulates analog film’s grain, halation, and weave in real time for any camera. Free trial now via RE:Vision Effects.
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.
The Cube Moved: Go for the Chaos (Ad) Vantage
Architecture Illustrators and Visualizers test Chaos Vantage for a narrative short and accidentally build a moving house. Unbox proves real-time previz can tell stories, not just sell floor plans.
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.
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.
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.
RealFX Part 1: Perfectly formed scripts
The landscape of plug-in providers for After Effects (and other host applications) has thinned out noticeably in recent times. Whereas in the 2000s and 2010s we used to receive press releases about new and interesting plug-ins several times a week, nowadays we are lucky to receive one announcement per month. But we found a few beauties!
Affinity: free all-in-one design suite
Canva folds Affinity into one free-forever app, marking a major shift for design tools and putting the old perpetual-licence model on hold.
FMX Turns 30 in 2026
FMX 2026 celebrates 30 years of digital media creation. Stuttgart, May 5–8, 2026. Theme: “The Road Ahead”. Book your rooms, time flies.
The Mill Returns
The Mill is back. TransPerfect revives the iconic VFX studio with returning talent and a global creative push.
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.
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.
Momo: Of Time, Turtles, and Technical Wizardry
VFX Supervisor Michael Wortmann on how RiseFX built the fantasy of Momo: almost entirely on location, with 280 shots and the best turtle in the business.
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”.
“Task Force Querlitz” Brings Adult Animation to ZDF
With Task Force Querlitz, screenwriter Simon Thummet, director Arne Hain and producer Sebastian Simon have achieved something rare:…
SLAPSHOT promises AI Camera Tracking “in minutes”
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.
Fluid Flow paints physics into Blender
Fluid Flow is a $14 Geometry Nodes add-on for Blender 4.2+, painting real-time water, sand, and lava straight into the viewport.
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.
Ugly Gets an Upgrade: Digital Anarchy’s Free Halloween Plugins
Digital Anarchy resurrects its Ugly Box and Flicker Freak plugins just in time for Halloween. Free, frightful, and gloriously hideous.
Deadline 10 enters maintenance mode for studios
AWS Thinkbox will put Deadline 10 into maintenance mode on 7 Nov 2025: no new features, just fixes. Studios should plan migration to Deadline Cloud.
Retopoflow 4.0 for Blender
Orange Turbine’s Retopoflow 4.0 brings full Edit Mode integration in Blender and support for curves/NURBS/metaballs, but one tool is still missing in this release.
Open-Source Engine O3DE Hits Version 25.10
O3DE 25.10 trims installers, builds faster, supports C++20, and upgrades robotics Gems — a solid, practical update for technical artists.
Atlux λ 2 brings 3D scanning inside Unreal
Atlux λ 2 makes Unreal Engine a virtual 3D scanner, exporting Gaussian-ready data. Real photogrammetry, synthetic edition.
ZEISS CinCraft Virtual Lens Enters BETA: Real Glass, Virtual Magic
ZEISS opens BETA registration for CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology, a GPU-powered Nuke plugin that replicates real lens behaviour in compositing, simulating optical artefacts like bokeh, distortion, and chromatic aberration.
Stitch Head!
“Stitch Head”: A charming animated adventure blending gothic charm, playful humor, and a heartfelt journey of self-acceptance, crafted by a team spanning multiple continents and pipelines.
Blender 5.0 Beta!
Blender 5.0 Beta runs until 5 November 2025, bringing ACES 2.0, node and compositor updates, HDR colour support, and stricter compatibility rules.
HFF Munich Hiring: Two Half-Time Heroes Wanted
HFF Munich’s VFX department wants two new tech minds—one for the pipeline, one for IT. Expect creative chaos, cool people, and excellent surroundings!
Trees in Autumn: SpeedTree Controller 3.0 Falls for Houdini 21
SpeedTree Controller 3.0 lets Houdini artists break, regrow and shade trees with Karma: new features, same procedural roots
UE Organizer: Taming the Unreal Vault Jungle
DocHardGames’ UE Organizer finally brings order to your Unreal Engine Vault. Free for browsing and tagging, $5/month for one-click import, AI tagging and sync.
Creepy-Crawlies in 3D: Free “Arthropods” Anatomy App for Creature Designers
Twelve museum arthropods, one free app, and an excellent reason to stop swatting your references. Creepy-crawlies in 3D, just in time for Halloween.
