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  • www.cgchannel.com
    Saturday, March 15th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in Mayahtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The Gnomon Workshop has released Creature Combat Animation in Maya, a creature animation masterclass recorded by VFX and previs animator Stephen Cunnane.The workshop provides five hours of video training in Maya.Master professional creature animation workflows for VFX, feature animation or previsIn the workshop, Cunnane walks viewers through the process of animating three shots from a fight sequence between two creatures: a giant King Kong-style ape and a dragon.He begins by staging the fight choreography, exploring how to use references and storyboarding techniques to plan out how the fight unfolds.Cunnane then moves into Maya to block out and refine the animation, demonstrating key tools and techniques, and setting out how to balance technical and artistic considerations to create expressive performances.The workshop uses two inexpensive commercial character rigs: Truong Cg Artists King Kong rig and the Ben Dragon rig.About the artistStephen Cunnane has over seven years of experience as a VFX animator and previs artist at studios including Framestore, MPC and The Third Floor, and as an animator at CBS.His credits include Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.Pricing and availabilityCreature Combat Animation in Maya is available via a subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, which provides access to over 300 tutorials.Subscriptions cost $57/month or $519/year. Free trials are available.Read more about Creature Combat Animation in Maya on The Gnomon Workshops websiteHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by Gnomon.Latest NewsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaDiscover how to create a King Kong-style creature fight sequence with The Gnomon Workshop's new five-hour Maya masterclass.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Wonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioAI-based service for VFX and animation gets rebranded as part of Autodesk's Flow cloud platform. Check out its latest features.Friday, March 14th, 2025Polygonflow releases Dash 1.9Check out the new features in the Unreal Engine 5 world building tool, including Runtime Virtual Texturing and an Advanced Water Shader.Thursday, March 13th, 2025Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeYou can download the set of 1,200+ meshes of buildings and props free from Epic Games' Fab marketplace - but you'll need to be quick about it.Wednesday, March 12th, 2025Check out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2New free plugin based on veteran standalone app MakeHuman creates custom 3D characters, complete with skin and clothing.Tuesday, March 11th, 2025Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProAnimator Tal Minks' promising Maya plugin extracts hand animation from a standard webcam and bakes it to any five-fingered Maya character.Monday, March 10th, 2025More NewsTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0AMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070D5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingDownload Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Autodesk lays off 1,350 staff3d-io releases Unwrella-IO5 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterOlder Posts
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  • Government Cheese: David Oyelowo Identifies With His Characters Mission From God
    www.denofgeek.com
    Government Cheese, is an upcoming Apple TV+ series that follows Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo) after he is released from prison and reunites with his family in 1960s California. He invents a shelf-sharpening power drill called the Bit Magician as a way to make a legitimate living and leave his burgling days behind him. But despite doing his best to make a fresh start for himself, and developing a unique relationship with faith while in prison, his past tries to drag him back in.Chambers divine mission is one of the things that drew David Oyelowo into the project from the start. The actor, who also serves as executive producer on the project, has a personal, specific, and vocal relationship with God, as he explained in Den of Geeks SXSW studio. Referring to how he felt called upon by God to play Martin Luther King Jr. in the movie Selma, he says that he still has an ongoing dialogue with the Almighty, which made it easy to relate to a character that feels similarly called upon, albeit in a slightly more surreal way.Being part of a show that depicts a relationship with a creator, but with a character who is incredibly flawed yet also incredibly relatable greatly appealed to the actor. I think all of us, regardless of our religious practice, can understand and relate to the idea of wanting to be better, but constantly failing at doing that, Oyelowo says. Chambers wants to be a better man for his wife and kids and wants to leave his criminal past behind him, but he finds that to be a lot easier said than done when the Prevost brothers come to collect money he supposedly owes them.Taking the righteous path is not always easy, but Oyelowo believes that the show depicts Chambers journey in a fun, relatable, and surreal way. He appreciates that he got to play the characters spirituality in a front-footed fashion and that the show leaned into the visual aspects by depicting biblical parables, stories, and other religious iconography that give us insight into Chambers inner dialogue. No matter your faith journey, he says that the imagination of the series and getting to see Chambers internal struggles with faith depicted so vibrantly, is part of what makes this series so relatable.According to Oyelowo, theres something that we can all recognize and relate to in Chambers story, whether were devout followers, atheists, or somewhere in between. Its always interesting to see how actors bring their personal lives and experiences into the roles they play, and it seems like Oyelowo felt a connection and kinship to Hampton Chambers from the beginning that he hopes we relate to as well.Government Cheese premieres April 16 on Apple TV+.
