Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 stress test is now underway, and it's a good thing it is, because it's helping Larian do a proper Penguins Of Madagascar 'You didn't see anything' regarding its accidental brief early deployment of the update on PS5 last night.As the studio revealed last year, Patch 8 is the final major update for BG3, bringing a heap of things like crossplay, a photo mode, and 12 new subclasses - with the latter including the likes of a College of Glamour bard, bladesinging wizards, and drunken master monks - to the game.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Registration for this stress testing of it opened up in December last year. You should now know if you're in or not, and be able to hop in and try some crossplay if you were.If you're on PC or PS5, you should have an email from Larian with your game code and details on how to access the stress test, while those who registered through the Xbox Insider Programme should now have access to the application they'll need through the Xbox Insider Hub. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.The studio's put together a nice video on how to get started With cross-play for those taking part on the test, with it reccomending that a console player hosts the cross-play lobby if you're wanting to play with someone on PC, and that modded lobbies for PC players are hosted by a PC person who's got less than 100 mods installed, with that load order only containing mods with the 'Available on Mac and Console' tag.So, there you go. If you're a PS5 player who downloaded Patch 8 when it accidentally went live on the platform yesterday due to what Larian says was due to a mix-up with its partners in some regions in relation to the stress test kicking off, you'll need to return to the Patch 7 version by totally uninstalling and reinstalling BG3.If you stick with what you've updated to, you'll be in for a world of inconveniences when it comes to new saves becoming unusable, mods potentially playing up, and even possibly some performance issues. Trust me, it likely ain't worth it just to be able boast about being an early adopter.Don't pout, there's plenty to do while you wait for patch 8 to properly drop if you've had to revert or missed out on the test. For example you can read this interview we did the other day with some of the modders behind an ambitious BG3 custom campaign that's aiming to release a playable demo later this year.

Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo LifeWelcome to the latest instalment in our nostalgia-inducing column, Memory Pak, where we deep-dive into some of the most memorable moments in gaming good and bad.Today, to mark the 25th anniversary of Resident Evil 2's N64 launch in Japan, Ollie reflects on a curious short comic book story that, against all logic, made him sympathise with a Tyrant...I feel rather fortunate that my time at primary and high school was mostly made up of happy memories. I distinctly remember days in which I would sit on the playground steps with my friends, swapping Pokmon cards, linking up our Game Boy Colors, and discussing the impending launch of the GameCube and how excited we were to play the likes of Luigis Mansion and Super Monkey Ball.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube794kWatch on YouTube Throughout those years, although my circle of friends could certainly be described as 'the nerds' or 'the outcasts', I was never the sole target for school bullies. In fact, I was probably one of the most average individuals in my year; the perfect student to be enrolled at Danganronpas Hopes Peak Academy, you might say. We were mostly targeted as a group, so wed have stones hurled at us on the playground (though from a long enough distance that the bullies could make an argument that any potential injury would have been accidental) and be subtly pushed into the walls of the schools corridors.I got by, though. It was thankfully never egregious enough to completely derail my enjoyment of school; something that, unfortunately, isnt the case for many youngsters these days. The friendship I had with my peers always outweighed any potential hardships endured, and Ill forever be thankful for their consistent presence.Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo LifeDespite this, when I picked up the final issue of the Official Resident Evil Comic Book in Spring 1999, I felt an immediate sense of empathy for the main character of a short story called ... And The Last Shall Be First.Written by Kris Oprisko and pencilled by Lee Bermejo, it told the tale of a high school student called Dexter Whitlam, a flourishing academic whose sublime intellect was nurtured at the prestigious Pine Grove Academy. What should have been the most formative time of his life, however, is derailed on a daily basis by three vicious bullies: Kelly Thornedike, Wade Boddington III, and Todd Umbenhauer.Now, in hindsight, I think its safe to say that Dexter is (spoilers!) actually the main villain of the piece. They say that success is the best form of revenge, and Dexter does indeed fantasise of a future in which the bullies, having exhausted their families wealth, come crawling to his feet as a revered scientist.Yet Dexters instinctual reaction to his daily abuse is to swear physical violence against his tormentors, even exclaiming Im gonna kill them! in front of his friend, Ruthie. As you might expect in a story based on Resident Evil, he eventually follows through on his threat with aplomb.Images: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo LifeFollowing another day of wedgies and broken spectacles, Dexter sneaks to a nearby warehouse where he witnesses scientific equipment being unloaded from a lorry. After making his way into the building, he stumbles upon a large water tank containing a variation of the Tyrant from the Spencer Mansion incident. Rather than leg