This time in Post & VFX

The year is effectively over. Not officially, of course, but functionally. Releases slow down and most teams quietly switch from shipping features to shipping themselves toward holidays, families, and calories. What remains is the liminal phase of December, where nothing urgent should be touched unless it is actively on fire, and even then only after a backup.

We are calling it a strategic laofing, where Workstations get reset and new software gets poked, prodded, and occasionally sworn at. This is not downtime. This is maintenance, evaluation, research and development, all of wich are essential professional activities which are a highly effective excuse for not visiting relatives who “just need help with the printer.”

SynthEyes Essentials Training is here and Free for the Holidays

Boris FX unwraps a holiday gift: SynthEyes Essentials, a free, three-hour matchmove training course for VFX artists, free until 31 December.

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.

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.

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.

VES Handbook of Visual Effects, Fourth Edition, coming soon

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.

Articles for our subscribers

The public news cycle may be winding down, but the long reads decided otherwise. This round brings three pieces that pair well with long train rides, traffic jams, or the quiet escape of headphones in a corner chair, somehwere far away.

First, the longest hardware test we have ever undertook: A keyboard. Not because keyboards are exciting, but because they are unavoidable and the thing we are in contact with te most. After nine months of daily use, the Keychron K5 Max has become the baseline against wich all other keyboards now have to justify their existence.

One important note from the test: buy it directly from the manufacturer. Amazon pricing is currently detached from reality, and whatever tariff mathematics are happening tehre, they are not in your favor.

Second, a small but genuinely useful tool for anyone drowning in folders, bins, and imports that made sense at 3 a.m. and absolutely do not now. Project Sorter takes the chaos of Premiere Pro and After Effects projects and applies actual logic. Not magic, just structure. That alone still feels radical.

Third, something for the journey. If your drive feels long or stressful, RISE FX has a counterexample. Their work on the disaster film The Lost Bus turns a simple drive into a layered technical nightmare involving fire, destruction, and large scale simulation. Consider it perspective therapy for the road ahead.

If you are not subscribed yet, this is your gentle reminder that the good stuff is behind the button.

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