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  • Best Internet Providers in Madison, Wisconsin
    www.cnet.com
    If you're looking for internet options in Madison, Wisconsin, you'll be glad to know there are many options available no matter what part of the city you reside in.
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  • What we've been playing - Hell and unrelated lumberjack fantasies
    www.eurogamer.net
    What we've been playing - Hell and unrelated lumberjack fantasiesA few of the things that have us hooked this week.Image credit: Eurogamer / id Software Feature by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Additional contributions byTom OrryPublished on March 15, 2025 15th MarchHello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Bertie realises he has a soft spot for Hell-based games, as he dives into Doom Eternal while also still paddling around in Diablo, and Tom Avowed revitalises his Avowed experience by dropping the difficulty a bit.What have you been playing?Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.Doom Eternal, PC Image credit: Eurogamer / id SoftwareI can't believe Doom Eternal is five years old already. I slept on it when it first came out, for some reason, so I'm swatting up on it now. And my god, what a game.Doom 2016 was so cold by comparison. It was all feature-less grey space station corridors and hanger-like areas, until you got down to the more gothic, elaborately carved Hell architecture later on. But here in Eternal it's maximum Hell from the beginning. Earth - or a planet like Earth (I'm not paying that much attention) - has been taken over so you portal there from your snazzy Doom space station (!!) to sort it out. Hell, then, is already there, and it's there in abundance. The remnants of a titanic war are writ large all around you. Spiked Hellish architecture scratches at the skies, themselves blood-red and fiery orange with pain. It's spectacular.And the doors! There's a moment early on in Eternal where you need to open a huge Hell door in order to get somewhere - the kind of door designed for a 30-foot being of some unholy kind (ie. the best kind of fantasy door) to walk through. But instead of opening only one colossal door, Doom Eternal instead opts to open three, in a carefully choreographed rhythm, one after another, thump-thump-thump, until a tower with a beam of orange light zapping down on it is framed in the distance beyond. This sequence is everything Doom Eternal does in microcosm:- knows what you're expecting and overdelivers on it. It's about as subtle as a pantomime.Excess, though, can be a fine line to tread. Let's see where it goes from here.-BertieAvowed, Xbox Series XTo see this content please enable targeting cookies. Some tips for people starting out in Avowed.Watch on YouTubeSo I've stuck with Avowed. I had a little wobble when I encountered some bears only to be completely torn to pieces. A few tries later I was about to give up and move on to something else, but I thought I'd drop the difficulty down and give it one more chance. And, yes, the game is now ludicrously easy, my character able to one-shot bears with the kind of axe you might offer to a child (let's call him Timmy) learning how to become a lumberjack from his gruff father (Steve). Steve wants Timmy to follow in his footsteps, but he knows he's just a four-year-old child incapable of wielding a giant axe. This small baby axe won't hurt a fly, he thinks to himself, but Timmy will have fun. That's me. I'm Timmy. Having fun with my baby axe that can somehow down giant bears.Lumberjack fantasies aside, I'm loving the world of Avowed. Yes, it can look a tad unclean on Xbox (I bet it looks lovely on a good PC), but the colours, the buildings, the views, are all rather wonderful. Perhaps a little bizarrely, but maybe not as I've just watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy with my son, it crossed my mind how wonderful a game with this level of world design and grandeur would fit the world of Middle-earth. Clearly that's never going to happen, but it would be magnificent.-Tom ODiablo 4, PlayStation 5It's staggering the amount of work Blizzard does on Diablo 4. This is a week-old video covering some upcoming changes. The changes mean Diablo 4 feels like quite a different game when you don't play it for a while, but it's always welcoming to go back to.Watch on YouTubeEvidently I like Hell-themed games. I'm back in Diablo 4 again - it's my go-to chill game at the moment - and I'm amazed by how rapidly things progress in the game once you hit level 60, which seems like a contradictory thing to say given level 60 is the final level you can reach (I consider Paragon levels something separate). I'm much more used to a level-cap being a kind of plateau in a game, upon which everyone evens out a bit and settles into a pattern of incremental gains over large ones, but that wasn't the case here. Here, my relative power skyrocketed as soon as I hit 60.There