For those who don’t know the tool: Keentools is a 3D tracking node for Nuke and an add-on for Blender and After Effects, sitting between matchmove and comp where your patience goes to die.

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KeenTools shipped 2026.1.0 with a clear theme: newer host versions, fewer annoying edge cases, and one new refinement switch that trades absolute accuracy for steadier motion.

The Nuke package now supports Nuke 16.1 and Nuke 17.0 across the nodes in the package. The Blender pack now supports Blender 5.1. GeoTracker for After Effects fixes a bug that caused inverted mesh UVs when exporting to Alembic. TextureBuilder received a fix aimed at full compatibility with Nuke’s new USD-based 3D system.

Nuke: new Refine modes, same tracker

In Nuke, GeoTracker adds two Refine modes in the Smoothing tab: Precise and Smooth. Precise mode behaves like the prior default. It targets maximum tracking accuracy. The notes also call out a known downside: inconsistent keyframes can lead to tiny jumps. That matches the kind of micro jitter that can make a trcak feel wrong even when the overall solve looks solid.

Smooth mode aims to remove those tiny jumps when keyframes do not align perfectly. The release notes also state that Smooth can slightly affect absolute tracking accuracy. That makes the intent explicit: Smooth exists for shots where visual steadiness beats the last bit of numeric precision.

The update does not change the basic concept of GeoTracker. It gives artists a more direct choice at the end of the refinement step, instead of forcing endless keyframe nudging and re-running refine until the twitch goes away.

Host support matters here too. The same update adds Nuke 16.1 and Nuke 17.0 support across the nodes in the Nuke package. That helps facilities that keep multiple Nuke versions installed and need the same toolset available in both.

Nuke: TextureBuilder and USD

TextureBuilder received a fix intended to make it fully compatible with Nuke’s new USD-based 3D system. The release notes keep it at that level, with no extra detail about which USD features, scene layouts, or node setups the fix touches.

USD has a way of turning minor incompatibilities into big time sinks, because the problems tend to surface late, when a scene graph comes in from somewhere else and the viewer looks fine until it does not. This update targets that failure mode by addressing USD support inside TextureBuilder in the context of Nuke’s new 3D system.

Blender: 5.1 support and texturing repair

The Blender pack now supports Blender 5.1. including a fix for a texturing issue in GeoTracker and FaceTracker in Blender. After the fix, the texture grab works as it should.

After Effects: Alembic export UVs

GeoTracker for After Effects fixes a bug that caused inverted mesh UVs when exporting to Alembic. The release notes describe the fix as helpful for sending tracking data to third-party tools. The bug description stays specific to UV orientation during Alembic export.

UV flips can hide in plain sight, especially when a downstream tool or shader setup masks the problem until someone changes a render path. Fixing the export at the source reduces that risk when geometry leaves After Effects for another stage.

If you rely on Alembic in your handoff chain, test an export after updating and inspect UV orientation in the next tool in the chain using a known reference asset.

https://keentools.io/

The post KeenTools 2026.1: Nuke 17 and Blender 5.1 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Cinema 4D is Maxon 3D for modeling, animation, sims, and lookdev, with tight Redshift Renderer integration and common handoffs like USD. Think MoGraph, then render, then wonder why lunch is over.

The update in one sentence

Cinema 4D 2026.2.0 comes with new modelling (especially for cloth) and lighting features, plus broad fixes across animation, modelling, MoGraph, simulation, viewport, exchange, and rendering. As well as a load of smaller cool features and updates.

Fabric Brush gets hands-on with soft stuff

The big new feature is Fabric Brush, a modeling tool that uses the app’s simulation system to shape soft materials directly in the viewport. The intent is tactile: push and pull forms while the sim helps create folds, draping, and deformations, without setting up rigs for the job.

In practice, this is a new option for artists who want quick cloth-like sculpting while staying in a familiar modelling workflow. It aims for standard tool responsiveness while adding simulation-driven behaviour for the soft look.

Redshift goes nocturnal

Cinema 4D 2026.2 introduces a night-sky option in the Redshift Sun and Sky system for dusk and night lighting setups. If your scene needs a sky that reads after sunset, this is now a first-class mode inside that system, rather than a workaround of lights and environment tricks.

Cinema 4D 2026.2 ships with Redshift 2026.5.0. Older Redshift versions from 2026.0.0 and higher remain compatible, but they will not include the newer Redshift features, plus enhancements to integration and performance.

Redshift 2026.5.0 also raises a practical requirement: the minimum required version for the 2026 plugin becomes Cinema 4D 2026.2. On the Cinema 4D side, a related integration note calls out Redshift Live replacing Redshift RT.

Deformers, clones, and command lines get small superpowers

A few smaller changes target everyday rigging and motion graphics chores. Bend Deformer improvements add new symmetry origin options, so mirrored bends can come from a single deformer. For quick character tweaks, product flex shots, or anything that wants a symmetric bend without duplicate setups, this is a quality-of-life gain.

A new Xpresso Command Line Argument node allows passing string arguments into Xpresso setups during command line rendering. That is a direct nod to pipeline automation, where renders often start from a farm call, a script, or a build system rather than a human clicking the Viewer.

MoGraph users get a new loop option for the Target Effector, allowing the first and last clones to target each other in closed arrangements. That fits neatly into circular patterns, rings, and repeating layouts where “ends” should not exist.

In the Material Manager, an Active Object Material Filter shows only materials applied to the currently selected objects.

Animation, curves, and viewport comfort

Cinema 4D 2026.2 adds an Align Tangents command to quickly align tangents on F-Curves. If you spend time cleaning curves after mocap, procedural animation, or hand-keyed polish, this is the sort of tiny tool that can save a lot of clicks.

Exchange formats and rendering housekeeping

Cinema 4D 2026.2 includes an exchange crash fix when exporting to Alembic. It also fixes an issue where reimporting a previously exported skeletal animation USD scene could result in an incorrect preview area and scene length even though the export itself was correct.

Rendering and output fixes include preventing multipass images from being saved in viewport render, and a Physical renderer change where Remesh no longer recalculates during rendering. The Picture Viewer gets reduced color banding, and a Redshift-related workflow fix allows creating a render setting from a render to work with Redshift renders.

