Browsing Tag
VFX
1127 posts
Fridays for Fusion: Lens flares, node by node
LFTools turns Fusion lens flares into modular node graphs, with procedural irises, bitmap elements, global controls and a $10 preset pack.
ICE.ART 2026.II agenda is set
ICE.ART 2026.II has its final agenda: three online evenings covering animation, virtual production, architecture, materials and realtime worlds.
EDGY Cuts Mesh Damage in C4D and Blender
EDGY cuts chips, cracks, craters and breaks into closed Cinema 4D and Blender meshes while leaving the original object untouched.
tyFlow 2.100 Adds PhysX Vehicles
tyFlow adds PhysX vehicle rigs to 3ds Max, plus 3DGS interchange for Max 2027+ and a lower-VRAM Inferno advection mode.
Marvelous Designer 2026.1 Rips Seams
Seam ripping, brush pinching, blend-shape animation and camera interchange give Marvelous Designer finer control over cloth and hand-offs.
Fridays for Fusion: Free InPaint Macro Tackles Cleanup
InPaint adds a matte-driven cleanup helper to Reactor for Fusion shots where cloning falls apart on gradients and uneven surfaces.
Let’s talk to the Caddis developer.
Digital Production spoke with developer Mike Gaynor about the creation and implementation of Caddis.
ZEISS LensCore is here
ZEISS explains how LensCore recreates physical lens behaviour inside Nuke, supports custom lenses and fits into professional VFX pipelines.
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.
Sculptools Palette Organises Blender Sculpting
ProjectArgo’s free Blender extension puts sculpt brushes and tools into configurable radial palettes with hotkeys, sliders and JSON presets.
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.
Fridays for Fusion: Corner Pinner v0.13
Corner Pinner v0.13 expands a Fusion Fuse with tracker input, From Frame mode, DoD fixes and a delightfully specific overflow warning.
Ripple Pro for 3ds Max
Ripple Pro brings modern ripple, wake and rain controls to 3ds Max, without relying on its ageing built-in modifier stack.
SideFX Teaches KineFX in Houdini 22
SideFX’s Max Rose presents two free Houdini 22 sessions on KineFX animation, Motion Mixer, secondary motion and retargeting.
AutoRemesher Final Goes MIT
AutoRemesher reaches its final release under MIT, adding target quads, CLI operation and builds for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Hurricane puts multiphysics in Blender
Hurricane brings fluid, fabric, soft body, sand and grain simulation to Blender, with paid tiers, support and future GPU plans.
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.
Blender 5.2 LTS lands with node physics
The LTS release brings XPBD hair and cloth, texture-aware Cycles rendering, new Geometry Nodes tools and EEVEE cleanup.
das element 2.3 speeds library browsing
Version 2.3 adds AVIF import, popularity data, gallery navigation and CLI fixes aimed at large studio media libraries.
Fridays for Fusion: Power Renamer 25
Power Renamer 25 batch-renames Fusion media, updates node paths and provides conflict warnings, history and its own undo system.
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.
“Comp” enters public alpha
Comp enters alpha on Windows and Apple silicon, with an optional AI worker and a firm warning against production use.
3DF Zephyr 9 Adds Gaussian Splatting
3DF Zephyr 9 integrates Gaussian Splatting and adds map tiles, faster photoconsistency, improved navigation and new export options.
Thinkbox MX reaches 3ds Max 2027
Krakatoa, Frost and XMesh community builds now cover 3ds Max 2018 to 2027. Stoke remains capped at 2026 for now.
Nukepedia Rebuilt, nuBridge Reloaded
An interview with Nukepedia founder Frank Rueter, one of the long-standing Nuke community voices, about the platform rebuild, nuBridge and the next steps for 2D Compositing tools.
Krokodove: a massive expansion of Fusion and Resolve’s creative arsenal
Nodes on hyperdrive. A huge new toolset for motion design and visual effects in DaVinci Resolve and Fusion Studio.
ICE.ART 2026.II Gets September Slot
ICE.ART 2026.II is scheduled for 8-10 September online, with 3D environment topics across games, VFX, GIS and AEC/BIM.
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.