GPU-FLIP solver Storm HydroFX launches in free open beta
Storm HydroFX, a standalone GPU FLIP fluid solver from Storm VFX, is now freely available in open beta with full import/export and no feature lockouts.
Material Maker 1.4: Godot 4 port, flexible UI, 32-bit baking
Material Maker 1.4 debuts: full Godot 4 migration, rebuilt shader engine, new node types and UI redesign. A serious update, not cosmetic.
Need an AI Video Enhancer in Your Workflow? Aiarty Video Enhancer!
Blocky VHS? Grainy DSLR shots? Aiarty Video Enhancer upscales, denoises, and restores video locally—no cloud upload required. (Sponsored Post)
Rebelle 8: Digital Painting’s Physical Upgrade
Rebelle 8 turns digital painting into a physical experience. The new Bristle Brush engine simulates every hair of a real brush, RealShader adds true lighting and shadow depth to thick paint, and the NanoPixel 2 engine scales artwork up to 32 K resolution. With layer-specific materials, symmetry tools, Escape Motions’ latest release feels less like an update and more like a real studio, minus the turpentine.
Sharper, Faster, Smokier: FumeFX 7.1 for 3ds Max
FumeFX 7.1 delivers faster warps, Alembic point clouds, and smarter VDB handling in 3ds Max. Less waiting, more burning.
VIEW 2025: Program, Prices & Turin Tips
VIEW 2025’s packed programme mixes Pixar, ILM and AI sessions in Turin, with ticket prices from €186.55 and yes, eat a tramezzino.
Wacom MovinkPad Pro 14: OLED Power for Mobile Creativity
Wacom has announced the MovinkPad Pro 14, the newest member of its portable creative pad lineup. Building on…
ProRes RAW vs. BRAW
BMPCC 4K just learned a new trick: ProRes RAW via firmware. We stacked it against BRAW Q0. One’s cleaner, one’s bigger. Which would you shoot?
EDIUS 11.40: Faster Bins, Smarter AI, and Edit-as-you-Capture
EDIUS 11.40 lands with faster bins, AI voiceovers, Mercalli 6, and a capture tool called CapIt. Yes, you can now edit while you capture.
Nanite marches in: Twinmotion 2025.2 update
Nanite now works in Twinmotion. 2025.2 also brings a new post stack, animation upgrades, VCAM tweaks, and cloud storage.
Blender user survey 2025 – time to tell the team what you really think
Blender’s asking you for feedback again: join the 2025 survey and help shape how the software is used across film, game and animation workflows.
RiseFX on Heads of State: Explosions, Statues, and Digital Diplomacy
500 shots, one exploding limo, and statues aimed at helicopters: Rise FX brings high-stakes action to Heads of State with a new Riseflow pipeline.
ProRes RAW News – Fresh from the Freezer
Resolve 20.2.1 + Sequoia = real ProRes RAW. Sonoma users: no dice. iPhone 17 footage shows the difference...
ICE.Art 2025: Virtual Worlds Meet After Hours
ICE.Art 2025 goes online in October. Two evenings of talks on 3D environments. Michael Shelton returns after his FMX Westworld talk.
Polishing Polygons: Animatrix Polisher for Maya
Sculpt, smear, polish: Animatrix Polisher adds direct mesh editing and non-destructive fixes to Maya for just 20 bucks.
Silhouette 2025.5: Roto With Prompts, Faces, and a Built-In SynthEyes
AI masking, Face ML, and SynthEyes 3D tracking arrive in Silhouette 2025.5. Roto artists everywhere suddenly feel less stressed and with a bigger toolbox for their job.
Photoshop 26.11: Firefly hops in, CJK text sharpens up
Firefly jumps into Photoshop, CJK text looks less like pixel soup. New update, same question: stable enough for production?
EbSynth V2: Real-Time Preview, Timeline & Layers
Secret Weapons launches EbSynth V2 — now with real-time preview, timeline navigation, brushes, and layer support. A major workflow upgrade from its minimal early versions.
World Creator 2025.1 paints biomes and scatters rocks
Biomes, scattering, emissive lava and even GTAV maps: World Creator 2025.1 brings a full ecosystem update to GPU terrain generation.
Digital Domain on Fantastic Four: From Baby Mocap to Bearded Rock
Digital Domain’s Phil Cramer explains Fantastic Four VFX: Masquerade3, Baby Franklin, The Thing’s beard, and multi-vendor Marvel pipelines.