Redshift 2026.5.0 adds and fixes several Cinema 4D specific items, including a new default native Projection Mode intended to resolve material tag UV tiling incompatibilities with UV Contexts, a fix for UDIMs not rendering correctly when using Team Render, and a fix for random black images when rendering heavy meshes with deformation blur enabled. It also notes a faster connection and smoother navigation for the RS Live Viewport IPR, limited to Cinema 4D 2026.2 and higher.

ARM downloads and driver reality checks

Cinema 4D 2026.2 includes a warning for downloads on ARM: update the GPU driver to the latest version – they even have a link for Windows on Snapdragon users to Qualcomm for the latest drivers.

https://support.maxon.net/hc/en-us/articles/8658038724124-Cinema-4D-2026-2-0-April-15-2026

https://support.maxon.net/hc/en-us/articles/8814051767964-Redshift-2026-5-0-2026-04-April-15-2026

The post Maxon ships Cinema 4D 2026.2 update first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Marvelous Designer turns 2D patterns into simulated garments, then exports assets and animation through formats like FBX, Alembic, glTF, and VRM.

Drawing first, pattern later

The loudest shift in 2026.0 is the push toward direct creation on the avatar, with 3D Pencil aimed at skipping some of the usual back and forth between sketching intent and building patterns.

3D Pencil works in the 3D window on an avatar. Activating it from the 3D toolbar opens a Sketch dialog and switches the viewpoint to the front view. The view then stays locked to either the front or back for sketching, with zoom allowed, to keep conversion reliable when the lines become editable 3D pen data.

Sketching is a click and drag action on the avatar. Cleanup happens inside the same tool using an eraser mode. The eraser has a size setting to control how much gets removed in one pass, and the viewpoint can be switched between front and back.

Converting moves the sketch into a 3D pen result and automatically switches to the edit tool for that pen. There is also a sewing behaviour note that matters for garment builders: when 3D pens get created by sketching both the front and the back, flattening both sides automatically sews the front and back together. This is not a promise that all garments suddenly become one-click wonders. It is a workflow: sketch in a fixed view, preview conversion, convert to editable pen lines, then continue editing as needed.

Laces that behave like patterns

The other flagship addition is the Lacing Tool, which formalises a common production detail into a dedicated workflow.

The tool creates lacing by clicking a sequence of designated holes. You pick the starting hole, then continue clicking holes in the desired order until the last or exit hole, and finish with a double-click on the final hole or by pressing Enter. When the path is finalized, an editable lace pattern generates in the 2D window for modification.

Undo controls are built into creation. Backspace undoes the last step, while Esc or Ctrl+Z undoes the entire creation step. That sounds minor, but in practice it signals that the tool expects iterative route tweaking, not a single perfect pass. Just a warning. If you are one of the people who is even nominally an adult, still struggles sometimes with shoelaces. Not judging, brother!

After the path finalises, direction and curvature can be adjusted. A reverse icon appears attached to the cursor immediately after finalising. Clicking a specific hole reverses direction at that point, changing whether the cord enters from the top or bottom of the eyelet. Routing updates in real time in the 3D window.

Curvature adjustment uses a slider to change the cord arc. Increasing curvature is intended to stabilise the simulation by preventing the cord from colliding with or clipping into nearby patterns. The resulting lace is still a standard pattern piece, so thickness, material, and physical properties remain editable in the property editor like any other garment component.

The tool works by eliminating manual intervention by automatically routing the cord and generating an editable pattern for further customisation.

Toon materials, with familiar knobs

2026.0 also adds a toon material workflow under a feature called Express Cartoon. It applies to fabrics, 3D objects, and avatar materials. The workflow is simple: select a fabric style or an avatar, then set Material type to Toon in the property editor, then adjust the exposed properties. The options list is long and reads like a practical toon shading panel rather than a single style preset. If your goal is the next KPop Deamon Hunter, well, go for it.

Base colour can be set as a colour or a map. Opacity has both a value and a map. Shadows get a shade colour and an optional shade colour map, plus hardness and a shift control that adjusts where shadows begin. Emission has both colour and a map. There is also a MatCap section with color and map, described as a fake reflection effect that blends with a MatCap image.

Rim light includes colour, fresnel power to control thickness and sharpness, and lift to adjust position offset. Outlines have a mode, an outline map for masking, a line colour, and a width value in millimetres.

It is worth remembering what this does and does not say. The feature allows a cartoon-style look using those material controls. It does not define a renderer, a lighting model, or a compliance target for any specific engine. That keeps expectations grounded: it is a shading feature inside the tool, with parameters designed to shape a toon result.

Export workflow: fewer surprises, more switches

The 2026.0 feature list calls out new and expanded format support, including glTF and VRM. In production terms, that points toward web compatibility and virtual character workflows, and it sits alongside existing interchange routes that many pipelines already rely on.

On the export control side, play region selection appears as a specific addition for FBX and glTF export in the feature list, enabling selective export of specific animation ranges. For joint animation export, baking keyframes is there to generate keys for empty frames to prevent unintended transformations.

Those items have matching controls visible in the updated FBX import and export documentation. FBX import supports Open or Add load types, scale, axis conversion, and several toggles such as joint animation and cache animation. It also lists trim import behaviour that cannot collide with clothing when simulation is on, plus a collide option toggle for trim in the property editor, and a glue icon workflow to attach trim to clothing.

FBX export includes single- and multiple-object exports, weld and un-weld options, and thin and thick options for exporting with or without rendering thickness. It includes combined UV coordinates and texture export controls, including texture size and seam fill. It also includes a 2026.0 specific note: Weld Turned Sewing Lines allows vertex merging for export even when the sewing line type is set to turned.

Licensing and cost facts that affect teams

A personal monthly subscription is listed at $39 per month and is cancelable anytime, with automatic billing. A one-year prepaid license is listed at $280 as a one-time payment, not automatically billed.

A student subscription is listed at $99 as a one-time payment, not automatically billed, with a note that it can be purchased up to two times over four years after student status verification.

