Clothing & Cloth Sims with Erika LochsMarvelous Designer is quickly becoming an industry-standard software for creating character clothing and cloth simulation in environment art. Erika Lochs is a principal character artist who uses Marvelous Designer heavily in her professional career and strongly focuses on anything fabric-related.This introductory workshop is for artists who have never used Marvelous Designer or are relatively new to the software. Erikas complete introduction covers the essential features in the 3D and 2D windows and details everything you need to know to get started, including how to navigate Marvelous Designer and how to use avatars.With all the basics covered, Erika then demonstrates how to create a basic denim jacket, working with a pattern provided. Artists can follow along with the workflow from start to finish. Additionally, Erika provides a bonus tutorial tailored for environment artists, focusing on creating a mediaeval tent.Erika utilizes abase mesh by Hamza Ben Salahin this workshop. Project files provided with this workshop include Erikas Marvelous Designer material sheet, her favorite Shortcuts sheet, the Marvelous Designer file for the jacket and tent, and her references and props.WATCH NOW

Germane Barnes: Columnar DisorderThe Art Institute of ChicagoThrough January 27Its difficult to remember much about columns from architecture history class. There are three main ordersDoric, Ionic, Corinthianthough some expand the lineup to five with the addition of Tuscan and Composite. (Im not Googling this right now.) Its hard to recall as time has passed and my synapses have weakened, but also because the columns meaning has changed. Encountering a building lined with decorated motifs chiseled in stone is no longer a moment to appreciate Greco-Roman ideals. Instead we have to confront meanings that are, today, more abstracted: Consider the lil Twitter trad boys whose Grecian avatars are rambling on about symmetry and Donald Trumps insistence that federal buildings should be beautiful againmeaning, European again. By returning to such styles, we could transport ourselves, as the fantasy goes, to a time when the problems of modernity werent in the room with us. No longer are columns structural elements of engineering; their presence demonstrates the chasm of our political binaryred tick for yes, blue for no. The column, and all its baggage, registers ones icky allegiance to tradition. Germane Barnes complicates this discourse in Columnar Disorder, his first solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). Barnes, who leads his own studio and directs the graduate architecture program at the University of Miami, spent his year as a Rome Prize recipient revisiting historic buildings and ruins; his studies of columns have yielded a very different takeneither allegiance nor engineering. Instead, Columnar Disorder, curated by Irene Sunwoo, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design, considers the African diaspora as a foundational history of Western European civilization. Through collages and sculptural works, he presents a revision of the classical column, omitting the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian designations and substituting his own: Migration, Identity, and Labor. By offering up a fresh vision for classical design, hes quietly upending the boisterous discourse of time-traveling conservatism; rather than attending to the divisions between us, hes considering the column as an object that binds us together.Installation view of Germane Barnes: Columnar Disorder at the Art Institute of Chicago, 2024.Located in the AICs Architecture & Design galleries, the exhibition includes three sets of three individual works; each work bears one title of Barness Migration, Identity, and Labor designations. There is one group of small-scale collages, a trio of small-scale column sculptures that sit on pedestals in the gallerys center, and finally, three large-scale columns (appearing as half-round pilasters) on the gallerys north wall. Three other large-scale collages act as a conceptual anchor, providing a referential footnote to the remainder of the exhibited work. By grouping these three sets, Barnes constructs a physical space to explore his themes of migration, identity, and labor with various materials and at different scales. This strategy smartly relays a conceptual framework for his three column typologies by mimicking broader design process: A collage might represent an early design sketch, while the smaller scale sculptures speak to a prototype, and the final forms are executed at 1:1 scale. Across the exhibition, Barnes presents a precise interpretation of these themes: Migration addresses the forced removal of African peoples under slavery, as well as the broader patterns of African migration to Europe; labor speaks to use of chattel slavery to construct many of the buildings and sites associated with classicism; identity refers to notions of beauty. In his large-scale pilasters, which are arguably the exhibitions centerpieces, these themes manifest literally via distinct materials. The Labor column, fabricated by Quarra Stone Company, appears to be in mid-disintegrationperhaps a nod to the attempts to erode public discourse that pins slave labor as foundational to the countrys economic and civic history. The Identity column, a collaboration with Chicago-based fibers artist Shenequa Brooks, is made from synthetic hair and beads referencing familial traditions of hair braiding. Migration, a wood column produced by Navillus Woodworks, speaks to the slave ships that carried stolen people across the sea.Designed by Germane Barnes, fabricated by Navillus Woodworks. Migration Column III (detail), 2024. Courtesy of the artist.Its notable that the sculptures were created in collaboration with other artists and fabricators. In a conversation held for the exhibitions public opening that included architect and author Mabel O. Wilson, moderated by Lisa akmak, AIC curator of Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium, Barnes spoke about why these relationships were so essential. Architecture wants you to be the single author, the person who does the napkin sketch, and you get all [the] accolades, he said. Thats not how I was raised. I was raisedif you didnt bring home food for everybody, you had to eat in the car. Collectivity and togethernessthe us of it allis embedded in the exhibition.Designed by Germane Barnes, fabricated by Endicott. Labor