Animatics, AI Lighting, and a Free Tier: Previs Pro 3 Expands Storyboarding on iPad
Previs Pro 3: now with animatics, AI lighting, and a free edition for iPad filmmakers.
Kyno Update: Still Alive, Still Useful
Kyno 1.9 isn’t new magic, but it proves the beloved media tool still lives. Apple Silicon, new RAW SDKs, proxy presets—IBC chat to follow.
Ton Roosendaal Steps Aside: Blender’s Founder Hands the Keys to the Next Generation
Ton Roosendaal leaves Blender’s helm. Blender 5, story tools, and tablet support are next. New board takes over, Ton moves to supervisory role.
Hell Froze Over – ProRes RAW for Resolve
For an eternity, it seemed, Blackmagic Design (BM for short) refused to support the import of Apple's ProRes RAW format into their flagship app DaVinci Resolve (DR for short).
Maxon drops Red Giant 2026.0
Red Giant 2026.0: fixes, Capsules, Resolve controls. Universe 2026.0: UI polish. A maintenance release wearing a party hat.
Godot 4.5: New Buffers, Better Access, More Control
Godot 4.5 ships with stencil buffer, shader baker, screen reader support, and dozens of workflow updates. Time to test before production.
Eight Hands, One Brush: Mari 7.5 Beta Paints on All Fronts
Multi-Paint lands in Mari 7.5 beta. Eight channels, one stroke. Texture transfer, image grouping, and faster backups follow. Test before trusting.
Maxon Autumn Release: New Colour Science, Liquids, Clouds and a Logo
Cinema 4D 2026 brings OCIO colour management, GPU simulations, UDIMs, Redshift 2026 plus Maxon’s brand-new ecosystem and logo.
Blackmagic Camera 3.0: Remote Clip Syncing and Multi-Cam Control Arrive on Smartphones
Blackmagic Camera 3.0 syncs clips between phones, adds live streaming, LUT upgrades and more, making moile multi-cam shoots less painful.
Realtime Department’s UNIQVUE: The Software Layer Behind Turnkey Corporate Studios
Hardware is nothing without brains. Realtime Department’s UNIQVUE adds the software intelligence to ARRI and Samsung’s turnkey corporate studio. Christoph Gockel explains how.
Resolve Animation: Everything moves!
Resolve Animation? Well, everything is based on keyframes. Fusion adds power (and pain), 3D feels clunky. Still: motion graphics inside an editor? Works.
ARRI Packs Virtual Production Into a Box
ARRI’s turnkey stage bundles LED wall, ALEXA 35, audio, and server into a scalable studio package with automation and colour management.
Docking Phone to Pro: Blackmagic Adds Pro Controls to Mobile with Camera App and ProDock
Blackmagic’s ProDock equips iPhone 17 Pro with HDMI, genlock, SSD ports, audio and power—making it a true production camera, not just a smartphone.
Mistika 11 Adds “The Gallery” for Colourists Who Hoard Looks
Mistika 11 adds The Gallery: unlimited presets, FX stacks, metadata control, and Apple Silicon optimisation. For colourists who like tidy chaos.
DaVinci Resolve 20.2: Ripple Discipline, ProRes RAW, and AI Fog on Demand
Resolve 20.2 ships with ProRes RAW decoding on all OS, AI-driven haze, cleaner ripple edits, immersive EXR support, and metadata flexibility.
Pixel 10 Pro unlocks true 12-bit RAW with DCG
Pixel 10 Pro quietly enables true 12-bit RAW video via DCG. Good for BCAM, photogrammetry, or set refs. But don’t expect it to replace your cinema cam.
Premiere Pro gains 90+ Film Impact effects – plug-in now built-in
Premiere Pro 25.5 folds Film Impact into the app. 90+ GPU-accelerated effects now ship natively, real-time playback, no plug-in, no red render bars.
Datacolor’s SpyderExpress: Colour Calibration on a Budget, Now with Growth Path Options
Cheapest Spyder yet does pro-level colour calibration in 90 sec—and grows with your ambitions. Budget-friendly colour accuracy, now modular.
Chaos Vantage 3.0 beta lands with USD, MaterialX and Gaussian Splats
Vantage 3.0 beta is here: USD, MaterialX and Gaussian Splats mean Chaos’ real-time GPU renderer finally speaks modern pipeline standards.
KitBash3D and Greyscalegorilla merge
KitBash3D and Greyscalegorilla merge: R&D speeds up, asset libraries grow, tools expand. Users should see no price or support changes.