Cinefex Ends Publication After 40 Years
Cinefex closed after more than 40 years and over 170 issues, with issue 172 becoming the final edition of the VFX journal.
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Antimatter Releases Online Flow Map Generator
Antimatter’s browser-based tool lets artists draw, visualise and save flow maps, with support for loading custom source images.
Jürgen Schopper Joins HFF Munich as VFX Professor
HFF Munich appointed Jürgen Schopper professor for its VFX specialisation, beginning in April 2021.
Affinity 1.9 Expands Designer, Publisher and Photo
Affinity 1.9 adds contour and selection tools, data merge, PDF passthrough, non-destructive Liquify, path text and linked layers.
Paletter Assigns Material Colours in Blender
Phygitalism’s Blender add-on Paletter assigns selected polygons to defined materials and colour palettes.
XRayMorph-EL Previews Pose Editing in 3ds Max
Raylight Games previews XRayMorph-EL, a 3ds Max pose editor for character animation, specialised animation and deformation.
White Square 2021 Announces Festival Programme
White Square announced a Minsk programme with more than 70 sessions covering marketing, branding, digital media and creativity.
Robert Hranitzky Demonstrates Product Rendering
Robert Hranitzky explains remote product-visualisation workflows using Cinema 4D and After Effects in a 45-minute presentation.
FMX Spotlight Examines Epic’s Digital Humans
Epic Games’ Vladimir Mastilovic joins FMX to demonstrate MetaHuman Creator with Animationsinstitut R&D head Volker Helzle.
Maxon’s 3D and Motion Design Show Goes Online
Maxon’s free online show brings together Cinema 4D, motion-design, VFX and visualisation artists for demonstrations and talks.
Corona Renderer Showreel Highlights C4D and Max
Chaos Czech’s three-minute Corona Renderer showreel features work created in Cinema 4D and 3ds Max by studios and independent artists.
Substance Designer Tutorial Builds Broken Concrete
Gustav Engman demonstrates a procedural damaged-concrete material in Substance Designer using a broken terracotta floor as the example.
ZBrush 2021.6 Adds Curve Sculpting Tools
ZBrush 2021.6 introduces Curve Alpha and Snake Curve brushes, a Mesh from Mask system and more control over curve shapes.
White Square 2021 Opens Festival Submissions
White Square 2021 announced its jury and invited agencies, brands and creatives to submit work for the international advertising festival.
PolySnow Plus Rebuilds 3ds Max Snow Tool in C++
PolySnow Plus moves the 3ds Max snow plug-in to C++ and adds brush-based tools for snow, icicles and frozen surface details.
MeInGame Generates 3D Faces from Portraits
MeInGame automates 3D face shape and texture generation from a single photographic portrait for use in game characters.
3D Motion Show Shares Six Hours of C4D Advice
The IBC 2020 edition of the 3D Motion Show collects nearly six hours of Cinema 4D motion-graphics demonstrations and production advice.
Morphle Adds Shape-Key Tools to Blender
Phygitalism’s free Morphle add-on creates objects containing shape keys derived from selected vertex positions.
Vizoo xTex Automates Seamless Material Capture
Vizoo’s xTex scanner captures colour, normal, specular, bump, displacement and transparency maps and automates seamless tiling.
PhysX Painter 2.0 Adds Object Forces and Drop Brush
Kinematic Lab’s 3ds Max plug-in paints objects into scenes, then uses gravity, attraction and explosion forces to distribute them.
KeyShot 10.1 Adds Physics Placement and USD
KeyShot 10.1 adds gravity and collision placement, multi-light editing, USD import, USDZ and GLB export, and a new licence portal.
Lazy Manager Adds Shared 3ds Max Asset Management
Joker Martini’s Lazy Manager organises and publishes objects, materials and modifiers across multiple 3ds Max instances.
Game UI Database Catalogues 12,000 Screenshots
Edd Coates’ Game UI Database catalogues more than 12,000 interface screenshots from over 340 AAA and independent games.
VFX Assets Releases Free Lunar Displacement Map
VFX Assets offers a free 46K Moon displacement map and a 184K sample, with the complete 184K lunar dataset sold separately.
Pixar Research Refits Garments to Digital Bodies
Pixar’s garment-refitting method alternates relaxation and rebinding optimisation to adapt clothing to different digital body shapes.
Foundry Live 2021 Covers Look Development and Pipelines
Foundry Live schedules virtual sessions on look development, lighting, interoperability, software integration and VFX education.
