Maxon Digital Twin is an upcoming application currently in development that lets users import cleared-for-use CAD or 3D product models and refine them with materials, textures, lighting, perspective, and environmental interactions to achieve photorealistic outputs.

The application is intended to help brands and marketing teams maintain visual accuracy and creative control as product imagery moves across platforms and creative tools. Users can integrate Digital Twin with popular design software and AI enabled graphic tools of their choosing but use of AI is optional and not required. Maxon has stated that Digital Twin is not an AI agent and does not train on user or artist content.

How the Workflow Functions

The workflow begins with a cleared-for-use CAD or 3D model of a physical product. Users then refine the asset in the Digital Twin interface, controlling materials, textures, lighting and environment to achieve photoreal output. The resulting digital model can then be adapted to different scenes and backgrounds without needing repeated physical photography or separate reshoots. The tool automatically matches key visual elements, such as lighting, reflections, and perspective, to user-provided backgrounds.

Integration With Other Tools and AI

Maxon emphasises that Digital Twin is a standalone application and not part of its existing product lineup. The company will support integration with other design and creative applications, including third-party tools that may use AI to generate backgrounds or complementary assets. Those integrations are at the user’s discretion and are optional for the workflow. Maxon has clarified that it is not itself developing an AI agent as part of Digital Twin.

Market Context

Maxon is entering a segment of product visualisation and marketing tools that includes other software capable of similar workflows. Tools like Adobe Substance 3D Stager and KeyShot also enable photoreal asset creation, often with optional AI features. Maxon has not publicly confirmed exactly which applications Digital Twin will integrate with on release.

Availability and Release

Digital Twin is announced as in development with no release date, pricing or system requirements confirmed at this time. Maxon has said further details and integrations will be shared in future updates.

The post Maxon Previews Digital Twin first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Luxion has released KeyShot Studio 2025.3, the latest version of its CPU- and GPU-based visualisation and rendering tool. Formerly known simply as KeyShot, the application has been rebranded as KeyShot Studio, now forming part of Luxion’s wider product design-to-market suite alongside KeyShot Dock, its digital asset management system.

While still heavily used for product design and technical visualisation, KeyShot remains a go-to tool for artists seeking quick, photorealistic renders of CAD or DCC geometry. The 2025.3 update focuses on pipeline connectivity, compositing control, and AI-assisted creative workflows.

Cryptomatte and OpenPBR join the party

Two of the release’s headline features, Cryptomatte and OpenPBR, both target interoperability between visualisation and postproduction pipelines. Cryptomatte, an open-source matte ID system widely used in VFX compositing, allows KeyShot renders to carry per-object or per-material ID information directly into postproduction tools such as After Effects or Nuke. Artists can now isolate parts of an image or animation for colour correction or retouching with precision. According to Luxion’s demo, Cryptomatte support extends to both stills and animations, with EXR output formats supported.

OpenPBR, the emerging open standard for physically based materials, is now supported within KeyShot’s importer and plugin ecosystem. Users can import glTF and .glb files, including those originating from Blender or Rhino, while preserving original material parameters. This allows consistent material behaviour across applications and enables direct use of third-party texture resources such as Polyhaven’s PBR libraries.

OpenPBR in action

In Luxion’s demo workflow, OpenPBR materials were imported directly from glTF files and applied via simple Shift-click operations within the KeyShot viewport. Material scaling and UV adjustments can be performed interactively, with full control over reflectance and surface detail. The feature integrates tightly with KeyShot’s Material Graph, ensuring imported PBR assets behave predictably, without requiring manual node rebuilds. This brings KeyShot closer to real-time tools in interoperability, particularly for artists switching between DCCs and renderers.

AI Shots: now useful for labels and backdrops

AI Shots, introduced in KeyShot 2025.2, continues to evolve. The tool uses text prompts to generate concept imagery directly inside KeyShot’s UI. In version 2025.3, the interface gains better session management: all previous AI generations are now listed in a panel for easy retrieval. In practice, AI Shots can be used to generate quick placeholder textures or mockups, such as label artwork for packaging visualisation. The prompt-based system benefits from highly specific inputs, and output quality depends heavily on GPU performance. The demo showcased AI-generated label textures applied to a product bottle, later refined through mapping adjustments. AI Shots can also generate backgrounds or scene backplates, providing context imagery for product renders without leaving the application. Generated images can be saved, reused, or dragged directly into the render environment.