Enterprise options list an enterprise network online monthly plan at $199 per seat, an enterprise network online annual plan at $2,000 per seat, and an enterprise Linux annual plan at $2,300 per seat. An indie studio option is listed as “Contact sales”. There is also an enterprise notice that, from December 2, 2025, the enterprise standalone license was discontinued and shifted to network online monthly and annual subscriptions.

The boring but important note

2026.0 stacks a lot of workflow surface area into one release: new creation tools, new material type controls, and a pile of import and export switches that can change how data lands in downstream tools. The right way to treat that is like any pipeline-facing update. Test the new tools on your ugliest garments (For bonus points: Remake the garment you are wearing right now as a training exercise. Hoodie, PJs, and Fluffy slippers and all), validate the round-trip exports, and confirm that your intended use stays stable before you put it on a deadline.

The post Marvelous Designer 2026.0 adds 3D Pencil and lacing first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Think of the Elemental Suite as a real-time VFX kit that exports flipbooks, image sequences, VDB, and caches for DCC and engine work, with EmberGen, LiquiGen, IlluGen, and GeoGen sharing the same ecosystem.

The program, now with a permanent spot

The Layoff Assistance Program is now a permanent offering, built around a simple promise: artists affected by layoffs or studio closures can request licenses to the elemental tool suite free of charge for up to six months, specifically to rebuild portfolio work.

What you actually get for six months

When a layoff license is approved, it grants access to the toolset that sits under the Elemental Suite. That includes the core apps named for the program in current materials: EmberGen, LiquiGen, IlluGen, and GeoGen.

Each tool targets a different kind of content, EmberGen is positioned as a real-time volumetric fire simulation tool that can simulate, render, and export flipbooks, image sequences, and VDB volumes. The value proposition is iteration speed, with real-time tweaking while looping a timeline and a built-in renderer for immediate results.

LiquiGen focuses on liquids, with real-time meshing, forces, sparse simulation domains, and a real-time path tracer. It is described as able to generate flipbooks, image sequences, and Alembic caches, and it explicitly calls out foam, spray, and bubbles as controllable elements.

GeoGen is framed as a node-based workflow for terrain and planet generation, built with games in mind, and presented as part of the same suite.

The net effect for an artist in rebuild mode is straightforward: six months of hands-on time with tools that cover volumetrics, liquids, procedural asset generation, and terrain workflows, under one licensing umbrella, without paying during that period if approved.

Rules that matter when you are building a reel

The program terms are not hand-wavy. The Layoff Assistance Program spells out the intended use and the boundary conditions.

The layoff licenses are strictly for non-commercial use. They are meant to help upgrade skills with new tools and assist with new portfolio pieces. Approval is discretionary. A request can be denied. Commercial use requires a purchased license. That clarity is useful because it prevents the most common licensing misunderstanding: portfolio work is still work, but portfolio work is not automatically commercial work. The program draws the line itself, and you are expected to stay on the correct side of it.

It also means studios should not treat the program as a back door for production seats. If your use case is client deliverables, the license you want is not the one that comes through the layoff portal. If you are rebuilding a porftolio, the terms match the real-world need: get access, make work, learn, and do it in a way that does not collide with commercial licensing.

How to apply without turning it into a side quest

The application flow described in the official program materials is short. You create an account, or you log into an existing one. You submit a request for a layoff license through the portal linked from the program page, using the Apply Now button. Requests are reviewed. If approved, a license key is issued by email and also appears in the account. That is the whole process , with no extra hoops listed on the program page itself.

The program messaging also asks people to share the page with anyone who might need it, which is a rare example of a support initiative that is designed to spread by simple forwarding rather than by gatekept referrals.

Pricing, for when you are back on your feet

Even if you are applying for the six-month program, pricing matters because it tells you what comes next when the clock runs out, or if you need commercial usage.

The official pricing page lays out an Indie and Hobby tier for revenue or funding under 1 million USD. For the Elemental Suite, the price shown is 525 USD for the first year, with 315 USD for optional maintenance annually. For individual tools, the page lists 300 USD for the first year for EmberGen, 300 USD for the first year for LiquiGen, and 300 USD for the first year for IlluGen, each with 180 USD for optional maintenance annually. For GeoGen, the page labels it as beta and lists 150 USD for the first year, with 90 USD for optional maintenance annually.

The pricing page also notes that displayed prices do not include taxes and that final prices are shown during checkout. It states that tier calculations use revenue, project budgets, and funding depending on whichever is greater. For artists who are currently laid off, the immediate takeaway is that the program offers a time-limited, no-cost runway. For artists who land a contract mid-runway, it is also a clean reminder to switch to a commercial license if the work moves beyond non-commercial portfolio building.

A note on intent, and a note on reality

In the accompanying message around the program, the founder describes frustration with recurring layoffs across the industry and positions the program as a way to help artists stand back up, using tool access to support portfolio rebuilding. The same message states that over 100 artists were assisted with free licenses last year.

None of this changes the usual production reality: every new pipeline ingredient should be tested before you depend on it. Even when a tool is fast, friendly, and installed locally, you still validate exports, check integration points, and run a small end-to-end test before you bet a deadline on it.

If you qualify and you are rebuilding, the offer is practical: time, access, and a clearly labeled license boundary. That is not a job, but it can be the difference between stalling out and shipping that next reel shot.

https://jangafx.com/layoff-assistance-program

The post JangaFX makes its layoff assistance programme permanent first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The free Blood Hit 3D Asset lands as an Alembic animation, pre-simmed and intended to drop straight into a project. That matters because it keeps the asset squarely in the world of import, shade, light, render, comp, rather than asking you to set up a fluid sim, cache it, and hope your deadline shows mercy.

The asset targets broad compatibility by leaning on Alembic, a format widely used for baked geometry animation interchange. The file is positioned as something you can use in almost any render engine or 3D app, as long as your toolchain can ingest Alembic and you can assign materials the way you like.

This is very much a VFX elemnet style freebie in spirit, but it ships as 3D animation rather than a 2D flipbook or a stock plate. You get geometry motion you can place in space, aim at camera, frame with lens choices, and match to lighting cues. The messy bit becomes a scene object, not a comp sticker.