are a few reasons for this. One, I'd saved up some Ancestral Legendary equipment to use once I hit level 60, so the moment I did, I equipped it, and these items were much more powerful than what I was using before. Two, I already had 25 Paragon levels banked from a previous incarnation of the game, back when the level cap was 50, so I - in effect - immediately added another 25 levels' worth of progress the moment I hit 60. So I cheated the power curve a bit, I guess.But the third reason relates to the huge changes Blizzard has made to loot since the game launched. Simply put: you now have much more control over adding and adjusting equipment properties than you used to. You can take an already powerful legendary item and slap another couple of enchantments on it, significantly increasing your overall power (across all of your equipment slots, that's nearly a dozen new enchantments), or you can adjust those already on it to better suit you. It used to be that you got what you were given, but now there are myriad ways to shape everything around you.And the result? Incredible - near ridiculous - power. Which is exactly what Diablo is all about.-Bertie
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  • 1.6Gbps broadband reviewed: is multi-gig internet worth upgrading for?
    www.eurogamer.net
    1.6Gbps broadband reviewed: is multi-gig internet worth upgrading for?It's expensive and kit-heavy, but I'm not going back.Image credit: Amazon Blog by Will Judd Deputy Editor, Digital Foundry Published on March 15, 2025 Early last year, the first widely available multi-gig broadband was announced for the UK market, offering download speeds up to 1.6Gbps over the Openreach FTTP network. As an irredeemable nerd who gets overexcited at the prospect of a download progress bar reaching heretofore unseen speeds, I knew that I had to try it out to see if it actually offered a noticeable improvement over the more readily available 900Mbps BT service I had before. Would there be a tangible benefit for gaming, content creation and downloading Linux ISOs? To find out, I managed to get in touch with Zen Broadband, who amongst EE and Vodafone are one of the few UK providers offering this package. They offered a spot amongst their early access customers for "Full Fibre Max". The broadband was installed in early October, so I've now been using it for four months - and I've got to say, I'm a fan. That's despite the relatively high monthly cost (65) and the equipment I needed to pick up to truly make the most of a connection of this magnitude (router, switch, motherboard). Before I get into the whys, hows and what-fors, it's probably sensible to address the elephant(s) in the room: yup, pretty much everyone can live with far more affordable broadband, even for 4K streaming or gaming, and of course, far faster broadband exists too - both abroad and right here in the UK, where residents of some lucky communities can get symmetric fibre connections up to 8Gbps (the mind boggles). However, as something that's in theory a bit more widely available, I think there's still value in looking at how this decidedly asymmetric 1.6Gbps/ 0.11Gbps connection performs. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Getting set up: multi-gig install procedureSo: multi-gig broadband. To get this installed at a property that previously had FTTP connection up to 900Mbps, you'll need an Openreach engineer to upgrade the device that turns the fibre-optic cable that comes into your house into a regular ethernet cable that you can attach to your router. It's called an optical network terminal or ONT in the lingo, and most modern ONTs max out at gigabit speeds - pretty sensible. For faster connections, that's replaced with a 2.5-gig alternative, which in my experience is a relatively rapid procedure that requires an engineer visit but is otherwise painless. Left: the 2.5-gig ONT. Right: Zen broadband costs, ranging from a 105Mbps connection at 35/month to 1.6GBps for 65/month. Other ISPs offering 1.6Gbps connections via Openreach include EE and Vodafone. | Image credit: Digital Foundry/ZenCritically, the fibre line itself isn't changed, so there's no need to drill any fresh holes in the side of your building - just waiting for the engineer to unplug the existing ONT, plug in the new one and wait for it to be activated. For me, this took the better part of an hour from start to finish, with most of the time spent just waiting for the ONT to be remotely activated. Choose your Zen router: Eero Pro 6E vs Max 7As I went with Zen as an ISP, I had a choice of two new routers: the Eero Pro 6E, which is included in the price of the broadband, or the Eero Max 7, which costs an extra 10 a month. I went for the 6E, and that proved to be mistake - and it's the only thing I'd really ding Zen for in what was otherwise a seamless, deeply personalised and gentle swap from my previous providers BT. Here's the thing: the Eero Pro 6E is a lovely bit of kit, providing fast and