Gaffer 1.7.6: Painting, Lighting and MCP
Gaffer 1.7.6 brings light-editor improvements, geometry tools and a new MCP connection for AI-driven pipeline control.
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SketchUp 2027: The Small 3D Toolbox for Post
When postproduction needs a building, shot layout or 3D-printed greeblies, SketchUp 2027 offers approachable modeling with smarter procedural tools.
Fibric for Houdini: A Sweater, Several Million Curves and No Regrets
Fibric builds knitted and woven fabrics from curves in Houdini, complete with stitches, fuzz and render-time deformation. Your RAM sends regards.
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.
Maya 2027.2 trains MotionMaker
Maya expands MotionMaker with custom model training, horse animation, cleaner path tools and wider DCC updates for artists.
3ds Max 2027.2 Adds Editable Splats
3ds Max 2027.2 brings editable 3DGS workflows, Points, Point Instance, Arnold 7.5.2 support and USD path diagnostics.
InstaLOD Extends Geometry Toolchain to C4D and Omniverse
InstaLOD's July update adds two host integrations, adaptive quad topology, folder conversion, scene merging and import-axis control.
Houdini 22: How Right Were We?
Houdini 22 arrived earlier than expected and confirms nearly all our keynote findings, with two experimental features carrying caveats.
Roji Goes Deep on USD Rendering
Roji beta registration is open for a nodal USD workflow with MaterialX lookdev, Hydra review, path tracing and AI render support.
Real Clay and Digital Ice Cream at Uber Eck
Clay sculptures, photos, Houdini MPM and Redshift made Kayak’s Greek ice cream statues melt on cue. Real dairy was less cooperative.
Adobe Sampler 6.0 Adds OpenPBR
Substance 3D Sampler 6.0 adds OpenPBR defaults, preset material templates, USD material export and updated HP Z Captis capture tools.
Substance 3D Painter 12.1 bakes smarter
Painter 12.1 targets baking pain with skew maps, auto rebake, OpenPBR defaults and cleaner hard-surface UVs for asset teams.
RealityScan 2.2 Widens GPU Support
RealityScan 2.2 widens accelerated reconstruction, adds mixed GPU use, 360 camera workflow notes and scan-life fixes.
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.
Here comes Houdini 22
2 hours and 18 minutes. That is almost exactly the runtime of the first Matrix film, and exactly the duration of the Houdini 22 release keynote. So yes, this promises a rather chunky package of new features and improvements.
Free Komodo Rig for Fun
Free Komodo rig for portfolio work, plus paid tiers for commercial pipelines. Big lizard, small invoice, careful license.
Houdini 22 Teaser Fuels Guesswork
Houdini 22 looks ambitious, but the teaser is maddeningly brief. Treat every feature reading as informed fan speculation, not documentation.
Image Blaster turns images into Splats
image-blaster uses a single reference image to generate an SPZ Gaussian splat environment via Marble, written as local files you can inspect and iterate fast.
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.
Autodesk updates 3ds Max to 2027.1
3ds Max 2027.1 is a small update: cleaner Smart Bevel results, new Data Channel converters, and an Arnold refresh with cloud render experiments.
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.
MoonRay Renderer joins ASWF as hosted project
MoonRay lands at ASWF as a hosted project, keeps DreamWorks engineering support, and gets a July Open Source Days keynote slot in Los Angeles.
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.
KeenTools GeoTracker enters Houdini open beta
GeoTracker lands in Houdini as a SOP node for OBJ and Solaris, free in open beta. Geometry driven tracking, lens estimates, and quick sim colliders.
OctaneRender 2026.3 adds virtual texture netrender
OTOY ships OctaneRender 2026.3: virtual textures finally work on the farm, NRC uses less memory, and USD plus MaterialX get more pipeline glue.
Fusion Studio 21 beta is here
Fusion Studio 21 goes harder on motion graphics, fonts, USD and deep comps, plus Windows ARM64. Also ships RAW Player and Proxy Generator.
Natsura 0.6 adds effectors and Nanite export for Houdini Foliage
New growth controls, a new assembly workflow, and a long changelog full of speedups, warnings, and some very honest rough edges.