it back out in fear, however, he notices a vial of the G-Virus and decides to take it for himself. You see where this is going?Yep, he injects himself with it, immediately mutating into a monstrous Tyrant with giant claws and a perpetual grinning mouth dripping with foam.He proceeds to track down the school bullies, first impaling Boddington III from behind before disembowling Umbenhauer and hurling him headfirst into a vending machine. When he locates Thornedike, Dexters friend Ruthie attempts to appeal to the humanity within Dexter. Yet none remains.Killing Thornedike, Dexter turns on Ruthie, but before he can strike, a pair of Umbrella agents electrocute him from afar, rendering him unconscious.Images: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo LifeSome time later, Dexter awakens in a hospital bed, having returned to his human form. The Umbrella agents explain that they have learned of his intellect and, impressed with his transformation and subsequent rampage, offer him a place at the company, completely unfettered by ethical restrictions. Dexter, though seemingly bandaged from head to toe, recreates the Tyrants monstrous grin as the story ends.I feel quite embarrassed now that I felt such empathy toward such a horrendous character when I first read this story in 1999. Yet at the time, having gone through my own experiences of bullying alongside my close friends (with more to come in subsequent years), gazing at the panels as Dexter enacts his revenge was oddly cathartic, and I rooted for him. I was always raised to not deal with conflicts through violence, and for all my 35 years, Ive stuck to this rule through and through. Yet Id be lying if I said that Thornedike, Boddington III, and Umbenbauers grisly fates didnt elicit a small sense of satisfaction.Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo LifeI still have those exact Resident Evil comics from when I was a kid (apart from the elusive and exceedingly expensive Issue 1), and I partially credit them, alongside R.L. Stine's original Goosebumps run, with nurturing my ongoing passion for all things horror. I probably wouldn't be quite so obsessed with Resident Evil if it weren't for Oprisko's story of revenge, so despite its dark themes, I am forever thankful for it. Switch 2 release when?"2005... I'll never forget it"Related GamesSee AlsoShare:01 Nintendo Lifes resident horror fanatic, when hes not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesMultiple Resident Evil Titles Might Be Getting A Next-Generation RefreshSwitch 2 release when?Feature: Biggest Nintendo Gaming Anniversaries Of 202557 games with big birthdays this year

Image: EAThe first two Sims games are still exceedingly well-regarded these days, but sadly, actually gaining access to them in a legitimate way isn't particularly easy. The first was a disc-only jobby, and the second has long-since been removed from digital platforms.Thankfully, with a new report from Kotaku (thanks, Push Square) accompanying an intriguing tease from EA itself, it looks like The Sims and The Sims 2 will be re-released on PC very soon. The catch? Well, according to Kotaku's sources, it seems as though a console release is still "unclear" at the time of writing.Of course, we're thrilled that these games will once again be easily accessible for PC users (presuming the reports are correct, of course), but we'd also love to see them on the Switch.Better yet, let's hold off until the Switch 2 and make use of the console's heavily-rumoured mouse functionality in its Joy-Con controllers. That would no doubt make the games an absolute joy to play.Whatever happens, we'll keep an eye on the news over the coming days and will let you know if these games are indeed confirmed for the Switch or Switch 2. Ready for action?Flexing that backward compatibilityWould you like to see the first two Sims games on the Switch or Switch 2? Let us know with a comment down below.[source kotaku.com, via pushsquare.com]Share:01 Nintendo Lifes resident horror fanatic, when hes not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesEA Sports FC 25 Partially Blamed For EA's Lowered Financial Forecast"the franchise experienced a slowdown"

Waymo robotaxis have become a common sight on Los Angeles surface streets. Now, those driverless vehicles are heading to the citys network of freeways. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle technology company said Tuesday it will begin testing its fleet of robotaxis on the Los Angeles freeway system, including Interstates 10, 110, 405, and the 90. These robotaxis will not have a human safety operator behind the wheel. Waymo will follow the same testing-to-commercial service path as it has done in other areas. The company will first invite employees to access driverless vehicles on LA freeways and will eventually open it up to the public. Image credits: WaymoUnlocking freeways is key to Waymos business success, particularly in sprawling cities of Phoenix and Los Angeles, where it operates today. Customers may be more likely to opt for a Waymo over another ride-hailing service or taxi if the robotaxi can take the shortest possible route which is oftentimes accessed via freeway. For instance, Waymo said that taking a trip from Santa Monica Pier to the Broad can be 50% faster by taking Interstate 10.Waymo has had a presence in Los Angeles since 2019, periodically coming in to map neighborhoods, including downtown, Miracle Mile, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Westwood, and West Hollywood. In 2022, thecompany announcedLos Angeles would be one of its next commercial markets, following Phoenix and San Francisco.Waymo received approval in March 2024 from the the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a commercial robotaxi service in Los Angeles as well expanded territory in the Bay Area that included the San Francisco Peninsula and San Francisco freeways.

