SyncKey Reducer Keeps Poses Together
Amir Porat’s reducer aligns surviving pose frames in Max and Maya, with error controls, rig exclusions and a few cleanup buttons worth reading twice.
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Autodesk Maya
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Alpaca3D: Retopo With a Reality Check
Live bake feedback, UV constraints and editable projection cages: Alpaca3D connects low-poly construction to texture-map output.
KeyFlow Turns Maya Repetitions Into Buttons
Fenix Animator’s KeyFlow puts Maya animation chores into a customizable toolbar, from timing and mirroring to temporary rig controls.
Animo Sliders Bring Maya Controls to Blender
Ehsan Bayat brings 16 Animo animation sliders to Blender for faster pose, timing and keyframe adjustments.
Flair Heads for Unreal, Maya 2027 Ready
Flair is closing in on its Unreal Engine debut while the Maya renderer adds Maya 2027 support and clears out several workflow gremlins.
Redshift 2026.9 Tightens the Bolts
Redshift 2026.9 adds Houdini 22 support, broader USD workflows and leaner render preparation, while clearing out a useful pile of production bugs.
Animcraft 6.0 Adds AI Rigging and Kimodo
Basefount adds automatic skinning and weight processing to Animcraft, plus NVIDIA Kimodo-based text-to-motion generation for character workflows.
Media Plane adds nonlinear editing to Maya
Gizmify brings clip editing, retiming, compositing and scripted reference workflows directly into Maya with the beta Media Plane Editor.
Armature 2 automates character rigging
FabricatorStudio's Windows app combines local AI and geodesic skinning with manual rig tools, USD hand-off and a free indie licence.
InstaMAT Guided Scatter Controls Rock Patterns
InstaMAT’s Guided Scatter steers tile-based rock patterns with masks, vectors, scale maps and collision controls; Abstract also reports SOC 2 compliance.
Blendkit expands to Maya, Godot and Rhino
Blendkit opens its asset library to Maya, Godot and Rhino through free open-source plugins, although the integrations remain early-stage software.
Autodesk Sets Mudbox End-of-Sale Dates
Autodesk ends annual and monthly Mudbox sales on November 7, 2026; Media & Entertainment Collection 2027 is the last collection to include it.
AccuFACE 2 Grand Launch: Professional-Grade Facial Mocap for CC5 HD Characters
Reallusion's AccuFACE 2 adds GPU facial tracking, CC5 HD mapping, non-linear curves, AMD support and a wider iClone mocap pipeline.
Workshop: Building a Real-Time Location
A practical workshop on reconstructing real locations in Unreal Engine, using Sonagraf’s Yoyogi project to explain each production decision.
Rebelle 8.3 Adds EXR Heightmap Export
Rebelle 8.3 adds brush colour jitter, interactive selection controls, smoother gradients and Pro-only 16-bit EXR impasto heightmaps.
Autodesk Flow Studio adds 3D Editor and Canvas
Autodesk adds 3D scene direction and a node-based Canvas to Flow Studio for more controllable AI-assisted filmmaking.
RenderMan 27.3 Adds MaterialX to XPU
Pixar’s RenderMan 27.3 adds native MaterialX and initial Cryptomatte support to XPU, plus stylized-look, hair and volume updates.
Golaem opens Houdini and Unreal bridges
Autodesk has published Golaem’s Houdini and Unreal cache bridges under Apache 2.0, with procedural loading, Layout edits and no geometry bake.
Cascadeur 2026.2 Adds Animation Layers
Cascadeur 2026.2 previews additive animation layers, easing controls, localised UI packs, environmental posing and Python workflow updates.
Animates Suite tunes Blender keys
Blender animators get key selection, retiming, Key Amp, onion skins, editable motion paths and world-space locks in one add-on.
Sisir Free Hair Grooming Tool
Free standalone grooming for Windows adds guide styling, procedural controls, masks, DCC bridge scripts and Alembic export.