ByHand Makes Digital Sculpting Free on Windows
ByHand is a free, early-alpha Windows sculpting app for form studies, character work and commercial projects.
Quick Finger Collision for Blender
Blender hand posing gets a tiny helper: finger bones stop at mesh contact, wrap around props, and cost $7.99.
Beeble adds SDR to HDR on the web
Beeble’s SDR to HDR tool converts short 8-bit clips into 16-bit ACES EXR sequences with masks, prompts and credit-based cloud processing.
Seamlessifier Rips Photo Textures
Seamlessifier turns photo snippets into seamless PNG textures, atlases included, with useful knobs and some honest rough edges.
Free Sci-Fi Desert City Kit on Fab
LAYA DESIGN’s Science Fiction Desert City Kit adds 120 Unreal Engine meshes, interiors, foliage, rocks and editable materials to Fab’s free rotation.
Fridays for Fusion: Displace Plus Plus reaches Reactor
A GPU Fuse for Fusion uses maps for XY, linked XY, angle/radius, rotation and image-gradient displacement.
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.
Boris FX Buys iZotope
RX and Ozone get a new roof at Boris FX, while licenses and support stay active. Post now has more audio in the tool shed.
VectorayGen Goes Free Again
JangaFX has brought VectorayGen back as a free tool for authoring vector fields for real-time VFX and GPU-particle workflows.
Adobe buys Topaz Labs
Adobe plans to acquire Topaz Labs, bringing AI upscale, denoise, restore and local model tech closer to Firefly and Creative Cloud.
Optics 2026.5 gets more photo hosts
Optics 2026.5 plugs into three more photo hosts and adds analog burns, face masks, particles and a Victorian pet preset pack.
Maxon turns 40, subs get lighter
Maxon celebrates 40 years with 40% off first-year annual subscriptions. Great for carts, less great for anyone remembering Amiga disks.
Asus ProArt 16 USV: A Laptop-Sized Production Monitor
The ASUS ProArt PA16USV LED-Monitor, a 15.6-inch 4K HDR portable display that incorporates a 12G-SDI marks a significant pivot for ASUS into hardware that explicitly targets on-set workflows and DIT (digital imaging technician) monitoring tasks rather than solely desktop creative use. But is it any good?
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.
MetaHuman gets markerless mocap
Free markerless body capture lands for MetaHumans, using standard video, local processing, and Unreal Engine 5.8.
Beeble Canvas gets a Topaz split
Canvas now compares Topaz upscales in-node, adds 30 plus generation models, Markdown notes, magnetic snap, and describer updates.
Unreal Engine 5.8 Tidies Up
Unreal Engine 5.8 brings production-ready rendering, virtual production and simulation tools, alongside experimental systems for digital crowds, terrain and character animation.
Blender Roadmap Puts Plans in One Place
Blender gets a central Roadmap for active projects and recent features, giving artists and studios a clearer view beyond release-note excavation.
O3DE 26.05 Gets Native Particles
O3DE 26.05 adds native particles, AgX, automatic LODs and PhysX 5 defaults. The particle Gem still carries a production warning.
Fifty Ultimate Generators Enter the Node Garden
Over 50 procedural contraptions tackle cities, fluids, fractures and magic trails. Manual library wrangling remains entirely optional.
MPC Joins The Mill
MPC and The Mill become one global studio, combining commercial production and film VFX under The Mill name.
Adobe trims Premiere and After Effects
Premiere adds faster masks and timeline tools, while After Effects tackles roto, SVG and 3D work. Deadlines keep their poker face.
NeXus Beta Lands in Blender
NeXus arrives in Blender with GPU particles, fluids, smoke, fire and live viewport feedback. The beta is paid, perpetual and already patched.
Mocha Pro 2026.5 Tracks Through Trouble
Point Track ML tackles occlusions, shadows and drifting surfaces, while smarter matte tools and exports reduce routine cleanup.
Free Sci-Fi Station Lands on Fab
Fab gives Unreal artists 147 modular sci-fi assets, 4K textures and LODs for free until 16 June. Space rent remains mercifully absent.
Splat happens: Volinga 3DGS workflow for Unreal
Volinga turns photo sets into Gaussian splats for Unreal, with local processing, PLY and NVOL export, cleanup tools, and relighting support. But what does that actually mean? Let's ask some questions!