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech!This week were looking at the story behind the sale of Divvy Homes, Ramps new product, some notable fundraising deals, and more!To get a roundup of TechCrunchs biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here.The big storyImage Credits:Divvy Homes / CEO and co-founder Adena HefetsLast week, real estate fintech Divvy Homes announced that it was selling to Brookfield Properties for a total consideration of about $1 billion. At its height in 2021, the rent-to-own startup was valued at over $2 billion. On the surface, the outcome didnt seem terrible, given the number of proptech companies that have shut down (most recently, EasyKnock) altogether in recent years. However, digging deeper, we realized that the deal wasnt really so rosy for many shareholders. Because Divvy had taken out so much debt, including a $735 million debt financing in October of 2021, most of that $1 billion was going toward paying that back as well as funding transaction costs and liquidation preference to preferred shareholders. CEO and co-founder Adena Hefets stated in a letter to stakeholders viewed by TechCrunch that common shareholders nor holders of the Series FF preferred stock would not receive any consideration. Ouch. No doubt Divvy was hurt by interest rates surging in 2022, but it had other problems too. There were a variety of complaints alleging that the company was not maintaining its properties and/or was evicting people while also charging higher-than-market rate rents. Was it a fire sale or not? Guess that depends on who you ask. But even Hefets herself admitted she was not proud of the financial outcome.Dollars and centsImage Credits:JarDespite the recent turbulence in the space, some proptechs are still getting cash. Founded by a Better.com alum, Foyer a platform that helps consumers save for down payments, essentially acting as a 401(k) for homeownership announced a $6.2 million seed round led by Alpaca VC and Hometeam Ventures.Indian fintech Jar has turned cash-flow positive, an executive at the Tiger Global-backed startup confirmed on January 22. The 3-year-old startup, which offers savings and investment services to consumers, achieved the milestone while still growing by more than 10 times last year, according to an investor note seen by TechCrunchs Manish Singh.On January 22, Ramp announced a new treasury product that would give its customers a way to earn more on operating cash. I talked to CEO and co-founder Eric Glyman to get all the details. When I asked him if it was accurate to say Ramp was encroaching on digital bank territory with the new product, he acknowledged that was a fair assessment.After pivoting from crypto to payroll, Rollfi is being acquired by Priority Tech Ventures, a unit of the publicly traded payments and banking tech provider Priority Technology Holdings, for an undisclosed amount.Vertice, a London-based startup that operates an AI-powered SaaS spend platform, raised $50 million at a reported $500 million valuation. Ingrid Owen gives us the scoop.Visa has joined African fintech Moniepoint as a new investor. Sources close to the deal told Tage Kene-Okafor that the fintech which announced a $110 million investment last October received over $10 million from Visa.Austin-based Method, a platform that powers debt and debt-repayment features in fintech applications for companies such as SoFi, raised a $41.5 million Series B round led by Emergence Capital.What else were writingImage Credits:David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty ImagesFintech giant Stripe is laying off 300 people, according to a leaked memo reported on January 21 by Business Insider, but still plans to hire in 2025.Indonesias antitrust agency KPPU fined GoogleTheres an interesting connection betweenMistral, the French AI startup with a $6 billionvaluation, andAlan, a health insurance unicorn. Romain Dillet gives us the details.More startups shut down in 2024 than the year prior, according to multiple sources, and thats not really a surprise considering the insane number of companies that were funded in 2020 and 2021. It appears were not nearly done, and 2025 could be another brutal year of startups shutting down. Read my deep dive, which includes data from Carta and AngelList.Payroll platform Deel denies charges that it enabled money laundering, blames competitor for lawsuitHSBC shuts payments app Zing a year after launchAndreessen Horowitz closes UK office, pivots back to US crypto marketClutch secures $65M Series B funding to propel credit unions into the fintech eraThanks for reading! Until next week follow me on X @bayareawriter for breaking fintech news, posts about coffee, and more.

Chaos has just announced the launch of V-Ray 7 for Maya and V-Ray 7 for Houdini, with new features that accelerate everything from fast 3D environment creation to production shading, so artists can render anything to feature-film standards.V-Ray 7 continues our commitment to providing visual effects artists with the latest creative possibilities and productivity enhancements, said Phillip Miller, Vice President Product, Solutions for Artists at Chaos. This new release enables filmed locations to be included as CG environments in minutes while speeding general production throughout many important areas.V-Ray 7 introduces native support for ray-traced Gaussian Splats, allowing artists to place CG scenes within highly detailed virtual environments created from captured video, which can then be reflected and accept shadows.A new firefly removal algorithm automatically detects and finishes unresolved pixels, known as fireflies, during bucket rendering, greatly reducing the time needed to produce final images. The Open Image Denoiser has also been updated for further image enhancement. Using a new prefilter pass, artists can see improved detail retention during denoiser for sharper, cleaner images without extra work. V-Ray GPU includes numerous improvements in V-Ray 7 for Maya and Houdini, including far faster time to first pixel, made possible by new optimizations for scattering, texture-heavy scenes, data uploads and geometry compilations. New Caustics support enables realistic surface reflections and refractions in both production and interactive rendering, while out-of-core textures help artists add incredible detail to their texture-heavy scenes, without sacrificing shading quality.V-Ray GPU also has an enhanced algorithm for more efficient caching of bitmaps between animation frames, further speeding up the animation rendering process sometimes by up to 50%. Finally, V-Ray GPU can now run up to 3x faster on MacBooks with its new Metal support.V-Ray 7 for Maya Features:OpenPBR Support Using V-Rays new OpenPBR Material mode, which matches an emerging shading standard developed by Autodesk and Adobe, artists will have to make fewer manual adjustments when switching between compatible renderers and applications.New Layering Scheme Artists can now easily create effects like neon lights, dusty lacquered wood, peach fuzz and more without