Thursday, March 20th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerUnity unveils its 2025 product roadmaphtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Unity Technologies has unveiled its 2025 roadmap for Unity, its game engine and real-time renderer, during a session at this weeks Game Developers Conference.Unity 6.1, due out next month, gets improvements to rendering, including a new Deferred+ rendering path in the Universal Render Pipeline, and support for Variable Rate Shading.Subsequent Unity 6.x releases will feature a new automated Mesh LOD system, an experimental new animation system, and updates to the physics system and UI Toolkit.Future releases presumably those in the Unity 7 series will introduce new generative AI features for generating textured 3D meshes and skyboxes.Unity 6.1: improvements to shading and renderingUnity 6.1, currently in beta, and due for a stable release in April 2025 is primarily a performance- and stability-focused update, although there are a few new features.Those most relevant to artists include a new Deferred+ rendering path in the Universal Render Pipeline, support for Variable Rate Shading, and better DirectX 12 ray tracing performance.You can find more details in our separate story on Unity 6.1.Unity 6.x: New automated Mesh LOD system Features due later in the Unity 6.x series include a new Mesh LOD system.Unity describes it as providing compact automated LOD generation in-editor, making it possible to generate levels of detail for both static and skinned meshes directly inside the Unity Editor, rather than having to configure LOD levels in an external 3D modeling app.Unity 6.x: Preview of new animation systemUnitys new animation system will also be available as an official preview later during the Unity 6.x release cycle.Changes include support for procedural rigging for any skeletal asset, not just characters; and for remapping animations across assets with differing size, proportions and hierarchies.The slide above also namechecks a new animation blending system, with support for per-bone masking and layer blending, and pose correction via a new underlying rig graph.The new animation system will also feature a reworked hierarchical, layered State Machine capable of scaling to thousands of characters. At 32:27 in the video, you can see a demo of a crowd animation with 1,000 characters running in-editor at 30fps, although Unity didnt say what hardware configuration it was running on.Unity 6.x: swappable physics backends, and updates to native Unity physicsChanges to the physics system include a swappable physics backend, making it possible to switch between physics engines in project settings.The slide above mentions initial support for Havok Physics and PhysX, but Bullet Physics and MuJoCo were also namechecked in the presentation. The native Unity Physics system will get new solvers for more complex and reliable behaviors.Unity 6.x: Updates to the UI ToolkitInterface designers get updates to Unitys UI Toolkit.Key changes include the option to render the UI directly in world space, for more immersive XR experiences, and to apply post effects like blur or color shifts.Support for vector graphics will reduce asset file sizes, and enable assets to scale across device screen sizes without loss of visual quality.It will also be possible to modify the ubershader without recreating it, allowing for detailed adjustments to text, graphics and textures through familiar Shader Graph workflows.Unity 6.x and beyond: new generative AI toolsUnity also announced updates to Unity Muse, its in-editor generative AI toolset.Changes include support for video-to-motion as well as text-to-motion for animation, making it possible to generate nuanced animations from smartphone reference footage.There will also be a new library of LoRAs for generating sprites, pre-trained for use cases like icons, props and platformer backgrounds.3D mesh and texture generation and skybox generation are further off: presumably in the Unity 7.x release cycle.New collaboration and programming featuresOther changes covered in the video include new live collaboration features, making it possible to edit files locally and have revisions synced automatically to the cloud.Programmers get improvements to the Entity Component System, the Unity Profiler, and new live game development features, covered in detail in the final section of the video.No mention of the new world-building tools, unified renderer, or Shader Graph 2However, several key upcoming features that Unity had previously announced were not mentioned during the GDC presentation, and will presumably not arrive in 2025.They include updates to the world-building tools, the new unified renderer and Shader Graph 2, all previewed at Unite 2024 last year. You can find more details in this story.Release dates for the Unity 6.x release cycleUnity 6.1 is due for a stable release in April 2025. Unity hasnt confirmed dates for the other Unity 6.x releases, or which of the features previewed at GDC 2025 will be in which release.Read Unitys overview of its 2025 roadmap on its blogHave 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.Latest NewsUnity unveils its 2025 product roadmapFeatures due in Unity this year include in-editor LOD generation, swappable physics backends, and more generative AI tools.Thursday, March 20th, 2025Unity previews Unity 6.1Check out the key artist features in the next version of the game engine, including support for Variable Rate Shading and better DX12 ray tracing.Thursday, March 20th, 2025Character Creator to get new MetaTailor pluginAdd-on will let you send characters from Character Creator to MetaTailor with one-click, fit 3D clothing to them, then send them back to CC4.Wednesday, March 19th, 2025NVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMNew series of pro workstation and laptop GPUs include the 'most powerful desktop GPU ever created'. See its key specs for CG work.Wednesday, March 19th, 20255 key features in Blender 4.4Check out the key changes in the latest version of the open-source 3D app, including important updates to animation and the CPU compositor.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Sketchsoft releases Feather 1.1Promising 3D sketching app for iPad gets time-saving new workflows for Apple Pencil users, including support for haptic feedback.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025More NewsGIMP 3.0 is out after seven years in developmentAdobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Free tool: Lens Cap for BlenderCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProOlder Posts

Thursday, March 20th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerUnity previews Unity 6.1html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Unity has previewed Unity 6.1, the next version of the game engine and real-time renderer.The update, currently available in beta, and due for a stable release next month, is primarily focused on engine performance and stability, although there are a few new features.For artists, key changes include a new Deferred+ rendering path in the Universal Render Pipeline, support for variable-rate shading, and improved DirectX 12 rendering performance.The new features were shown during a session at this weeks Game Developers Conference, the recording of which is available on YouTube.Deferred+ rendering in the URP, and Variable Rate Shading in the URP and HDRPFor artists, Unity 6.1 brings improvements in rendering performance, including a new Deferred+ rendering path in the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) for mobile and web games.It improves performance over the existing Deferred rendering path in complex environments, using advanced cluster-based culling to support more real-time lights.Both the URP and High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) get support for Variable Rate Shading, making it possible to set the shading rate for custom passes, improving performance without significantly affecting visuals.Variable rate shading is supported via Vulkan on Android and PC, via DirectX 12 on Xbox and PC, and on the PlayStation 5 Pro.Improved DirectX 12 rendering performanceDevelopers of Windows and Xbox games also get improvements in DirectX 12 performance, with a new split graphics job threading mode submitting commands to the GPU faster.According to Unity, it leads to a reduction in CPU time of up to 40%.DirectX 12 ray tracing performance has also been improved via Solid Angle Culling, to avoid rendering very small or distant instances, improving CPU performance by up to 60%.There are also a number of more general optimizations, leading to a reduction in ray tracing memory usage of up to 75%.New Project Auditor to troubleshoot project performanceThe other new features primarily affect programmers as opposed to artists.They include a new Project Auditor for static analysis, which analyzes scripts, assets, and projects settings to help identify performance bottlenecks in a project.Build automation is also now integrated into the Unity Editor.Platform changesThere are also changes to platform support, particularly for Android games, including support for the larger 16KB page sizes introduced in Android 15.It is also now possible to match Vulkan graphics configurations to different Android devices, filtering by vendor, brand, product name, and OS, API and driver versions.Developers of extended reality experiences on Android get a number of changes, including integration with key Unity toolsets like AR Foundation and the XR Interaction Toolkit.Unity 6.1 also introduces support for Instant Games on Facebook and Messenger, and WebGPU support for mobile web games.Price, system requirements and release dateUnity 6.1 is currently in public beta. The stable release is due in April 2025. The Unity Editor is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 11.0+ and Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 Linux.Free Personal subscriptions are now available for artists and small studios earning under $200,000/year, and include all of the core features.Pro subscriptions, for mid-sized studios, now cost $2,200/year. Enterprise subscriptions, for studios with revenue over $25 million/year, are priced on demand.Read an overview of the new features in Unity 6.1 on Unitys blogDownload the Unity 6.1 betaHave 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.Latest NewsUnity previews Unity 6.1Check out the key artist features in the next version of the game engine, including support for Variable Rate Shading and better DX12 ray tracing.Thursday, March 20th, 2025Character Creator to get new MetaTailor pluginAdd-on will let you send characters from Character Creator to MetaTailor with one-click, fit 3D clothing to them, then send them back to CC4.Wednesday, March 19th, 2025NVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMNew series of pro workstation and laptop GPUs include the 'most powerful desktop GPU ever created'. See its key specs for CG work.Wednesday, March 19th, 20255 key features in Blender 4.4Check out the key changes in the latest version of the open-source 3D app, including important updates to animation and the CPU compositor.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Sketchsoft releases Feather 1.1Promising 3D sketching app for iPad gets time-saving new workflows for Apple Pencil users, including support for haptic feedback.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025GIMP 3.0 is out after seven years in developmentLong-awaited update to the open-source image editor adds non-destructive layer effects and better interoperability with Photoshop.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025More NewsAdobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Free tool: Lens Cap for BlenderCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariOlder Posts

Wednesday, March 19th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerCharacter Creator to get new MetaTailor pluginhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"3D clothing fitting tool MetaTailor is to get a new integration plugin for Character Creator.The plugin, due out next month, will enable games, VFX and motion graphics artists to send 3D characters from Reallusions character generation app to MetaTailor in one click, fit 3D clothing to them semi-automatically, then transfer the clothed characters back to Character Creator.Streamlining the process of fitting clothing and props to 3D avatarsFirst released in 2023, MetaTailor fits 3D garments to humanoid avatars, making it possible to convert outfits between characters and even between host apps.It imports any 3D wearable, including stock content from online asset stores, and auto-fits it to any bipedal 3D character, intelligently layering and skin-weighting the outfit.Users can refine the results using the softwares sculpt brushes, attach accessories like weapons, then export to DCC applications or game engines in FBX format.New plugin makes transferring characters between CC4 and MetaTailor a one-click processThe new plugin will remove the need to export and re-import files manually: the video above shows a user clicking on a button inside Character Creator to send a 3D character to MetaTailor.After fitting 3D clothing to it, an Export to CC button sends the now-clothed character back.The workflow looks similar to Character Creators other integration plugins, particularly its free plugins for round-tripping 3D characters with ZBrush for editing.Character Creator also has plugins for transferring characters to a number of other DCC applications and game engines, including 3ds Max, Blender, Unity and Unreal Engine.Price, system requirements and release dateThe new MetaTailor Character Creator plugin is due out in April 2025. The price hasnt been announced, but all of the other Character Creator integration plugins are free.MetaTailor itself is available rental-only, although free accounts are available. You can find current system requirements and subscription pricing in this story.New perpetual licences of Character Creator cost $299.Read more about MetaTailor on the product 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.Latest NewsCharacter Creator to get new MetaTailor pluginAdd-on will let you send characters from Character Creator to MetaTailor with one-click, fit 3D clothing to them, then send them back to CC4.Wednesday, March 19th, 2025NVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMNew series of pro workstation and laptop GPUs include the 'most powerful desktop GPU ever created'. See its key specs for CG work.Wednesday, March 19th, 20255 key features in Blender 4.4Check out the key changes in the latest version of the open-source 3D app, including important updates to animation and the CPU compositor.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Sketchsoft releases Feather 1.1Promising 3D sketching app for iPad gets time-saving new workflows for Apple Pencil users, including support for haptic feedback.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025GIMP 3.0 is out after seven years in developmentLong-awaited update to the open-source image editor adds non-destructive layer effects and better interoperability with Photoshop.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Check out the new export features in the VR modeling software. Now available via Adobe's new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025More NewsAdobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Free tool: Lens Cap for BlenderCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2Older Posts

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The GIMP development team has released GIMP 3.0, the first major update to the free and open-source image editing and retouching software in seven years.The release adds non-destructive layer effects and text styling, off-canvas image editing, support for the Adobe RGB color space, and better interoperability with Photoshop.There are also a number of long-awaited usability improvements, including the option to multi-select layers.Support for non-destructive editing of layer adjustmentsThe first major update to the GNU Image Manipulation Program since 2018, GIMP 3.0 is a correspondingly significant release.The main change is support for non-destructive layer effects, making it possible to edit filters and image adjustments like Curves and Hue-Saturation after they have been applied.Adjustments can also be toggled on or off, re-ordered, or merged.Non-destructive (NDE) filters can be saved in GIMPs XCF file format, making it possible to continue to edit layer adjustments after re-opening a file.Non-destructive text outlining and new GEGL Styles filterThe options for styling text have also been extended, with the Text tool getting new options for generating outlines around text non-destructively.A separate GEGL Styles filter GEGL being the Generic Graphics Library, GIMPs image-processing engine also generates drop shadows, glows and bevels, as shown above.Other new features: off-canvas editing and an experimental Paint Select toolOther new features include support for off-canvas editing, with a new Expand Layers option for the paint tools making it possible to paint beyond the current boundaries of a layer.The layer is automatically resized to fit the new paint strokes, up to the boundaries of the image.There is also an experimental new selection tool, Paint Select, which makes it possible to select parts of an image for editing by progressively painting in the selection.Several key workflow improvements, including multi-selection of layersGIMP 3.0 also features some long-awaited workflow improvements: notably, the option to multi-select layers, channels and paths.Previously, it was only possible to edit multiple layers by selecting and linking them individually.It is also now possible to organize layers into layer sets, and to search for layers by name; and copying and pasting now creates a new layer by default, not a floating selection. There is also a new Welcome dialog (shown above), which provides quick access to documentation, recent files, and UI settings, including color themes, and icon and font scaling.In addition, the Search command now shows the menu location of the action you have searched for in the search results.Pipeline integration: support for new color spaces and image formatsThe release also introduces support for RGB color spaces beyond simple sRGB, making it possible to load and edit images with Adobe RGB color profiles without losing information.The change also lays the groundwork for support for the CMYK and LAB color spaces.Interoperability with Photoshop has been improved, expanding support for the PSD file format, and making it possible to load JPEGs and TIFFs with Photoshop-specific metadata like clipping paths, guides and layers.It is also now possible to import color palettes in Adobes ACB and ASE formats, as well as the open-source SwatchBooker palette.Other changes include support for new lossless image compression formats QOI and JPEG XL, and for DDS game texture files with BC7 compressions.And while it isnt currently possible to edit in CMYK mode, it is possible to import and export CMYK JPEG, JPEG XL, TIFF and PSD files, with GIMP converting from RGB color space.Compatibility-breaking changes to the plugin APIGIMP 3.0 also introduces support for more languages for developing scripts and plugins: it is now possible to develop add-ons using JavaScript, Lua and Vala as well as C. The update also switches GIMP from Python-fu to standard Python 3.The changes break compatibility with add-ons written for GIMP 2.10, although some popular plugins like GMIC are already available for GIMP 3.0.Faster release schedule for GIMP 3.x updatesThe GIMP development team now plans to switch to smaller, but more regular, releases.The next feature update, GIMP 3.2, is due for release within a year, following a series of 3.0.x bugfix releases.License and system requirementsGIMP 3.0 is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 11.0+ and Linux, including Debian 12+. Source code is available under a GPLv3 license.The software is free, but if you want to support future development, or support its core developers, you can find details of how to do so on the Donate page on the GIMP website.Read a full list of features in GIMP 3.0 in the online release notesHave 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.

Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerSketchsoft releases Feather 1.1html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Sketchsoft has updated Feather, its promising 3D sketching app for iPad.Feather 1.1 improves workflow for users with Apple Pencils, adding a new Squeeze menu with access to common actions, new hover behaviors, and haptic feedback. Create 3D sketches using an interesting two-stage workflowFirst released in 2022, Feather lets artists create 3D concept designs on iPads.It uses an interesting workflow, in which you first draw 3D guide surfaces, then draw strokes on top of the guides, rotating the developing sketch in 3D using touch gestures.The 3D models can be exported to other DCC apps in glTF or OBJ format, while a free Blender add-on makes it easier to edit assets created in Feather in the open-source 3D software.Users can also export 2D images, videos and turntable animations directly from the app.In 2024, the software, which had been available free in early development, became a paid app, and the Chrome web app was temporarily discontinued.Feather 1.1: workflow updates for Apple Pencil usersFeather 1.1 improves workflow in the app when using an Apple Pencil stylus.Squeezing the Apple Pencil now brings up a customizable menu with commonly used tools and commands, including a new Find Group command to help navigate complex scenes.In addition, tools now respond dynamically when hovering the Pencil over them: for example, hovering over a 3D guide lets you preview brush size and color before beginning to draw.Users with the new Apple Pencil Pro also get haptic feedback when erasing lines, making selections, or sampling colors and brush properties.Sketchsoft pitches the tactile feedback as making sketching feel more immersive, increasing precision.Price and system requirementsFeather 1.1 is compatible with iPadOS 16.0+. A perpetual license costs $14.99.Read a full list of new features in Feather 1.1Download 3D sketching app Feather from the App StoreHave 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.Latest NewsNVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMNew series of pro workstation and laptop GPUs include the 'most powerful desktop GPU ever created'. See its key specs for CG work.Wednesday, March 19th, 20255 key features in Blender 4.4Check out the key changes in the latest version of the open-source 3D app, including important updates to animation and the CPU compositor.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Sketchsoft releases Feather 1.1Promising 3D sketching app for iPad gets time-saving new workflows for Apple Pencil users, including support for haptic feedback.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025GIMP 3.0 is out after seven years in developmentLong-awaited update to the open-source image editor adds non-destructive layer effects and better interoperability with Photoshop.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Check out the new export features in the VR modeling software. Now available via Adobe's new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Check out the new features in the 3D texture painting app, including an Auto-update system, and more path tools, filters and texture generators.Monday, March 17th, 2025More NewsFree tool: Lens Cap for BlenderCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Older Posts

Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Posted by Jim Thacker5 key features in Blender 4.4html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The splash screen artwork for Blender 4.4: a still from Oscar-winning animated feature FlowThe Blender Foundation has released Blender 4.4, the next version of the open-source 3D software for VFX, animation, game development and visualization.Compared to its predecessors, its a workflow-and-bugfix-focused release, with no new features of the scale of Eevee Next in Blender 4.2 or Grease Pencil 3 in Blender 4.3.However, there are significant changes, so below, weve picked out five, from the way animation works to a major rewrite of the compositor and yes, the bugfixes themselves.At the end of the story, you can find a summary of whats new in other key toolsets, including sculpting, Geometry Nodes, the Cycles and Eevee renderers, and the Video Sequencer.Blender 4.4 changes the structure of the Action data-blocks used to store animation data. The Action above has two Slots, one for the Camera Object and one for the Camera Data.1. Animation: slotted Actions simplify animation workflowMany of the key changes in Blender 4.4 are under the hood. One of the most significant is that the structure of Actions the data-blocks used to store animation data has changed.Actions now have Slots, making it possible for a single Action to store multiple kinds of data.As a result, a single Action can store more complex animation: for example, an object that changes color as it moves can be represented using separate slots for its position and material.The change should simplify workflow when animating cameras, as shown in the image above, and materials, where the material and its shader node tree can have separate slots.It is also now possible to merge the animations of multiple objects into one Action, or split slots of one Action into many, increasing flexibility.Changing the way that Blender stores animation data was one of the first major proposals for the Animation 2025 Project, the ongoing overhaul of Blenders character rigging and animation tools, although the original idea was to replace Actions with a new Animation data-block type.The change introduces a new Python API, and is not fully backwards-compatible, although existing .blend files should be updated automatically on import.Although the new Vulkan backend, used for real-time rendering, remains an experimental feature in Blender 4.4, its performance relative to the default OpenGL backend has improved.2. Viewport rendering: a big update to the new Vulkan backendThe Vulkan backend introduced in Blender 4.1 for rendering the UI and viewport gets a big update in performance, stability and compatibility.Startup times, from loading a scene to the final viewport appearing on screen, are now around 5x faster than the OpenGL backend for a cold start, and 2x faster for a warm start.Vulkan is also now used to display the rendered output of Cycles, Blenders production renderer although not to run Cycles, which is still described in the online documentation as not viable.The Vulkan backend is supported on relatively old GPUs: NVIDIAs 10-year-old GeForce GTX 900 Series and AMDs eight-year-old Radeon 400 Series are supported on Windows and Linux.However, it remains an experimental feature: it lacks support for key features like OpenXR and OpenSubdiv, and animation performance still needs to be improved.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/250318_Blender44_5KeyFeatures_tw.mp4The updated Glare node in Blenders CPU compositor provides more control over glow effects. Excerpt from the Blender Foundations official overview of the new features in Blender 4.4.3. Compositing: faster CPU compositing and a revamped Glare nodeAnother under-the-hood change in Blender 4.4 is that the CPU compositor the original compositor, not the new Viewport Compositor introduced in Blender 3.5 has been rewritten.The work was done in preparation for future development, but it does bring significant speed improvements: key nodes, including blur, filter and mask nodes, are now 2-10x faster.The Glare node, used to add lens flares and glows to images, has also been made more usable: you can see an overview of the changes in the video above.Blender 4.4 updates key libraries, including OpenColorIO, OpenEXR and OpenVDB, to match the new CY2025 specification for the VFX Reference Platform.4. Pipeline integration: CY2025 support for VFX Reference PlatformFor visual effects and animation studios, another key feature of Blender 4.4 is that it has been updated to match the CY2025 specification for the VFX Reference Platform.Overseen by the Visual Effects Society, the annually updated spec is intended to ensure that tools used in VFX production pipelines all use the same versions of key software libraries.The Blender Foundation had previously considered moving away from the platform, but reversed the decision in 2022, with full compliance returning in Blender 4.0.A key focus during the development of Blender 4.4 has simply been to fix bugs, with more than 500 reported issues fixed during January 2025 alone.5. And bugfixes: lots and lots of bugfixesHowever, a key objective Blender 4.4 was simply to fix bugs, not to introduce major new toolsets so much so that weve chosen the bugfixes as one of our five key changes.According to a recent post on the Blender Developer blog, more than 500 reported issues were fixed during January alone, as part of the Winter of Quality initiative.The part of the software to get the most fixes was Grease Pencil, Blenders 2D animation and storyboarding toolset, following its major overhaul in Blender 4.3.The user interface, viewport and Geometry Nodes framework also each got over 70 fixes.Changes to Blenders other key toolsets in Blender 4.4 include an update to the OptiX denoiser used in the Cycles render engine, improving consistency of denoising on NVIDIA GPUs.Other changes: whats new in the other key toolsets?Blenders user interface gets a lot of small improvements in Blender 4.4, including updates to UI fonts, tooltips, common UI panels and dialogs, and the Status Bar, which now shows warnings for more common issues, like negative scale values on objects.The 3D modeling toolset gets improvements to topology, including options to select all three- and five-pole vertices in a mesh, and to join tris to quads in a way that favors an even quad grid.In the sculpting toolset, the existing Flatten, Fill and Scrape brush types have been consolidated into a single new brush type, the Plane brush.The Geometry Nodes and physics framework gets new Collection and Object input nodes, although most of the changes are workflow improvements.In the character rigging toolset, membership of bone collections is now mirrored when symmetrizing an armature.For character animation, the Pose Library can now export pose assets as external libraries, making them easier to reuse between projects.Cycles, Blenders main production renderer, has been updated to use a newer version of NVIDIAs OptiX denoiser, resulting in more consistent denoising for users with older GPU drivers.The Grease Pencil 2D animation toolset has been updated to restore features removed by the major overhaul it received in Blender 4.3. The Video Sequencer gets workflow improvements, particularly to text strips, but the key change is probably support for the industry-standard H.265/HEVC video codec.In addition, the sequencer now supports 10- and 12-bits-per-channel video formats there is currently no handling of HDR video, but proxies for HDR image strips should now work properly and videos rendered from Blender now explicitly use BT.709 color space used for HDTV.Other pipeline integration changes include support for the AAC audio format, and updates to USD workflows, including better export of animated volumes and instanced non-mesh objects like point clouds and curves, and support for displacement in UsdPreviewSurface.System requirementsBlender 4.4 is compatible with Windows 8.1+, macOS 11.2+ and glibc 2.28+ Linux.Read the Blender Foundations overview of the new features in Blender 4.4Read a longer list of new features in the Blender 4.4 release notesDownload Blender 4.4Have 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.Latest NewsNVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMNew series of pro workstation and laptop GPUs include the 'most powerful desktop GPU ever created'. See its key specs for CG work.Wednesday, March 19th, 20255 key features in Blender 4.4Check out the key changes in the latest version of the open-source 3D app, including important updates to animation and the CPU compositor.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Sketchsoft releases Feather 1.1Promising 3D sketching app for iPad gets time-saving new workflows for Apple Pencil users, including support for haptic feedback.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025GIMP 3.0 is out after seven years in developmentLong-awaited update to the open-source image editor adds non-destructive layer effects and better interoperability with Photoshop.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Check out the new export features in the VR modeling software. Now available via Adobe's new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Check out the new features in the 3D texture painting app, including an Auto-update system, and more path tools, filters and texture generators.Monday, March 17th, 2025More NewsFree tool: Lens Cap for BlenderCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Older Posts