KeenTools 2026.1: Nuke 17 and Blender 5.1
New host support, calmer refinements, fewer UV surprises. 2026.1 targets the unglamorous stuff that breaks shots at 2 am.
Maxon ships Cinema 4D 2026.2 update
Cinema 4D 2026.2 brings a clothy viewport brush, a darker sky, and a truckload of bug fixes. Your crash logs may feel lonely.
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.
Resolve 21, Fusion, Fairlight Live, and many, many boxes!
NAB 2026 turns into a platform push: 100G SMPTE 2110 live gear, Resolve Photo Editing workflows, new Fairlight live mixing, and a bigger Fusion core.
FMX 2026 adds animation, lens talks and of course AI
New sessions span performance animation, AI workflow debates, and lens science, with cloud and software partners joining the mix. Just three weeks until FMX! Wuhu!
Real Caustics for Blender
Real Caustics bakes water caustics into textures so your shots keep moving while your render times do not.
Chaos Vantage 3 update 2 adds Toon
Toon shading meets splats and VDB export in Vantage, while Enscape 4.17 quietly tidies DLSS, lights, and exports. Less drama, more frames.
OpenUSD v26.03 gets the SPLATS
OpenUSD v26.03 brings native Gaussian splats, a reference renderer, and WebAssembly builds, plus real pipeline speed and rigging work.
Blender 5.1 is here
Blender 5.1 boosts animation speed, adds Raycast and Mask to SDF, and shaves time off shaders and nodes. Free upgrades feel nice.
OctaneRender 2027.1 alpha goes neural
OctaneRender 2027.1 alpha chases cleaner viewports, smarter lights, and more USD. Test it like it is spicy, because it is.
Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 12 with decal warp
Substance 3D Painter 12 adds Warp to Geometry for decals, expands viewport post effects, and introduces flatten-in-stack exports plus new pricing details.
RenderMan 27.2 adds USD and XPU updates
RenderMan 27.2 ships with USD, XPU and workflow updates aimed at production use.
Nuke 17.0 rewires 3D and adds Gaussian Splats
Nuke 17.0 brings native splats, USD scene graph control, BigCat ML scaling and core performance gains.
Redshift 2026.3 fixes displacement headaches
Redshift 2026.3 is a stability release focused on texture displacement, Hydra USD updates and host bug fixes.
SynthEyes 2026 Speeds Up
SynthEyes 2026 adds a Mocha-powered affine point tracker, real-time GeoH previews and expanded USD support to cut solve iteration time.
Cascadeur on physics, AI and control
Cascadeur explains how physics solvers and local AI shape modern keyframe animation. Physics-assisted keyframing and AI-generated Inbetweening sound like shorthand for automation. In practice, they describe a layered system that revolves around explicit poses, timing and animator intent.
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.
Katana 9 deepens USD and previews Hydra 2
Katana introduces UsdSuperLayer, new USD lighting and material nodes, and alpha Hydra 2 viewer support.
InstaMAT Test: Painting, Procedurals and Pasta
InstaMAT merges painting, materials, and mesh editing into one node-based tool that connects Substance-style workflows with procedural control. Sounds great, so we'll get our hands dirty and test it!
Storm HydroFX ships water without the node graph
Storm HydroFX 1.0 launches as a standalone GPU FLIP fluid solver for Windows with whitewater, mesh export and annual subscriptions.
Blender LTS patches, still no surprises
Blender 4.5.6 LTS and 4.2.17 LTS deliver bug fixes only, confirming Blender’s long term support policy for production use.
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.
AOUSD Releases OpenUSD Core Specification 1.0
The Alliance for OpenUSD publishes the first ratified core standard defining composition, data models, file formats, and compliance for OpenUSD.
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.
Rendering the Inferno at RiseFX: The Lost Bus
128 shots, 15 sequences, and GPUs on the brink: RISE FX’s Oliver Schulz explains how his team built the burning world of The Lost Bus.
Houdini 21: Like good wine (Part1, VFX & Geo)
Houdini 21 polishes the chaos: production-ready MPM, neural surfacing, smarter Pyro, and Vulkan viewport upgrades: all taste-tested for real-world use. (Part 1 of ???)
Autodesk 3ds Max 2026.3: A modest update with key workflow tweaks
3ds Max 2026.3 arrives with more precise Conform modifier controls, dynamic material switching, USD workflow improvements and an updated Arnold plugin.
