For those who don’t know the tool: HiPhyEngine LLC plugs into Blender as a Python addon, then runs sims through its own solver and returns results to the timeline. Think character sim prep, cloth, Rigid Body, sand, snow, mud, Hair, shotwork, and less collider drama.

What shipped and what it tries to solve

HiPhyEngine presents itself as a fully coupled, high fidelity physics engine aimed at character simulation inside Blender. The core pitch is a unified solver that can handle rigid body, hair, cloth, and soft body together, with an intersection free guarantee.

Alongside the Lagrangian style setups for meshes, HiPhyEngine also includes an MPM solver for snow and sand style simulations. The documentation frames this as bringing those effects into Blender workflows without relying on separate, subscription based tools. Those statements are product claims.

The developer, Haixiang Liu, has a Mathematics and Computer Sciences bachelor degree from HKUST, and doctoral work on simulation and high-performance computing at UW Madison. He also worked for six years at Walt Disney Animation Studios on character simulation and grooming tools.

How it fits into Blender without breaking your scene

HiPhyEngine is implemented as a standard Blender Python addon that reads and writes scene data through the Blender Python API, which forces you into a few workflow rules.

First, clean geometry matters. The intersection free guarantee assumes the starting and input geometry is intersection free (D’uh). HiPhyEngine also offers controls to disable collisions on selected vertices if you do not need them participating.

Second, sim kickoff happens across the timeline. When a sim runs, the solver exports relevant scene objects frame by frame, using the final evaluated state from the editor. If a modifier is not visible in the editor, it does not make the trip.

Third, modifier stack placement is not magic. Because of Blender Python API limits, the sim deformation applies at the start of the modifier chain. Any modifier that changes position or topology after that can cause issues. Triangulate is acceptable, and using a second object if you need a heavy modifier stack after the sim result is also OK.

Finally, cache handling is deliberately manual. The solver does not automatically save caches when a Blender file saves, to avoid slowdowns and disk I/O spikes on large sims. You trigger save and load operations via the solver controls, and the docs point out that this leaves room for custom cache versioning scripts.

Simulation setup details that matter in production

The quick start walks through a first sim using an affine body setup, a collider, and a solver node. Affine bodies are presented as very stiff objects that can be treated like rigid bodies for setup purposes.

Mesh requirements are strict: sim meshes must be triangle meshes. HiPhyEngine does not perform internal triangulation, so what you see in the scene is what the solver gets. Coordinate systems and units also show up early. The quick start notes that the engine is generally coordinate system agnostic except for gravity, and it sets expectations about unit scale by stating the internal length unit is centimeters.

A solver scale parameter can convert between scene and solver units, with follow on adjustments needed for parameters like collision radius that stay tied to model units.

The sim run itself is asynchronous. The UI reports progress, and the timeline updates meshes as frames become available. This is a simualtion workflow that matches how many artists already think about baking, just with a different backend.

Platform reality check before you get excited

HiPhyEngine supports Windows and Linux, and requires an x64 CPU with AVX2 support. The docs say any Intel or AMD CPU from the last decade should be enough. On the host side, the addon targets Blender 4.5 and later. The docs call out that the Steam build of Blender might run into permission issues during dependency installation.

HiPhyEngine installs dependencies into Blender’s Python environment on first load, using pip or wheels. The docs name Intel oneAPI Math Kernel Library and pybind11 as dependencies, and warn that first load can take from seconds to minutes depending on network speed. The quick start also states compliance with the VFX Reference Platform VFX2025 and VFX2026 standards from the VFX Reference Platform site, and ties that to Python 3.11 and Python 3.13 support as used by Blender 4.5 and later.

Features, licensing, and the fine print that comes with them

HiPhyEngine has five different material models and a fully coupled approach that handles interactions between them without extra setup. It also describes features like animated collider de-intersection and a soft collider feature intended to clean up incoming animation meshes before simulation. These are product claims.