wide-ranging WiFi 6E - including that all-important 6GHz spectrum in addition to the usual 2.4GHz and 5GHz - but it doesn't allow you to access the full 1.6Gbps connection via ethernet. That's because the router only has two ethernet ports, a 2.5-gig port that must go to the ONT, and a one-gig port that can go to your PC, console, router or switch. The Eero Max 7 is expensive for a WiFi 7 router, but the app-based approach to setup is polished and works well. | Image credit: Amazon/Digital FoundryThat feels like a massive failure for a router provided alongside a multi-gig connection, as the people that are spending this much on internet probably know the importance of a wired connection to maximise speeds and reliability. Sure, WiFi 6E can go beyond gigabit speeds, but it still felt galling to know I wasn't able to get the full-fat connection on my gaming PC! Thankfully, Zen very nicely sent over the Pro 7 so I could compare the two devices, and the WiFi 7 option is definitely worth the extra 240 (10 x 24 months) given that it retails for 600 by itself. As well as boasting higher maximum wireless speeds, this router comes with what I would consider to be a suitable number of ethernet ports for multi-gig broadband: four, two of which are 10-gig, with the other two being 2.5-gig. That means you can use one of the 2.5-gig ports for your incoming internet, while keeping two 10-gig ports for extremely fast local transfers - eg for connecting a gaming/work PC and a NAS. Everything here is logically laid out and much snappier to navigate than your average router software, but it's a pain not being able to access via a web browser if you've left your phone downstairs. Apple Silicon Macs can at least run the iPad version of the app. | Image credit: Amazon/Digital FoundryBoth Eero routers were quite novel to me in that they don't allow you to set them up using a web browser; instead you use an Android or iOS app. This simplifies certain things considerably - setup is particularly easy and rapid, and it's great having notifications when new devices join your network - but you do have fewer options than most traditional routers I've used over the years. Ultimately, I haven't ever needed to use those more advanced options, nor have I felt the need to install custom firmware, but it's worth knowing that the whole setup is much more firmly locked down than your average TP-Link, Asus or Netduma router. Of course, there are plenty of other WiFi 7 routers available that I haven't tested, so it's worth doing your own research on that front. Making the most of a multi-gig connectionWith my router situation solved and a stable 1.6Gbps download, 110Mbps upload and 7ms of ping registering on speed tests, it was time to work out what I would actually use this much bandwidth for. Sure, you can download an entire 845MB Nvidia graphics driver in four seconds, but you could have done that in about seven seconds on a 900Mbps connection, so what's the hurry? The real differences come with substantially bigger downloads. The current Digital Foundry CPU benchmark suite accounts for just over 1.3TB, so the download time for that moves from around 3 hours and 15 minutes to an hour and 48 minutes. That's a critical speed-up when, for example, it's embargo day and you need to redo all of your tests on one CPU in your lineup, but the SSD you've been using now refuses to boot and you need to quickly reinstall everything on another drive... ask me how I know! You too can solve the "didn't-download-Warzone-patch-and-now-all-my-friends-are-waiting" problem for good. Of course, you could just log on 10 minutes earlier... Beyond this, you really need multiple computers to reliably max out a multi-gig connection - and ideally, some roommates or family members that like to download their content rather than stream, as even 25mbps connections are capable of streaming 4K videos. Like the RTX 4090 effectively solves the issue of rasterised rendering, having broadband of this speed effectively solves multi-user streaming. You'd have to have a huge family unit to really notice any slowdowns at all, and in most cases you'll be hitting the limits of the servers you're downloading from rather than your connection. Sharing the load: multi-gig switchesWhile some routers like the Eero Max 7 have plenty of ethernet ports, others like the Eero Pro 6E do not - so often you'll want a second router or an unmanaged network switch to give multiple computers the ability to access the full potential of a multi-gig connection. It may not surprise you to learn that I have about a dozen computers in various states of repair in my office, so having a switch made the most sense to keep multiple computers connected at once without having to resort to WiFi - something that isn't included on all of our test systems. D-Link were kind enough to send over their DMS-106XT, an unmanaged switch designed for gaming (we know this because it has an RGB light bar and a cool wedge-shaped metal design). It's