Wednesday, March 19th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerNVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"NVIDIA has unveiled the RTX PRO Blackwell series, its new range of professional workstation, laptop and data center GPUs based on its current Blackwell GPU architecture.The first two desktop GPUs, the 96GB RTX PRO 6000 Workstation Edition and RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q Workstation Edition, will be available through distribution partners next month.NVIDIA pitches the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition the larger, more power-hungry version of the card as the most powerful desktop GPU ever created.The other desktop cards the RTX PRO 5000, RTX PRO 4500 and RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell GPUs will be available later in the year, along with the laptop and data center GPUs.NVIDIA describes the RTX PRO Blackwell series, which is being marketed at agentic AI, simulation, 3D design and VFX, as a revolutionary generation of GPUs with breakthrough accelerated computing, AI inference, ray tracing and neural rendering technologies.Below, weve rounded up their key specs for DCC work, and what we know about their likely performance in CG software.The first professional GPUs based on NVIDIAs new Blackwell architectureThe new cards are the first professional GPUs based on NVIDIAs Blackwell architecture, following the rollout of their consumer counterparts, the GeForce RTX 50 Series, earlier this year.All feature the latest iterations of NVIDIAs key hardware core types: CUDA cores for general GPU compute, Tensor cores for AI operations, and RT cores for hardware ray tracing.NVIDIA claims that their fifth-gen Tensor cores and fourth-gen RT cores offer up to 3x and up to 2x the performance of their counterparts in its previous GPU Ada Lovelace architecture.Their Streaming Multiprocessors, into which the CUDA cores are grouped, have up to 1.5x faster throughput than their predecessors, and feature new Neural Shaders that integrate small neural networks into programmable shaders.The new GPUs use GDDR7 memory and PCIe 5.0 buses, increasing data transfer bandwidth over the Ada Generation cards, and support the current DisplayPort 2.1b display standard.The RTX PRO 6000 and 5000 cards also support NVIDIAs Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) technology for partitioning a single GPU into smaller instances.NVIDIA Blackwell workstation GPUs and their previous-generation counterpartsRTX PRO6000 BlackwellW/ERTX PRO6000 BlackwellMaxQ W/ERTX 6000RTX PRO5000BlackwellRTX 5000RTX PRO4500BlackwellRTX 4500RTX PRO4000BlackwellRTX 4000ArchitectureBlackwellBlackwellAda LovelaceBlackwellAda LovelaceBlackwellAda LovelaceBlackwellAda LovelaceCUDA cores24,06424,06418,17614,08012,80010,4967,6808,9606,144Tensor cores(752)(752)568TBC400TBC240TBC192RT cores(188)(188)142TBC100TBC60TBC48Compute performanceFP32 (Tflops)125 TFlops110 TFlops91.1 TflopsTBC65.3 TflopsTBC39.6 TflopsTBC26.7 TflopsGPU memory96GBGDDR796GBGDDR748GBGDDR648GBGDDR732GB GDDR632GBGDDR724GB GDDR624GBGDDR720GB GDDR6Memory bandwidth1,792 GB/s1,792 GB/s960 GB/s1,344 GB/s576 GB/s896 GB/s432 GB/sTBC360 GB/sGraphics busPCIe 5.0 x16PCIe 5.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 5.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 5.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 5.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16TDP600W300W300 W300W250 W200W210 W140W130 WDisplay connectors4 x DP 2.14 x DP 2.14 x DP 1.44 x DP 2.14 x DP 1.44 x DP 2.14 x DP 1.44 x DP 2.14 x DP 1.4Size (H x L)5.4 x 12.0Dual slot4.4 x 10.5Dual slot4.4 x 10.5Dual slot4.4 x 10.5Dual slot4.4 x 10.5 Dual slot4.4 x 10.5Dual slot4.4 x 10.5 Dual slot4.4 x 9.5 Single slot4.4 x 9.5 Single slotLaunch date2025(April)2025(April)20222025(Summer)20232025(Summer)20232025(Summer)2023Launch MSRPTBCTBC$6,799TBC$4,000TBC$2,250TBC$1,250Figures in brackets are taken from third-party websites. W/E refers to the Workstation Edition.Key specifications for CG workNVIDIA has only released full specs for the top-of-the-range RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell cards so far, but they are a clear step up from the previous-gen RTX 6000 Ada Generation.Hardware core counts and compute performance are significantly higher, while GPU memory doubles to 96GB, and memory bandwidth almost doubles.Power consumption is unchanged at least for the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q Workstation Edition, which features the same standard cooling design as its predecessor.That figure doubles to 600W in the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition, which uses a double flow-through design, although the increase in compute performance is much smaller.The specs for the lower-end cards, which also use standard cooling designs, still contain a number of TBCs, although we would expect them to follow a similar pattern.What we dont yet know is how the Blackwell cards will stack up in terms of price-performance, since NVIDIA hasnt announced recommended pricing.NVIDIAs spec chart for the RTX PRO Blackwell laptop GPUs. Click the image to view it full-size.Also available as data center and laptop GPUsNVIDIA has also announced its RTX PRO Blackwell series laptop and data center GPUs.We dont usually cover either on CG Channel, but you can see NVIDIAs summary chart for the laptop GPUs above: as well as counterparts for the desktop RTX PRO 5000 and 4000 Blackwell, there are four lower-end cards, the RTX PRO 3000, 2000, 1000 and 500 Blackwell.Specs for the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition can be found on NVIDIAs website.How will the RTX PRO Blackwell GPUs perform with CG software?The new RTX PRO Blackwell series cards mark a change of branding from the current RTX Ada Generation GPUs, with the new PRO tag clearly targeting them at professional users.What constitutes a professional user is perhaps less clear, since NVIDIA now acknowledges in its marketing for its Blackwell consumer cards, the GeForce RTX 50 Series, that they are used by both gamers and creators, with many CG artists using them for rendering.Rather than video production or VFX, the use cases cited in NVIDIAs release announcement for the RTX PRO Blackwell cards are computational AI, health care, and design visualization.As a result, its hard to assess how the new GPUs specs will translate into real-world performance in CG applications.Of the examples given, the closest to DCC work is Cyclops, architecture firm Foster + Partners GPU ray tracing product for view analysis, which is described as running at 5x the speed on the new RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q Workstation Edition as on the NVIDIA RTX A6000 its counterpart from two GPU generations ago, which is now over four years old.Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian is also quoted as saying that the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition delivers the most stunning visuals we have ever experienced in VR in Autodesks VRED visualization software, but no actual performance figures are given.Prices and release datesThe RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition and Max-Q Workstation Edition will be available via PNY and TD SYNNEX in April 2025, and via workstation manufacturers in May 2025.The RTX PRO 5000, 4500 and 4000 Blackwell desktop GPUs will be available in the summer.RTX PRO Blackwell laptop GPUs will be available via Dell, HP, Lenovo and Razer later this year.NVIDIA hasnt announced recommended prices for the new GPUs yet.Read NVIDIAs announcement of the RTX PRO Blackwell server, desktop and laptop GPUsFind specifications for the RTX PRO Blackwell desktop GPUs on NVIDIAs 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.Latest NewsNVIDIA unveils Blackwell RTX PRO GPUs with up to 96GB VRAMNew series of pro workstation and laptop GPUs include the 'most powerful desktop GPU ever created'. See its key specs for CG work.Wednesday, March 19th, 20255 key features in Blender 4.4Check out the key changes in the latest version of the open-source 3D app, including important updates to animation and the CPU compositor.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Sketchsoft releases Feather 1.1Promising 3D sketching app for iPad gets time-saving new workflows for Apple Pencil users, including support for haptic feedback.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025GIMP 3.0 is out after seven years in developmentLong-awaited update to the open-source image editor adds non-destructive layer effects and better interoperability with Photoshop.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Check out the new export features in the VR modeling software. Now available via Adobe's new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Check out the new features in the 3D texture painting app, including an Auto-update system, and more path tools, filters and texture generators.Monday, March 17th, 2025More NewsFree tool: Lens Cap for BlenderCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsTutorial: Creature Combat Animation in MayaWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Older Posts

Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAdobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 29 January 2025. Scroll down for news of Substance 3D Modeler 1.21.Adobe has updated Substance 3D Modeler, its desktop and virtual reality sculpting tool.Substance 3D Modeler 1.19 adds a new Assets workflow for iterating on designs, making it possible to save export settings for groups of components within a model.Substance 3D Modeler 1.21 adds the option to export multiple assets simultaneously. The software is also now available as part of Adobes new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions.Sculpt organic and hard-surface models in VR using a virtual clay workflowSubstance 3D Modeler is a SDF-based tool that lets users sculpt both organic and hard-surface models in virtual reality, or in desktop mode using a mouse and keyboard.Workflow combines elements of sculpting and Boolean modelling, with users able to build up forms with virtual clay, then join or cut into them with Boolean operations.You can find more details in this story on Substance 3D Modeler 1.0.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/250129_Substance3DModeler119_tw.mp4Substance 3D Modeler 1.19: new Assets workflow for iterating on designsSubstance 3D Modeler 1.19 introduces a new Assets workflow to the softwares Export mode.It makes it possible to group components within a scene into assets, each of which can have separate export settings, which the software remembers between exports.The system is intended to make it easier to iterate on designs, removing the need to adjust settings with each successive export.Other new featuresAll of the 3D primitives get a new Shell parameter, which makes the shape hollow, with a user-controllable thickness to the geometry shell. It can also be used on primitive groups.Mesh to clay, used to convert imported polygonal models to SDF for editing, now uses adaptive subdivision, only subdividing areas needed to achieve a given clay resolution.During export, users can now reduce the poly count of an object by a percentage figure, rather than by setting an absolute value.VR mode gets a new system of camera previews. Non-physical objects like gizmos do not appear in previews, and users can opt to smooth the camera movement.Some of the 1000 3D assets available as part of Adobes new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions, which include Substance 3D Modeler, Substance 3D Painter and Substance 3D Designer.Updated 18 March 2025: Adobe has released Substance 3D Modeler 1.21, following last months beta-only Substance 3D Modeler 1.20.5 update.The update improves export workflow, making it possible to export multiple assets simultaneously, and improving the speed and level of quality with which assets are exported.It is also now possible to adjust the topology detail of individual objects within a scene, controlling where Modeler focuses polygons in exported assets.There are also a number of other workflow and performance improvements, drastically improving performance of non-destructive primitives and the surfacing tools.Now available as part of Adobes new Substance 3D Indie SubscriptionsIn related news, Substance 3D Painter is now available via Adobes new $24.99/month Substance 3D Indie subscription plan.Available via Steam, it also includes texture painting software Substance 3D Painter, material authoring software Substance 3D Designer, and a library of 1,000 3D assets.Price and system requirementsSubstance 3D Modeler is compatible with Windows 10+, and these VR headsets.The software is available via Steam, and costs $149.99 for a perpetual license, or $24.99/month as part of a Substance 3D Indie subscription.It is also available via Substance 3D Collection subscriptions, which currently cost $49.99/month or $549.88/year, although prices are due to rise on 25 March 2025,Read a full list of new features in Substance 3D Modeler in the release notesHave 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.Latest NewsAdobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.21Check out the new export features in the VR modeling software. Now available via Adobe's new Substance 3D Indie subscriptions.Tuesday, March 18th, 2025Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Check out the new features in the 3D texture painting app, including an Auto-update system, and more path tools, filters and texture generators.Monday, March 17th, 2025Free tool: Lens Cap for BlenderDecoded's frustration-saving add-on adds new features to Blender's camera system, streamlining keyframing DOF and object visibility.Sunday, March 16th, 2025Celsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Check out the new features in the digital painting software for comics, illustrations and concept art, including the new Puppet Warp.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsAsset baking and export add-on can now bake PBR textures from any Blender shader set-up, not just the Principled BSDF shader.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Tutorial: 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, 2025More NewsWonder Studio becomes Autodesk Flow StudioPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: 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 staffOlder Posts

Monday, March 17th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAdobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"An overview of the new features in Substance 3D Painter 11.0, the new version of the 3D texture painting software, compiled by Adobe Creative 3D Evangelist Wes McDermott.Adobe has released Substance 3D Painter 11.0, the latest version of the 3D texture painting software for games, animation, motion graphics and VFX.The release adds a new Auto-update system for project dependencies, updates the path tools, adds new utility filters and texture generators, and introduces native Metal support on macOS.In related news, Substance 3D Painter is now available via a new Substance 3D Indie subscription on Steam, which also includes Substance 3D Designer and Substance 3D Modeler.New Auto-update system automatically updates external resources used in a projectThe headline feature in Substance 3D Painter 11.0 is the new Auto-update system, for automatically updating the external resources used in a project, like textures and 3D models.Painter now automatically checks for changes, and automatically reloads updated assets.The process can be triggered manually, or set to happen at user-defined intervals, and the functionality is exposed via Python, making it possible for technical artists to customize the workflow.Updates to the path tools, including a new Filled path optionThe release also updates the path tools introduced in Substance 3D Painter 9.0, adding a new Filled path tool (shown above) for creating filled areas on the surface of a 3D model.The fills can cross gaps and object boundaries, and support mirror and radial symmetry, making them a quick way to create geometric patterns.Workflow updates to the other path tools include a viewport preview while drawing out a path, auto-closure of paths, and the option to copy and paste path positions from materials to masks.There are also new path snapping options, including angle snapping for path segments, and the ability to snap path points to mesh vertices.You can find a full list of changes in the online release notes.New filters and texture generatorsThe update also adds some of the image-manipulation filters that Adobe rolled out last year in Substance 3D Designer 14.0, the latest major version of the material-authoring software.That includes the Quantize filter for posterizing an image, Stylization for creating painterly effects, and Anisotropic Kuwahara and Directional Distance for smudging brush strokes.A new Bevel Smooth filter supersedes the existing Bevel filter.There are also three new texture generators Triangle Grid, Tile Random, and an improved Scratches Generator and Voronoi and Voronoi Fractal can be used as 2D as well as 3D noises.Other workflow improvementsOther changes include an experimental new option to have Substance 3D Painter automatically generate an optimal baking cage when baking textures from a 3D model, rather than using a custom mesh or setting the cage a fixed distance from the models surface.There are also a number of smaller workflow updates, particularly when working with UV Tiles, copying and pasting layers and paths, or sending assets to other software.Mac edition now uses Metal for rendering, not OpenGLFor Mac users, Substance 3D Painter 11.0 now uses Apples Metal graphics API for rendering in place of OpenGL, which Apple officially deprecated in 2018, in macOS 10.14.The update also ends support for old Intel Macs, Apple having begun to switch to its own Apple Silicon processors now used in all current Macs in 2020.Now available via the new Substance 3D Indie subscription on SteamIn related news, Substance 3D Painter is now available via Adobes new Substance 3D Indie subscription plan.Available via Steam, it includes Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer, VR modeling app Substance 3D Modeler, and a library of 1,000 3D assets, and costs $24.99/month.It seems to be intended as a more games-focused alternative to the existing Substance 3D Texturing plan, which includes Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer and asset capture app Substance 3D Sampler.Substance 3D Texturing subscriptions include unmetered access to the Substance 3D Assets library, and cost $19.99/month, although that price will also rise to $24.99/month next week.Price and system requirementsSubstance 3D Painter 11.0 is available for Windows 10+, RHEL 8.6/9.2+ and Ubuntu 22.04+ Linux and macOS 12.0+. Perpetual licences are available via Steam and cost $199.99. You can find details of the new Steam-based Substance Indie subscriptions in the story above.The software is also available via Adobes Creative Cloud-based Substance 3D subscriptions. Substance 3D Texturing subscriptions cost $19.99/month or $219.88/year; Substance 3D Collection subscriptions cost $49.99/month or $549.88/year. Both prices rise on 25 March 2025.Read a list of new features in Substance 3D Painter 11.0 in the online release notesHave 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.Latest NewsAdobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Check out the new features in the 3D texture painting app, including an Auto-update system, and more path tools, filters and texture generators.Monday, March 17th, 2025Free tool: Lens Cap for BlenderDecoded's frustration-saving add-on adds new features to Blender's camera system, streamlining keyframing DOF and object visibility.Sunday, March 16th, 2025Celsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Check out the new features in the digital painting software for comics, illustrations and concept art, including the new Puppet Warp.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsAsset baking and export add-on can now bake PBR textures from any Blender shader set-up, not just the Principled BSDF shader.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Tutorial: 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, 2025More NewsPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: 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-IOOlder Posts

