We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If you’re getting excited for spring and summer home improvement projects, or if you plan to expand your yard care equipment collection, the expense of new tools can be an important consideration. Getting deals on new cordless tools is a game-changer for DIYers everywhere, and the following deals can get you up to 67% off right now. Ryobi cordless tools are a go-to for many DIY enthusiasts because of the variety of tools they make that fit their batteries, their affordability, and their quality, so saving some money on this brand will allow you to add to your quality cordless tool kit as you go.DriversPower drivers have come a long way from back when you only had a drill with one or two speeds and a few attachments. These days, you can use power drivers on much larger hardware and on a wider range of parts, including nuts and bolts.The 18-volt Ryobi ⅜ inch impact wrench is on sale for $99, 67% off its regular price. The driver kit comes with 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery and a charger. This is a good deal if you need batteries or if you are planning on building a larger kit—it comes with everything you need to operate the tool as well as batteries you can use with all other 18-volt Ryobi tools.The Ryobi 18-volt powered ratchet is on sale for $99, 65% off its usual price. This set comes with two 4-amp-hour batteries and a charger, and it’s good for driving nuts in tight spaces where a larger tool wouldn’t fit. 18-volt Ryobi ⅜ inch impact wrench $99.00 at Home Depot $302.94 Save $203.94 Get Deal Get Deal $99.00 at Home Depot $302.94 Save $203.94 Cutting and trimmingHaving the right type of cutting tool for your job and material is crucial for DIY success. Here are some deals of cutting tools that will get you through almost any DIY job.The Ryobi 18-volt jig saw is on sale for $99, 60% off its usual price. This saw comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery and a charger. A jig saw is good for making cuts that aren’t in a straight line and can be handy for trimming pieces that need custom shapes, like flooring cut to fit around a doorway.The Ryobi 18-volt, 18-inch hedge trimmer is on sale for $99, 65% off its usual price. This trimmer comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery.The Ryobi 18-volt oscillating tool is on sale for $99, 65% off its typical price. This tool comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery and a charger. The oscillating tool is more than just a cutting tool that can be used for plunge cutting and trimming, it can also be used for sanding and buffing, making it one of the more versatile tools in your cordless kit.The Ryobi 18-volt angle grinder is on sale for $199, 41% off its usual price. This kit comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and two 4-amp-hour batteries. An angle grinder can be used for cutting metal or nipping off screw tips that poke out.The Ryobi 18-volt reciprocating saw is on sale for $199, 59% off its regular price. This kit comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and two 4-amp-hour batteries. A sawzall can take a variety of blades for cutting many materials and can be used to trim material in tight spots where a circular saw might not fit.Sanding and finishingGetting a polished look on your DIY projects can feel satisfying after all your hard work, and smoothing everything out can also help to avoid splinters. Here are some deals on sanding and finishing cordless tools.The 18-volt Ryobi hand planer is on sale for $99, 69% off its regular price. This kit comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery, and a charger. A hand planer can be used to smooth and shape rough boardsThe 18-volt Ryobi orbital sander is on sale for $99, 62% off its usual price. This kit comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery, and a charger. A random orbital sander can help smooth rough surfaces and prep for paint. 18-volt Ryobi hand planer $99.00 at Home Depot $223.94 Save $124.94 Get Deal Get Deal $99.00 at Home Depot $223.94 Save $124.94 Batteries, chargers, and accessoriesWhile it might be an afterthought when investing in cordless tools, batteries and accessories can really make a difference in the amount of time and effort it takes to complete a project. Having extra fresh batteries means you can use multiple tools at a time without stopping to swap batteries, allowing you to work faster. The Ryobi 18-volt battery starter kit is on sale for $99, 67% off its regular price. It comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and two 4-amp-hour batteries. This is a good kit if you're starting out or if you’re expanding your kit to allow you to use multiple tools simultaneously.The Ryobi gutter cleaner attachment for your Expand-It yard maintenance tool allows you to use the base edger/string trimmer handle to clear leaves and debris from your gutter. It’s on sale for $79, 39% off its usual price.The Ryobi 18-volt 7 and ½ inch fan is on sale for $99, 62% off its typical price. The fan comes with one 2-amp-hour battery and one 4-amp-hour battery, and a charger. Having a fan can do more than just cool you down while you’re working. You can use it to help dry paint faster or blow dust away from where you’re working to keep your paint dust-free.