InstaMAT adds 2D UV painting
The July update brings 2D UV painting, UDIM handling, faster rebakes and fresher DCC support for texture-heavy work.
Maya 2027.2 trains MotionMaker
Maya expands MotionMaker with custom model training, horse animation, cleaner path tools and wider DCC updates for artists.
Matcha maps photo refs in Maya
Matcha for Maya manages reference cameras, projects photos onto models, paints masks and exports organized PSD stacks.
Adonis 2.1 Gives Digital Anatomy a Machine-Learning Layer
Inbibo’s Adonis 2.1 splits the digital anatomy framework into AdonisFX and AdonisML, adding machine-learning deformation, SmartTissue dynamics, topology-independent anatomy transfer and cleaner solver output for Maya and Houdini.
Arnold 7.5.2 Adds Gaussian Splats
Arnold 7.5.2 renders Gaussian Splats, adds relighting, NPR nodes and Flow Render tweaks. Nice, but test before splats bite.
Free Komodo Rig for Fun
Free Komodo rig for portfolio work, plus paid tiers for commercial pipelines. Big lizard, small invoice, careful license.
Massive Crowd Sim gets a free 101-edition
Massive 101 goes free for non-commercial use, with watermarked renders and a forum-based license login. Great for learning, risky for deadlines.
KZ_Tracker turns video into Maya curves
KZ_Tracker tracks 2D points in footage inside Maya and bakes curves to locators, aimed at quick blocking, timing, and rough spacing, not final mocap.
Levels cleans up alpha maps fast
Levels makes alpha masks from photos in your browser: channel mix, levels, crop, perspective warp, then copy or export PNG.
DreamWorks style mesh controls land in Maya
A free Maya plug-in adds surface pinning, mesh controls, and VP2 overlays, plus docs and an example scene. Now go break it safely in a test rig, just like the artists at Dreamworks who inspired it.
Maya 2027.1 adds OTIO to Sequencer
Maya 2027.1 lands with OTIO in Sequencer, LookdevX projection tools, and more Bifrost and USD housekeeping. Patch it, test it, then trust it.
PFTrack gets Hero Cloud
PFTrack 26.05.19 adds Hero Cloud for single shot point clouds, plus COLMAP export to Postshot and better USD point cloud export. Try it, then trust it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Maxon ships Redshift 2026.5
Redshift 2026.5 spreads the night sky, grows texture displacement, flips Cinema 4D defaults to OpenPBR, and gets friendlier with Arm64.
Phoenix moves to end of support
Chaos Phoenix is now end of support. No new standalone subs, existing subs can renew, and bundles still include it in the same state.
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.
KeyPro revamps Maya
KeyPro stacks waveform, key density, heat, and range into one strip under Maya’s timeline, plus rig aware tools and a one time buy.
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.
Galata.ink Ships Tamga Sculpt and Paint for Browsers
tamga brings lightweight sculpting, vertex paint, and ink style renders to web, desktop, and iPad, with quick OBJ handoff.
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.
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.
FlippedNormals Marketplace closes March 31
The store stops taking orders March 31 and file access ends April 30. Download your library now, then expect a leaner reboot.
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.
Texturing XYZ puts SKAP online, pores included
Texturing XYZ’s SKAP turns 2K to 8K inputs into 16K skin maps in a browser, priced in credits at $1 each.
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.
MPC’s Cold Storage
MPC Paris delivered 575 shots on Cold Storage, from invisible fixes to slime, creatures and a nuclear finale. But how?
Redshift 2026.3 fixes displacement headaches
Redshift 2026.3 is a stability release focused on texture displacement, Hydra USD updates and host bug fixes.
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.
PFTrack update tidies Maya and LiDAR workflows
PFTrack update refines Maya export, LiDAR error handling and Survey Solver node logic for Studio and Enterprise users.
InstaLOD 2026 Targets VR and Animation Pipelines
InstaLOD 2026 adds VR delivery targets, raytraced shadows and full GLTF USD animation support for real-time pipelines.