Blend materials, using a new OpenPBR-compliant layering scheme.Enhanced Sheen Layer Creating velvet, satin, silk and dusty woods with convincing realism is now much easier using the updated Sheen Layers soft reflections while in the V-Ray Material OpenPBR mode.Extended USD support V-Ray 7 for Maya now supports the latest official version of MayaUSD 0.30.0, enabling the latest support for custom pipelines.V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB) Upgrades The VFB has been expanded to help users do more in one place. New custom-shaped render regions enable artists to render one, or many parts of their frame with custom-drawn shapes. A vignette layer post effect is now included that can also be customized by shape. The VFB also gains new color-correction presets that help users quickly explore different looks as they refine their design.V-Ray Luminaires The ever-expanding Chaos Cosmos asset library now brings more speed and accuracy to lighting fixtures, accurately distributing their light and properly illuminating the fixtures. Most of the light fixtures within Chaos Cosmos are now Luminaires in V-Ray 7, making it easier to populate scenes with realistic lighting while also rendering final results more quickly. V-Ray 7 for Houdini Features:New Volume Shader Preview Artists can now begin using the new V-Ray Volume Shader, a much requested feature that creates/renders volumetrics like clouds, smoke and fluids up to 6x faster than before. In this initial implementation, users can build shading graphs to craft complex shaders and customize their effects. Light select support is provided for creative control over volumetrics when compositing. Additional volume rendering capabilities will be announced in the coming months.Extended MaterialX Support Artists can now create and render most MaterialX procedural textures, including noises, patterns and various randomization options.Easier Toon Shading Stylized, non-photorealistic renders can now be created with minimal effort using the redesigned toon shading workflow in V-Ray for Solaris. With easier setups, artists can spend more time being creative.Chaos Cosmos in Solaris V-Ray for Solaris now offers access to the Chaos Cosmos library, helping artists populate their environments with thousands of render-ready 3D assets for rapid world building.Copernicus Support V-Ray for Solaris now supports Copernicus, a powerful procedural texturing tool, providing greater flexibility while working with V-Ray.Yeti Cache Support Third-party plugin support extends to the Yeti 3D hair and fur system. Artists can now render Yeti cache files in Solaris with the new V-Ray Yeti node, enabling seamless integrations of their grooming work from other DCCs like Maya.Pricing and AvailabilityV-Ray 7 for Maya and V-Ray 7 for Houdini are available now for Windows, MacOS and Linux. All V-Ray subscription plans include all supported host applications, which include Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp and Blender. Pricing can be found on the Chaos website.Source: Chaos Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.

InterviewsMufasa The Lion King: Adam Valdez (Production VFX Supervisor) & Audrey Ferrara (VFX Supervisor) MPCBy Vincent Frei - 28/01/2025 Adam Valdez first walked us through the visual magic made by MPC on The Jungle Book in 2016. After continuing his journey with The Lion King, he has stayed in the Pride Lands to unveil the story behind Mufasa: The Lion King.Starting her career in 2005 with Mikros Image (now MPC), Audrey Ferrara gained experience at various studios, including BUF, before becoming part of the MPC team in 2011. Her impressive portfolio includes work on Avatar, Prometheus, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King.How was the collaboration with the Director Barry Jenkins?Adam Valdez (AV): Barry is a great all-around person and creative spirit to work with. He has a great compass to follow, and is always open to what the film is trying to become in its own way, while holding onto what its about for him and ultimately, the audience. This was a four-year journey starting at the end of the pandemic, so we went through a lot together.How did you organize the work with your VFX Producer?AV: Barry St. John and I have made a few films together now, and so we have a lot of common language and understanding of process. We talked a lot at the start about how to get out of the films way and keep everything as supportive and adaptable as we could. These are big shows with many forces at play, including technical challenges, and the desire by all to make sure were giving the film anything it needs. So, we spend a lot of time each week looking at progress, process, and whats happening at all levels. Barry is a great partner in this, keeping his ear to the ground, so that I can daydream a bit and also focus on what is happening in any given room Im in. Its a great partnership.Adam, having worked on The Jungle Book and The Lion King, what were the biggest creative and technical challenges in bringing Mufasa to life compared to your previous projects?AV: This shows challenges were mostly scope and emotional connection. The film is bigger than some of the others weve done, with more types of worlds to build, and a bigger cast. Then, we needed to push what emotional impact a lions face could do, while making our toolset detail and subtlety. We are actually more naturalistic in our lion models this time, and yet I think we get more range and dexterity from them.Audrey, MPC is one of the leader in digital character creation. How did the team approach the design and animation to ensure Mufasas characters were expressive yet believable?Audrey Ferrara (AF): For Mufasa, MPC wanted to push the bar even higher, so the character LAB team poured all their efforts into sculpting way more details on the model, but also having way more hair in the fur. We also developed a new fur shader that would replicate the properties of hair more physically accurately. The rigging has been also a key component in allowing the animators in exploring the emotions of the characters, and see where they could push further the shapes, or stay subtle in the facial expressions. The animation team spent countless hours in scanning references of real lions, so they would know what felt natural and what was too extreme of a movement.Can you walk us through the pipeline for creating and animating one of the main characters in Mufasa? What are the steps from concept to final render?AF: What was very particular for this movie, is the fact that we are reconnecting with characters that we already know but at a different age. So we had to make sure we would keep what makes Mufasa Mufasa. Taka was very interesting, because we had to convey his physical change and his demeanor throughout the story.Mark Friedberg, the production designer, provided us with the 2D concept art, that we translated in 3D. Animation, driven by Dan Fotheringham, the animation supervisor, would then take the model, and do some performance tests, exploring the movements of