For many of us, 2020 was a year of upheaval and transformation. We all faced our own challenges, and for Lebanese designer Donna Maria Feghali, it marked a creative shift stemming from what she describes as a “really intense personal journey.” Feghali candidly shares: “Looking back, I realized it totally reflected in my creative work and in this collection, which is way different from anything I’ve ever done before.” That year, she established her Paris-based studio, and now, she introduces Eshrin, a furniture collection dedicated to that pivotal time. Named after the Arabic word for twenty, Eshrin is an exploration of contrasts – structured yet fluid, bold yet understated – bridging past experiences with a new creative vision. Eshrin is Feghali’s first collection produced in Egypt, created in collaboration with Cairo-based manufacturer Nineteen Furniture. The series includes a dining table, dining chair, coffee and side tables, a buffet, and two couches, each piece embodying her signature blend of sculptural presence and refined simplicity. The Eshrin Dining Table is the central piece of the collection, embodying a sculptural approach to furniture. Its base, comprising four arched Egyptian limestone cylinders in Golden Sinai and Grey Triesta, supports a Macedonian white marble tabletop, creating a striking contrast between solidity and lightness. Complementing the table, the Eshrin Dining Chair echoes its curvature of the base with a sleek silhouette and curved backrest. Crafted from acid-treated beech wood and upholstered in bouclé fabric, it blends structure with softness, offering a seat that is both comfortable and visually refined. Like the dining table, the Eshrin Buffet is also designed with a cylindrical base, balancing the solidity of its structure. The rounded edges extend beyond the frame of the storage, providing a natural grip to open doors that reveal ample storage. The Eshrin Side Table, sculptural in its own right, merges bold geometry with organic warmth. The solid beech wood base, finished with an acid treatment, anchors the piece, while the pitch pine burned wood top adds a tactile dimension. The Eshrin Coffee Tables have a resemblance to both the dining table and the side table. With their arched cylindrical bases and perfectly balanced table tops, they reinforce the collection’s play on form and weight. Rounding out the collection, the minimalist linear Eshrin Couch features subtle curves that soften its structured silhouette. Available in two variations – one featuring an acid-treated beech wood base with white bouclé upholstery, the other with a lacquered beech wood base and textured beige fabric – the couch is a soft landing spot for solo relaxation or open conversation. We all came away from 2020 changed in some way with our perspectives shifted and our priorities reshaped. That year marked the beginning of a new creative chapter for Feghali, one that led to Eshrin. Through this collection, she translates a deeply personal journey into form, material, and balance, proving that even in times of uncertainty, something new and meaningful can emerge. To learn more about Donna Maria Feghali’s Eshrin collection, visit donnamariafeghali.com.

Despite keyframes and scroll-driven events, CSS animations have remained relatively rudimentary. As I wrote in Part 1, they remind me of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera animated series I grew up watching on TV. Shows like Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, Scooby-Doo, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Wacky Races, and, of course, Yogi Bear. Mike loves ’90s animation — especially Disney’s Duck Tales). So, that is the aesthetic applied throughout the design. I used animations throughout and have recently added an extra dimension to them using masking. So, to explain how this era of animation relates to masking in CSS, I’ve chosen an episode of The Yogi Bear Show, “Disguise and Gals,” first broadcast in May 1961. In this story, two bank robbers, disguised as little old ladies, hide their loot in a “pic-a-nic” basket in Yogi and Boo-Boo’s cave! What could possibly go wrong? What’s A Mask? One simple masking example comes at the end of “Disguise and Gals” and countless other cartoons. Here, an animated vignette gradually hides more of Yogi’s face. The content behind the mask isn’t erased; it’s hidden. In CSS, masking controls visibility using a bitmap, vector, or gradient mask image. When a mask’s filled pixels cover an element, its content will be visible. When they are transparent, it will be hidden, which makes sense. Filled pixels can be any colour, but I always make mine hot pink so that it’s clear to me which areas will be visible. A clip-path functions similarly to a mask but uses paths to create hard-edged clipping areas. If you want to be picky, masks and clipping paths are technically different, but the goal for using them is usually the same. So, for this article, I’ll refer to them as two entrances to the same cave and call using either “masking.” In this sequence from “Disguise and Gals,” one of the robbers rushes the picnic basket containing their loot into Yogi’s cave. Masking defines the visible area, creating the illusion that the robber is entering the cave. How do I choose