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.
Foundry Opens Nuke 17 Beta: New 3D System, New Variables
Nuke 17 Beta modernises its 3D system, adds a Variable framework and revamped annotation tools: compositors can now test them all.
Keep Your Pipeline: Chaos on Skipping the Game Engine
Chaos’ Chris Nichols explains how Chaos Arena and Chaos Vantage cut out the engine middleman with full ray tracing, open formats, and one asset for all.
Das Element 2.2: Major Step Forward for Asset Management
The new Das Element 2.2 release strengthens 3D handling, adds dynamic permission controls and custom Python action hooks to make studio asset management even smoother.
Blender 4.5 LTS lands
lender 4.5 LTS arrives with studio-grade support; the Blender survey shows where users stand; and Blender 5.0 beta is already here, so its time to plan your upgrade.
Chaos Vantage 3 Released: USD, MaterialX, AI Materials & Volumetric Rendering
Chaos Vantage 3 expands its real-time rendering engine with USD and MaterialX support, AI-driven material generation, volumetric rendering, and Gaussian splats. The update brings Vantage closer to open-pipeline workflows for VFX and visualization and adds plenty of new toys for artists who prefer to stay in real time.
Trees in Autumn: SpeedTree Controller 3.0 Falls for Houdini 21
SpeedTree Controller 3.0 lets Houdini artists break, regrow and shade trees with Karma: new features, same procedural roots
GPU-FLIP solver Storm HydroFX launches in free open beta
Storm HydroFX, a standalone GPU FLIP fluid solver from Storm VFX, is now freely available in open beta with full import/export and no feature lockouts.
RiseFX on Heads of State: Explosions, Statues, and Digital Diplomacy
500 shots, one exploding limo, and statues aimed at helicopters: Rise FX brings high-stakes action to Heads of State with a new Riseflow pipeline.
KitBash3D Cargo 2.0 lands with Houdini Solaris importer and 350 free assets
KitBash3D Cargo 2.0 ships with Houdini Solaris USD importer and 350 free assets. Free for personal use, commercial rights require paid plans.
Nevercenter Adds USD & UDIM in Silo 2025.2
Silo 2025.2 adds USD support, UDIM UVs, unit conversion, synced viewports, and more helpful features for serious 3D work.
Chaos Vantage 3.0 beta lands with USD, MaterialX and Gaussian Splats
Vantage 3.0 beta is here: USD, MaterialX and Gaussian Splats mean Chaos’ real-time GPU renderer finally speaks modern pipeline standards.
USDSkel: Optimized Character Rigging
USDSkel is an OpenUSD component that supports scalable, manipulable, and interchangeable skinned characters. Wanna know more?
Autodesk nudges 3ds Max into higher gear with version 2026.2
Autodesk releases 3ds Max 2026.2 with Skin modifier enhancements, Material Switcher speed tweaks, USD scene export and Arnold integration fixes.
Fusion Studio 20.1: Immersive, Patchy, and Ready for 360°
Blackmagic Fusion Studio 20.1 adds immersive 360° viewer, Magic Mask v2, deep compositing improvements, and CSV import for MultiText boxes.
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.
Chaos Opens Real‑Time Rendering to All (No Unreal Required)
Chaos Arena now supports USD, MaterialX and Gaussian Splats, enabling real‑time rendering with no Unreal Engine license required.
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.
Autodesk ships Arnold 7.4.3 with Inference imager and GPU volume speedups
Arnold 7.4.3 introduces a machine-learning Inference imager, faster GPU volume rendering, improved Global Light Sampling, and enhanced OpenPBR and USD workflows.
DJV 3.0 Returns: Free VFX Review Tool Gains Timeline & USD Support
DJV 3.0 revives its open-source VFX viewer with OTIO timelines, USD playback, OCIO color management, and multi-track audio under a BSD license.
Animation for All: Reallusion AccuRIG 2.0 and Friends Keep Things Moving
AccuRIG 2.0 puts 4,500+ animations a click away. Reallusion’s animation and rigging ecosystem is picking up speed.
Substance 3D Designer 15 arrives
Substance 3D Designer 15 arrives with a new real-time/path-tracing renderer, in-viewport post FX, and direct scene-based material editing.