Arnold adds lines, points and faster volumes
Arnold update adds NPR shaders and accelerates OpenVDB volumes up to five times in official tests.
Kangaroo Builder learns to move faces between meshes
Kangaroo Builder for Maya adds Landmark Warp, a topology transfer tool aimed at moving blendshapes between meshes without matching topology.
Download IKEA furniture as 3D models, minus the trolley
A community script allows direct downloads of IKEA’s web 3D models, skipping the store visit and the measuring tape optimism.
BlendShape Monitor puts Maya rigs under a heat lamp
A new Maya plugin visualises blendshape influence in real time, targeting riggers dealing with dense and poorly documented rigs.
Animcraft 5.5: Stability, ribbons, and MetaHumans
Animcraft 5.5 improves mocap stability, rewrites the Dragon Breath Ribbon System, and expands MetaHuman and Maya tools.
Delhi in 3D: Kitbash3D goes urban
Kitbash3D launches New Delhi, a 3D asset kit with 84 models and 127 materials for building detailed urban cityscapes.
Pulldownit 6.5 for Maya cracks a new non-destructive workflow
Pulldownit 6.5 for Maya adds non-destructive fracturing, Xref support, and UI updates for improved control and flexibility.
How I Spent Five Years Making a Solo 3D Film
Maxim Gehricke spent five years creating his solo 3D short film SEN. Here’s how he did it without funding, team, or sleep.
3DEqualizer 8.1 Adds Piggyback Camera Solves
3DEqualizer 8.1 introduces piggyback rig solving, a rewritten Blender export script and new import and export options.
Quad Draw Comes to Blender
New Vulkan-based retopology add-ons make Blender’s mesh work feel like Maya’s Quad Draw, fast, intuitive, and production-ready.
Mansur Rig 3.0 Goes Free and Open Source Lite
Mansur Rig 3.0 drops activation, goes partially open source, adds Maya 2026 support on Windows, and warns older versions stop working after March 2026.
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.
Checkpoint, fixed: Pixar ships RenderMan 27.1
Pixar refines RenderMan 27.1: better Lama layering, smarter checkpointing, memory savings, and fixes across Blender and Houdini bridges.
RapidPipeline for 3ds Max and Maya
RapidPipeline brings CAD & 3D data optimisation into 3ds Max/Maya: import, clean up, remesh, bake UVs and export, locally, quickly, without leaving your DCC.
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.
When Annabelle Grew Up: The Digital Domain Horror Pipeline
425 shots, one terrifying doll, and a CG mill town: Digital Domain’s Alex Millet explains how his team built the horror of The Conjuring: Last Rites and kept it real.
Autodesk launches Maya 2026.3 & Creative 2026.3
Maya 2026.3 packs Bifrost rigid bodies, Graph Editor channel sets, Flow connectivity, and an upgraded USD asset resolver.
Free WaveManager Brings Procedural Motion to Maya
WaveManager for Maya adds procedural wave motion to any rig via expressions: no keyframes, full control, free download.
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.
Vectorify: Simplify Animation Repathing in Maya
Tool developer Ehsan Bayat has released Vectorify, a free tool for Autodesk Maya that transforms animation repathing from…
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!
RenderMan 27: XPU graduates, RIS retires
Pixar ships RenderMan 27: XPU is ready for final frames, RIS is being phased out, MaterialX joins the toolset, and Stylized Looks evolve.
Pickify: Selection Sets Without Outliner Mess
Pickify gives animators hotkey-based selection sets in Maya—without clogging the Outliner. Free, minimal, and exportable.
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.
Berlin Animates: FAB 2025 Full Daily Programme
FAB 2025, 26 to 28 Sept: Berlin screens 132 films, plus hands-on workshops and Japan focus. Here’s the complete schedule.
Autodesk adds AI Assistants to Maya (and beyond)
Maya gets AI Assistants and Graph Assist. Autodesk outlines a larger AI push for artists.