Saturday, March 15th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAssetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatshtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 18 February 2025. Scroll down for news of the Assetify 2.1 update.3D artist Nino Bolink (aka defoq) has released Assetify 2, the new version of his time-saving Blender add-on for converting assets into game-ready formats.The update makes it possible to bake and export animations as well as static assets, including the option to convert Geometry Nodes-based animations and cloth simulations to shape keys.Automate the processing of Blender assets for use in games and real-time applicationsReleased last year, Assetify streamlines the process of converting Blender assets into formats suitable for use in real-time applications, including games, AR and web apps.It automates the process of unwrapping and packing UVs on Blender models, and baking PBR textures from them, with export presets for both Unreal Engine and Unity.The add-on can bake textures from Geometry Nodes set-ups, and integrates with Mossify, Bolinks procedural moss-generation add-on for Blender.Processed assets can be exported in standard 3D formats: FBX, OBJ, glTF/GLB and STL.Now supports animation, including Geometry Nodes setupsAssetify 2 adds support for animation, making it possible to process keyframe and shape key (blendshape) animations, and physics and particle simulations.Highlights include the option to convert Geometry Nodes-based animations and cloth simulations to shape keys, for export in file formats including glTF and Alembic.The add-on can also now bake PBR texture sequences from animations.Updated 15 March 2025: Nino Bolink has released Assetify 2.1, adding support for non-Principled BSDF baking.Users can now bake PBR textures from any shader setup, not just the Principled BSDF shader, including Emission, Diffuse BSDF, Glossy BSDF, Transparent BSDF and Mix Shaders.Price and system requirementsAssetify 2.1 is compatible with Blender 4.0+. An individual license costs $34.99; studio licenses cost between $69.99 and $199.99.Read more about Assetify 2.1 on the add-ons Gumroad pageHave 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.Latest NewsAdobe releases Substance 3D Painter 11.0Check out the new features in the 3D texture painting app, including an Auto-update system, and more path tools, filters and texture generators.Monday, March 17th, 2025Free tool: Lens Cap for BlenderDecoded's frustration-saving add-on adds new features to Blender's camera system, streamlining keyframing DOF and object visibility.Sunday, March 16th, 2025Celsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Check out the new features in the digital painting software for comics, illustrations and concept art, including the new Puppet Warp.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsAsset baking and export add-on can now bake PBR textures from any Blender shader set-up, not just the Principled BSDF shader.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Tutorial: 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, 2025More NewsPolygonflow releases Dash 1.9Get KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: 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-IOOlder Posts

Saturday, March 15th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerCelsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 3 January 2025, and updated for the final release.Celsys has released Clip Studio Paint 4.0, the latest version of its digital drawing, painting and animation software.New features include a puppet warp tool for posing 2D characters, and updates to the softwares 3D toolset, including the option to import mocap data to use as reference poses.A digital drawing and painting tool for comics, illustrations and concept artFirst released in Japan over two decades ago, and previously marketed as Manga Studio in the West, Clip Studio Paint is a digital painting app for both desktop and mobile systems.Although best known as a tool for creating comics, for which it has a dedicated set of tools, it is also used to produce illustrations, concept art, and 2D animations.Updates to the software were available free to existing users until the release of Clip Studio Paint 2.0 in March 2023, when Celsys switched to a new schedule of major, paid annual releases.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/250103_ClipStudioPaint4_PuppetWarp.mp4Clip Studio Paint 4: new Puppet Warp systemNew features in Clip Studio Paint 4 include the Puppet Warp system (shown above).It enables users to quickly pose 2D characters by pinning parts of the body in place, then rotating and deforming the rest of the character around the pinned points.Updates to the 3D toolsetThe softwares 3D toolset, which enables users to import and manipulate 3D models for use as references or background elements within an image, has also been updated.New features include the option to paint directly onto the surface of 3D objects, either to add basic surface colors, or to paint guidelines or patterns onto reference objeccts.It is also now possible to import 3D models in STL format, and animations in BVH format.BVH support was actually introduced in Clip Studio Paint 3.1 the release announcement include changes made in the 3.x updates and is intended to enable artists to choose frames from imported motion-capture data to use as pose references for characters.It is also now possible to customize the facial expressions of 3D avatars imported in VRM format.New Quick Filters and Quick Effects for interactive image adjustmentsThe softwares Filters system has also been updated.A new set of Quick Filters and Quick Effects (shown above) let users make interactive adjustments to an image again, a feature originally introduced in Clip Studio Paint 3.2.There are also new filters for extracting line art from images, intended for preparing scanned drawings for digital coloring, and for applying lens blur.Workflow improvements include better snappingWorkflow improvements include object snapping, with users now able to snap vector layers, rules and text to grids, guides, other rulers, and the edges or center of the canvas.It is also possible to snap to content on the current layer or reference layers with the Lasso tool.You can find a list of other changes, which include the option to color-code layers in the animation toolsets Timeline palette, in the release announcement.Initial reactions from users were mixed, with opinion divided on the value of the 3D toolset, and calls for native CMYK support and performance improvements to the brush toolset.Price, system requirements and release dateClip Studio Paint 4.0 is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 13.0+, iOS/iPadOS 17.0+ and Android 12+.New perpetual licenses of the Pro edition, which includes the core feature set, but which restricts animation to 24 frames, have a standard price of $58.50. New perpetual licenses of the Ex edition, which removes the limit on the length of animations, and adds features for creating multi-page projects, have a standard price of $258.Subscriptions are priced according to the number of devices you want to use the software on, but for desktops and laptops, rental starts at $4.49/month or $26.99/year for Pro and $8.99/month and $76.99/year for Ex.Read a full list of new features in Clip Studio Paint 4.0 in Celsyss release announcementHave 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.Latest NewsFree tool: Lens Cap for BlenderDecoded's frustration-saving add-on adds new features to Blender's camera system, streamlining keyframing DOF and object visibility.Sunday, March 16th, 2025Celsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Check out the new features in the digital painting software for comics, illustrations and concept art, including the new Puppet Warp.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsAsset baking and export add-on can now bake PBR textures from any Blender shader set-up, not just the Principled BSDF shader.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Tutorial: 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, 2025More NewsGet KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: 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 4.4Older Posts

Sunday, March 16th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerFree tool: Lens Cap for Blenderhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"VFX artist Rob Dickinson (Decoded) has released Lens Cap for Blender, a handy free add-on that adds new features to the open-source 3D apps camera system.Time-saving add-on streamlines animating object visibility and depth of fieldLens Cap has a number of features, but perhaps the most frustration-saving is the Camera Sync mode, which matches the visibility of objects in the 3D Viewport to their render settings.It makes it possible to properly playblast scenes in which objects are keyframed to appear or disappear, like destruction shots, rather than having to do a final render to test the effect.Other features include DOF Finder, for quickly adding depth of field effects to shots.Users can set the focal point to the 3D Cursor, making it possible to position focus simply by clicking in the 3D Viewport: in the video above, you can see it in use to create a quick focus pull.The final feature, an active camera list, displays all of the cameras in a scene in one place in the interface, making it easier to switch between them, or keyframe camera switches.Price and system requirementsLens Cap for Blender is compatible with Blender 4.3. Its a free download.Download the free Lens Cap for Blender add-on from Gumroad(Enter a figure of $0 to download it for free, or make a voluntary donation)Have 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.Related Topics # active camera list # add-on # Blender # camera # Camera Sync mode # depth of field # DoF # DOF Finder # download # focus pull # free # Lens Cap # object visibility # open source # plugin # Rob Dickinson # script # system requirements Latest NewsFree tool: Lens Cap for BlenderDecoded's frustration-saving add-on adds new features to Blender's camera system, streamlining keyframing DOF and object visibility.Sunday, March 16th, 2025Celsys releases Clip Studio Paint 4Check out the new features in the digital painting software for comics, illustrations and concept art, including the new Puppet Warp.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Assetify 2.1 converts Blender assets to game-ready formatsAsset baking and export add-on can now bake PBR textures from any Blender shader set-up, not just the Principled BSDF shader.Saturday, March 15th, 2025Tutorial: 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, 2025More NewsGet KitBash3D's Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freeCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2Check out neat AI-trained hand mocap tool HandCraft ProTutorial: 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 4.4Older Posts

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

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Autodesk has rebranded Wonder Studio, its AI-powered online platform for inserting 3D characters into video footage, as Autodesk Flow Studio.The change in branding officially makes Wonder Studio part of Flow, Autodesks cloud services platform for media and entertainment, but there are no changes to availability or pricing.In separate news, an update to the platform last month makes it possible to extract a camera track or clean plates from footage as standalone services, or Wonder Tools.An AI-powered CG film-making platform that can export scenes to Blender, Maya and UE5Launched in 2023 and acquired by Autodesk the following year, Wonder Studio is an AI-powered, cloud-based platform for VFX and animation work.It provides an all-in-one solution for inserting CG characters into video footage, tracking the motion of a live actor, replacing them with a CG character, and automatically matching the lighting of the character to the background.As well as the final rendered video, Wonder Studio generates clean plates and alpha masks for the actor, camera tracks, and motion-capture data.The data generated can also be exported as a 3D scene to Blender, Maya and Unreal Engine, or in USD format for use in applications like 3ds Max, Houdini or Unity.Now officially part of Autodesks Flow cloud platformAutodesk has now rebranded Wonder Studio as Autodesk Flow Studio, officially making it part of Flow, its new industry cloud for media and entertainment.When it acquired Wonder Studio developer Wonder Dynamics last year, Autodesk said that it saw a strong synergy between its AI tools and the platform we are trying to build with Flow.However, aside from the new name, there are no other changes to Wonder Studio so far.Autodesks email to Wonder Studio users says that the Wonder Dynamics brand stays the same and that users will continue to experience Wonder Studio as [they] always have. https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/250314_WonderStudioNowAutodeskFlowStudio_tw.mp4February 2025 update adds new standalone Wonder ToolsIn separate news, an update to Wonder Studio last month made extracting clean plates and camera tracking data from source footage available as standalone services, or Wonder Tools.Unlike when processing a complete Live Action project that is, generating a new rendered video and supporting data the new Camera Track Wonder Tool can be used on footage that does not include an actor.In contrast, the Clean Plate Wonder Tool can only be used to remove human actors from footage, not animals or objects, although it can be used for up to four actors per shot.Price and system requirementsThe Autodesk Flow Studio platform is browser-based, and runs in Chrome or Safari. It does not currently support mobile browsers.Lite subscriptions have a standard price of $29.99/month or $299.88/year, can export rendered video at 1080p, and can export mocap data, clean plates, camera tracks and 3D scenes.Pro subscriptions have a standard price of $149.99/month or $1,499.88.year, raise the maximum export resolution of 4K, and also make it possible to export roto masks.Usage is credit-based: processing one second of video uses 20 credits. Lite subscriptions include 3,000 credits/month, Pro subscriptions 12,000 credits/month.The Terms of Service give Autodesk a non-exclusive licence to use any content created via the platform to develop its AI models.Read Autodesks email to users about the rebranding of Wonder Studio to Autodesk Flow StudioRead more about latest features in Autodesk Flow Studio in the online changelog(Login required)Have 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.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 12 June 2024. Scroll down for details of the Dash 1.9 update.Polygonflow has updated Dash, its world building toolset for Unreal Engine 5.Dash 1.7 adds a new vines tool for growing vegetation procedurally across any 3D model, a new Blend material and an instant color grading system.Dash 1.8 adds Dash Board, a new PureRef-style reference image organizer, and a Chat-GPT-based AI assistant.Dash 1.8.5 adds Data Tables, a new system for layering effects, makes it possible to create terrain using height maps or guide curves, and cuts the price of the software.Dash 1.9 adds support for Runtime Virtual Texturing and a new Advanced Water Shader, and reworks the Content Browser.A new name for Polygonflows GraphN Library, minus GraphN itselfReleased in 2023, Dash is a rebranded version of the library of Unreal Engine 5 tools that used to accompany GraphN, Polygonflows now-discontinued node-based programming environment for Maya and Unreal Engine.It is intended to let artists to build complex environments without having to navigate the Unreal Editors interface, working primarily in fullscreen mode in the viewport.It provides readymade behaviours accessible by typing natural-language search terms into a floating prompt bar for common scene-building tasks like create terrain and apply water, plus scattering tools for dressing environments.As well as game development, Dash can be used for offline work: for example to create animations, visual effects projects or architectural visualizations in Unreal Engine.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240611_Dash17_WorldbuildingToolUnrealEngine5_tw.mp4Dash 1.7: new vines tool generates procedural vegetation across any 3D modelDash 1.7 adds a lot of new features to the software, but the most eye-catching is Create Vines on Selection, for growing 3D vegetation procedurally across any surface.Despite the name, it isnt confined to growing vines, since you can use texture atlases from the Megascans asset library free for use in UE5 to customize the leaf type.The basic workflow will be familiar to anyone who has used an ivy generator such as the ones available for 3ds Max and Blender, with users able to control the form of the vegetation by adjusting parameters for growth, surface adhesion and gravity.New Blend material and automatic color grading systemOther new features include the Blend material, which makes it possible to create custom ground surfaces by blending from three source surfaces.Polygonflow describes is as being a lite version of Quixel Mixer, blending the surface color, height map and noise settings from the sources.There is also a new Image to Grading system, which makes it possible to color grade the viewport display to match a reference image: either a local file, or a URL.In addition, Dash now includes a library of IES profiles for recreating real-world lights in architectural visualizations, based on free online libraries like IES Library.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240611_Dash17_VolumeScatter.mp4Updates to the scattering tools, including support for 3D scatteringThe scattering toolset has also been expanded, with the new Volume Scatter tool making it possible to scatter objects in 3D, as well as over surfaces.It is possible to use any mesh as the scatter volume, as shown in the video above, where a blobby mesh is used as a volume within which to distribute a flock of birds.The 2D scattering tools get the option to use any landscape paint layer as a mask, and the randomize the colors of the scattered objects. Automatic AI-based object taggingIn addition, Dash 1.7 makes it possible to tag assets within a users Asset Library automatically using Open AIs GPT-4 AI model.AI tagging was originally introduced in Dash 1.5, but Polygonflow describes the original open-source AI model it was using as fairly limited in quality and speed.The new GPT-based system uses a ChatGPT Enterprise plan, so OpenAI cannot use Dash users data for training its AI models.When tagging assets manually, it is now possible to multi-select objects.Other workflow improvementsWorkflow improvements include a new Reference system, which supersedes the old Variables system for controlling shared properties used by Dash tools.It is also now possible to export assets and all of their dependencies from an Unreal Engine project as .zip archives.Other key changes since we last wrote about Dash include the option to use assets from multiple UE5 projects in an environment, which was added in Dash 1.6.Updated 23 October 2024: Polygonflow has released Dash 1.8.The update reworks Dashs user interface, splitting features into distinct menus, and unifying many floating panels into a single Tools panel.The softwares path-based tools Road Tool, Quick Pipe, Decal Scatter and Path Scatter have also been revamped from the ground up to make them easier to use.New PureRef-style image organizer and new AI assistantNew features in Dash 1.8 include the new Dash Board tool, an experimental new reference image organization tool, described as similar to Miro and PureRef.The update also adds a new Chat-GPT-based AI assistant, which makes it possible to type in plain-language questions and receive answers from the online documentation.Updates to the Surface Scatter tool and Blend materialThe Surface Scatter tool gets several new features, including the option to use the top, bottom and center of objects being scattered as pivot points, and to modify the size of scattered objects according to distance from a target object.The Blend Material added in Dash 1.7 has been updated to support rain and snow.Updated 23 January 2025: Polygonflow has released Dash 1.8.5.New features include Data Tables, an experimental system for layering effects.In the initial release, it is limited to layering masks to control object scattering, and curves to deform terrain, but Polygonflow aims to extend it to other systems in the next release.Create terrain surfaces using guide curves or heightmapsUsing curves to deform terrain is itself a new feature in Dash 1.8.5: in previous releases, it was only possible to use noise patterns to deform a landscape mesh.The update also introduces basic heightmap support.Other updated featuresOther changes include new options to hide visible texture repetitions in the Material Edit and Blend Material tools, and new options to control object rotation in the scattering tools. The update also adds support for Fab, Epic Games new online marketplace, with Unreal Engine assets downloaded using the Fab plugin now added to the Dash Content Browser.Updated 13 March 2025: Polygonflow has released Dash 1.9.The update reworks the Content Browser, making it possible to organize assets into Collections, and adding support for fuzzy search, semantic search and Boolean search operators.The Content Browser also now supports Unreal Engine Blueprints as well as standard assets.Support for RVT workflow, one-click falling leaf system, and a new Advanced Water ShaderThe update also introduces a new Runtime Virtual Texturing (RVT) workflow for generating texture data at runtime, improving interactive performance of a scene.It is intended for texturing terrain, and requires a static mesh.Other new features include a one-click system for adding falling leaves to a scene, and a new Advanced Water Shader that supports waves, a rain-on-water effect, and underwater effects. Price cuts to subscriptions, and perpetual licenses for studios as well as freelancersPolygonflow has also recently cut the price of Dash. For Freelance users those with funding under $250,000/year the cost of monthly subscriptions falls from $20/month to $14/month, while annual subscriptions fall from $190/year to $133/year.For larger studios, the cost of monthly Enterprise subscriptions falls even further, from $89/month to $14/month, although annual subscriptions remain unchanged at $850/year.Studio can also buy perpetual licenses of Dash, which were previously only available to Freelance users.Price and system requirementsDash is compatible with Unreal Engine 5+ on Windows 10+ only.For artists earning under $250,000/year, perpetual Freelance licenses cost $230, while Freelance subscriptions cost $14/month or $133/year.For larger studios, perpetual Enterprise licenses cost $999, while Enterprise subscriptions cost $14/month or $850/year.Read a full list of new features in Dash in the online release notesRead more about Dash on Polygonflows 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.