Free Bird’s-Eye People Pack Adds Eight Groups
Vis-Shopper releases eight free bird’s-eye-view people groups for populating architectural scenes viewed from above.
SIGGRAPH Course Examines Dynamic Deformables
Theodore Kim and David Eberle discuss dynamic deformable materials, solver design and collision handling in a SIGGRAPH 2020 course.
Unity Shader Graph 2020.2 Introduces Master Stack
Unity’s Shader Graph 2020.2 adds the Master Stack and clearer real-time feedback for visual shader creation.
Tutorial: Creating Translucent Fabric in V-Ray for 3ds Max
A quick tutorial demonstrates how to use VRay2SidedMtl to create translucent fabric materials in V-Ray for 3ds Max.
Sunrise Productions Releases Node Execution Tree
Sunrise Productions releases NXT, an open-source Python-based tool for layered scripting, visualization and sequential execution.
Free Earth Displacement Map Released at up to 48K
VFX Asset released a free 16-bit Earth displacement map at up to 48K, alongside a paid higher-resolution 172K edition.
Shutterstock Acquires 3D Marketplace TurboSquid
Shutterstock acquired TurboSquid, adding a major 3D-model marketplace and cloud-based digital asset-management technology.
Tutorial: Rendering Metallic Surfaces in Maya and Arnold
Arvid Schneider demonstrates modelling, anisotropic shading and final rendering for metallic surfaces in Maya and Arnold.
23lunes Shares Its 2021 Studio Reel
Barcelona studio 23lunes presents a three-minute reel featuring its character animation and visual-effects work.
Rebelle 4 Adds Oils, Acrylics and RYB Colour Mixing
Escape Motions’ Rebelle 4 expands its fluid-flow digital-painting system with oils, acrylics, improved watercolours and RYB mixing.
V-Ray 5 Benchmark Update Introduces Three Hardware Tests
Chaos updated the V-Ray 5 Benchmark application with a redesigned interface and CPU, CUDA and GPU testing modes.
Canon EOS R5 Brings 8K RAW Recording to the Mirrorless Line
Canon’s EOS R5 was introduced with an 8K sensor and RAW video recording, alongside demonstrations of high-resolution footage.
Digital Production 01/2021: Inside the First Issue of the Year
Digital Production 01/2021 covers character art, creative hardware, high-end CPUs, mobile workstations, Flame and automotive CGI.
OctaneRender 2021 Preview Adds Hydra Support and Ampere Improvements
OTOY previewed OctaneRender 2021 with a revised AOV system, improved Nvidia Ampere performance, Hydra rendering and an RNDR+ bundle.
Chaos Vantage Launches for Real-Time Exploration of V-Ray Scenes
Chaos Vantage uses Nvidia RTX hardware to display and edit large V-Ray environments with real-time ray tracing.
Zeitfeld: Martin Hoppe’s Camera Arrays Freeze Time
Martin Hoppe explains Zeitfeld’s scalable bullet-time rigs, LuxMatrix lighting system and high-speed camera experiments.
Mari 4.7 Adds Procedural Masks and Material Workflow Improvements
Foundry’s Mari 4.7 focuses on collaboration, procedural masks, a redesigned Shelf palette and easier layered-material authoring.
Hardmesh Brings Advanced Boolean Modelling to 3ds Max
Hardmesh for 3ds Max offers advanced Boolean modelling, rounded intersections and tools for building complex forms from simple geometry.
FMX Spotlight Examines Reusable Assets in EU Project SAUCE
FMX Spotlight presents EU Project SAUCE research into reusable creative assets, light fields, asset pipelines, semantic animation and crowds.
Isotropix Unveils Angie CPU/GPU Renderer
Isotropix previewed Angie, a CPU/GPU renderer planned for integration with Clarisse iFX and Clarisse Builder.
Orhan Sayin Shares 3D and Motion Design Workflows
Cream Studios director and lead 3D artist Orhan Sayin discusses motion graphics, commercials, experience design and projection mapping.
Gravity Sketch Review: Designing Freely in Virtual Reality
Gravity Sketch offers professional VR sketching and spatial design tools for creating forms, surfaces and concepts with two-handed interaction.
Yambo Shares Motion Design and Cinema 4D Workflow Advice
Yambo Studios’ creative director discusses CGI, colour, texture, motion, composition and his work as a Cinema 4D trainer.
Shams Meccea Discusses Creativity and Motion Design
Vancouver motion designer Shams Meccea explores abstract ideas, spirituality, self-discovery and experimentation across media.