Mush3D 3.0 Adds Soft Tissue Tools
Mush3D 3.0 adds pose-trained corrections and tetrahedral soft tissue simulation for artists polishing cached character animation.
NukeRef Adds References to Nuke
NukeRef lets compositors paste image references into Nuke’s Node Graph as interactive backdrops. Tiny script, big sanity gain.
Fridays for Fusion: Bend It
Bend It warps 2D in Fusion with bend, taper, twist, and shear plus optional lighting and materials. It needs Fusion 19.1+ and a strong sense of restraint.
These are the Bugs You Were Looking For (in Blender)
Flying Bugs Generator brings 10 insect types, three motion modes, and Asset Browser-ready drop-ins for fast and vast bug swarms in Blender.
C4D Octane: 1.9.x Update Features Video
SilverwingVFX digs into the new juicy features delivered via the most recent Octane update for Cinema 4D. Learn what's improved so you can get the best out of Octane.
True Sky 3 brings planet-scale skies to Blender
True Sky 3 goes planet-scale in Blender, adds HDRI output and performance presets, and demands Blender 5.1 because Python moved.
VOXIFY turns Blender Meshes to Voxels and animates
VOXIFY voxelizes any Blender mesh via Geometry Nodes, tries to keep your textures intact, and ships with animation and static mesh options.
Asus ProArt PA27UCGE: A 4K Monitor That Mostly Refuses to Be Annoying
The Asus ProArt PA27UCGE is a 27-inch 4K 10-bit IPS monitor with hardware calibration, , USB-C with 96 W Power Delivery, HDR10, 160 Hz refresh rate and a monitor hood. It is not a Class A reference monitor, but for general production work, it is annoyingly sensible.
Silhouette 2026 gets smarter roto and 3D heads
Silhouette 2026 upgrades AI mattes, adds Head Track ML and better tracking, boosts paint tools and performance, and finally gets serious about pipelines.
DaVinci Resolve 21 Public Beta 4 is out
Beta 4 tightens still-image FX, fixes Canon highlights, exposes Fusion motion paths in the keyframe editor, and refines Studio AI tools.
Free area light textures for Blender
A free 20 pack of area light textures for Blender aims at softer, less flat lighting, with a sample file and a Patreon free signup gate.
ZOZO Contact Solver gets Blender add-on
Official Blender add-on client for Contact Solver is out, open source, remote GPU friendly, and already shipping updates like armature deformable colliders.
Node Ninja builds Redshift materials from folders
Node Ninja is a free Cinema 4D plugin that builds Redshift PBR materials from texture folders, with color spaces, AO, and bulk import baked in.
Foundry launches free Mari Texture Library with 120+ assets
Foundry’s new Mari Texture Library offers more than 120 free assets, including Smart Materials, Smart Masks, textures, brushes and HDRIs for Mari and general DCC workflows.
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.
Lux Aeterna rebuilds ancient humans
LiDAR caves, rigged skeletons, photogrammetry casts, and millimetre checks against research. Historical VFX gets very literal.
Boris FX Sapphire 2026.5 adds Advanced Defocus
Sapphire 2026.5 doubles down on lens looks with Advanced Defocus, new Texture Ridges, a rebuilt Glare, Builder updates, and fresh flares.
C4D Pyro Tutorial: Helicopter Kickup Dust
SilverwingVFX goes airborne: Cinema 4D Pyro can fake rotor wash the smart way: simulate air first, cache velocity, then spawn dust only where wind speed peaks.
Beeble Canvas
Canvas arrives as a node based AI compositor plus automation, with SwitchX and SwitchLight under the hood and an API for pipeline integration.
Scene Auditor Pro targets Blender bloat
Scene Auditor Pro maps Blender datablock dependencies, flags orphans and duplicates, and pushes a safer cleanup workflow for big scenes.
Simple Tree Tools 3.0 goes procedural
Simple Tree Tools 3.0 targets Houdini 20.5+ with procedural trees, scan extension nodes, and one-time licenses from free to $1,299.