Wednesday, March 12th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerGet KitBash3Ds Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack for freehtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Epic Games has made KitBash3Ds Gaea fantasy architecture asset pack available to download for free from Fab, its new online marketplace.The set of over 1,200 unique high-poly meshes with 4K textures, usually sold for $199, is part of the latest set of time-limited free content released on Fab, and will be free until 25 March 2025.A high-resolution fantasy architecture pack from one of the best-known asset developersKitBash3D is one of the highest-profile asset firms to have its content made available as part of Fabs regular promotions.Its sets of detailed kitbash assets are widely used by VFX studios, animators and games artists, with clients including Marvel, Netflix, Warner Bros, HBO, EA, Ubisoft, and Naughty Dog.The Gaea asset pack itself is a fantasy architecture kit, and primarily consists of organic-looking buildings that combine Eastern and Western design influences.As well as the buildings cultural centers, banquet halls, courts and yurts it includes props and furniture, including tables, carpets, baskets, flags and earthenware vessels.You can see a gallery of the individual assets on KitBash3Ds own website.The Unreal Engine version on Fab is primarily designed for use in cinematics, and consists of 1,277 unique high-poly meshes (the total poly count is 7.8 million), with 4K textures.System requirements and availabilityThe Gaea asset pack is available as an asset package for Unreal Engine 4.26-4.27 and 5.0+, under a Fab Standard license.The terms of the Fab Standard license permit content to be used in any engine or tool, including for commercial projects, subject to the restrictions set out in the Fab EULA.The version available on KitBash3Ds website is also compatible with 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Maya and Unity, and is available to download in FBX and OBJ format.Get KitBash3Ds asset pack from Fab(Available free until 25 March 2025)Have 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.Latest NewsGet 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, 2025Tutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariMaster professional asset development workflows for VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's advanced-level tutorial.Sunday, March 9th, 2025AMD releases Capsaicin 1.2Check out the new features in the modular, open-source, hardware-agnostic framework for developing real-time rendering technology.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Check out the new versions of AMD's AI-based image upscaling, sharpening and frame-generation tech, available via its GPU drivers.Saturday, March 8th, 2025More NewsAMD 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 OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Older Posts

Tuesday, March 11th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerCheck out open-source Blender character generator MPFB 2html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The team behind MakeHuman has officially released MPFB 2, the new Blender plugin based on the veteran open-source 3D character generator.MPFB 2.08, the first stable release, makes it possible to create 3D characters with custom ages, builds, gender and ethnicity, complete with skin textures and clothing, directly inside Blender.Unlike the old standalone edition, the plugin is being actively maintained, and makes it possible to export characters in more formats, including Alembic and USD.(Full disclosure: it was actually released at the end of January, but we didnt manage to post a story at the time.)Create custom 3D characters for games, animation and motion graphics projectsFirst officially released in 2014, MetaHuman is an open-source character generator capable of creating 3D characters of custom age, build, gender and ethnicity, using simple slider controls.Characters can be rigged automatically for animation, with a choice of several different character rigs, and support for Rigify, Blenders rig-creation system.The software comes with an asset library of clothes, body parts and materials, and comes with separate tools for creating clothes and morph targets.Content created using the software is licensed under a CC0 licence, meaning that it can be used commercially, including in closed-source games.Standalone edition now being superseded by the new Blender pluginWe last wrote about the software when the last major version, MakeHuman 1.2, was released in 2020 there was a MakeHuman 1.3 update last year, but its primarily bugfixes.Since then, work on the standalone edition has effectively ceased, due to its ageing codebase.Instead, the developers are now focusing on the new Blender plugin, MPFB (MakeHuman Plugin For Blender).Now a fully fledged character generator in its own rightThe first version, released with MakeHuman 1.2, was an importer for transferring characters created with the standalone version of the software to Blender.In contrast, MPFB 2, which has a separate codebase to MakeHuman, and is being maintained actively, is a character generator in its own right.It can create characters in the same way as the standalone edition, but can export them in any format that Blender can.That means that instead of being restricted to OBJ, FBX or Collada (DAE) format, users can also export characters as Alembic, glTF or USD assets.You can find more details on the differences between MakeHuman, MPFB and MPFB2 in the online documentation.MPFB 2.08: now both a stable release and an officially vetted Blender extensionAs well as being the first stable release of the character-generation plugin, MPFB 2.08 makes the software available as an officially vetted extension, via the new Extensions platform.It has most of the key functionality of the standalone edition, although some parts are still rough around the edges, and some tools have had limited testing.You can find more details in the online release notes. System requirementsMPFB2 is compatible with Blender 4.2+. The software is open-source: the source code is available under a GPLv3 license, while the bundled assets are available under a CC0 license. You can find more details here.If you find the software useful, you can support its development on Patreon.Read a full list of new features in MPFB 2.08Get MPFB 2 from the Blender Extensions PlatformEditors note: Yep, were aware that MPFB means something quite different in online slang. The MakeHuman team are aware of it too.Have 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.Latest NewsCheck 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 animation 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, 2025Tutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariMaster professional asset development workflows for VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's advanced-level tutorial.Sunday, March 9th, 2025AMD releases Capsaicin 1.2Check out the new features in the modular, open-source, hardware-agnostic framework for developing real-time rendering technology.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Check out the new versions of AMD's AI-based image upscaling, sharpening and frame-generation tech, available via its GPU drivers.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070First RDNA 4 GPUs get strong reviews in the gaming press. But how do they fare in CG apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve?Friday, March 7th, 2025More NewsD5 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 OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhoneOlder Posts

Monday, March 10th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerCheck out neat AI-trained animation tool HandCraft Prohtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Animator Tal Minks has released HandCraft Pro, a promising Maya plugin for capturing hand animation for VFX, motion graphics or games animation using only a webcam.The machine-learning-based tool extracts the position of an animators fingers from video footage, and bakes it onto any Maya character with a five-fingered character rig.Capture hand motion with a webcam and bake it onto Maya charactersDeveloped by Tal Minks, former Lead Animator at games service firm Steamroller Animation, HandCraft Pro extracts the positions of an animators fingers from a standard webcam feed, and bakes them to a Maya character.It integrates with Mediapipe, Googles suite of machine-learning libraries, and has been trained on thousands of images of hands.The workflow involves a bit of manual set-up, shown in this tutorial video, but users can save and reuse templates for any five-fingered rig, so the work only needs to be done once per rig.Suggested use cases include blocking in hand poses for animation to refine manually, building up pose libraries, and even adding hand motion to full-body mocap data.A promising alternative to mocap gloves and conventional optical captureHandCraft Pro offers an alternative to existing hand mocap systems: both finger-tracking gloves of the kind produced by Rokoko, Manus, and StretchSense, and conventional optical capture.As well as requiring no specialist equipment, Minks claims that it produces the cleanest mocap curves Ive ever seen, and enables artists to edit poses inside Maya as they capture them. The software aroused a lot of interest when Minks announced it on LinkedIn two weeks ago, including from well-known animators and rigging tools developers.Tencent Technical Artist Hans Godard whose own tools have featured on CG Channel in the past commented that it was another reason to get rid of the mocap.System requirementsHandcraft Pro is compatible with Maya 2022+ on Windows only.The software is available rental-only. For freelancers, licenses cost $40/year; for studios, licenses start at $100/year for a single seat.Read more about HandCraft Pro on the product 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.Latest NewsCheck out neat AI-trained animation 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, 2025Tutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariMaster professional asset development workflows for VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's advanced-level tutorial.Sunday, March 9th, 2025AMD releases Capsaicin 1.2Check out the new features in the modular, open-source, hardware-agnostic framework for developing real-time rendering technology.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Check out the new versions of AMD's AI-based image upscaling, sharpening and frame-generation tech, available via its GPU drivers.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070First RDNA 4 GPUs get strong reviews in the gaming press. But how do they fare in CG apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve?Friday, March 7th, 2025D5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingMajor update to Dimension 5's real-time visualization software adds experimental path tracing system. Check out the other new features.Thursday, March 6th, 2025More NewsDownload 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 OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Older Posts