ZBrush 2021.5 Adds Thick Skin and Surface-Sculpting Tools
Pixologic previewed ZBrush 2021.5 with Thick Skin, new surface tools and updates to ZModeler and Sculptris Pro.
Mehdi Hadi at The 3D and Motion Design Show
VFX and motion graphics artist Mehdi Hadi discusses his multidisciplinary work at The 3D and Motion Design Show.
Vertex 2021 Moves Its 2D and 3D Art Conference Online
Vertex 2021 brought talks, drawing classes, an exhibition hall and artist presentations for 2D and 3D creators to an online event.
Julia Siemón Discusses Motion Graphics and Animation
Designer and educator Julia Siemón shares insights into motion graphics, 3D design, animation and the challenges of a creative career.
How to Become a Concept Artist: Skills, Career and Portfolio Tips
A concise guide outlines the skills, lifestyle, career planning and portfolio thinking needed to work as a professional concept artist.
Eran Stern Presents a Beginner Cinema 4D Workflow
Eran Stern demonstrates an accessible Cinema 4D workflow built around an astronaut scene for The 3D and Motion Design Show.
Tiny Giants Share Their Animation and VFX Work
Dutch animation and visual-effects studio Tiny Giants presents its work in a session with Bas Helmig and Bart Brinkman.
Ray Tracer Sandbox Enables Real-Time PBR Shader Testing with Vulkan
The open-source Ray Tracer Sandbox lets artists create and test physically based shaders in real time with prepared scenes and assets.
Mario Domingo Shares Motion Design Tips in Cinema 4D
Dublin motion designer Mario Domingo demonstrates creative Cinema 4D techniques in a session for The 3D and Motion Design Show.
Foundry Completes the Modo 14 Series
Modo 14.2 completed Foundry’s Modo 14 series with USD support, Rig Clay, MeshFusion tools, viewport upgrades and major performance gains.
DreamWorks Trainer Don Allen Stevenson Explores 3D and AR
DreamWorks trainer Don Allen Stevenson III demonstrates creative 3D and augmented-reality experiments in a one-hour session.
Aleksey Voznesenski Demonstrates Cinema 4D Rigging
Aleksey Voznesenski demonstrates practical Cinema 4D character-rigging techniques in a session from Maxon’s 3D and Motion Design Show.
Arnold 6.1 Reduces GPU Texture Memory Use
Arnold 6.1 adds partial texture loading on the GPU, new light-path features, imager nodes, USD improvements and faster Windows rendering.
MUSE Technology Preview Provides Standalone USD Editing
J Cube’s MUSE technology preview opens, displays and edits USD assets without requiring a host DCC application.
Autodesk Explains Perpetual Licence Trade-In
Autodesk outlined the benefits of moving from legacy perpetual licences to its subscription model.
Autodesk Releases Maya 2020.3
Maya 2020.3 adds Bifrost 2.1, Motion Library updates, Script Editor improvements, revised painting and skinning tools, and FBX Standard Surface import.
Tangent Labs Opens Loupe Production Platform Beta
Loupe combines asset and project management, media review, collaboration, render management, reporting and analytics in a browser-based service.
Pixologic Releases ZBrushCore 2021
ZBrushCore 2021 adds a streamlined ZRemesher, Dynamic Subdivision and the MicroPoly system for hobbyists and students.
Chaos Czech Previews Corona Renderer 7
Corona Renderer 7 was planned to add OpenVDB rendering, improved tone mapping, a new PBR material, better interoperability and Cinema 4D enhancements.
Studio Suite 13 Adds Gantt and Kanban Interfaces
Studio Suite 13 introduces an interactive Gantt chart, Kanban interface, faster calendar, approval controls and Active Directory support.
DECALmachine 2.0 Expands Blender Decal Workflows
DECALmachine 2.0 improves speed and flexibility with expanded atlasing, trim sheets, material-channel support and new UV tools.
U-Render 2020.9.2 Integrates Live Rendering in Cinema 4D
U-Render 2020.9.2 adds direct Cinema 4D viewport rendering, improved reflections and volumetrics, clear-coat materials and RGB curves.
Building BMW’s Piano-Playing CG Robot
A detailed production account of Mackevision’s 15-day VFX workflow for BMW’s humanoid piano-playing robot, from stand-in photography to final compositing.
Berlin Funds Digital Film Production with €2 Million
Berlin’s 2020 Digital Film Production programme allocated €2 million annually to CGI- and VFX-intensive film and series projects.