young cheerful Taka, to gloomy vengeful Scar.Those tests would be presented to Barry and Disney, making sure we would be on track. Once Barry was happy, the animators would proceed working on the sequences, fine tuning the performances for each sequence of the movie, key-framing each single shot, and thats what was handed over to tech anim, who would simulate muscles and fur.Were there any new challenges in animating animals in more emotionally charged or complex scenes? How did you find the balance between photorealism and storytelling?AF: Its always a balancing act, and a difficult one. But Barry Jenkins is a fantastic director, very tuned in emotions, so he was a great guide for the ton of each scene. The animators were also able to explore the performances by trying versions more subtle or more pronounced, and Barry would tell them if it felt too much or not enough. It was by trying that we would find the balance, some times more emphasizing the photorealism of the animals, and sometimes putting the needs of the storytelling has the priority. Some scenes were a challenge in that regard that we would have to communicate emotions very subtly, and with no words, like when Mufasa and Eshe are coming back from the outsiders attack: a lot was said between Taka and Mufasa, without a word.How did you develop the fur simulation for Mufasa? Did you introduce any innovations compared to what was done for The Lion King?AF: For Mufasa, MPC developed a new fur pipeline called LOMA. It allowed the team to have more fur, better control of the curves of the hair, and more precise simulations. The different weather conditions throughout the movie resulted in new challenges for the techanim team: drenched fur, snow covered fur, close ups of lions fighting with their manes interacting with each other etc.. For example, there is a close up shot of Mufasas ear, and he tells about what he can feel through the wind. Suddenly, the fur simulation is the story of that shot, so we had to make sure the team was able to deliver what Barry was after. LOMA allowed the team to provide better techanim performances.For scenes with multiple animals interacting, how did you ensure the characters felt natural and the physics realistic without overwhelming the viewer?AV: Our show animation supervisor Dan Fotheringham is a master of animal behaviour and bio-mechanics. We work from on-stage human capture for the blocking, but that gets replaced with keyframed animation in post, and at that juncture the anim team will use a range of sources including their own performances and lots of animal reference. It all stems from the voice, what its making you feel as sub-text in the characters emotional moment, and you seek what reinforces that, rather than something broad and cartoony. The physicality of performance shouldnt step on these things, but support them, and this is tricky when they are doing athletic things.From a design perspective, what steps were taken to distinguish characters visually while keeping them within the same photorealistic world?AF: We maintained a family tree, where we could see all the lions, and how they were related to each other. With the support of the art work from art department, we kept a close eye how the models were evolving during the modeling phase, and made sure we could tell who is who. Sometimes, we would notice that 2 lions were very similar looking, so we would work on ways to differentiate them, with details such has eye colours, scars, markings etc.Did you face any creative or technical hurdles in portraying Mufasa as a younger version of the lion we know? How did you strike the right balance of familiarity and freshness?AF: For the lions that were already present in The Lion King, we actually started with the model of their skulls from their adult selves, and de-aged them, so we could keep the same psychical structure of the bones. We also maintained the colour palette used for each one of them: Mufasa is slightly more saturated orange, and Scar is more taupe for example. It was the same process with their eye colours. After gathering all the elements that were particular to them, we then started working on the bodies, adjusting the muscles for the appropriate age, and the length of the mane, to make it adequate for a teenager lion. We would constantly go back to the references of adult Mufasa, to make sure we were going in the right direction.Adam, since The Lion King, how have VFX tools evolved, particularly in terms of character animation and virtual production?AV: It hasnt actually been that long between films! Our main pivot was to use Unreal Engine, which gave us a lot of support from Epic, and increased photographic behaviour for our DP James Laxton to work with. MPC has developed a suite of tools on top of UE, and is using that know-how to bring more UE into life at MPC. Thats what I think is what were going to be seeing: more of the virtual-production mindset and creative flux being brought into the early phases of post. Its time to see some significant changes in how visual effects companies work, and this is a good point of leverage for MPC to differentiate and keep changing the game. Its exciting.Can you share how advances in real-time rendering or virtual production technology impacted your workflow on Mufasa?AV: Realtime is all about enabling rapid choice-making. It provides the feedback we take for granted in the real world. You swing a light, you move the camera, you change the staging, and you get more than a flat-grey proxy of what may some day feel like a movie. Instead, you get something that feels photographic. The depth-of-field, the atmos, the way the lights fall on the subject, all complement the choice youre making about where to work and how to frame up, and how the shot communicates. Then you add in how Unreal can input many devices and interface with a stage-setting, and its just a great combo.Machine learning and AI are becoming increasingly present in VFX workflows. Did these tools play a role in Mufasa, particularly for animation or rendering tasks?AV: We do use some machine-learning tools in the pipeline, but these are drop-in roles at the moment. For example de-noising using Disneys toolset is now well understood and worked well for us. We are obviously seeing ML being used today in a variety of deepfake situations, and in upstream steps like ideation for design. Like everyone else in the world, our industry is actively experimenting and challenging ourselves, but for Mufasa, it wasnt a major player.From both a creative and technological standpoint, where do you see the future of photorealistic VFX storytelling heading after Mufasa?AV: Mufasa is a big movie with insanely high levels of artistry. Companies like Disney and MPC exist to bring such great works into being, but its clear right now that the whole entertainment industry is recalibrating after some years of foundational change. Mufasa is one example of how the VFX industry rises to the challenge of realising anything you can imagine. Every pixel of it, for the entire length of the film. What