Sunday, March 9th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerTutorial: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using Marihtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The Gnomon Workshop has released Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using Mari, a guide to professional asset development workflows, recorded by VFX artist Michal Zsigsimund.The workshop, which is aimed at intermediate-to-advanced artists, provides four hours of video training in Maya, texturing software Mari, and open-source lighting and look dev tool Gaffer.Master current professional asset development workflows for VFXIn the workshop, Zsigismund explores how to use Mari and Gaffer to develop photorealistic hero assets suitable for use in production for film and broadcast VFX.He begins by discussing how to use Mari and the third-party Mari Extension Pack to create detailed textures, including how to use the Extension Packs Smart Mask system.Zsigismund then sets out how to export a mesh from Maya using the Alembic file format before diving into Maris The Bakery, Maris texture baking system, introduced in Mari 7.0.He then creates diffuse, roughness and bump maps in Mari, revealing the techniques that he uses in production, including how to create secondary high-frequency bump details.Once texturing is complete, Zsigismund exports the textures and begins building out the scene in Gaffer, breaking down what each node does, and how it fits into a studio pipeline.About the artistMichal Zsigmund is a Freelance CG Generalist and lookdev artist, with over 10 years of experience at leading international VFX studios including Framestore and Rise.Movies he has worked on include Deadpool, Wolverine, The Matrix Resurrections, Uncharted, and Wonka.Pricing and availabilityCreating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using Mari 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 Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariHave 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: Creating Production-Ready Hero Assets Using MariMaster professional asset development workflows for VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's advanced-level tutorial.Sunday, March 9th, 2025AMD releases Capsaicin 1.2Check out the new features in the modular, open-source, hardware-agnostic framework for developing real-time rendering technology.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Check out the new versions of AMD's AI-based image upscaling, sharpening and frame-generation tech, available via its GPU drivers.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070First RDNA 4 GPUs get strong reviews in the gaming press. But how do they fare in CG apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve?Friday, March 7th, 2025D5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingMajor update to Dimension 5's real-time visualization software adds experimental path tracing system. Check out the other new features.Thursday, March 6th, 2025Download Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025More NewsAutodesk 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 OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsOlder Posts

Saturday, March 8th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"AMD has released Capsaicin 1.2, the latest version of its open-source framework for developing real-time rendering technologies.The update adds support for morph target animation, meshlet-based rendering, ACES tonemapping, and the .dds texture format.A GPU-agnostic, modular, open-source framework for developing real-time rendering techFirst released publicly in 2023, Capsaicin is a modular open-source framework for prototyping and developing real-time rendering technologies, primarily for games.It is designed for developing in broad strokes, creating simple, performant abstractions, not low-level hardware implementations, and is not intended for tuning high-performance tools.The framework is intended for developing Windows applications, but is GPU-agnostic, requiring a card that supports DirectX 12/Direct3D 12 and DXR (DirectX Raytracing) 1.1.AMD has used it in the development of its own rendering technologies, including an implementation of GI-1.0, its real-time global illumination algorithm.As well as the GI renderer, the framework includes a reference path tracer.Other features include readymade components for Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA), Screen-Space Global Illumination (SSGI), light sampling, tonemapping, and loading glTF files.The framework also includes HLSL shader functions for sampling materials and lights, spherical harmonics, and common mathematical operations, including random number generation.Capsaicin 1.2: blendshape animation, meshlet rendering and ACES tonemappingTo that, Capsaicin 1.2 adds support for rendering morph target (blendshape-based) animations, in addition to its existing support for skinned characters.The update also adds support for meshlet-based rendering, for streaming and decompressing high-resolution geometry at render time, in a way similar to UE5s Nanite system.Other new features include support for the .dds texture file format, used in games including Elden Ring and GTA V, and bloom and lens effects from AMDs FidelityFX toolkit.The update also adds a range of new tonemappers: the framework now defaults to ACES tonemapping, with support for Reinhard, Uncharted2, PBR Neutral and AgX, the latter now supported in Blender, Godot and Marmoset Toolbag.Licensing and system requirementsThe Capsaicin source code is available under an open-source MIT license. It can be compiled for Windows 10+ only, and requires a GPU that supports Direct3D 12 and DXR 1.1.Compiling from source requires Visual Studio 2019+ and CMake 3.10+. Find instructions here.Read more about the new features in Capsaicin 1.2 on AMDs blogRead more about the Capsaicin framework on AMDs GPU Open 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.Latest NewsAMD releases Capsaicin 1.2Check out the new features in the modular, open-source, hardware-agnostic framework for developing real-time rendering technology.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Check out the new versions of AMD's AI-based image upscaling, sharpening and frame-generation tech, available via its GPU drivers.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070First RDNA 4 GPUs get strong reviews in the gaming press. But how do they fare in CG apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve?Friday, March 7th, 2025D5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingMajor update to Dimension 5's real-time visualization software adds experimental path tracing system. Check out the other new features.Thursday, March 6th, 2025Download Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Autodesk lays off 1,350 staffSo why is the Maya and 3ds Max developer culling 9% of its global workforce when revenue is actually going up across the business?Tuesday, March 4th, 2025More News3d-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 OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsOlder Posts

Saturday, March 8th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"AMD has released AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.3.1, the latest version of its drivers for its consumer GPUs, including updates to three of its AI-based technologies.In-driver frame-generation system AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) has been updated to version 2.1, and image-sharpening system Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS) to version 2.0.The release also includes an upgrade feature for render upscaling system FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), with users able to update games and CG apps that support FSR 3.1 to FSR 4.The update was released alongside the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT, the first cards in AMDs new RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9000 Series, and both FSR 4 and RIS 2.0 require the new GPUs.FSR: render upscaling improves viewport frame rates in games and CG softwareIntroduced in 2021, FSR is a GPU-based image upscaling system, equivalent to NVIDIAs Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and Intels Xe Super Sampling (XeSS).It enables software to render the screen at lower resolution, then upscale the result to the actual resolution of the users monitor.The workflow improves frame rates over rendering natively at the higher resolution, without significant loss of visual quality if the upscaling isnt too extreme.As well as games, FSR is supported by some CG software, including real-time visualization app Lumion, where it is used in the editor and, as of Lumion 2024.0, the render Preview.Support for FSR was also announced in a second real-time visualization app, D5 Render, in 2022, although at the time of writing, it isnt mentioned in the online feature list.FSR 4: better detail preservation and temporal stabilityPerhaps learning from the previous major release, FSR 3, which was only supported by two games at launch, AMD has made FSR 4 available as a drop-in replacement for FSR 3.1.Users with new Radeon RX 9070 Series GPUs can upgrade any game that already supports FSR 3.1, the current version of the technology, to FSR 4.That includes Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, God of War: Ragnark and Marvel Rivals: you can see a list of the 30+ games in which the upgrade is or will be available on AMDs blog.The update provides a significant improvement in image quality over FSR 3.1 upscaling, improving temporal stability and detail preservation, and reducing ghosting.AFMF 2.1: better handling of details and on-screen text overlaysAMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.3.1 also updates AMD Fluid Motion Frames, its in-driver system for increasing frame rates by generating frames between those rendered conventionally.It was originally rolled out last year as part of HYPR-RX, AMDs set of technologies for improving in-game performance.AFMF 2.1 improves the visual quality of the frames generated: according to AMD, it reduces ghosting, restores details, and handles on-screen text overlays better.As an in-driver technology, it works across thousands of games: AMDs blog post has performance comparisons for Baldurs Gate 3, Borderlands 3, Far Cry 6 and Forza Horizon 5.RIS 2.0: more responsive image-sharpening, particularly in non-games apps like VLCThe Adrenalin Edition 25.3.1 release also features the first major update to contrast-adaptive image-sharpening system Radeon Image Sharpening since it was introduced in 2019.RIS 2.0 provides stronger, more responsive sharpening in more use cases, particularly video playback.As well as games, RIS is supported in a range of other apps, including web browsers like Chrome, Edge and Firefox, Microsoft Office apps, and the VLC media player.Licensing and system requirementsThe FSR 4 upgrade feature, AFMF 2.1 and Radeon Image Sharpening 2.0 are available as part the 25.3.1 release of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition.The FSR 4 upgrade is available for software that already integrates FSR 3.1, part of version 1.1.13 of the FidelityFX SDK. The source code is available under an open-source MIT license.FSR 4 and RIS 2.0 require a Radeon RX 9070 Series GPU; AFMF 2.1 is supported on Radeon RX 6000 Series and newer GPUs, and integrated graphics on Ryzen AI 300 Series CPUs.Read more about FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and Radeon Image Sharpening 2 on AMDs blogHave 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.Latest NewsAMD launches FSR 4, AFMF 2.1 and RIS 2.0Check out the new versions of AMD's AI-based image upscaling, sharpening and frame-generation tech, available via its GPU drivers.Saturday, March 8th, 2025AMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070First RDNA 4 GPUs get strong reviews in the gaming press. But how do they fare in CG apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve?Friday, March 7th, 2025D5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingMajor update to Dimension 5's real-time visualization software adds experimental path tracing system. Check out the other new features.Thursday, March 6th, 2025Download Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Autodesk lays off 1,350 staffSo why is the Maya and 3ds Max developer culling 9% of its global workforce when revenue is actually going up across the business?Tuesday, March 4th, 20253d-io releases Unwrella-IONew standalone app from the maker of the Unwrella plugins for 3ds Max and Maya promises easy UV unwrapping and packing.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025More News5 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadOlder Posts

Friday, March 7th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"AMD has launched the Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070, the first cards in its Radeon RX 9000 Series of consumer GPUs, based on its next-gen RDNA 4 GPU architecture.The 16GB cards, which have recommended prices of $599 and $549, hit online stores yesterday, to strong reviews in the gaming press.Below, weve summarized their key specs, and rounded up what we know so far about how that gaming performance will translate to CG software like Blender, DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro.New RDNA 4 architecture promises better AI, ray tracing and video encoding performanceThe Radeon RX 9000 Series cards are the first GPUs to use AMDs new RDNA 4 GPU architecture.It features improvements to all of the cards hardware core types, including for general GPU compute, but particularly for AI operations and ray tracing, with AMD claiming that RDNA 4 provides 2x the ray tracing throughput per compute unit compared to RDNA 3.For video processing, a new dual media engine promises to double throughput for AV1 encoding, and to improve the quality of AV1, H.264 and H.265 encoding and decoding by up to 25%.As with NVIDIAs current-gen GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, the Radeon RX 9000 Series cards support PCIe 5.0.The new cards are also currently the only GPUs to support FSR 4 (FidelityFX Super Resolution 4), the latest version of AMDs AI-based viewport upscaling technology.For more details, Toms Hardware has a deeper dive into the RDNA 4 architecture.AMD Radeon RX 9000 and 7000 Series GPUsRadeon RX 7900 XTRadeon RX 9070 XTRadeon RX 9070Radeon RX 7900 GREArchitectureRDNA 3RDNA 4RDNA 4RDNA 3Shading units5,3764,0963,5845,120AI accelerators168128112160Ray accelerators84645680Base clock (GHz)*1.41.71.31.3Boost clock (GHz)2.43.02.52.2FP32 compute performance (Tflops)*51.548.736.146.0GPU memory20GB GDDR616GB GDDR616GB GDDR616GB GDDR6Memory bandwidth (GB/s)*800645645576TBP300W304W220W260WDisplay*2 x DisplayPort 2.11 x HDMI 2.1a1 x USB-C3 x DisplayPort 2.1a1 x HDMI 2.1b3 x DisplayPort 2.1a1 x HDMI 2.1b2 x DisplayPort 2.11 x HDMI 2.1a1 x USB-CRelease date2022202520252023MSRP at launch$899$599$549$549*Figure taken from third-party website.Key specificationsAMD has changed its naming scheme since the previous-gen Radeon RX 7000 Series, but its launch materials position the new GPUs between the Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 GRE.The new numbering convention suggests that the cards are being pitched against NVIDIAs mid-range consumer GPUs: the current-gen GeForce RTX 5070 and previous-gen GeForce RTX 4070.Above, weve rounded up the key specs of the new Radeon RX 9000 Series cards and their previous-gen counterparts, based on AMDs own figures and the TechPowerUp database.All of the Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9070 GPUs are being manufactured by partner firms there are no AMD reference cards so clock speeds and power consumption will vary between models.However, their core specs are broadly comparable to the Radeon RX 7900 GRE all are 16GB cards, and remain on GDDR6 memory as are their recommended launch prices.Processor core core counts are actually down on the previous generation, though AMD is promising overall performance improvements due to the advances in GPU architecture.Strong early reviews in the gaming pressEarly reviews of the Radeon RX 9000 Series cards in the gaming press have been positive, with many contrasting the launch troubles and lukewarm reviews for NVIDIAs GeForce RTX 5070.TechRadars review of the Radeon RX 9070 XT is fairly typical, describing it as a stunning release delivering [GeForce] RTX 4080 levels of gaming performance at half that cards launch MSRP.Benchmark results in CG softwareBut how will that gaming performance translate to professional graphics work?As you would expect, most of AMDs own published performance comparisons are for games, although its launch materials do include a few benchmarks for AI.That includes both generative AI models and the AI tools in CG applications.The slide above shows the Radeon RX 9070 XT outperforming the previous-gen Radeon RX 7900 GRE by 12-17% in AI-based tools in Adobes Lightroom Classic photo editor and by 20-34% in DaVinci Resolve, Blackmagic Designs video editing, compositing and VFX software.The figures are based on Puget Systems standard PugetBench tests.Independent reviews include scores for Blender and Premiere ProSome early reviews also include benchmarks for CG apps, although their conclusions are mixed.Toms Hardware shows the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 outperforming NVIDIAs GeForce RTX 5070 and 4070 in the synthetic SPECworkstation 4.0 benchmark, both in the HandBrake video transcoding test, and for average viewport performance across a range of apps, including Blender.However, for rendering, the GeForce RTX 5070 and 4070 outperformed both the Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs in the Blender benchmark itself.PC Worlds review also notes that the GeForce RTX 5070 absolutely stomped the Radeon RX 9000 Series cards in the PugetBench Premiere Pro benchmark.For DCC work, its also important to note that some GPU render engines, including Arnold GPU, OctaneRender and V-Ray GPU, use NVIDIA APIs, and are not accelerated on AMD graphics cards.Price and availabilityAMDs Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs became available on 6 March 2025 through partner firms including Acer, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Sapphire, Vastarmor, XFX and Yeston. The Radeon RX 9070 XT has a MSRP of $599, and the Radeon RX 9070 has a MSRP of $549, but street prices are currently significantly higher for what remains of the initial stock.Read more about the Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs AMDs 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.Latest NewsAMD launches Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070First RDNA 4 GPUs get strong reviews in the gaming press. But how do they fare in CG apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve?Friday, March 7th, 2025D5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingMajor update to Dimension 5's real-time visualization software adds experimental path tracing system. Check out the other new features.Thursday, March 6th, 2025Download Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Autodesk lays off 1,350 staffSo why is the Maya and 3ds Max developer culling 9% of its global workforce when revenue is actually going up across the business?Tuesday, March 4th, 20253d-io releases Unwrella-IONew standalone app from the maker of the Unwrella plugins for 3ds Max and Maya promises easy UV unwrapping and packing.Tuesday, March 4th, 20255 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Discover five key new features in the open-source game engine, including updates to shading, lighting, animation and physics.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025More NewsTrimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderOlder Posts