Column II, 2024. Construction was generously provided by skilled union masons with the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Administrative District Council 1 of Illinois with support from the International Masonry Institute. Courtesy of the artist.Germane Barnes and SHENEQUA. Identity Column III, 2024. Courtesy of the artists.For diasporic peoplesand speaking as one, myselfthe deep connections that run through family and community are embedded in survival and identity, yet the sense of us is also, at times, fraught. In his Labor collage, Barnes centers an image of a young Black child sporting a backpack with the Glovo logo (UberEats, in Europe). In the conversation, he noted that when he was in Italy, he observed the difference between himself, an American, and the African migrants, many who arrived there as refugees. Every time I would see another Black person, it would be a migrant who was typically delivering food or [doing] some other sort of low level labor. Over there, I was American. Over there, I wasnt Black, he said. Yet even though he was perceived as American, these solidarities still exist, even abstractly. Throughout his three large collages, Barnes uses Berber script to annotate his drawings, paying homage to the North African migrants who came to southern Italy. He also explained that the AIC conservators discovered that the paper he had printed and drawn these collages uponthe low-quality stuff that usually covers cafe tables in Italywas composed of recycled paper, including old photographs. Theres a metaphor in there: to use a material made up of old remnants with a new projection of Blackness drawn on top of it. Togetherness, then, becomes not just a matter of what is shared interpersonally, but what is shared temporally.Germane Barnes. Pantheon II, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Nina Johnson. (Greg Carideo/ Germane Barnes)I doubt Barnes had Trumps voice echoing in his head as he produced these drawings or designed his thematic columns; hes not on X arguing with the trads, either. So while some of his representations of identity, labor, and migration feel, at times, quite literal, theres something refreshing about shaking off the pastthe domain of bow-tied architectural history professorsand the present, too, to offer up well-known objects with wholly new meanings. We can find ourselves, and find a life-giving community, in relics. I hope the exhibition, which runs until the end of this month, acts as an invitation for visitors to take on such daunting work themselves, to reexamine divisive objects and reimagine them as temporal links to one another.Anjulie Rao is a journalist and critic covering the built environment.

The role and responsibility religious buildings play in dense city centers around the world is always evolving. In New York City, this past century, vast cathedrals like St. John the Divine have taken on new uses; that building once solely hosted Sunday mass but now, its also used for concerts, lectures, and even tight rope walks by Philippe Petit, among other immersive art performances. A similar story of transformation took place recently in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon. Saint Maroun Church in Gemmayzeh has been a staple of the Lebanese Maronite community since it was built in 1875. This past year, the Roman style church was refurbished by interior designer Marine Bustros and Fadlo Dagher of DHP Architecture.Saint Maroun Church was badly damaged by the 2020 port explosion which rocked Beirut. The building suffered structural damage, deficiencies that were later rectified by Dagher. After the port explosion, and throughout military attacks by Israel on Beirut this year, the church has provided food and shelter for those in need, among other communal functions that replenish the soul.The buildings exterior and structure more broadly was rectified by Dagher. ( Marwan Harmouche)Father Richard Abi Saleh, who leads Saint Maroun, considered how the church could take on new uses, beyond that of worship, after 2020. Now, Saint Maroun Church hosts musical performances, community meetings, and even art exhibitions. To accommodate more people, and functions, Dagher and Bustros ideated a new addition to the church, which gives Father Richard more capacity. That addition, on its exterior, touts a mural by George Merheb, a Lebanese mixed-media artist. The old and new buildings were meshed together by Bustros; both volumes feature the same custom furniture, which unifies the spaces.Before the restoration, the building had burgundy red doors and furniture. (Courtesy Marine Bustros)It was important to keep and highlight the nice elements that were already there, Bustros told AN. The aim of this project was to rethink the design of the church, but in a modern way. We wanted to break away from the traditional elements, like the burgundy reds in the floors and chairs, Bustros added. We also wanted to bring in more light and offer a soothing experience. By removing the carpets, we can now see the very nice marble floor, and by highlighting the beams, doors, and benches in blue, and to see these colors echoed in the arches, its nice.Bustros noted that Father Richard has done concerts, at Saint Maroun since the refurbishment, which has offered calm and respite. Hes been helping the community a lot, Bustros said. During the war, he was helping and hosting families in need, and distributing food.The wooden waves in the benches were meant to emulate 19th-century arches from the original 1875 building. ( Marwan Harmouche)Saint Marouns refurbishment came around the same time a number of immensely important heritage sites were under threat in Lebanon by Israeli bombardment, as reported by AN.On a daily basis we are afraid but we are not afraid for the future, because we are building the future, Father Richard recently told a reporter. Even in times of war, we are artisans of construction and civilization, and we believe that we must take action, not only [by] distributing food or clothes when needed, but also with acts of beauty, for example, the work of arts or music concerts.People need more in life than the bare necessities just to survive, they also need to breathe, to dream and to believe that things are still possible, Father Richard continued. I believe that the real resistance in the life of a community is cultural resistance, to say that we can build the future in everyday acts because humanity is still capable of beautiful things.