we need to do as an industry is keep honing the toolsets and how we scale what we do, so that we can continue making such amazing feats of human ingenuity, on budgets that make sense, to keep connecting to audiences who love this stuff.Looking back on the project, what aspects of the visual effects are you most proud of?AV: Its just a beautiful film that also draws you in emotionally. Thats the achievement that all of the visual effects and digital wizardry accomplish. Its why I do it and what Im proud of.Which sequence or shot was the most challenging?AV: The flood when Mufasa is still a cub. Process wise, the staging was quite complex and it took time to support the editorial process while keeping some structure to the work so that we could go fast in post and plus it further. Water behaviour was critical to each cut, so making sure camera, edit, effects and character animation were in lock-step at all times was a lot of work for the MPC teams.Is there something specific that gives you some really short nights?AV: My only real worry is time. When you work on a film for a while, and youve put so much into all aspects of it, on a given scene you realize one day: okay, Ive only got a few weeks left to get this to full potential, because I have to move on and I dont want to impact other scenes. Thats the only major stressor.What is your favorite shot or sequence?AV: For me there are two big moments I love. The first is the stretch between the boys becoming teens and the fight in the grass, and the second is Takas big song as he charges through the snow. They show the range of the film and both combine photography and acting in ways where Im just in the movie.What is your best memory on this show?Sitting in the DI suite, seeing the movie almost like an audience for the first time. You see each shot hundreds of times, but one day all the burn-ins are off, and youre sitting in a room in the dark, and our colorist Alex Bickel has the film and is driving, and you are just watching passages go by And you just start watching it with his new layer of artistry on top and amazingly you can actually start to see it with fresh eyes, and its quite fun.How long have you worked on this show?AF: I started on the show December 2020, and finish delivering it November 2024. So almost 4 years filled with roaring lions!Whats the VFX shots count?AF: We delivered 1476 final shotsWhat is your next project?We are resting! ?A big thanks for your time.WANT TO KNOW MORE?MPC: Dedicated page about Mufasa: The Lion King on MPC website. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

Mountbatten House, a 1973 office complex by Peter Foggo, is renowned in the U.K. for its draped terraces flush with greenery. The Miesian bulwark in Basingstoke, Hampshire and its gardensknown colloquially as the hanging gardens of Basingstokewas recentlyrestored, albeit under a new name: Plant, a fitting title given its corporate program and overflow of gardens. Foggo, a former project leader at Arup, designed Mountbatten House with acclaimed landscape architect James Russell as the headquarters for a paper manufacturer, Wiggins Teape. Its very much of its time, perhaps reminiscent of Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloos Oakland Museum, namely that California institutions Babylonian qualities.The buildings and expansive gardens were each listed by English Heritage in 2015. After Mountbatten House was listed, were subsequently brought on to reimagine the complex as a sustainable work space equipped for the 21st centurys needs.The former office building was occupied by a paper manufacturer for decades and again a commercial workspace . (Andy Stagg)Plant is a new mixed-use development backed by William Laxton of Mactaggart Family & Partners. Its positioned to become an economic driver for Hampshire, the project team said. It offers 210,000 square feet of office and amenity space stocked with a cafe, gym, shower and changing rooms, bike storage, and a multipurpose area. The architects managed to retain much of the old complexs midcentury elements which make it so appealing, but there were prominent interventions that needed to be made. Mechanical systems were upgraded, access to the gardens and roof terraces were improved, and climate-resilient vegetation was introduced to the site.A Collaborative AffairOur work focused on preserving the unique character of Foggos original design while creating a framework that balances function with environmental responsibility, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios partner Ian Taylor said in a statement. Plant now stands as a benchmark for retrofitting and regeneration, a space where people and nature thrive in harmony, embodying the values we strive for in every project.The building is organized around an expansive, terraced garden. (Andy Stagg)Martin Knight, a director at Studio Knight Stokoe, added that Plant was about redefining what a workspace can be.Here, the connection between people and nature isnt an afterthought, Knight offered, its at the core of everything. The team has used regenerative and biophilic design principles to create beautiful environments that support wellbeing, in every sense.Water features are installed in the courtyard. (Andy Stagg)The architects redesigned and expanded the building entrances reception area. This was meant to enhance the arrival experience and establish a stronger visual connection with the refurbished gardens layered on the commercial buildings six stories. The complex now has double-height spaces that offer cavernous vertical connections between floors, increasing openness and natural light access. An impressive, sculptural helical staircase guides visitors inwards.Thousands of new plants and dozens of new trees were planted, as part of the renovation project. (Andy Stagg)Outdoors, more than 22,500 new plants and 86 new trees were introduced. The garden, designers said, was meant to be informal, elaborate, romantic, overflowing, and tumbling.Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios shepherded the project through planning approval and the listing process. That studio stayed on to help monitor planning through construction. Twelve Architects then completed later stages of architectural design, including some variations that had to be approved.Inside the floor plates are expansive with floor-to-ceiling windows that flood in natural light. (Andy Stagg)A typical staircase inside the office complex. (Andy Stagg)This project provided a unique opportunity to not only preserve the legacy of Peter Foggo and James Russell but also to enhance it for future generations, Keith French, a director at Grant Associates, shared. By prioritizing nature, wellbeing, and sustainability, as a team weve created an environment that reflects the changing needs of the modern workplace while staying true to the building and gardens pioneering spirit.Robert Shannon, an associate director at Twelve Architects & Masterplanners, said the project team anticipates achieving Outstanding certification per BREEAM requirements.