Material Graph: freer navigation, finer control

The Material Graph interface has gained several usability upgrades. The workspace can now be freely repositioned and zoomed relative to the cursor, significantly improving navigation in complex node trees. Two new options, Show Grid and Snap to Grid, help organise node layouts, and the window can now be docked within KeyShot’s main UI. These quality-of-life improvements make the graph feel more integrated and less like an external editor. The demo also highlighted quick-search functionality using the Q shortcut to insert nodes such as Color Adjust between existing connections. These incremental enhancements make procedural texturing workflows smoother, especially when handling imported OpenPBR networks.

Custom pivots and grouping hotkeys

Modelling-origin pivot points have long been a nuisance for KeyShot users importing CAD data. The new Custom Pivot feature solves that by letting users redefine pivot points directly within KeyShot. Pivot placement can be defined via three modes (Cylinder, Corner, Sphere), allowing accurate local rotation and animation without returning to the source application. This helps particularly with mechanical assemblies and jointed geometry. Grouping has also been simplified: artists can now use Ctrl+G to group selected components within the scene tree, mirroring conventions from DCC applications. The feature speeds up model organisation before applying custom pivots or animation transforms.

Lighting updates: precision and control

Lighting setup in KeyShot 2025.3 benefits from several new controls and refinements. The Orbit Mode for lights now includes a Lock Axis option, enabling constrained rotations for symmetrical lighting setups. Light Layers, introduced previously, are showcased here for more granular lighting management. Artists can assign lights to specific scene elements—such as bottle, pump, or label—and toggle visibility or colour temperature per layer. This is particularly valuable for rendering passes or creating attention-focused compositions. Light intensity can be adjusted directly in the viewport using Ctrl+Shift+Mouse Wheel, and highlights can be repositioned interactively by clicking in highlight mode.

Integration and availability

KeyShot Studio 2025.3 supports Windows 10+ and macOS 11.7+. Integration plugins are available for major DCC and CAD tools including 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, SketchUp, PTC Creo, SolidWorks, CATIA, and Siemens NX. The software remains rental-only, priced at $1,299/year, an increase of $111 over the previous version.

Stability before artistry

As always, users should test new features thoroughly before committing them to production workflows. While new standards like OpenPBR promise smoother interoperability, stability and output consistency remain the deciding factors in professional rendering pipelines.

The post KeyShot Studio 2025.3: Cryptomatte, OpenPBR, and a Real Pivot first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For the European Championships, Coca-Cola commissioned a commercial from Bent Image Lab. Jalal Jemison(jalaljemison.com), Bent’s grader, was responsible for the Cola-typical colours. DP had the chance to ask him a few questions.

Jalal Jemison has gained cinema experience as lead compositor on “Grimm”, as digital compositor on “Get him to the Greek” and other films such as “Borat” and “Religulous”. You can see more in the grading reel at jalaljemison.com/color-reel.

Jemison was responsible for grading this Coke advert under time pressure.

DP: Mr Jemison, how long did it take you to do the grading?

Jalal Jemison: Well, there were several versions of the advert: A summer and a winter version as well as iterations for different teams, in which the jerseys were different, for example. The original spot only took two days to be finalised.

DP: Given the time pressure on commercials, what is your tip for working quickly and how do you prepare for new workflows – such as stereo 3D?

Jalal Jemison: For a full CG spot like this, the preparation has to start in compositing – and that goes double for stereo 3D. And what I think is often neglected – if you’re grading stereo and have mattes for both eyes – is the naming and file structure. It pays to be meticulous here!

DP: How much longer does 3D grading take compared to 2D grading?

Jalal Jemison: Once you start grading and have prepared everything from an editorial and compositing point of view, stereo grading is actually quite easy. However, I would never try to fix convergence or other stereo errors with colour tricks, but send the files straight back to compositing. If you don’t have any special cases, stereo 3D only takes 20 to 30 per cent longer.

DP: As the commercial has a very loud colour language: What elements do you think determine this “feeling” and what do you have to pay attention to when grading?