HiPhyEngine also has parameter mapping and animation for many sim properties, such as using Blender attributes and geometry nodes for parameter maps, plus integration with the SeExpr2 expression language via SeExpr to build attributes and force fields.

Pricing on Superhive is split by seat count. The Individual License is listed at $119 for an individual commercial license, the Small Studio License is listed at $599 for a 6 seat license, and the Studio License is listed at $999 for a 15 seat studio license.

https://hiphyengine.github.io/


https://superhivemarket.com/products/hiphyengine

The post HiPhyEngine wants clean sims in Blender 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.

Claudio Z shared a strangely compelling browser-based 2D cloth simulation that lets users grab and deform a digital mesh in real time. That’s the whole thing. No download, no install. Just immediate floppy satisfaction.

Click and drag any part of the mesh. It stretches, bounces, sags—and occasionally flails like a badly rigged cape. The interaction is instant and weirdly hypnotic, and you’ll wonder why you’re still poking at fake fabric ten minutes later.

https://twitter.com/cloudofoz/status/1915386813763461429

Where the Mesh Lives

The simulation runs directly in your browser at CLoudofOZ. This isn’t pipeline material. It’s not meant for shot-finaling, and it won’t integrate into your DCC stack. But it is a clever little experiment in web-based simulation, and it might inspire a prototype or tool idea—after you’ve finished dragging the same point for the 30th time.

And, even if that ages me a bit, it is mindboggling that a full cloth sim runs in a browser. I remember a time, when that needed MULTIPLE workstations, artists and days of sim time for every little wiggle.

The post Browser Cloth: Wiggle It Just a Little Bit first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Pepe Buendia Rubio, a 3D Artist, shared an early glimpse of these tools on LinkedIn. The detailed post breaks down some of the key features and includes real-world use cases. For a more visual example, check out the ArtStation posts by Agus Gonzalez Lanzi, a VFX professional who is testing the new toolset. His work demonstrates the software’s ability to handle complex simulations with ease (Artstation Profile, Demo).

This update, still in its early development phase, promises to give artists more precise control, particularly when working on complex VFX scenes.

At the core of the update is the ability to create and manipulate curves to generate highly realistic cloth behavior in CGI. The toolset offers enhanced dynamics that streamline the process of cloth animation, enabling users to create more realistic folds, drapes, and cloth deformations with minimal effort. This should appeal to anyone tired of wrestling with complicated workflows that slow down post-production.

For those diving into VFX production, the new tools support smoother integration into existing pipelines, thanks to their compatibility with Houdini’s procedural systems. Whether you’re animating an action scene for film or generating assets for a game, these new cloth dynamics tools promise flexibility without sacrificing stability.

The post New Cloth Creation Toolset for Houdini: A First Look first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

With just a few clicks, you can turn your ideas into a complete outfit that can be integrated directly into the scenes. For those who prefer to juggle with formats instead of fabric patterns: The plugin supports all common Blender formats, including OBJ, FBX, and Alembic. Even Marvelous Designer fans are not left out in the cold – the tool also eats .MD and .MXD files. If you need it, you get it. And without a thread.

The cut in the Blender work

With the plugin from Xane Studios, your clothing production workflow will be faster than any online mail order company. Instead of tediously cutting and adjusting the polygons manually, you can now simply generate and vary them. Shirt, trousers, coat – all from a single mould. Whether the outfit is haute couture or a catwalk catastrophe is up to you. The tool links seamlessly with Blender’s existing physics engine. So don’t worry – the garment won’t miraculously slip off your characters even during wild animations. Everything that needs to be fixed is fixed here by placing a few prametres on the model, defining “fluffiness and a few fabric textures and properties, and off you go. This saves time and nerves, which can be better invested in spectacular VFX effects – and not in fashion design.

• Blendermarket – buy the plugin and get started.

The post Blender’s new sewing machine: clothes from nothing! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.