Even before opening day, CES sees major announcements from the likes of Samsung, Ring, Lenovo, and more. Here's our roundup of the new tech you don't want to miss.

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Apples latest iPhone software is now live, and ready to install. It follows the significant last update, iOS 18.2, which upgraded the Apple Intelligence experience and brought it to more users around the world.Apple iPhone 15.Getty ImagesAnd while the iOS 18.2 release didnt bring catastrophic problems, there were some minor issues which users felt needed to be fixed. These varied from unexpected battery drain which went on a bit longer than youd expect after a software update to Face ID failing and wifi dropping.Now, iOS 18.2.1 is here, and happily has landed on the day Id predicted it might. Heres all we know about the release so far.Which iPhones Can Run iOS 18.2.1?Like other versions of iOS 18, any iPhone that can run the software from 2023, iOS 17 is compatible with iOS 18.2. That boils down to the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone Xr from 2018 and all iPhones after that, including the iPhone SE both second- and third-generation models.How To Get ItIts straightforward enough. Click on the Settings app, choose General, then Software Update. After that, click Download and Install, and let the software work its magic. This is a smallish update, 511MB on my iPhone 16 Pro Max, so it should be with you quickly.Read More: Samsung Unveils Ingenious Solution To Losing Your TV RemoteWhats In The ReleaseBecause this is a small update, new features werent expected. All Apple says is, This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for all users.Note the absence of the words security fixes, so we know that its not about cybersecurity, but entirely about putting right things that werent working quite right. Apple is tight-lipped about exactly what these might be, but the absence of security elements means those who dont want to upgrade can feel more relaxed about not doing it, assuming theyre not experiencing problems with the iPhone.Note that Apple also stresses that its recommended for all users which suggests the fixes are not solely about Apple Intelligence as that only applies to users of iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and the four new iPhone 16 handsets.Ill be exploring whether you should upgrade to iOS 18.2.1 on Tuesday, Jan. 7, in response to how users react to it.

Pictured: The Acer Nitro Blaze 11AcerWere going to see an explosion of gaming handheld news coming out of CES 2025 (except for a Steam Deck 2 announcement), and it looks like Acer is swinging for the fences. The company just revealed two AMD-powered handhelds that will launch in Q2: the Nitro Blaze 8 and the gargantuan Nitro Blaze 11.Both handhelds are powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor and Radeon 780M graphics. In terms of pure graphics horsepower, its on a level playing field with the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally X. Both feature Hall Effect triggers and sticks, and both include 16GB of memory. As youll see below, the Nitro Blaze 8 looks competitive, but also risks being lost among a sea of similar products.The Nitro Blaze 11, however, stands out. Lets talk about it.Quick Specs: Acer Nitro Blaze 8 + Nitro Blaze 11The Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11 share some common specs across both devices, with the main difference centering on the display.Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8840HSGraphics: AMD Radeon 780M (RDNA 3)Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X @ 7500 MT/sStorage: up to 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe driveNitro Blaze 8 Display: 8.8 WQXGA (2560x1600 IPS at 120Hz)Nitro Blaze 11 Display: 10.95 (2560x1600 IPS @ 120Hz)Battery: 55WhWeight: 720g (Nitro Blaze 8) / 1050g (Nitro Blaze 11)Baseline Launch Prices (US): $899 and $1199MORE FOR YOUI was admittedly a bit harsh when Acer unveiled its Nitro Blaze 7 handheld last September, mainly because of its cheap, toy-like aesthetic. Perhaps Acer took the medias criticism to heart, because the design language of the newly unveiled Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11 is more subdued. Those garish fuel gauge graphics are nowhere to be found, replaced by more tasteful accents adorning its chassis. Thank you, Acer!Additionally, the Nitro Blaze 7s dedicated button to pull up an onscreen keyboard was pretty much the only feature that distinguished it