Blender 4.5 LTS is here!
Blender 4.5 LTS has launched today, bringing two years of long-term support and a significant wave of upgrades.…
Blender 4.5 Beta: Nodes Get Nifty, Collada Gets the Boot
Blender 4.5 Beta brings new Geometry Nodes, USD and glTF upgrades, and drops Collada in 5.0. Here's what's new - and what’s going away.
Fibric: Stitching Curves into Cloth—Procedurally
Fibric introduces a Houdini SOP-based toolset for procedural clothing creation using curves, featuring UV-ready, quad-based geometry and real-time rendering with Karma XPU.
Fusion 20: a deep look at the core
With its latest release, Blackmagic Fusion is positioning itself more aggressively than ever as a powerful and cost-effective complete package for node-based compositing and motion graphics. We check whether Fusion 20 lives up to the high expectations.
MotionBuilder 2026: A little Leap
Autodesk's MotionBuilder 2026 enhances USD workflows, introduces animation retention, and adds new selection shortcuts for improved motion capture editing.
Painter, Designer, Modeler: Adobe Refines the 3D Toolbox
Adobe presents updates to Substance 3D Painter and Designer, expanding integration, realism, and control—with unmetered assets and indie pricing.
SketchUp 2025: Better Visuals, Smoother Workflows
SketchUp 2025 enhances realism with photorealistic materials, environment lighting, ambient occlusion, and improved interoperability with Revit and USD export.
Arnold 7.3.7.0: Casting Light on Glass and Gloss
Autodesk's Arnold 7.3.7.0 introduces enhanced glass shadows, improved global light sampling, and faster scene updates.
Redshift 2025.3: Lighting the Way to Better Renders
Maxon's Redshift 2025.3 enhances volume scattering, USD procedural support, and introduces experimental compatibility with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs.
OpenUSD 25.02: Technical Tweaks for the Speedy Frame Wrangler (Yes, Really)
OpenUSD 25.02 refines API calls, performance, and stability with a suite of focused technical improvements.
UNIGINE 2.19.1 Embraces Full USD Support
UNIGINE’s real-time engine hits version 2.19.1, introducing full support for USD files. Artists and developers can now integrate USD assets smoothly, improving compatibility across tools like Maya, Houdini, and Blender.
Mocha Pro 2025: Planar Tracking, USD, and Roto
Boris FX rolls out Mocha Pro 2025 with USD support, improved planar tracking, and updated rotoscoping workflows for VFX professionals.
Autodesk Opens USD for 3ds Max
Autodesk has released the USD plugin for 3ds Max as open-source on Github,
Foundry Releases Katana 8.0, Mari 7.1, and Nuke 16.0 Open Beta
Katana 8.0 introduces USD roundtripping, Mari 7.1 unveils 2D painting, and Nuke 16.0 open beta offers multishot workflows for VFX professionals.
Andreas Weidman’s Project Greylight: Free Tools for Houdini Artists
Project Greylight by Andreas Weidman offers Houdini users free tools to streamline Solaris workflows, USD management, and integration with Unreal Engine.
DaVinci Resolve 19.1 Enhances Multicam, Audio, and VFX Workflow
The DaVinci Resolve 19.1 update adds new audio tools, Fusion effects, and color grading features, alongside support for spatial media and USD export.
Unigine 2.19: New functions for 3D
With the latest update to version 2.19, the Unigine engine offers improvements in animation and new features, such as support for OpenXR and USD.
Google Blocks now open source
Google releases its VR modelling app "Blocks" as open source. Building virtual worlds - now you can do it yourself!
CST-USD Viewer in beta
The Higher Technical Commission for Sound and Images (CST), a French association of film and audiovisual technicians, has presented the new 3D-Info tool. This tool aims to simplify the visualisation of 3D scenes and make it more efficient. The focus is on the USD format.
Here comes the new Cityengine
CityEngine 2024.0 offers new tools such as the Visual CGA Editor, ArcGIS Urban Integration and the ability to share web scenes.
TD Meetup 06: USD for Visual Effects
USD is becoming an important standard file format for visual effects, animation and video game productions. Most of us have heard of USD, but what is it and how to use it in our next production is still a mystery to most.