Two quality tiers, one timeline, and a choice of speed

The download includes two quality versions: a lower-quality option for faster renders and a high-quality option for hero shots. The animation runs at 24 fps, keeping it aligned with common editorial timelines and shot contexts.

There are also two speed options: a base speed described as slow motion and a fast speed option. Practically, that gives you two starting points for timing without forcing you to retime a single cache into wildly different beats right away. If the shot needs a long, readable splatter moment, the base speed exists. If you need a sharper hit that sells impact and gets out of the way, the fast option exists.

Because this is a pre-simmed Alembic cache, your artistic control flows through placement, scale, camera distance, shading, motion blur choices, and render settings. Your control does not flow through sim parameters, since the simulation work is already baked.

Where it plugs in across engines and DCCs

The broader compatibility pitch comes with specific examples of tools and engines that can be used with the paid pack the freebie points toward. The supported examples include Blender, Houdini, Unreal Engine, Arnold, V-Ray, OctaneRender, Redshift, and Cycles.

That list spans both DCC hosts and renderers, which is a useful reminder of how Alembic assets tend to travel in real productions. Sometimes you import into a DCC and render there. Sometimes you import into a DCC and export again into another context. Sometimes you bring it straight into a real-time environment like Unreal Engine for previs, cinematics, or interactive content, then either render there or use it to inform final lighting and comp decisions elsewhere.

If your pipeline already handles Alembic caches for crowds, cloth, or destruction, this should feel familiar: it is another baked motion asset you treat like a shot-specific prop. If you are new to geometry caches, the main idea remains simple. Import the cache, scrub it, and make sure it lines up with your timeline and scale before you start shading and lighting.

How you actually get it

Access to the free Blood Hit 3D Asset requires joining a newsletter, after which an email provides download instructions. If you are already on the newsletter list, previous emails are described as containing the same download instructions. The freebie is also positioned as part of a larger library described as 500+ other free 3D freebies. That bundle access is tied to the same newsletter workflow, rather than a one-off anonymous download link.

If your studio policy treats marketing email lists as a procurement step with paperwork attached, that is the moment to loop in whoever manages vendor communications. If you are an individual artist, it is simply a question of whether you want the asset enough to do the email round trip.

The paid pack it points to, and what it costs

The free asset sits alongside a commercial product called VFX Elements Volume 03: Blood Hits. That is containing 25 blood hit animations, delivered as Alembic files intended to load into render engines and 3D apps that support them. The listed price for the pack is $69.00, and it is as an instant download. The same engine and application examples show up here as well, including Blender, Houdini, Unreal Engine, Arnold, V-Ray, OctaneRender, Redshift, and Cycles. The pack is also shown with low-resolution playblasts used to preview the animations. That detail matters because it frames expectations: previews exist to show motion, but you should still evaluate how the cache behaves in your own render context, shading approach, and lighting setup.

Any new asset needs testing before you drop it into production shots. Import it into a sandbox scene first, confirm the scale, check frame-rate alignment, and verify how your chosen renderer handles motion blur on geometry caches. Do the same for both quality versions, because render cost and cache behavior can differ in ways that only show up once you hit real lighting.

Shading is the other big practical checkpoint. A blood hit cache does not automatically become convincing just because the animation looks good. You still need materials, spec response, and lighting that sell wetness and thickness. Your comp workflow also matters, especially if you plan to integrate the hit with interactive lighting or lens effects. This freebie gives you motion, but the final look still lives in your scene setup.

The Pixel Lab appears to be using this free Blood Hit 3D Asset as both a standalone giveaway and a doorway into the larger VFX Elements Volume 03: Blood Hits collection. If the one free hit covers your immediate need, great. If your work calls for a variety of impacts and angles, the 25 animation pack exists with a clear price tag and the same Alembic foundation.

https://www.thepixellab.net/free-vfx-element-blood-hit-3d-asset

The post Pixel Lab drops free Blood Hit Alembic first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Redshift from Maxon is a GPU renderer for Cinema 4D, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini and Katana. It targets final-frame GPU rendering and USD Solaris pipelines, sitting at lookdev and lighting in production.

Consolidation, not features

Maxon has released Redshift 2026.3.0. The build includes plugins for Cinema 4D, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini and Katana. It is a maintenance release focused on stability, host compatibility and incremental displacement updates. No new headline rendering features are introduced.

On Apple hardware, Redshift now requires macOS Sonoma 14 or higher. Maxon recommends macOS Tahoe 26.2 as the latest officially supported version, while noting known rendering artefacts on Intel CPU plus AMD GPU systems on Tahoe. On Windows and Linux, updated NVidia driver minimums apply, including specific requirements for Blackwell 50xx GPUs. Linux requires glibc 2.28 or higher.

Texture displacement cleaned up

Texture displacement receives performance improvements and several correctness fixes. The update resolves holes in meshes, vertical artefacts in the software ray tracer and cases where displacement disappeared on tessellated meshes without UVs.

Support for smooth normals has been added to texture displacement. The UV Context Projection node gains a new camera selection mode for camera projection mapping.

Additional fixes address deformation motion blur with displacement, incorrect auto-bump behaviour, and noisy details on scaled meshes. Material blending issues involving stacking and the Material Blender shader have also been corrected.

Hydra and Solaris updates

Redshift adds support for Houdini 21.0.559 and 21.0.596 and drops support for 20.5.654 and 21.0.440. The Hydra delegate now supports the Solaris 21.0 statistics panel in the latest Houdini 21.0 production build.

Hydra 2.0 fixes include motion blur limitations, primvars sampling issues, light linking problems, nested instancing errors and live updating of custom light and camera parameters. Support has been added for USD implicit surface primitives, USD mesh lights via the Geometry Light LOP, and updated USD and Alembic procedurals. AOV-related bugs affecting ObjectID, Depth, cryptomatte, deep and Refractions Light Groups have been fixed.

Redshift 2026.3 is a stabilisation release aimed at removing pipeline friction introduced in earlier 2026 builds. As always, new tools and innovations should be tested before use in production.