Python for Artists Cohort starts soon
Repetitive tasks kill time. Python kills repetitive tasks. DP author Alexander Richter teaches scripting for Maya, Houdini, Nuke, and more.
TD-Meetup: Join us live, we talk about how VR Speeds Up Animation & Previz!
VR meets previs: Dan Franke shows how Quill VR fuels storytelling and rapid 3D iteration at the TD Meetup this thursday!
mGear 5.1 sharpens RBF Manager and patches Shifter
mGear 5.1 kills off Maya 2020 support. In return: RBF Manager v2.0, Shifter bug fixes, and a forked weightDriver. Test before deploying.
Pivot with Precision: Pixie Pivot Adds Maya‑Style Controls to Blender
TL;DR: Pixie Pivot lets Blender users yank control of pivots and gizmos like Maya: snap, align, rotate and origin‑shift with precision.
Next-Gen Cloud Rendering for Blender? Meet Praxilla!
Praxilla offers Blender cloud rendering with Cycles and Eevee, starting at 2.50 € per GPU hour. Secure, fast, and aiming for collaborative rendering.
USDSkel: Optimized Character Rigging
USDSkel is an OpenUSD component that supports scalable, manipulable, and interchangeable skinned characters. Wanna know more?
Marvelous Designer 2025.1: Draw, Wash, Repeat
Marvelous Designer 2025.1 brings Off-Avatar 3D Pen, Denim Wet Wash, AI Pose Generator, and Softbody for custom rigs.
Maya 2026.2: Lighter Wolves, Smarter Motion, and One Less Excuse to Skip MaterialX
Maya 2026.2 boosts MotionMaker AI, enables MaterialX in LookdevX, brings Arnold GPU Toon shading, and makes Bifrost mandatory. Check docs for full details.
InstantQPatch: Im3dJoe’s Quad-Only Mesh Hole Filler for Maya
InstantQPatch by Im3dJoe patches polygon holes in Maya with quad-based, curvature-following geometry. Free for all uses, but code sharing is forbidden.
Mesh Match for Maya adds Auto‑Skeleton & Landmark Detection – AI Without the Hype
Mesh Match for Maya now supports facial and body landmark detection plus full‑body skeleton build to accelerate character rigging workflows.
Rumba 2.0: No More Animators’ Elbow
Rumba 2.0 from Mercenaries Engineering launches, promising faster, artist-friendly Maya-compatible character animation and seamless USD, Alembic, and FBX support.
Game Boy Robot: When Nostalgia Gets a Quad-Based Makeover
Game Boy nostalgia meets quad-based hard-surface modeling in Benavidmark’s detailed 3D robot tribute—every production step dissected.
Maya’s Jiggle Assistant: PUPbuildDynamic Does Your Secondary Motion
PuppetSoul PUPbuildDynamic for Maya is a free add-on delivering real-time secondary motion and collision on joint chains—without FX overhead.
V-Ray for Blender: Chaos releases Renderer into the Open Source Universe
V-Ray for Blender lands with CPU, GPU, and Chaos Cloud support, plus 5,600+ free Chaos Cosmos assets. Special pricing for Blender users now available.
MetaHumans Graduate: Ready for Unity, Godot, and the Fab Cash Register
MetaHuman is out of early access, baked into UE 5.6, licensable for Unity & Godot, and finally up for sale on Fab?
Maya 2026.1’s MotionMaker: AI Walks the Walk
Maya 2026.1 introduces MotionMaker, an AI-powered tool for rapid character animation, alongside Bifrost rigging and simulation enhancements.
LiDAR scanning for Everybody!
Scanner veteran Lawren Bancroft-Wilson gives us a look behind the curtain on Lidar Scanning for VFX and Post.
Wile E. Coyote Animates in UE5.6 – No Anvils Required
Stéphane Biava demonstrates Unreal Engine 5.6's new animation features, making in-engine animation a viable alternative to Blender or Maya.