genuinely the nicest-looking switch I've ever used, and of course like all unmanaged switches it works effectively without any need for configuration - just plug in your router or a NAS via the 10-gig link and five more devices via its 2.5-gig ports, and you're off to the races. This photo doesn't show the RGB light bar on the front, but it's real nice. On the back: one 10-gig port, five 2.5-gig ports, a turbo mode switch, an RGB toggle and a barrel power input. | Image credit: D-LinkHowever, there are some extra features that are similarly set-and-forget. There's a turbo mode switch on the back which enables a port-based priority mode (ports one and six can effectively claim as much bandwidth as they want at the expense of other devices; port two gets second dibs and the remaining ports whatever scraps remain). There's also a button to toggle the RGB off if you want a more sedate look. The switch has worked silently and reliably for months now, and at as low as 105 on sale it's quite reasonably priced for the 22.5 gigabytes of potential throughput you're getting. Multi-gig and gaming routers: Netgear XR1000 and Netduma R3 Now this is a gaming router: the Netduma R3. I also experimented with using a few secondary routers to see if they were worth using instead of the Eero, though ultimately I decided against it. The Netgear XR1000 is a router that I've been using since 2022, providing some quite unique gaming features including a ping heatmap that blocks access to badly-performing or geographically distant game servers, ensuring your Counter-Strike matches will be lost by you and your teammates rather than because of network conditions. There's also a rather excellent implementation of QoS, a feature which prioritises gaming and other real-time traffic over downloads, preventing bufferbloat - where your connection to a game server goes all screwy when someone starts downloading something. The Netduma R3 is an even more advanced version of the same idea, a device designed from the ground up to be a gaming router with some new capabilities like "Hybrid VPN" - essentially a way to easily connect multiple devices to an OpenVPN or WireGuard VPN, an ad blocker and "Steady Ping", which increases your ping to make it more stable - a bit like capping your game at a specific frame-rate. These are nice features that work as promised, and are easier to access than on the XR1000 with a modern-feeling UI. These screenshots of the mobile app provide a taste of the sort of features you can expect - a desktop-class browser version is also available if you prefer. | Image credit: NetdumaHowever, the R3's hardware doesn't seem quite as fast or reliable as the XR1000 it ostensibly replaces, and I found its wireless signal strength and speeds were noticeably worse - likely as it's an AX3000 router versus the AX5400 of the XR1000. It also lacks USB functionality versus the XR1000, which could use it as a network share. Finally, it doesn't support PPPoE connections over a certain speed (500Mbps), making it a particularly poor choice for high-speed Openreach connections in the UK in particular. Of course, you can pair it with your ISP's router to get around this issue, but it is a pain if you want a single router solution, and with only gigabit ports you can't use the full potential of a multi-gig connection. This Dongknows review is a little out of date now, but it reflects a lot of the experience I've had with the R3 - a good idea that hasn't quite delivered in practice. The router does continue to receive firmware updates, so it's worth trying if multiplayer gaming is particularly important to you. I hope that we eventually see an R4 model that combines WiFi 6E or 7 with some higher-end specs - it could be a great companion for a multi-gig connection in the future. The Eero app lacks any advanced gaming features, but the single "optimize for conferencing and gaming" toggle does work effectively for eliminating bufferbloat. Thankfully, the Eero routers provided by Zen do have the most important thing for gaming - a decent QoS implementation, which is called "Optimize for Conferencing and Gaming" or "SQM". Enabling this reduced my bufferbloat to similar levels as with the Netduma R3, which is good enough for my purposes - though I do still miss some of the DumaOS ping geofencing features. Wrapping upSo - is multi-gig internet worth upgrading for? For me, the answer is yes. It's a great benefit to my actual job, it makes downloading Call of Duty patches as painless as possible, and it means that I never worry about guests or family members reducing my download speeds or interrupting a gaming session - there's more than enough bandwidth for everyone. I'd still kill for a symmetric connection with substantially more upstream bandwidth - those YouTube videos aren't going to upload themselves! - but for now, this is as good as it gets in the UK outside of relatively rare community fibre projects. Would I recommend it to most people? No. I faced no