// Redshift 2026.3.0 Release Notes
// https://support.maxon.net/hc/en-us/articles/Redshift-2026-3-0-2026-02-February-10-2026

The post Redshift 2026.3 fixes displacement headaches first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t now the tool: HydroFX is a standalone GPU-based FLIP liquid simulator from Storm VFX, designed to generate water simulations for downstream use in DCC tools via Alembic, USD and OpenVDB. It does not render, shade or composite anything itself, and it does not try to be clever about it.

A standalone solver, not a Swiss army knife

Storm VFX has released Storm HydroFX 1.0, a commercial version of its GPU-based FLIP fluid simulator previously available in beta form. The software is positioned as a focused standalone application for liquid simulation, rather than a general-purpose dynamics system or a host-integrated plugin.

HydroFX implements a custom FLIP solver designed specifically to run on NVIDIA GPUs using CUDA. The solver runs entirely on the GPU, with the stated aim of providing faster iteration times compared to CPU-based fluid solvers. This performance claim is made by the developer and is not independently verified at press time. HydroFX runs on Windows only. No macOS or Linux versions are listed on the official site or the commercial product page at the time of writing.

Import, simulate, export, repeat

HydroFX is intended to sit between layout and lighting in a conventional VFX pipeline. Users import static geometry in Alembic or OBJ format, which can act as emitters, colliders or force drivers. Simulation parameters are adjusted directly through a node-free interface that mirrors the design language of Storm VFX’s main Storm application.

Simulation output can be exported as particle caches in Alembic, USD or PRT formats. Storm HydroFX 1.0 also supports exporting liquid surface meshes, allowing the simulated water to be rendered in external DCC applications or real-time engines. OpenVDB output is available for preview surfacing and volumetric workflows. Cache sizes for playblasts / preview can be reduced by exporting only surface particles rather than full particle sets. .

Whitewater, foam and other small things that float

HydroFX 1.0 includes built-in systems for foam, bubbles and spray, collectively described as whitewater. Whitewater can be simulated as part of the main solve or as a separate system, and can be exported independently from the main liquid body. Storm VFX describes improvements to whitewater behaviour and stability compared to the beta versions.

The solver is explicitly positioned as an offline simulation tool. There is no claim of real-time playback, interactive editing or on-the-fly meshing, and none should be inferred.

Pricing and licensing

Storm HydroFX is sold via Gumroad under annual subscription licences. The base (Indie) Storm HydroFX licence is priced at €145 per year. A Storm HydroFX Studio licence is priced at €249 per year, with multiple seat options selectable during purchase. Exact seat counts and per-seat pricing for the Studio tier are not listed as fixed values and must be configured on the Gumroad page.

Licences are activated online. The Gumroad listing specifies a seven-day money-back guarantee. HydroFX is distributed as a downloadable standalone application rather than an installer-based package.

Hardware and compatibility limits

HydroFX requires an NVIDIA GPU and uses CUDA. No support for non-NVIDIA GPUs is listed. The software currently runs only on Windows. These limitations are explicitly stated by the developer and should be considered non-negotiable at this stage. While HydroFX does not provide host-specific plugins, its reliance on standard interchange formats allows it to be integrated into pipelines built around tools such as Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini or Unreal Engine. Storm VFX does not provide official integration tools or presets for any of these hosts.

Production reality check

Storm HydroFX 1.0 is a narrowly scoped tool that does one job and avoids pretending otherwise. It does not replace broader simulation frameworks and it does not attempt to manage rendering, shading or scene assembly. For teams already comfortable moving caches between applications, this may be a feature rather than a limitation.

As with any newly released simulation software, artists and technical directors should test HydroFX thoroughly on representative shots and hardware before committing it to production use. New tools and innovations should always be validated in controlled conditions before being deployed on actual client work.

Link Citation Block

// Storm HydroFX product page
// https://stormvfx.gumroad.com/l/hydrofx

// Storm VFX official website
// https://storm-vfx.com

The post Storm HydroFX ships water without the node graph first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: 3DEqualizer by Science-D-Visions is a high-end 3D tracking and matchmoving tool used in VFX and compositing workflows. It connects to Maya, Blender, Nuke and others to generate precise camera and object solves for integration of CG elements.

Over the winter break, Science-D-Visions released 3DEqualizer4 Release 8.1. The update focuses on precision and pipeline reliability, with several technical improvements aimed at matchmove and postvis specialists.

Piggyback rigs and postvis tools

The standuot addition is a new control pane for computing main camera motion from a piggyback or auxiliary camera, including 360-degree setups. This workflow allows the calibration of static camera-to-camera transformations directly from calibration or production shots. Science-D-Visions also provides a demonstration video of this workflow. To simplify onset capture, a new import script lets users load footage directly from movie files, reducing dependency on external transcoding tools.

Small but targeted refinements

Release 8.1 introduces a new high-pass filter in image controls, a frequently requested addition for analysing fine detail in tracking plates. It also adds start-frame parameters to USD and Alembic exports, allowing more precise control when aligning sequences in downstream departments. A new Attribute Editor plugin demonstrates how to reference 3D models directly from USD files, intended as an example for studios developing their own custom pipeline tools. The update further includes a rewritten Blender export script (v2.0) that matches the design of the Python-based Maya exporter from Release 8.0.

Technical updates and Python 3.11

Under the hood, 3DEqualizer 8.1 moves to Python 3.11. The runtime update brings better session management, new methods for converting OpenCV-style lens distortion to native 3DE formats, and improved image buffer handling. Several older tools were refined, including decimation of 3D models with correct UV handling, enhanced curve filtering, and better distance constraint behaviour. The development team also addressed multiple stability issues: bug fixes cover 2D track exports to Flame, curve editor display errors, long-lat conversion crashes, and problems with rolling shutter exports.

Export and scripting improvements

Maya export now includes user preferences, the “object pgroup z distance” tool gained motion path transfer functionality, and file requesters now display file sizes in human-readable format. The ScriptDB installer received fixes for SSL warnings, and the “reel in points” and “import 2D tracks” tools were corrected for minor issues.