As with Pure Storages research and development (R&D) efforts, its final product assembly also rests on a three-site system. Flash arrays put together at regional sites two in Texas and one in Czechia cater for regional demand. We visited its European assembly location in Pardubice, Czechia, to see how it works.Pure occupies a small part of a site run by Taiwanese contract manufacturing giant Foxconn, which is Czechias second largest exporter after Skoda and employs 4,500 people in the country.Its relationship with Pure stretches back 10 years at the Pardubice site, which is built in part of a former Tesla (the Czech electronics company) factory that dates to 1964. The facility covers a vast area devoted to Pure Storage FlashArray and FlashBlade assembly, of which 30 and four are produced per shift respectively.Pures Pardobice operation forms one third of its global assembly capacity, with arrays made to order on a lead time of less than two weeks from customer order to fulfilment. The plant also produces upgrade components for customers on the Evergreen subscription model, as well as replacement units. Ordinarily, it runs only one eight-hour shift, but can take up the slack from Pures other two facilities should the need arise, as part of its business continuity/disaster recovery provision, by running three shifts.Components come in as sub-assemblies, such as controllers and power supplies, and components, such as central processing units and memory, from plants in Vietnam, Mexico and the US, by air. China is not on the supplier list, says Pure Storage supply chain manager Jiri erny, or at least it wont be soon.Were working to have zero from China, because of the geo-political situation, he says.Production is almost just-in-time, says erny, referring to the tight timescales used to deliver components directly to production. In Pures case, a larger warehouse on the Foxconn site thousands of pallets worth but some distance away holds stocks of parts that are delivered to the assembly area twice a shift, with two days worth held there.Work in the facility runs on lean manufacturing principles, and the kind of upstream-downstream information flows that implies.Six Sigma and lean are built-in to make sure we learn from mistakes, says erny. Its OK to make mistakes, but stupid to do it twice or three times.Shopfloor staff are not skilled, says erny, but he is keen to emphasise they know the job well and are valued. And its an environment with strict controls on static electricity owing to the risk to damage to componentry.They are mostly women, he says. I think thats good. They are sensitive. They know the value of the product. We have long retention periods theyve been here years and are multi-level operators that know every [assembly] station. Six Sigma and lean are built-in to make sure we learn from mistakes. Its OK to make mistakes, but stupid to do it twice or three times Jiri erny, Pure StorageTheyre even so experienced that they can work directly with the engineers and give good feedback, adds erny.Production is tightly monitored, with component and assembly barcodes tracked through their production lifecycle. Assembly staff work to instruction manuals viewed via on-bench monitors. Not because they dont know their work well enough, but because it constantly changes as equipment configurations change due to feedback received from the field.Each workstation is monitored by CCTV, not to keep an eye on staff, says erny, but to provide evidence if damage or faults are discovered down the line.We can see who built what, and when, and whether anything went wrong, with processes monitored matched to parts serial numbers, says erny. So, if something happens, we can say it is not at the Foxconn site. Weve had cases where there has been damage and have proved it didnt happen here.After assembly, arrays go through rigorous testing, for general base configuration (vanilla) and customer-specified configurations (chocolate). The plant runs a constant temperature of 24C to mimic datacentre temperatures, while there are also 35C burn in chambers where hardware is stress tested beyond temperatures normally encountered.This happens to all FlashBlade arrays due to their higher performance levels, and the first 1,000 of any new configuration of an array.At the end of the line, arrays are fully inspected and packaged for shipment to customers.Thats not the end of the story, however. As weve seen, testing of systems built to replicate customer setups can continue for years after at Pures R&D centres. Meanwhile, components and sub-assemblies are also refreshed for those that pay for Pure products via their Evergreen subscription model. All of which, arguably, contributes to lean principles in its operations.Read more about IT in manufacturingAI use cases in manufacturing: Initially slow to adopt digital transformation, manufacturers are recognizing the power of AI technologies as they seek ways to cut costs, boost productivity and improve products.Challenges for manufacturing's digital shift in 2025: Manufacturers will continue digital transformation initiatives in 2025, although some will struggle to make those moves pay off.