hardships operating with the 900Mbps internet I was using before, and from a value perspective only the heaviest internet users should even consider gigabit speeds, let alone anything faster. If you're like me and also work in an online medium where fast speeds will make your life easier, then it's more justifiable but still a luxury purchase of a sort - especially as the high download speeds aren't accompanied by an increase in upload speeds over 900Mbps connections. Beyond the not insignificant outlay on the internet connection itself, it's worth considering the cost of the various devices that you might feel compelled to pick up at some stage to make the most of your new speeds: new motherboards and laptops, fancy WiFi 7 routers and switches, high-end smartphones. Of these, the D-Link DMS-106XT switch is an easy recommendation to share a high-speed line between more wired devices, while the Eero Max 7 and Netduma R3 are both interesting routers worth at least knowing about. Of course, there's always something faster on the horizon - Vodafone are promising 2.2Gbps speeds - including 900Mbps uploads if this promo photo is to be believed - while Openreach have also announced 1GBps symmetric connections for some areas. Image credit: VodafoneBeyond testing this specific connection speed, I've also come away with a positive impression of both Zen, my new ISP, and Eero, my new router system. Zen's customer support has been so much more engaging, responsive and real versus the giants of BT and Virgin that I've used previously, and I'd recommend them to anyone in the UK. For multi-gig in particular, I think offering the Eero Pro 6E is a bit weird, and they ought to swap to the Eero Pro 7 and its two 2.5-gig ports instead once this is available later in February. Amazon's Eero routers are also a bit of a revelation - I don't particularly like giving up the control to really fiddle with firmwares and so on, but the features that are here work well and the process of monitoring devices or adding new routers is exceptionally streamlined. There are certainly more affordable WiFi 6E / 7 devices out there, but for ease-of-use these routers deserve their reputation. I think that's just about everything, so I'll just conclude by saying that I look forward to reading your comments on multi-gig internet below. If you have any questions about the whole situation, I'll answer them if I can.
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  • Short Film: Deep Rooted
    www.blendernation.com
    An animated short film by Duncan Rudd about unfettered greed and its consequences. It's OK being the tallest tree in the forest. But, when the wind blows, how solid is the ground you're standing on?Source
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  • Switch 2 GameCube Controller Rumours Resurface Following New Nintendo Filing
    www.nintendolife.com
    Image: Nintendo LifeThe GameCube generation ended years ago, but the controller for this system is still a popular choice for many Nintendo enthusiast when it comes to select titles. If you are hoping to see support for this particular gamepad on the Switch 2 in some way or form, you might be in luck.A new FCC filing by Nintendo for a "game controller" has recently gone live. The model number prefix attached is 'BEE' - matching up with the Switch 2. One other bit of information suggests it will be a "wireless Bluetooth controller" and attached are some basic images.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube798kWatch on YouTube This is where the rumour part kicks in - with some detective work on Famiboards suggesting one of the images (showing a label location on the rear of the controller) matches up with the back of the GameCube controller, where the C-Stick is located.Images: via Famiboards / FCCThe possibility of this filing being a 'Switch 2 Pro Controller' has apparently been ruled out, as it doesn't appear to support NFC functionality (which is seemingly set to return based on a separate filing last week).The fact it's also a "wireless Bluetooth controller" has led to speculation this controller could have possible links to the Switch Online service, as Nintendo has already reworked other classic controllers into wireless models (including USB-C connection and cable to charge). Wired connections are typically preferred for fighting games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.Nintendo's current Switch Online subscription service includes the NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy libraries. Legacy platforms like the GameCube have been requested during the Switch generation, but the most we've seen are GameCube re-releases like Super Mario Sunshine (as part of a limited-time collection), Metroid Prime Remastered, and more recently Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.Nintendo will share a full reveal of the Switch 2 at the beginning of April in a special Direct broadcast, which could include updates about Switch Online. This latest GameCube controller rumour follows a few others updates over the past year. It's time for Switch 2Smile and wave(bird)Sorry, GameCube fansIf we hear any significant updates about this latest filing, we'll let you know.[source fccid.io, via famiboards.com]See AlsoShare:211 Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesRumour: Xbox Expected To Join Switch 2 With A New Handheld This YearMicrosoft could be testing the waters...Switch 2 Predicted To Cost "$400 Or More"It could also be the "biggest console launch ever"Switch 2 Filings Show Support For Wi-Fi 6Better, fasterRumour: Nintendo May Have Already Shipped A Boatload Of Switch 2 Units To North AmericaFingers crossed for an early summer release