Pricing and compatibility

3DEqualizer 8.1 runs on Windows 10+, glibc 2.17+ Linux, and macOS 13.5+. Perpetual licences cost €7 699 (around USD 9 065), while subscriptions range from €65 per week to €1 704 per year. As always, new builds should be tested in non-critical environments before being rolled out to production shots, especially given the shift to Python 3.11 and updated exporters, which may affect pipeline compatibility.

// https://www.3dequalizer.com/index.php?id=251111_01&site=devblog

The post 3DEqualizer 8.1 Adds Piggyback Camera Solves first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: KeenTools is a suite of professional tracking and head-creation plugins used in Blender and Nuke for geometry and facial workflows, and in Adobe After Effects for object tracking. It complements DCCs like Blender for 3D production and Nuke for compositing, and interacts with character-design tools such as Character Creator.

What’s in 2025.3

Keentools released version 2025.3. This is the final scheduled release for the year and focuses on host compatibility and workflow extensions. The update adds official support for Blender 5.0 across its Blender plugin pack. Earlier versions of KeenTools plugins already supported Blender 2.80+, but this brings full compatibility with the latest major Blender release.

FaceBuilder for Blender now includes direct integration with Character Creator 5, allowing artists to send 3D head models created in Blender into Character Creator 5. This expands on existing integrations and streamlines head-creation pipelines between these tools.

After Effects & Export Improvements

GeoTracker for Adobe After Effects gains support for After Effects 25.6, ensuring the plugin runs with the current AE build. The notable addition is the ability to export 3D scene-tracking data as an Alembic (.abc) file, making it easier to transfer tracked objects and camera data into other 3D applications. The release notes emphasise that Alembic export applies to full 3D scene tracking from GeoTracker in After Effects.

Nuke Open Beta Support

For Foundry Nuke users, the 2025.3 update adds compatibility with Nuke 16.1 and 17.0 open beta builds. This ensures KeenTools nodes and plugins operate in these pre-release environments as users test the latest compositor versions.

What’s Not Changed

There is no indication from the official release notes of major new tracking algorithms, UI overhauls, or fundamental workflow rewrites. This update centres on host support and select workflow exports rather than algorithmic feature expansion.

What You Should Know

Artists considering production adoption should verify compatibility with their exact host versions and pipeline tools before integrating 2025.3 into active projects. As always with plugin updates, running controlled tests in a non-production environment is recommended. Not independently verified at press time: performance impact or stability across all host configurations.

The post KeenTools 2025.3 Brings Blender 5, Character Creator 5 & AE Exports first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Sitni Sati has released FumeFX 7.1 for Autodesk 3ds Max, a major update focused on simulation speed, viewport clarity, and interoperability. The highlight is a completely redesigned RenderWarps algorithm that applies standard Max modifiers (Bend, Taper, Twist, Skew, and Stretch) up to five times faster than before.

The new method produces crisper deformation results while cutting computation time dramatically. For deformers such as FFD or custom modifiers, FumeFX retains its older sampling-based system, combining both methods into a hybrid that balances speed and compatibility.

Viewport usability improves too. Artists can now colour-code simulation grids and display grid names directly, with matching colours in both viewport and FumeFX dialogue. Clicking a grid label selects its source object, streamlining multi-grid setups in larger scenes.

Smarter Caches, Cleaner Imports

Cache handling sees multiple upgrades. The .vdb import function now includes a Y-Up orientation option and auto-detects channel names when loading caches from Houdini, EmberGen, or other tools. Users no longer need to manually assign fields on import. Cache output paths now accept custom separators and user-defined frame digits, giving more flexibility for naming conventions. Voxel Data Display can show cached colour information, while a new Hide Grid toggle is available across all display modes. Under the hood, the update reduces the risk of oversized VDB caches and resolves a number of bugs affecting grid shifting, RenderWarps stability, and Arnold rendering of the first frame in wavelet or post caches.

NodeWorks: Now Speaking Alembic

NodeWorks, FumeFX’s procedural node system, gains extended support for the Alembic (.abc) format. Particles can now be exported as Alembic point clouds, producing minimal cache files optimised for geometry efficiency. These caches can be loaded directly into Houdini or imported back into NodeWorks.

The Load Caches node can also import Alembic point clouds, allowing 3ds Max users to bring in data from external solvers such as Houdini or LiquiGen.

Additional refinements include extrusion along vertex normals or custom vectors, material ID control, and a clear visual warning when NodeWorks outputs an error message.

Stability fixes cover various nodes, including Grid Info, Ocean Spectrum, and Particle Cache. NodeWorks now updates correctly when force parameters are changed, addressing earlier issues where simulations would fail to restart automatically.

PartLoad and FumeFX Wind

The PartLoad component benefits from a significant speed boost when displaying particles, now with colour support. It also gains Alembic point cloud import and path variable functionality, easing project portability.

FumeFX Wind, the in-built force system, adds a simple but useful animatable Active toggle, allowing artists to keyframe its activation state without workaround scripting.

Additional Angle: Getting Out of Max

While FumeFX remains a 3ds Max-native tool, this update expands its export and exchange options. The addition of Alembic point clouds, improved VDB import with auto channel mapping, and consistent Y-Up support make it far easier to move data between Max, Houdini, or standalone simulation tools. These changes suggest Sitni Sati’s continued focus on cross-application compatibility, a practical priority for production teams working with mixed DCC pipelines.

Production Reliability

FumeFX 7.1 is available now for 3ds Max. The update addresses multiple stability and caching bugs, reducing file size inflation and grid desynchronisation during playback. As always, production users should verify new caching and deformation behaviour on controlled test scenes before applying it in live projects.

The post Sharper, Faster, Smokier: FumeFX 7.1 for 3ds Max first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

“Red Poppies” (original title: “Czerwone Maki”) is a 2024 Polish war drama directed by Krzysztof Łukaszewicz. The film portrays the legendary Battle of Monte Cassino through the eyes of Jędrek, a young man who endures the harrowing experiences of a Soviet gulag and later joins the Polish II Corps.

The cinematography is crafted by Arkadiusz Tomiak, with Marek Warszewski serving as the art director and Agnieszka Sobiecka designing the costumes. The screenplay is also penned by director Krzysztof Łukaszewicz.