Youre a $2.8bn storage supplier with flash arrays at the core of your business. How do you do research and development (R&D), test new products, test customer workload issues, and test array products over years-long timescales for issues that only arise as software, network and application changes concatenate and interact?Meanwhile, you are a global business with R&D and developer teams across time zones, all at work on ongoing monthly and quarterly updates, and incessant efforts to optimise storage controller software.The base product is essentially the same, so effective collaboration and information sharing between teams spread across continents is key. But at the same time, you must also test regional customer-specific array configurations.The Pure Storage solution is to divide responsibility between hardware and software, while also sharing specific R&D and testing capability between three sites.There is Santa Clara in California, which is its global headquarters and handles hardware and software R&D and testing. There is also Bangalore in India, which only carries out software R&D and testing.And there is Prague in Czechia, which recently opened its doors to the IT press. Here, we take a look at what goes on behind the scenes in R&D and product testing at Pure Storage (and its nearby array assembly operation).Capabilities across the three centres are in many ways duplicated, which sounds counter-productive. But its not quite as simple as that, according to engineering vice-president and Pures Prague site leader Paul Melmon.Generally speaking, the same capabilities exist across all sites, except Santa Clara with its hardware development facilities, he says.We try to make projects run autonomously and to minimise cross-time zone meetings, says Melmon, adding that information can be shared globally in other ways, such as in Git repositories.Lots of companies split projects into many pieces and distribute them, says chief technology officer Rob Lee. We choose significant parts of individual products and give them to individual sites, and have product managers for specific products sitting locally.We give a lot of thought to what to centralise and what to not, says Melmon. We have rules of engagement that aim at communications that can minimise the number of meetings.As mentioned, Pures Prague site is dedicated to software research, development and testing. It runs thousands of ongoing and custom test routines on hundreds of racks of software. These are divided into persistent and non-persistent testing, says engineering manager Tom Healy.Non-persistent is ephemeral. It tests for issues in specific customer deployment configurations, or the impact of updates on controller code.Persistent testing is long-term. It can be very long-term, in fact, with racks in place with, for example, generation upon generation of Pure Storage FlashBlade file and object storage deployed.Sometimes things can take years to occur, says Healy.Our testbeds include, for example, FlashBlade capacity that dates back to the first generation [2016], some virtualisation, and a Windows application platform. All of this will run for years, to follow the lifecycle of customer systems and to test for the effect of changes to software and hardware, and its stability, says Healy.And, FlashBlade uses Ethernet, so we are checking what happens when changes happen in the workload, simulation of new cabling, media, hitting it with broadcast storms, simulating signal degradation, etc, he adds.Meanwhile, at the Prague facility, hundreds of engineers work constantly on storage array software to meet ongoing monthly and quarterly updates.Pures Prague R&D facility has just celebrated its five-year anniversary. It is resident in the Amazon building (no relation) and others in the riverside Karlin district. There it employs 600 people 50% Czech, 50% from elsewhere with up to 50 nationalities on-site.Prague was chosen as a European centre because of its proximity to so many of Pures customers, but also, says Melmon, because of the availability of talent. Its on a level with Silicon Valley, he says, and its accessibility in terms of transport links, universities, graduates in computer science, cost of living and general likeability of the city.Speaking of the River City complex in which Pure is located, Melmon describes it as having a South of Market feel, referring to the fashionable area of San Francisco that became a honeypot for startups in the 1990s. Its the place to be if youre in tech and AI [artificial intelligence]. There are meetups in the evening. Its the cool new place to be in Prague.But its not just a cool place to work and live. Melmon points to the 19.7% figure, which is the proportion of revenue Pure spends on R&D.Prague is the biggest Pure Storage R&D centre outside the US and has delivered about a third of its FlashArray product development. Meanwhile, FlashBlade//S was jointly designed and tested there, while key elements of the Pure Fusion workload management platform and its Pure1 AIOps were developed in the Czech capital. Meanwhile, 100% of Portworx Data Services and Pures disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) offering came from there too.Thats the result, with Prague as a key pillar in the three-site R&D and testing strategy of Pure Storage.Nearby, also in Czechia, is one of its global assembly centres, which you can read about here.Read more about flash storageStorage technology explained flash vs HDD: In this guide, we examine the differences between flash storage and HDD, the rise of NVMe and much denser formats such as QLC, and whether or not flash will vanquish HDD in the all-flash datacentre.Flash prices drop as drive production increases but demand lags: Flash prices were high in the early part of this year as a result of manufacturer production squeezes but have since dropped because demand has been slack, with flash now costing just under 10 cents per gigabyte.