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  • Alloyed Raises 37M in New Funding for Metal Alloy Development
    3dprintingindustry.com
    UK-based alloy design firm Alloyed has raised 37 million in a Series B funding round. The Oxford University spinout will use its new capital to expand its material manufacturing facilities in Abingdon, UK, and Seattle, USA. It also plans to accelerate the development of its digital alloy design platforms and enhance the Alloyed product line.Founded in 2017, Alloyed designs and produces advanced, durable, lightweight metallic alloys for additive manufacturing. Customers include Boeing, Microsoft, Anglo American plc, and BMW. Its advanced materials are used in parts spanning antennas, satellite structures, jet engine components, VR headsets, and smartwatches.Japanese investment firm SPARX and the Development Bank of Japan led the 37M Series B round. Aviva Investors and Senningerberg-based Future Industry Ventures also provided funding. This adds to Alloyeds existing backers, Oxford Science Enterprises, JX Advanced Metals, and Anglo American plc.Were excited to welcome this exceptional group of new investors, enabling us to accelerate investment in our digital tools and expand our certified production facilities both in the UK and the US, explained Alloyeds CEO, Michael Holmes. Automated design and manufacturing is an industry where the UK, with our expertise in materials science and world class engineering capability, has the potential to lead on the global stage and Alloyed is at the forefront of this transformation.Alloyeds HQ building. Photo via Alloyed.Alloyed raises 37M to advance 3D printable alloysAlloyed claims that its Abingdon HQ features one of the largest fleets of Additive Manufacturing machines in Europe. Across its UK and US facilities, it develops advanced metallic alloys optimized for metal 3D printing. The materials developer aims to capitalize on the emerging automated design and manufacturing with its portfolio, which includes copper alloys, alloy steels, stainless steels, and aluminum alloys.Back in 2022, Alloyed showcased its 3D printed copper cooling plate designed for high-temperature computing systems and general liquid cooling systems. This device featured a complex 3D printed lattice structure that minimizes material usage while enhancing cooling performance. The monolithic plate was reportedly simpler and more efficient at transferring heat than its conventionally manufactured counterparts.Looking ahead, the metal developer believes high-performance alloys will play a key role in global efforts to transition to sustainable energy. It anticipates that more companies will work to deploy increasingly stronger and lighter materials to develop next-generation technologies.Additive manufacture has great promise for the energy transition and future products across a range of industries, but has been held back by a range of engineering challenges, explained Takaki Demichi, Director and Head of Investment for SPARX Asset Managements Next-Generation Growth Division. He believes these barriers are directly addressed by Alloyeds materials, processing, design, and production technologies and its highly data-driven approach.Development Bank of Japans General Manager of Innovation Promotion Office, Yuki Takemori, added, Alloyed is at the forefront of innovation in the manufacturing sector and a natural partner for us. The Tokyo financial institution believes its collaboration with Alloyed will enhance the sector even further by creating a model case for commercialising technology.Alloyeds 3D printed copper cooling plate. Photo via Alloyed.Investing in additive manufacturingAdditive manufacturing is attracting the attention of global investors. According to IDTechEx data, approximately $650 million was invested into 3D printing across 40 deals in 2024. While the state of investing in 3D printing has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, it remains stable amid a shift away from tech hype to disciplined funding.Last month, Floridian additive manufacturing service provider Sintavia received a $10 million subordinated debt investment from Stifel North Atlantic AM-Forward Fund. The Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) injected