Blender Singularity lands in 4K HDR
Singularity drops as a 4K HDR short, with free downloads of assets and encodes. Also: painterly brushstrokes meet procedural crowds.
RS Node Tools speeds Redshift nodes
RS Node Tools targets the most repetitive Redshift node chores in Cinema 4D, aiming for faster PBR hookups and fewer manual clicks.
Boris FX Continuum 2026.5 tunes AI and FX Editor
Continuum 2026.5 stacks AI deinterlacing, sharper ML masks, saner FX Editor isolation, refreshed warps and wipes, and tighter Particle Illusion linking.
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.
ZEISS CinCraft LensCore targets Nuke lens looks
LensCore brings lens profiles, ray-traced lens behavior, and physics-driven controls to Nuke, aiming for fast, repeatable lens looks across sequences.
Blender 5.2 LTS targets texture-heavy renders
Blender 5.2 LTS adds a Cycles texture cache that builds .tx tiles and loads only what the render needs. Less VRAM waste, more scene headroom.
PlayCanvas updates SplatTransform to 2.0
SplatTransform 2.0 brings sparse voxel grids, new GPU cleanup filters, URL inputs, and a new coplanar merge path. Less splat chaos, more control.
CrumplePop 2026.5 adds ARA, and that’s interesting
CrumplePop 2026.5 adds SoundApp ARA for full clip processing in DAWs, plus a processed audio cache, faster model loading, and updated pricing tiers.
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.
Theory Accelerated shifts Paradigm 1.0 for Houdini
Paradigm 1.0 lands for Houdini: faster GPU liquids, better emission, a Tank node for open water, and a very honest list of what is still missing.
VES releases On-Set VFX Data Guide
The VES drops a CC-BY on set data guide and hosts a May 12 webinar, because nobody enjoys rebuilding reality from half a slate photo.
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.
FMX gehts a new head for the 30th Birthday
FMX celebrates its 30th edition with a planned handover: Mario Müller steps down after 2026 and Agon Ushaku takes over the mantle for 2027 and onwards.
ICE.ART 2026.I recordings are now live
Missed ICE.ART 2026.I? The full set of talks and panels is now online for free, ready to binge between renders.
Volume Forge for Blender
Volume Forge drops local beams and fog into Blender without bathing the whole scene in volume. Two modes, two creation methods, lots of knobs.
Adobe After Effects 26.2 adds Object Matte and more
For those who don’t know the tool: Adobe makes After Effects, a compositing and motion graphics workhorse that…
Epic Games ships Twinmotion 2026.1
Twinmotion 2026.1 goes harder on camera realism and faster lookdev, then quietly fixes the boring stuff you actually feel daily.
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!
![A visually engaging scene featuring the word "SWITCHX" in a modern font, overlaying a group of people in dynamic poses at a beach during twilight. The tagline reads, "SWITCH [ANYTHING]. KEEP WHAT MATTERS."](https://i0.wp.com/digitalproduction.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/beeble-switchx-hero.png?resize=380%2C250&quality=71&ssl=1)
SwitchX API for video transformations in YOUR pipeline
Beeble has launched the SwitchX API in public beta, exposing its browser-based image and video transformation workflow through REST. The API supports uploads, generation jobs, polling, webhooks, 720p and 1080p output, and a more detailed alpha workflow than the launch text initially lets on.
Open Light: Procedural HDR Lighting Without the Texture Archaeology
Open Light is a new tool that generates procedural HDR light textures. It builds softboxes, gobos, Kino Flo style sources and other modifiers as 32-bit EXR or HDR files, with support for ACEScg and resolutions up to 4K.
RealityScan 2.1.1 adds better COLMAP support and new XMP export options
RealityScan 2.1.1 is a maintenance release, but a practical one. Epic updates COLMAP exchange, adds new XMP with image list export options, cleans up mask export, and fixes a long list of editor, alignment, and CLI issues.
Beeble Background Remover hits Cloud app
Background Remover unbundles fast AI masking into a standalone workflow with preview, refinement, and RGBA or alpha-only exports for comps.
JangaFX makes its layoff assistance programme permanent
Layoff Assistance is now permanent: eligible laid-off artists can get six months of the Janga tool access to rebuild reels without paying.