Thursday, March 6th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerD5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracinghtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Dimension 5 has released D5 Render 2.10, the new version of its real-time visualization tool and GPU renderer for DCC and CAD software including 3ds Max, Blender and Cinema 4D.Its a significant update, adding support for real-time path tracing for more realistic renders, a new automated 3D city generator, and updates to the night sky system and weather effects.A rapidly evolving GPU ray tracing renderer for architectural visualisationFirst released in 2021, D5 Render is an increasingly powerful architectural renderer with linking plugins for a range of DCC and CAD applications.As well as rendering scenes directly from a linked DCC app, users can import models in FBX, Alembic or SKP format, apply PBR materials, and assign HDRIs, lights and LUTs.Other features include object scattering and shot dressing tools, support for volumetric and particle-based effects, and path-based animation tools for crowds or vehicles.The software supports DXR-based hardware-accelerated ray tracing on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs, and is capable of rendering 16K still images, and 4K videos.D5 Render 2.10: experimental support for real-time path tracingThe headline change in D5 Render 2.10 is the experimental new real-time path tracing system.Its based on NVIDIAs ReSTIR algorithm, a modified version of which is used in existing real-time GI solution, introduced in D5 Render 2.4.According to Dimension 5, the new method gets closer to ground truth references, particularly improving diffuse indirect lighting and indirect lighting in reflections.You can read more about the implementation which is still officially in alpha in this blog post, which also covers the key settings for trading visual quality against performance.New automated City Generator generates low-res 3D citiesThe other major new feature in D5 Render 2.10 is the City Generator.It automatically generates low-detail city models from real-world OpenStreetMap data or GIS data in .shp format, with users able to adjust the heights and materials of the buildings.Updates to night skies and weather effectsUpdates to existing features include a rework of the night skies generated by Geo&Sky.The skies generated can now include the Milky Way, and users can now adjust settings including star intensity and the intensity, altitude and phases of the moon.The update also improves the realism of D5 Renders weather effects, with a new Water Mist effect to add atmosphere to rainy scenes, and more detailed raindrop and snowflake particles.More new generative AI features: inpainting and motion blurDimension 5 has been adding generative AI features to D5 Render over recent updates, with version 2.10 adding two new AI features.AI inpainting automatically fills in missing elements in renders, like the sky, water or vegetation, and is intended to reduce the need to place assets manually to fill those parts of a scene.AI motion blur adds well, motion blur to moving objects in images, but as a post effect, without the need to render it directly.Workflow and performance improvements, and updates to the asset libraryWorkflow improvements include better control over the scale units used for assets, support for batch scene deletion, and new French and Japanese language localizations.The software has also been updated to support DLSS 4, the latest version of NVIDIAs AI render upresing and frame interpolation technology, also recently supported in Chaos Vantage.The softwares accompanying asset library gets new object scattering templates, and over 240 new assets themed around hotels and holiday resorts, including characters and lobby decor.Pricing and system requirementsD5 Render is available for Windows 10+. It requires a compatible GPU: Dimension 5 recommends a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060+, AMD Radeon RX 6400 XT+ or Intel Arc A3+.Integration plugins are available for 3ds Max 2014-2016 and 2018+, ArchiCAD 21+, Blender 2.93+, Cinema 4D R20+, Revit 2018.3+, Rhino 6.1+, SketchUp 2017+ and Vectorworks 2024+.The Community edition is free; the Pro edition, which includes AI features, frame sequence rendering, and access to the full asset library, costs $38/month or $360/year.Teams subscriptions, which add further features including simultaneous editing and support for 3D Gaussian Splatting, cost $75/month or $708/year.Read a full list of new features in D5 Render 2.10 in the online release notesHave 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.Latest NewsD5 Render 2.10 adds real-time path tracingMajor update to Dimension 5's real-time visualization software adds experimental path tracing system. Check out the other new features.Thursday, March 6th, 2025Download Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Autodesk lays off 1,350 staffSo why is the Maya and 3ds Max developer culling 9% of its global workforce when revenue is actually going up across the business?Tuesday, March 4th, 20253d-io releases Unwrella-IONew standalone app from the maker of the Unwrella plugins for 3ds Max and Maya promises easy UV unwrapping and packing.Tuesday, March 4th, 20255 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Discover five key new features in the open-source game engine, including updates to shading, lighting, animation and physics.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Check out the new features in the architectural modeling app, also used in concept art, including HDRI lighting and PBR materials.Monday, March 3rd, 2025More NewsTutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsOlder Posts

Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerAutodesk lays off 1,350 staffhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Autodesk is to lay off 9% of its workforce, or around 1,350 jobs. The news comes as the company reported increased net revenue across all of its business sectors for the last financial quarter.In a memo to employees, CEO Andrew Anagnost attributed the job cuts to a decision to accelerate investment in AI and its cloud business, and to strengthen business resilience.Autodesks largest set of job cuts in years follow strong financial resultsThe job cuts are Autodesks largest set of layoffs in some years, and follow a period of growth for the company.Its most recent set of financial results, reported at the same time as the job cuts, are strong.In its 8-K filing for the financial quarter that ended on 31 January 2025, Autodesk reported a total revenue of $1.64 billion, up 12% on the same quarter last year.Net revenue was up on the previous year for all of Autodesks four main product families: AECO, AutoCAD, Manufacturing, and Media and Entertainment.The latter is by some way the smallest of Autodesks major business sectors, but includes the products that CG Channel readers will be most familiar with, including Maya and 3ds Max.Which parts of Autodesks business will be affected by the cuts?Autodesk has not announced exactly where the job cuts will be made, but its press release on the financial results suggest that they will mainly affect sales and marketing, not R&D.In it, CFO Janesh Moorjani comments that Autodesk has just completed its new transaction model and has now initiated the optimization phase of our sales and marketing plan.So why is Autodesk laying off staff now?In a memo to employees, CEO Andrew Anagnost also cited the companys changing Go-to-Market model its sales and marketing strategy as a reason for the cuts.Our GTM model has evolved from the transition to subscription and multi-year contracts billed annually to self-service enablement [and] the adoption of direct billing, he wrote.Anagnost also cited a decision to accelerate Autodesks investment in both new AI technologies and its new industry clouds, like Flow, its cloud-based platform for Media and Entertainment.Our investments in cloud, platform, and AI are ahead of our peers, he wrote. To maintain and extend this leadership, we are shifting resources across our GTM, Platform, Industry, and Corporate functions to accelerate investments in these strategic priorities.The memo also notes a need to strengthen business resilience in the face of changes in macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, as well as evolving regulations.Pressure from activist investorsThe announcements come as Autodesk faces pressure from activist investor Starboard Value to deliver increased returns to shareholders.The situation is summarized well in this AEC Magazine article from last September, which notes that the changes Starboard Value wants would create mass layoffs and cost reductions at Autodesk, in order to drive up operating margin. In the memo to staff, Andrew Anagnost rather pointedly states that this decision was made by myself and CEO staff and is not the result of any third-party pressure.However, Autodesks press release to investors also notes that the company expects consistent growth reinforced by persistent share repurchases, to deliver sustainable shareholder value over many years.Read Andrew Anagnosts memo to Autodesk employees on the Autodesk websiteRead Autodesks press release on its Q4 Fiscal 2025 financial resultsHave 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.Related Topics # 3ds max # activist investor # AEC # AECO # AI # AutoCAD # autodesk # Autodesk Flow # cloud platform # financial results # flow # job cuts # layoffs # manufacturing # Maya # Media & Entertainment # Starboard Value Latest NewsDownload Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Autodesk lays off 1,350 staffSo why is the Maya and 3ds Max developer culling 9% of its global workforce when revenue is actually going up across the business?Tuesday, March 4th, 20253d-io releases Unwrella-IONew standalone app from the maker of the Unwrella plugins for 3ds Max and Maya promises easy UV unwrapping and packing.Tuesday, March 4th, 20255 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Discover five key new features in the open-source game engine, including updates to shading, lighting, animation and physics.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Check out the new features in the architectural modeling app, also used in concept art, including HDRI lighting and PBR materials.Monday, March 3rd, 2025Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025More NewsCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsOlder Posts

Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerDownload Marmosets free materials for Toolbag 5html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Marmoset has released Toolbag Library Drop 06, its latest set of free resources for users of Toolbag, its real-time rendering, look development and texture baking software.The asset drop the first since the release of Toolbag 5.0, the latest major version of the software adds 154 new resources: 58 brushes, 86 materials, and 10 textures.Readymade materials, textures and brushes available free for Toolbag usersMarmoset has been releasing Library Drops since 2021 to expand Toolbags accompanying asset Library.It is available to all users of the software, including those with free 30-day trials, with previews of the assets displayed in the softwares Library window. The files themselves can then be downloaded from the cloud.Toolbag Library Drop 06: over 150 new brushes, materials and texturesToolbag Library Drop 06 is Marmosets first for over a year, and the first Library Drop since the company released Toolbag 5.0, the latest major version of the software.It adds 158 assets: 58 brushes, 86 materials, and 10 textures.The brushes are mainly for painting fabric details like stitching, and can be used with the new Vector Layers introduced in Toolbag 5.0.The materials span a range of common real-world material types, including concrete, asphalt, stone, paint, metal, ceramics and wood, while the textures are all geometric patterns.Pricing and availabilityMarmosets Library Drop materials are available free to Toolbag users.Toolbag itself is available for Windows 10+ and macOS 13.5+. The current release is Toolbag 5.0.Perpetual licenses cost $399 for individual artists, or $1,299 for studios. Subscriptions cost $18.99/month for individuals, or $49.99/month for studios.Read a full list of materials in Marmosets Toolbag Library Drop 06Have 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.Latest NewsDownload Marmoset's free materials for Toolbag 5Library Drop 05 makes over 150 new assets available for the real-time rendering and look dev software, including 86 new materials.Wednesday, March 5th, 2025Autodesk lays off 1,350 staffSo why is the Maya and 3ds Max developer culling 9% of its global workforce when revenue is actually going up across the business?Tuesday, March 4th, 20253d-io releases Unwrella-IONew standalone app from the maker of the Unwrella plugins for 3ds Max and Maya promises easy UV unwrapping and packing.Tuesday, March 4th, 20255 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Discover five key new features in the open-source game engine, including updates to shading, lighting, animation and physics.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Check out the new features in the architectural modeling app, also used in concept art, including HDRI lighting and PBR materials.Monday, March 3rd, 2025Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025More NewsCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterCETA Software launches Artist AccessFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsOlder Posts

Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Posted by Jim Thacker3d-io releases Unwrella-IOhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 19 June 2024 for the beta, and updated for the final release.Tools developer 3d-io has released Unwrella-IO, a new standalone app based on the technology used in Unwrella, its UV unwrapping and packing plugin 3ds Max and Maya.It is designed to automatically unrap the UVs of 3D models in a few clicks, via an intuitive UI.Turning 3d-ios UV unwrapping and UV packing technology into standalone apps3d-io has recently been turning its technology previously available as plugins for specific DCC applications into standalone apps for users of any DCC software.In 2024, it released Packer-IO, a free standalone UV packing tool based on the technology behind its existing UV-Packer plugins.Unwrella-IO does something similar, but for one of 3d-ios main commercial tools: Unwrella, its UV unwrapping and packing plugin for 3ds Max and Maya.The standalone version makes it possible to use the same technology with assets from other DCC applications, like Blender or Unreal Engine.An intutive, high-performance standalone UV unwrapping tool3d-io describes Unwrella-IO as providing a natural UI and easy-to-understand controls for creating UVs making it possible to unwrap 3D models with just a few clicks.In the video above, the UI looks almost identical to Packer-IO not entirely surprising, since UV-Packer is integrated into Unwrella but with the addition of an additional section of the interface with UV unwrapping controls.It includes preset modes for hard-surface and organic models, and mosaic unwrapping for 3D scans, plus controls for the placement of UV seams and the amount of UV stretching to tolerate.The other workflows are similar to UV-Packer, with users able to drag and drop models into the app, and semi-automatically unwrap and pack the UVs.Price, system requirements and release dateUnwrella-IO is compatible with Windows 10+. A macOS version is coming soon. Perpetual licenses cost 199 (around $210). It is also possible to upgrade from the 3ds Max or Maya plugin to the new standalone edition for 99 (around $105).Read more about Unwrella-IO on 3d-ios websiteRead the online documentation for Unwrella-IOHave 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.Latest News3d-io releases Unwrella-IONew standalone app from the maker of the Unwrella plugins for 3ds Max and Maya promises easy UV unwrapping and packing.Tuesday, March 4th, 20255 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Discover five key new features in the open-source game engine, including updates to shading, lighting, animation and physics.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Check out the new features in the architectural modeling app, also used in concept art, including HDRI lighting and PBR materials.Monday, March 3rd, 2025Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Check out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterPromising open-source add-on lets you scatter plants and rocks in your scenes according to elevation, texture masks or guide curves.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025CETA Software launches Artist AccessCheck out the new time-tracking tools in the cloud-based production management platform for VFX. Free for six months to startup studios.Friday, February 28th, 2025More NewsFoundry releases Nuke 16.0Boris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsAdobe releases Substance 3D Sampler 5.0Chaos acquires architectural AI tools developer EvolveLABOlder Posts

Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Posted by Jim Thacker5 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The Godot team has released Godot 4.4, the latest version of the open-source game engine.Its another sizeable release, with improvements to core performance, and updates throughout Godots key toolsets, including changes to scripting, audio and platform integration.Below, weve picked out five new features of particular significance to CG artists, as opposed to programmers, including updates to shading, lighting, rendering, animation and physics.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/240304_Godot44_5KeyFeatures_InteractiveEditing.mp41. New game window lets you edit games directly while theyre runningFor both artists and level designers, a key change in Godot 4.4 is that the game window is now embedded in the Godot Editor, making it possible to view the running game from the Editor.Users can select objects within the game window, streamlining interactive in-game editing.There are also a number of other nice quality-of-life updates to the Editor, including the option to snap 3D objects to one another while placing them in a level, to preview camera views directly in the Inspector, and a built-in material preview in the visual shader editor.2. Updates to LightmapGI improve quality and performance of rendered shadowsIn the lighting toolset, the LightmapGI node now supports baked shadowmasks.The change makes it possible to use static shadows at a distance from the view camera, but dynamic shadows up close, improving performance without sacrificing realism.LightmapGI also now supports bicubic sampling, resulting in smoother-looking baked shadows at a small performance cost, and supports baking tinted shadows from transparent objects.3. AgX tonemapping gives a movie-like look to rendered imagesFor post-processing, Godot 4.4 now supports AgX tonemapping, for giving a movie-like look to rendered images, alongside the existing ACES and Filmic transforms.The implementation is similar to that in Blender, where an AgX View Transform was added in Blender 4.0, but has been simplified for real-time use.It is described as handling very bright scenes better than existing tonemapping modes.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/250304_Godot44_5KeyFeatures_LookAt.webm4. Animation: new look-at, jiggle physics and animation marker systemsAnimators get a number of new features, including a new look-at constraint system, with the new LookAtModifer3D node partially replacing the now-deprecated SkeletonIK3D.For adding jiggle physics for characters hair and clothing, VRMSpringBone from the VRM format for 3D avatars, previously an add-on, is now integrated directly into the engine.It is also now possible to place markers to create subregions of an animation that can be jumped to or looped without playing the entire animation.5. Jolt physics is now built-in, not an extensionAnother key change in Godot 4.4 is that Jolt, the open-source rigid body dynamics library used as the de facto physics engine by many developers, is now integrated directly into Godot.Jolt, used on games including Horizon Forbidden West, was previously an extension.The new built-in Jolt Physics module is still experimental, and is not yet as feature-complete as the existing Godot Physics system: you can find a list of differences in the online documentation.However, the Jolt extension is now in maintenance mode, and will be deprecated once the native Jolt physics system reaches feature parity.Other changes, performance improvements and platform supportThere are also a number of improvements to scripting, including support for typed dictionaries, tooltips in the GDScript editor, and a new expression evaluator. Core performance has been improved, with large projects loading up to 3x faster in the Editor.Godot also now supports Apples Metal graphics API natively, rather than using MoltenVK to run Vulkan over Metal, which should improve performance on Apple Silicon processors.Platform changes initial support for XR devices in the Android Editor. The Android Editor can also now generate and export binaries directly, rather than forcing users to switch to another OS.License and system requirementsGodot 4.4 is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, and 64-bit Linux and macOS. There are also browser-based and Android ports of the Godot Editor. The source code is available under a MIT licenseRead a full list of new features in Godot 4.4 on the Godot teams blogDownload Godot from the game engines 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.Latest News5 key features for CG artists in Godot 4.4Discover five key new features in the open-source game engine, including updates to shading, lighting, animation and physics.Tuesday, March 4th, 2025Trimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Check out the new features in the architectural modeling app, also used in concept art, including HDRI lighting and PBR materials.Monday, March 3rd, 2025Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Check out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterPromising open-source add-on lets you scatter plants and rocks in your scenes according to elevation, texture masks or guide curves.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025CETA Software launches Artist AccessCheck out the new time-tracking tools in the cloud-based production management platform for VFX. Free for six months to startup studios.Friday, February 28th, 2025Foundry releases Nuke 16.0Next major update to Nuke introduces native multishot compositing, and improves roto performance and BlinkScript editing.Friday, February 28th, 2025More NewsBoris FX releases SynthEyes 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsAdobe releases Substance 3D Sampler 5.0Chaos acquires architectural AI tools developer EvolveLABEpic Games releases Twinmotion 2025.1Older Posts

Monday, March 3rd, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerTrimble releases SketchUp 2025.0html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Trimble has released SketchUp 2025.0, the latest version of its architectural modeling software, also often used by concept artists to rough out hard-surface assets.The release significantly increases the realism with which models can be previewed within the software, adding support for both HDR image-based lighting and PBR materials.There are also updates to the modeling tools, extensions management, and pipeline integration, but the Style Builder app, included with Pro subscriptions, has been discontinued.Support for image-based environment lighting and PBR materialsSketchUp 2025.0 increases the visual realism with which models can be previewed within SketchUp, adding a new Environments panel for viewing models in an HDRI environment.The software ships with a set of readymade HDR images, which can be used as background environments and light sources, or users can import their own in HDR or EXR formats.The update also introduces support for PBR materials, both in imported glTF and USD files, and from SketchUps own material libraries, which have been converted to PBR materials. Older materials can be converted to PBR materials using an AI-based Generate Textures tool, which generates metalness, roughness, AO and normal maps from diffuse textures.Updates to the modeling tools, extensions management, and pipeline integrationWorkflow improvements include quality-of-life updates to SketchUps modeling toolset, with updates to the Rotate tool, Arc tools, Snaps, and Text tool.Other changes include an automated reminder to purge unused assets when saving files, and a new Extension Migrator for updating add-ons from Sketchups Extension Warehouse to the current version of the software.SketchUps integration with Trimble Connect, Trimbles online collaboration platform, has also been strengthened with new native options to import, reload or save files to Trimble Connect.Architects get updates to SketchUps Revit importer, and IFC import and export.Updates to LayOut, but Style Builder discontinuedUsers with Pro and Studio subscriptions also get updates to LayOut, the accompanying app for generating 2D documentation from 3D models.The Move, Rotate and Scale tools have been updated to work more like the way they do in SketchUp itself, and the Join and Split tools now work on line segments as well as shapes.LayOut can also now render the new PBR materials and HDRI environments in SketchUp models.However, Style Builder, the app for generating hand-drawn line styles previously included with Pro subscriptions, has now been discontinued.Price and system requirementsSketchUp 2025.0 is compatible with Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+.The software is available rental-only, with entry-level SketchUp Go subscriptions, which include the browser edition of the software and SketchUp for iPad, costing $119/year.SketchUp Pro and SketchUp Studio, which also include the desktop edition and LayOut, now cost $349/year and $749/year.There is also a free, feature-limited web-based edition of SketchUp, SketchUp Free.Read an overview of the new features in SketchUp 2025.0 on Trimbles blogRead a full list of new features in SketchUp 2025.0 in the online changelogHave 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.Latest NewsTrimble releases SketchUp 2025.0Check out the new features in the architectural modeling app, also used in concept art, including HDRI lighting and PBR materials.Monday, March 3rd, 2025Tutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Check out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterPromising open-source add-on lets you scatter plants and rocks in your scenes according to elevation, texture masks or guide curves.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025CETA Software launches Artist AccessCheck out the new time-tracking tools in the cloud-based production management platform for VFX. Free for six months to startup studios.Friday, February 28th, 2025Foundry releases Nuke 16.0Next major update to Nuke introduces native multishot compositing, and improves roto performance and BlinkScript editing.Friday, February 28th, 2025Boris FX releases SynthEyes 20253D tracking and match-moving software gets new multi-export system, AI-based roto masking, and 3D head mesh for head tracking.Thursday, February 27th, 2025More NewsAdobe launches Photoshop on iPhonePlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsAdobe releases Substance 3D Sampler 5.0Chaos acquires architectural AI tools developer EvolveLABEpic Games releases Twinmotion 2025.1Assetify 2 converts Blender animations to game-ready formatsOlder Posts

Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerCheck out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Tools developer May3D has released OpenScatter, a promising open-source scattering add-on for Blender.The free tool makes it possible to distribute objects like plants or rocks within a scene according to slope or elevation, and supports wind animation and object collision.A promising free Blender scattering tool for general CG work and environment artOpenScatter is a lightweight object scattering add-on for general-purpose CG work or for environment art for motion graphics, animation or visual effects projects.It makes it possible to scatter objects primarily landscape objects like rocks or trees within a scene, using a non-destructive, layer-based workflow.Users can control which parts of a surface instances are scattered on using texture masks, guide curves, or abiotic properties like elevation or slope angle.It is also possible for different scatter systems to interact with one another: for example, to prevent ground vegetation from growing in a certain radius from the base of trees.The add-on supports dynamic object collisions, and simple wind animation.There are also a number of features to improve interactive performance, including viewport mesh optimization, automatic low-poly mesh generation, and camera and render-region culling.Price and system requirementsOpenScatter is compatible with Blender 4.2+. Source code is available under a GPLv3 license.You can download compiled versions for free from GitHub, or buy the add-on from BlenderMarket to support future development: currently, for either $1 or $10.Download Blender scattering tool OpenScatter for free from GitHubBuy OpenScatter from BlenderMarket to support developmentRead more about OpenScatter for Blender in the online documentationHave 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.Latest NewsTutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Check out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterPromising open-source add-on lets you scatter plants and rocks in your scenes according to elevation, texture masks or guide curves.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025CETA Software launches Artist AccessCheck out the new time-tracking tools in the cloud-based production management platform for VFX. Free for six months to startup studios.Friday, February 28th, 2025Foundry releases Nuke 16.0Next major update to Nuke introduces native multishot compositing, and improves roto performance and BlinkScript editing.Friday, February 28th, 2025Boris FX releases SynthEyes 20253D tracking and match-moving software gets new multi-export system, AI-based roto masking, and 3D head mesh for head tracking.Thursday, February 27th, 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhoneImage-editing and retouching app is now available on iPhone as well as iPad, with an Android version coming soon. Read our FAQs here.Thursday, February 27th, 2025More NewsPlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsAdobe releases Substance 3D Sampler 5.0Chaos acquires architectural AI tools developer EvolveLABEpic Games releases Twinmotion 2025.1Assetify 2 converts Blender animations to game-ready formatsIs AI replacing render farms?Older Posts

Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerTutorial: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for Productionhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The Gnomon Workshop has released Dynamic Cloth Simulation for Production, a guide to professional character effects, recorded by Untold Studios Senior CFX Artist Salah Hussein.The workshop, which sets out how to make a 3D characters clothing dynamic using cloth simulation, provides over four hours of video training in Houdini.An essential guide to character effects workflows for animation, VFX and cinematicsIn the workshop, Hussein sets out his professional workflow for simulating an animated characters clothing and props using Houdinis Vellum solver.He begins by converting layers of cloth from the character asset into efficient proxy geometry, then sets up a constraints network that makes it easier to fine-tune or debug the simulation. After setting up the Vellum solver and refining the sim, Hussein demonstrates how to export the data cleanly, preserving the original geometry without changing any attributes or topology.As well as the tutorial videos, viewers of the workshop can download Husseins Houdini Indie project files, and Alembic simulation caches.About the artistSalah Hussein is Senior CFX Artist at VFX and motion design firm Untold Studios. He has more than eight years of experience in advertising, television, and game cinematics. Studios he has worked for include MPC, Jellyfish Pictures, Folks VFX, Axis Studios and Rodeo FX, on projects like Spirit Untamed, Marvel Snap and the Diablo Immortal launch trailer.Pricing and availabilityDynamic Cloth Simulation for Production 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 Dynamic Cloth Simulation for Production 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: Dynamic Cloth Simulation for ProductionMaster character effects workflows for animation, cinematics and VFX with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed Houdini tutorial.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025Check out free Blender scattering add-on OpenScatterPromising open-source add-on lets you scatter plants and rocks in your scenes according to elevation, texture masks or guide curves.Sunday, March 2nd, 2025CETA Software launches Artist AccessCheck out the new time-tracking tools in the cloud-based production management platform for VFX. Free for six months to startup studios.Friday, February 28th, 2025Foundry releases Nuke 16.0Next major update to Nuke introduces native multishot compositing, and improves roto performance and BlinkScript editing.Friday, February 28th, 2025Boris FX releases SynthEyes 20253D tracking and match-moving software gets new multi-export system, AI-based roto masking, and 3D head mesh for head tracking.Thursday, February 27th, 2025Adobe launches Photoshop on iPhoneImage-editing and retouching app is now available on iPhone as well as iPad, with an Android version coming soon. Read our FAQs here.Thursday, February 27th, 2025More NewsPlastic Software releases Plasticity 2025.1Technicolor Group begins to shut down operationsDownload four free VDB clouds from VFX AssetsArtlist discontinues the FXhome apps: HitFilm and Imerge deadFree tool: Mesh Cleaner for BlenderTutorial: Introduction to Lighting & Compositing for CinematicsAdobe to raise the price of Substance 3D subscriptionsAdobe releases Substance 3D Sampler 5.0Chaos acquires architectural AI tools developer EvolveLABEpic Games releases Twinmotion 2025.1Assetify 2 converts Blender animations to game-ready formatsIs AI replacing render farms?Older Posts