Jalal Jemison: The general design comes from the art director, of course, and the character and story from the director. But when it comes to grading, I have to interpret it to the extent that I know what to emphasise – but there’s no difference between live action and animation. In this case, I tended to follow the director’s idea and let my personal taste flow into it. I prefer to use masking to emphasise individual aspects and arrange complementary colours around them. For this spot, I used a still life in my mind’s eye and tried to treat the individual aspects separately in order to emphasise and coordinate the colour language of the whole.

DP: How much coordination was necessary with Javier Leon (art director) and Carlos Lascano, the director? Does a permanent team like the one at Bent Image Lab reduce the round-tripping effort?

Jalal Jemison: Javier had a very precise idea. We realised this together in order to have a framework right from the start. In the meantime, we had hands-on sessions from time to time to really make sure that we were realising the idea exactly.

DP: You work with DaVinci Resolve. What are the advantages and what would you like to see in future versions?

Jalal Jemison: I think that every grading package has its advantages. Scratch, for example, is excellent for conforming and versioning. If you have an Autodesk pipeline, Lustre is of course ideal. Resolve has the advantage that it is focussed exclusively on grading. When you work with it, you know exactly what you have – both in terms of the interface and the structure, because everything is geared exclusively towards grading. The Lustre interface or the Scratch interface offer more possibilities, but if you’re only grading you’ll quickly appreciate the specialisation. For the future, I would like to see OFX plug-ins integrated as standard in all Resolve programmes. Especially those with Cuda acceleration, such as Genart’s Sapphire. This would add excellent options for blur, grain and lens flares.

DP: If someone has not yet graded 3D: Can you transfer the materials and masks from the left eye to the right eye, or vice versa?

Jalal Jemison: Unfortunately, you can’t transfer masks and tracking points – the mattes are different for each eye. But of course you can use the keying as a guide. DP: How did you get into grading? Jalal Jemison: The fascination for colouring came from filmmaking and compositing. I come from a film background so I always had the whole workflow in mind, from shooting to final delivery. Even though I have a degree from a film school, most of my skills were acquired through self-study. A fascination for the subject is the best teacher.

DP: If someone wants to become a grader – what training would you recommend?

Jalal Jemison: My advice would be to read up really deeply and then do an internship or practical training with the best possible grader – experience is the be-all and end-all in grading. If you want to attend courses, I would recommend the International Colourist Academy icolorist.com.

DP: How do you explain grading, and what is the film that you think best shows the possibilities?

Jalal Jemison: A colourist is someone who defines the emphasis of the individual elements of a picture, highlighting and de-emphasising them, defining the overall look of a film and preparing the colours for the different playout channels. These days that includes film, HD tape masters and also H264 for the web. In my opinion, Del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” is one of the most visually stunning films and in many scenes sets the bar for visual perfection. The colour composition, the contrasts between warm and cold colours and the overall design of the scenes are for me the highest level of what colour, compositing and light can produce. And since some of it came from the live action film, some from compositing and some from grading, this interplay is responsible for the breathtaking images.

The post Colourful balls first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

People are drinking beer again. On certain days, the first rays of sunshine tempt us to enjoy a beer under a blue sky. Fittingly, the pilsner brand Warsteiner is celebrating its 260th birthday with an advertising campaign designed by nhb. This is not the first film that nhb and the Kolle Rebbe agency have produced for the Warsteiner brewery, but the Warsteiner anniversary advert is the first time that the studio has also created the bottles in 3D.

You may have already seen the advert during the commercial break: The Warsteiner bottles dance their own choreography, beer bubbles, crown caps fly and at the end the beer bottles form into the number 260.

The anniversary crown cork campaign makes drinking beer worthwhile again, because those who have the right cap on the bottle can win a Mercedes, city breaks or an iPhone, among other things. For the “Choreography” spot, nhb visualised the bottles, the fluid simulation including foam and air bubbles as well as the winning products. The collaboration between Warsteiner, nhb and the agency Kolle Rebbe from Hamburg began with a cinema spot in 2007, and from 2008 the studio covered the entire Warsteiner advertising programme with TV, cinema and radio spots. For previous adverts, the bottles were filmed with a phantom camera and a motion control rig. During filming, however, there are restrictions regarding the length of camera movements as well as the size and number of image elements, which nhb was able to overcome with a complete CG realisation. nhb had already shown Warsteiner how efficiently the VFX department can work for the 2012 European Football Championship campaign and recreated a football stadium, including the pitch and spectators, in 3D. As the proportion of 3D in commercials has generally increased and Warsteiner was very pleased with nhb’s previous 3D looks, the brewery trusted the studio to create a complete 3D visualisation for this film. Digital Production spoke to Head of 3D Wolfgang Emmrich about the beer project.