Produced by Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych (WFDiF), “Red Poppies” is co-produced by ORKA, a company that expressed pride in contributing to the first Polish feature film about the Battle of Monte Cassino. The film’s visual effects were handled by Imaginary Pixels, a Polish VFX studio responsible for over 120 shots involving 3D tanks, set extensions, and the digital recreation of Wojtek the bear, a historical figure known for aiding Polish soldiers during World War II. https://kinoswiat.pl/film/czerwone-maki

The VFX team for “Red Poppies” included:​

Maciek Wojtkiewicz – Senior Animator
Lukas Remis – VFX Supervisor​
Artem Huza, Kajetan Czarnecki, Trendafil Kirilov, Jorge Grandes, Siarhei Talashka – Compositing Artists​
Severi Kamppi – 3D Lead​
Jyri Kataja – 3D Generalist​
Patryk Ptasiński – FX Artist​

DP: Let’s start with Red Poppies: How did you get involved with that production?
Lukas Remis: Red Poppies was a Polish production with one of the biggest budgets in recent years. It’s a war movie with over 400 VFX shots. Imaginary Pixels was one of 3 vendors, and we were brought in by the production company, that we have worked with in the past. For this project we’ve delivered over 120 shots, with a team of 12 artists, in about 4 months. Our work involved 3D set extensions, crowd and tanks multiplication, 3D creature creation and animation, and a lot of explosions and bullet hits.
The most complex part of the work was creating and animating a 3D version of Wojtek the bear. Wojtek was a Syrian brown bear adopted by Polish soldiers during World War II. There were about 15 shots with the creature, and many of them included interaction with the actors. Blender was our main and only tool for that. All aspects, from modelling, rigging, grooming, to animation and rendering were done in Blender. Our rig had some elements that were calculated automatically, like skin around the mouth or the ears. The goal was to have more physically accurate movement and faster workflow.

Another large part of our work were set extensions – usually mountains in the midground or background. For the background mountains, we have created a 360-degree environment in Blender, matching the terrain and foliage of Monte Casino in Italy, where the action should take place. We’ve rendered that as a 22K equirectangular image (Nuke wasn’t able to handle a larger render with AOVs) with some passes and different light direction versions. That way, the compositing team was able to use it as projections, for any angle in multiple shots, without involving the 3D artists each time.

DP: Can you break down your postproduction pipeline—from asset creation to final render—and specify which tools you used at each step?
Lukas Remis: Our pipeline is based on Ubuntu Linux. Projects are managed using Kitsu – an open source production management and review platform. We’re using Blender exclusively for all 3D tasks, and it’s native renderer – Cycles – for rendering. Render management is done with CGRU Afanasy. Compositing in Nuke. We’ve used Houdini in the past for FX, but currently we’re using mostly Embergen. Additionally we’re using Krita for photo or textures editing and MRV2 for playback and review. We’re also using Davinci Resolve for editing.

DP: Why did Imaginary Pixels as a full, working VFX shift toward open-source tools? Was this a gradual evolution or a clear strategic decision?
Lukas Remis: Personally, I have always been interested in the open source community and software, long before starting a career in VFX. I’ve been testing and playing with different Linux distributions in the past. Since a couple of years Linux, and Ubuntu as my personal favourite, has surpassed Windows functionality and stability, so it was a natural choice for an OS for all our machines. As for the other tools, like Blender, Kitsu or MRV2, the financial aspect is of course very important, but we only adopt an open source solution if it’s really capable of delivering what we need, efficiently. Blender was there from the beginning, the other tools came gradually, while we were looking for solutions to different areas.

Kitsu, the project management platform, is definitely worth mentioning here. It’s a wonderful software, with great people behind it. It was used, together with Blender, for this year’s Oscar winner: Flow.

DP: Are there areas in your pipeline where proprietary tools remain essential? What can’t be replaced by open-source alternatives—yet?
Lukas Remis: Obviously, in compositing we are stuck with proprietary software – and Nuke as the industry standard. And even the alternatives are not open source. Recently, I’ve been reaching out to several VFX studios to build a Natron development group, because I believe this software could take over a large part of Nuke compositing if the development would be revived. Natron’s similarity to Nuke makes it a great candidate for a compositing software alternative. Almost all the studios that I talked to expressed an interest in this initiative, and I have also talked to a “large” open source organization that would be interested in taking over Natron development – if appropriate funding is provided of course. I think a “Blender-like” development fund, with some VFX companies behind it, could provide the necessary funds for this.

FX software is another proprietary area. Houdini is fantastic software, but for a small studio like us, it’s expensive, especially that simulations are not our daily tasks. That’s why we’ve started working with Embergen. It’s still not close to the level of Houdini, but it successfully manages many of our tasks. And with the announced updates it will be even more useful.

DP: How do you manage bugs or tool limitations during production? Do you patch internally, rely on community support, or contract developers?
Lukas Remis: We don’t have inhouse developers, so we must rely on the development team behind each software. This can be difficult – for example I’ve reported a Blender bug over 7 years ago – it was about Blender not importing focal length animation of cameras in Alembic format – and it’s still not fixed! I can imagine this is a relatively simple fix, but the bug is a pretty big problem. On Red Poppies we also had some issues with the bear’s fur and alembic caches, but we just found some workarounds. But bugs are a thing, no matter if it’s open source or proprietary software. I have reached out to Nuke’s support several times without getting a solution to a problem. For example with the license server not working properly and they were unable to provide a solution. I can understand a bug in a free software, but certainly not in a crazy-expensive software like Nuke.

On the other hand, I had an amazing experience with the developers behind Kitsu and MRV2. They are very responsive and fast. I was especially blown away with Gonzalo Garramuño, the creator of MRV2. A couple of times he reacted within minutes from posting a bug, and provided a fixed version of the software. I think the open source developers and community are in general more approachable.