Nvidia Research Improves Video-to-Video Synthesis
World-Consistent Video-to-Video Synthesis uses semantic inputs, memory, optical-flow warping and guidance images to generate coherent video.
Victorian Office Breakdown Uses Maya and Substance
Jonathan Benainous created a Victorian office with Maya, Substance tools and Marmoset, relying on displacement for much of the architecture.
Research Simulates Detailed Water Droplets
Researchers combine sheet, filament and volume particles to simulate droplet surfaces, sprays and splashes with improved surface tension.
Bforartists 2 Reworks Blender’s User Interface
Bforartists 2 introduced a streamlined keymap, reorganised interface, configurable icon toolbar and revised tooltips.
Lara Lom Appointed Managing Director of Rise London
VFX producer Lara Lom was appointed managing director of Rise’s new London studio, scheduled to open in September 2020.
Renderbaron 2020 Showreel Highlights Photoreal CG
Düsseldorf animation studio Renderbaron’s 2020 showreel presents photoreal product, architectural and visual-effects work.
MPC Episodic Opens Berlin VFX Studio
MPC Episodic opened a Berlin studio led by Thomas Knop, with Franzisca Puppe serving as executive producer.
Scanline VFX Reel Rebuilds Gotham City for Joker
Scanline’s Joker VFX reel breaks down the set extensions and digital environments used to create Gotham City.
FJ Tools 1.5 Expands ZBrush Renaming and Polypaint Workflows
FJ Tools 1.5 added revised renaming, new mesh generators, ID-colour creation and Polygroup colouring and shuffling.
MPC Visualization Reel Surveys a Decade of Blockbuster Previs
MPC’s Technicolor visualization reel revisited pre-production work for The Lion King, Godzilla, Blade Runner and other films.
Prop Store’s 2020 Hollywood Auction Featured Star Wars and Jurassic Park Props
Prop Store’s August 2020 auction offered 870 film artefacts from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Alien, Ghostbusters and other productions.
How Aardman Took Flushed Away into CG
Aardman and DreamWorks built Flushed Away in CG, combining stylised water simulation, custom splash tools and clay-like character rigs.
Blender Tools for Unreal Engine
Epic Games released Send to Unreal and UE to Rigify to streamline FBX-based transfers between Blender and Unreal Engine.
Cinema 4D: Project Neutron announced
Redshift 3.0, Trapcode and Project Neutron: Proceduralism is coming to Cinema 4D, Redshift Realtime and much more!
Digital Idea VFX Showreel
Digital Idea's seven-minute reel combines destruction, creatures, digital humans and battlefield simulation work.
Octane X PR1 Brings Metal Rendering
Octane X PR1 introduced a native Metal-based OctaneRender preview for macOS 10.15.6 systems with AMD Vega and Navi GPUs.
3ds Max and Maya Indie soon available worldwide!
Let's continue with the good news: After Nuke, Max and Maya are now apparently at the start with "worldwide" indie versions.
Konstantin Kovalenko VFX Reel
Konstantin Kovalenko's reel covers set extensions, modelling, shading, lighting, rendering, animation and CG ships.
Project Lavina Beta Expands
Chaos Group's Project Lavina beta added animation editing, physical cameras, IES lights, material updates and MAXScript exchange.
VES Handbook Third Edition
The third VES Handbook expanded coverage of scanning, HDR, VFX editorial, realtime work, virtual production, AR and VR.
3DF Zephyr 5 Dragonfruit Released
3DF Zephyr 5 accelerated large photogrammetry datasets, added out-of-core meshing, sharper reconstruction and new workflow tools.
Arthdal Chronicles VFX Breakdown
Dexter Studios' breakdown reveals creature work and set extensions created for the Korean fantasy series Arthdal Chronicles.
CodeParade’s Non-Euclidean Engine
CodeParade's MIT-licensed engine uses portal views to create impossible geometry, while Hyperbolica explores curved space without portals.
PolygonFlow Announces GraphN and Metanote
PolygonFlow proposed GraphN visual tool creation and a Metanote library for portable 3D workflow operations across DCCs and engines.
Sven Martin in Highlights of FMX
Pixomondo CCO and VFX supervisor Sven Martin joined Highlights of FMX to discuss dragons, major productions and sixteen years in VFX.
DP Collection: Free Assets for Everyone
A production-focused archive of free 3D assets, meshes, materials, HDRIs, VFX footage, textures and sound resources.