DP: What are the advantages of a complete 3D realisation compared to a real shoot with a phantom camera?

Wolfgang Emmrich: The most important advantage is that you can completely override physics. Working in 3D offers the greatest possible freedom, there is no limit or end to shooting. In 3D, you can depict extreme camera movements and lens changes that would not be possible in real life. You have full control over the image, movement and lighting and can always change or generate new versions.

DP: Which production method was ultimately more cost-effective?

Wolfgang Emmrich: It’s hard to say, especially the last two big jobs we did for Warsteiner can hardly be compared with each other. Each production method certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. With this storyboard, however, a complete CG realisation made more sense and certainly saved costs.

DP: What specifications did you receive from the client for the look of the advert?

Wolfgang Emmrich: The specifications for the look were the key visuals from the Warsteiner print campaign on the one hand, but also the real shot pack shot from the European Championship Warsteiner film, which we retouched extensively on the flame in summer 2012 and sent through the colour correction process. Basically, the look that we developed from last year’s project.

DP: What other specifications did you receive from Warsteiner?

Wolfgang Emmrich: The briefing stipulated that the bottles, the beer and the whole film should look as natural as possible and not at all computer-generated. The beer had to look refreshing, tangy and delicious. DP: What was your workflow for the project? Wolfgang Emmrich: First we visualised the storyboard with wireframes so that we could develop a feeling for the timing in the moving image. The 3D then worked with Softimage, Realflow and Maya. The compositing was done in Nuke and the finalisation, creation of the titles and mastering as well as the customer approval took place at Flame. We rendered with Arnold and V-Ray as well as the nhb render farm with two THZs.

DP: What challenges did you face?

Wolfgang Emmrich: The most important thing for the entire project was that the liquids and the bottles looked absolutely natural at all times. That was a particular challenge when relighting and grading in Nuke.

DP: How long did the process take overall?

Wolfgang Emmrich: Including all the coordination and development processes, we worked on the advert for around eight weeks in total. Our VFX department in Düsseldorf also took on important work in order to keep to the specified timing.

DP: Why did nhb Düsseldorf create the Mercedes? Does this branch specialise in car models?

Wolfgang Emmrich: No, we make car models at all three nhb locations. We have a high-performance network, which benefits us with such extensive jobs. Thanks to our server-based workflows, we can utilise our resources at any time, regardless of location. This means that if we need capacity in Hamburg, we can provide immediate support from Düsseldorf or Berlin. In this case, we gave all the work on the car model to Düsseldorf. It was so easy to organise perfectly. The Mercedes was delivered as a CAD model.

DP: What tools did you use to create the swirling beer jet?

Wolfgang Emmrich: Producing a beer jet like this using fluid simulation, including foam formation and air bubbles, is one of the most difficult tasks in the field of digital image creation. We use the Realflow and Maya fluid simulation software for this kind of thing, which we have also used for previous Warsteiner projects.

DP: How did you go about colour grading?

Wolfgang Emmrich: This job required lighting design rather than colour grading. The desired look had already been defined beforehand and was developed in 3D and Nuke according to the specifications from the print campaign and the 2012 packshot. This meant that no colour grading on Lustre or Baselight was necessary afterwards.

DP: What are your next projects at nhb?

Wolfgang Emmrich: We are currently very busy in all branches and many projects are in the pipeline, across all disciplines from beauty to food. Some of our work is also being submitted by agencies to important festivals, such as the ADC in Hamburg and the Cannes Lions. You can look forward to that. We always present the latest projects on our website http://www.nhb.de.

DP: How do you deal with the thirst for beer when you have to look at refreshing beer bottles as a project every day?

Wolfgang Emmrich: Now that you mention it… (chuckle … chuckle … chuckle…)

The post Visualising barley juice first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.