from competitors. This time around, Acer has a few advantages worth calling out and considering.Obviously, we need to chat about this massive display first. This will surely be a love it or hate it screen size.To the best of my knowledge, this is the largest screen of any mainstream gaming handheld currently on the market. It actually clocks in at 10.95-inches, but thats still more than 2-inches bigger than the Lenovo Legion Gos 8.8-inch display. The Nitro Blaze 11s screen outputs at 2560x1600 with a 120Hz refresh rate.That oversized display means added weight, and the Nitro Blaze 11 weighs in at 1050g, or 2.3 pounds. Im not sure it would be comfortable to play in bed! But I kinda love the idea of a huge display on my handheld. Its easier on my aging eyes, admittedly. And while the included Radeon 780M graphics wont drive many graphically demanding games at the devices native resolution, indie games and emulated retro games should look awesome with that much screen real estate.Unfortunately, both the 8 and 11 models also share the same 55Wh battery. Without question, youll be charging the Nitro Blaze 11 more often than its smaller 8 sibling. The space is definitely there to add a larger capacity battery, but Acer told PC World (video embedded above) it was concerned with making the device too heavy.Nitro Blaze 11: More Than Just The Size AdvantageIts important for these devices to stand out, and the Nitro Blaze 11 certainly has a few features to distinguish it from the pack.The Nitro Blaze 11 has detachable controllers. AcerNotably, it has a front camera (the exact specs werent disclosed) to utilize for streaming or video chats. Like the Lenovo Legion Go, it also has a sturdy kickstand and detachable controllers. And last but not least, it packs three USB ports. Theres a USB 4 Type-C with Thunderbolt, a standard USB 3.2 Type-C, and a good old fashioned Type-A slot.These features combined make the Nitro Blaze 11 a potentially viable desktop replacement too, without needing to buy a dedicated dock. Im not sold on it yet, but Im definitely intrigued. Especially if I can end up installing SteamOS on it.The Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11 are slated to launch Q2 2025.

Facepalm: Despite being the world's second-largest search engine, Bing continues to hold a minuscule market share compared to Google. Microsoft is clearly dissatisfied with this disparity and is making every effort to drive even a modest increase in user traffic, even if it borders on being unethical. Microsoft recently introduced another tactic in its ongoing efforts to encourage users to choose Bing over Google. The Redmond-based corporation seems acutely aware that many users search for "Google" on Bing, and it has devised a strategy to capitalize on this behavior, setting up what can only be described as a clever "trap" for this specific query.As first reported by Windows Latest, users who search for "Google" on Bing without being signed into a Microsoft account encounter a uniquely designed page. This page features a central search box styled to resemble a Google Doodle, while standard Bing search results appear below.Interestingly, the design conceals the traditional Bing search box at the top of the page, steering users toward the central box to process their queries through Bing's servers. The imitation Google page appears across Edge, Chrome, and Firefox browsers, disappearing only when the user logs into their Microsoft account.Microsoft has employed various tactics to force users into adopting Bing and Edge in the past, but resorting to imitating Google's homepage marks a new low for the Redmond company. Even the recently released official Bing app has been observed engaging in questionable, malware-like behavior on users' PCs to further advance Microsoft's business agenda.The real issue lies in Microsoft's monopolistic approach to technology though it's worth noting that many other companies employ similar strategies to maximize profits and minimize expenses. Google, for instance, which was recently declared a monopoly in the search engine market by US authorities, is also notorious for leveraging its dominant position to stifle competition. // Related StoriesGoogle often displays notifications on its websites, encouraging users to download and use the Chrome browser instead of Edge or Firefox. However, even in light of the US Department of Justice's recent ruling, Google's tactics appear significantly less aggressive compared to Microsoft's relentless push to promote Bing.