DP: What’s your perspective on open file formats like USD, OpenEXR, Alembic, or OpenTimelineIO?  Do they streamline your pipeline, or cause compatibility challenges?
Lukas Remis: Those are a “must”. OpenEXR and Alembic are standard daily-used formats, even to exchange data between different software internally. As for USD, we’ve used it on several occasions, where we needed to exchange 3D scenes with other studios – for example on “Return to Silent Hill”, for which we’ve been mostly building environments, using Blender.

DP: How much custom development went into making your pipeline as a whole work? Are you using off-the-shelf pipeline tools or building your own solutions?
Lukas Remis: Kitsu is great as a management and review platform, but it lacks software integration. So I’ve developed a program, which connects with Kitsu database, using it’s API, and at the same time it manages all our project and media files. It allows us to load specific project versions to DCC software, and submit output for review directly to Kitsu. This was created with Python. I know several programming languages, but I’ve never done anything in Python, so I wrote the software with chatGPT.

Also I’ve decided to have Kitsu installed on our own internal server, which makes it free. But you can also choose Kitsu’s hosting and management, with some monthly fee, if you want to avoid any technical work.

DP: Open source reduces licensing costs – and no licence server means an easy cloud deployment – are you using tools on Cloud or Hybrid infrastructure?
Lukas Remis: At the moment, considering we’re a small studio, I feel more comfortable with on-premise hardware. Especially that it’s hard to calculate the actual costs of cloud solutions – it’s more like estimations. I prefer to invest in our workstations or local render farm, because it’s going to be here and waiting for another project even during a down time. And our workstations are prepared for freelancers to work remotely. But I’ve talked with Mihai Satmarean from skylitetek.com about the possibilities of implementing their cloud solutions, and this will definitely be a thing if we grow bigger or need a quick ramp up. Skylitetek expertise is really valuable because they have experience working with VFX studios and their pipelines, not just delivering some generic cloud solutions.
In the meantime their team has helped us with some network and user management configuration. We don’t have any of the DCC software installed directly on the workstations. We’re using a “central” NAS which is hosting it for all our users. This was a thing I’ve implemented a long time ago, but now we needed to make it more advanced and add an LDAP user management.

DP: How reliant are you on cloud infrastructure? Are you using it for rendering, collaboration, asset management—or all of the above?
Lukas Remis: I’ve used some cloud/online rendering solutions in the past, but currently we’re fully relying on our hardware. Remote artists can connect with our VPN and “stream” a workstation, and they have access to all project data.

DP: How do you find and train artists comfortable with open-source tools like Blender or Gaffer? Is the talent pool growing—or do you invest heavily in onboarding?
Lukas Remis: At the moment Blender is our only open-source app that requires artists to know it. We have amazing Blender generalists, and the software is so popular that it’s not that hard to find new talent. For Red Poppies we needed a senior animator for some of the bear shots, and I’ve reached out to a friend of mine, who’s a Maya animator. He was willing to try animating in Blender, and all he needed was some Youtube tutorial about Blender basics, and introduction to our pipeline. After getting familiar with the interface he said he doesn’t see much difference for the animation process.

DP: Is Imaginary Pixels contributing to the open-source projects you use—via code, bug fixes, or documentation?
Lukas Remis:  As mentioned we don’t have developers in our team, so we can only report bugs. But of course we are financially supporting Blender, Krita or Kitsu. Kitsu also has a nice system for recommending new features, so we can suggest changes based on real-world cases.

DP: Are you planning to expand your open-source pipeline for future projects? Any new workflows—real-time rendering, AI, virtual production—on the horizon?
Lukas Remis:  Of course like everyone we’re thinking about AI and it’s possible applications. However, so far, most of the generative tools that I’ve tested are nowhere near being production ready. The main issue is complete randomness and lack of output control. But the media are completely hyped with AI, presenting it as the downfall of VFX and Hollywood in general :)

We’re using some AI tools integrated with Nuke, and planning to implement some generative AI with ComfyUI.

DP: What are your criteria when evaluating a new open-source tool for adoption? How do you assess codebase health, community size, or long-term viability?
Lukas Remis: The easiest way is to check the software’s GitHub page, and see how many people are contributing to the code and how often. That’s something you never know when using commercial closed-source software.

DP: Open-source projects can be abandoned. How do you hedge against that risk?
Lukas Remis: Yes, there’s always a risk that an open-source project can be abandoned. However, as we have recently seen with Foundry’s Modo, you’re not getting any guarantees with commercial software as well. Modo’s users have not only been abandoned, but also their licences are going to be cancelled. So they won’t be able to even use the old versions. With open-source, the code is still there, even if it’s abandoned. And you can continue developing it by yourself.

DP: How has the shift to open-source tools changed your studio culture—especially in terms of collaboration, experimentation, and problem-solving?
Lukas Remis:  I think using open source software encourages everyone to experiment. There is no “correct way” of doing things, you should always search for new possibilities and stay creative. Our artists often send me links to some new, interesting tools they found, so we can consider if that would be useful for us.

DP: Would you say your current pipeline is fully production-ready—or still evolving? What advice would you give to other studios considering a similar move?
Lukas Remis:  Yes, it is production ready. We’re using it on all our projects. Of course, it’s still evolving, as things that work for us now, might not work when we grow bigger or when we meet different tasks. But the beauty of open-source software is that you can try it for free. If it turns out that a tool is not meeting your requirements, you can just move on, or perhaps help to develop the tool. With commercial software, usually when you invest large amounts of money in some solutions, it might not be possible to just move to something else. Obviously, it’s not possible to be completely open-source when you want to make professional VFX, but there’s a lot of great free software out there.

DP: What good resources are out there to learn more about it?
Lukas Remis:  For Blender, your best source of information will be YouTube and Stack Exchange. And for general information about open source VFX tools, I recommend this page:github.com/cgwire/awesome-cg-vfx-pipeline – it’s an extensive list of different projects, covering any aspect of a VFX pipeline.

DP: What is the next project you are working on (insofar as you can talk about it)?
Lukas Remis:  At the moment we’re working on some Polish projects: a TV series and a feature film: Vinci 2. At the beginning of this year, we worked on several commercials for the Super Bowl, and before that we were focused on Return to Silent Hill, which should have a premiere at the end of this year.

The post Red Poppies, Bears and Open Source! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.