the capital to boost Sintavias aerospace 3D printing capabilities. The new funds are being used to refinance existing equipment loans and bolster the companys general working capital.Elsewhere, Firehawk Aerospace recently raised $60 million in a series C investment round led by right-leaning investor 1789 Capital. The roughly $150 million venture capital firm, which counts Donald Trump Jr as a Partner, backs companies that promote conservative political policies. It is part of a broader movement to create a parallel economy that counters progressive frameworks like Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG).Firehawk will use its new cash to support its development of US-made solid rocket motors (SRM) and 3D printed rocket fuel. The Texan aerospace claims its solid fuel grain can be 3D printed in hours, unlike month-long casting and curing methods.Away from the aerospace sector, University of Liverpool spin-out Atomik AM secured a 125k investment from LYVA Labs. This capital will be used to accelerate the companys binder jet 3D printing technology, facilitating its transition from research to commercial applications.Who won the 2024 3D Printing Industry Awards?Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to keep up with the latest 3D printing news.You can also follow us on LinkedIn, and subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry Youtube channel to access more exclusive content.Featured image shows Alloyeds HQ building. Photo via Alloyed.
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  • WWE Smackdown Recap: 2 Vignettes Tease Arrival Of Former AEW Stars
    www.forbes.com
    BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 14: Paul Heyman speaks during SmackDown at Olimpic Arena on March 14, 2025 ... [+] in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)WWE via Getty ImagesWWE SmackDown at the Olympic Arena in Barcelona, Spain, had great energy, thanks to the vibrant fans. However, beyond the Street Profits winning the tag team championships over DIY, the most memorable moments came from a pair of vignettes that ran during the program.After they aired and were reposted online, many fans are convinced the two videos were teasers for the arrival of a pair of long-awaited AEW stars set to arriveand, in one instance, returnto WWE.This is Ray Fenix for SureWith Penta having arrived to much fanfare and successincluding a long and respectable run in the Royal Rumblemost have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Rey Fenix. The two are brothers in real life and have been linked for years, including during their time in AEW.Once this vignette ran on SmackDown, it seems Fenix is coming sooner rather than later.What some are wondering is whether Fenix will arrive as a friend or foe to Penta. At this point, it seems more likely Fenix and Penta will rejoin their tag team and initially engage in a feud with Ludwig Kaiser and Pete Dunne.That duo has squabbled with Penta over the past few weeks, and things are set up for Fenix to arrive with a splash similar to the one his brother enjoyed. Its only a matter of time before they are in the running for tag team goldif not in line for some singles success.Penta and Fenix are two of the most exciting in-ring performers in professional wrestling. Its great to see them have an opportunity to perform on the biggest stage the industry has to offer.By joining WWE at this time, the brothers are arriving during an era when exposure is at its highest, and they have the best chance to be featured fairly.This Could Be Malakai Black, Right?The other vignette that ran was a little tougher to decipher. Many believe it is associated with the return of Aleister Black or Malakai Blackwhichever name he settles on. No one doubts the charismatic star is headed back to WWE, as rumors have swirled about his return over the past six months.What we dont know is if the vignette on SmackDown was referring to him. Take a look:The number 4 doesnt seem to have much of a connection to Black, but perhaps its something that will be unveiled at a later time. Blacks return will be a family affair as well. His wife is Zelina Vega, and she is a member of the Latino World Order faction and a part of the SmackDown womens roster.If the 4 is not related to Black, the only other performer that comes to mind is Hikuleo. He has seemingly been on the WWE roster for months but has yet to make an appearance on WWE TV. Like Black, its tough to determine what the 4 would have to do with Hikuleo, who is the real-life brother of Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa and the son of WWE Hall of Famer Haku.However, also like Black, perhaps the significance of the number will be tied to Hikuleo in some way down the line.With WWE on a high-profile European tour, its possible the answer to all of these questions could be revealed before the end of the month when the promotion returns to the United States.
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