AMDTable of ContentsTable of ContentsNothing but a brief mentionI expected more, not lessInto the unknownMany awaited AMDs CES 2025 keynote with bated breath. After all, the company was expected to divulge more information about the RX 9000 series, which could soon compete against some of the best graphics cards.But, by the end of the keynote, the YouTube chat and my own mind were both flooded with just one question: What about new graphics cards?Recommended VideosAMDAMDs 45-minute keynote was packed with announcements. We got a lot of updates on various CPUs, including the new Ryzen 9950X3D, and a slew of laptop processors and APUs. However, the graphics segment didnt receive any love from AMD, even though that was clearly what many viewers were hoping for.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Jack Huynh, the senior vice president and general manager of AMDs Computing and Graphics Group, teased the RDNA 4 architecture and machine-learning-based upscaling with FSR 4. This is when I thought wed hear some exciting RX 9070 XT news, but instead, we got a video from Matt Booty, the president of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft.RelatedAlthough he teased that technologies like FSR 4 make games likeStarfieldrun better, there was nothing concrete to back up these statements. FSR 4 is still a mystery, as is RDNA 4.We absolutely love the gaming community, and we look forward to telling you more about RDNA 4 and FSR 4 later this quarter, Huynh said. Now, lets shift gears to AI PCs. And that they did, as the rest of the presentation focused largely on non-gaming experiences, including workstations and enterprise-AI-focused CPUs and APUs.A promise of learning more later this quarter was the last thing I expected. Possible specs for RX 9000 series GPUs have been floating around the internet for weeks now, and yet, there was next to no mention of these cards during CES 2025.Mind you, the weirdest part is that AMD did sharesome information about its upcoming GPUs with the media, but it was admittedly pretty scarce. This is another reason why Im surprised. I went into the keynote thinking wed get to learn more during the presentation, but we actually got much less than I ever expected, as those RDNA 4-related slides never made it in.AMDWhat do we know? We know that the new GPUs will be dubbed the RX 9070 and the RX 9060 (as well as their XT counterparts), which weve already expected based on previous leaks. AMD shared a slide explaining this change in its naming scheme, saying that it wanted to simplify it.AMD teased the RDNA 4 architecture, pointing to various hardware- and software-level improvements, including better ray tracing capabilities thanks to third-gen RT accelerators. The slides also revealed that we may not get Made By AMD RX 9000 cards, and that all the GPUs will instead be made by AMDs partners, including Acer, Asus, XFX, Gigabyte, and more.FSR 4 got its own slide, and arguably, it got more screen time during the presentation than RDNA 4 itself did. It feels like AMD is taking a page out of Nvidias playbook here, as Nvidias DLSS 3 is an RTX 40-series exclusive, whereas FSR 3 used to be widely available. That will no longer be the case with FSR 4, which will only be available in RDNA 4 GPUs.In addition, AMD gave us some insight as to the kind of performance we can expect from the new RDNA 4 GPUs. The RX 9070 cards are listed as competitors to the RTX 4070 Ti and the RTX 4070 Super. On AMDs side, the top GPU is set to keep up with the RX 7900 XT; last-gens flagship RX 7900 XTX will remain undefeated. Meanwhile, the RX 9060 will match up against the RTX 4060 Ti and the RX 7700 XT at the most.This performance bracket is useful, but it doesnt tell us anything in the way of actual GPU specifications. Leakers have long said that the new AMD flagship will be based on the Navi 48 GPU, and recent rumors claim that itll come with 4,096 cores, 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM across a 256-bit bus, and memory speeds of 18Gbps. Clock speeds are said to be high in this generation, with some tipsters saying we can expect up to 3.1GHz.Thats all well and good, but the problem with all of those spec-related statements is that theyre rumors. They may be true, they may be false we just dont know. Thats a strange place to be in, given that AMD just held a 45-minute presentation during the years biggest computing event.Personally, I was really excited about the prospect of AMDs RX 9070 XT. I still am, but its hard not to feel surprised at the way AMD glossed over all the details of one of its most-anticipated gaming products set to come out this year.Sure, we now know that the RX 9070 XT will be an upper-midrange card targeting the mainstream market but we already knew as much, and today brought us very little in the way of new information. The biggest revelation was the fact that FSR 4 will be an RDNA 4 exclusive; everything else was already speculated about for weeks.We still have a lot of unknowns, including some of the most basic information, such as specs, prices, and release dates for these new cards. All we know is that well learn more during this quarter, but that could mean in two weeks or in two months.In 2024, AMD CEO Lisa Su teased RDNA 4 while divulging that the companys gaming revenue declined by 69% year-over-year. Despite a tumultuous year for AMDs gaming business, Su also promised that RDNA 4 will launch in early 2025, which is reassuring. But it does make me wonder what AMD is waiting for.Meanwhile, Nvidia is just hours away from announcing its next-gen RTX 50-series. Its hard to say how much Team Green will be ready to reveal, but at this point, Nvidia wont need to do much to beat AMD at CES 2025. All Nvidia has to do is say which graphics cards are coming and give a rough overview of each. Thatll still be more than we got from AMD and its hard not to feel a little disappointed.Editors Recommendations