when to use clip path and when to choose mask? I’ll explain my reasons in each example. When Mike Worth and I discussed working together, we knew we would neither have the budget nor the time to create a short animated cartoon for his website. However, we were keen to explore how animations could bring to life what would’ve otherwise been static images. Masking Using A Clipping Path On Mike’s biography page, his character also enters a cave. The SVG illustration I created contains two groups, one for the background and the other for the orangutan in the foreground: <figure> <svg viewBox="0 0 1400 960" id="cave"> <g class="background">…</g> <g class="foreground">…</g> </svg> </figure> I defined a keyframe animation that moves the character from 2000px on the right to its natural position in the center of the frame by altering its translate value: @keyframes foreground { 0% { opacity: .75; translate: 2000px 0; } 60% { opacity: 1; translate: 0 0; } 80% { opacity: 1; translate: 50px 0; } 100% { opacity: 1; translate: 0 0; } } Then, I applied that animation to the foreground group: .foreground { opacity: 0; animation: foreground 5s 2s ease-in-out infinite; } Try this yourself: I wanted him to become visible at the edge of the illustration instead. As the edges of the cave walls are hard, I chose a clip-path. There are several ways to define a clip-path in CSS. I could use a primitive shape like a rectangle, where each of the first four values specifies its corner positions. The round keyword and the value that follows define any rounded corners: clip-path: rect(0px 150px 150px 0px round 5px); Or xywh (x, y, width, height) values, which I find easier to read: clip-path: xywh(0 0 150px 150px round 5px); I could use a circle: clip-path: circle(60px at center); Or an ellipse: clip-path: ellipse(50% 40% at 50% 50%); I could use a polygon shape: clip-path: polygon(...); Or even the points from a path I created in a graphics app like Sketch: clip-path: path("M ..."); Finally — and my choice for this example — I might use a mask that I defined using paths from an SVG file: clip-path: url(#mask-cave); To make the character visible from the edge of the illustration, I added a second SVG. To prevent a browser from displaying it, set both its dimensions to zero: <figure> <svg viewBox="0 0 1400 960" id="cave">...</svg> <svg height="0" width="0" id="mask">...</svg> </figure> This contains a single SVG clipPath. By placing this inside the defs element, this path isn’t rendered, but it will be available to create my CSS clip-path: <svg height="0" width="0" id="mask"> <defs> <clipPath id="mask-cave">...</clipPath> </defs> </svg> I applied the clipPath URL to my illustration, and now Mike’s mascot only becomes visible when he enters the cave: #cave { clip-path: url(#mask-cave); } Try this yourself: While a clipPath will give me the result I’m looking for, the complexity and size of these paths can sometimes negatively affect performance. That’s when I choose a CSS mask as its properties have been baseline and highly usable since 2023. The mask property is a shorthand and can include values for mask-clip, mask-mode, mask-origin, mask-position, mask-repeat, mask-size, and mask-type. I find it’s best to learn these properties individually to grasp the concept of masks more easily. Masks control visibility using bitmap, vector, or gradient mask images. Again, when a mask’s filled pixels cover an element, its content will be visible. When they‘re transparent, the content will be hidden. And when parts of a mask are semi-transparent, some of the content will show through. I can use a bitmap format that includes an alpha channel, such as PNG or WebP: mask-image: url(mask.webp); I could apply a mask using a vector graphic: mask-image: url(mask.svg); Or generate an image using a conical, linear, or radial gradient: mask-image: linear-gradient(#000, transparent); …or: mask-image: radial-gradient(circle, #ff104c 0%, transparent 100%); I might apply more than one mask to an element and mix several image types using what should be a familiar syntax: mask-image: image(url(mask.webp)), linear-gradient(#000, transparent); mask shares the same syntax as CSS backgrounds, which makes remembering its properties much easier. To apply a background-image, add its URL value: background-image: url("background.webp"); To apply a mask, swap the background-image property for mask-image: mask-image: url("mask.webp"); The mask property also shares the same browser styles as CSS backgrounds, so by default, a mask will repeat horizontally and vertically unless I specify otherwise: /* Options: repeat, repeat-x, repeat-y, round, space, no-repeat */ mask-repeat: no-repeat; It will be placed at the top-left corner unless I alter its position: /* Options: Keywords, units, percentages */ mask-position: center; Plus, I can specify mask-size in the same way as background-size: /* Options: Keywords (auto, contain, cover), units, percentages */ mask-size: cover; Finally, I can define where a mask starts: mask-origin: content-box; mask-origin: padding-box; mask-origin: border-box; Using A Mask Image Mike’s FAQs page includes an animated illustration of his hero standing at a crossroads. My goal was to separate the shape from its content, allowing me to change the illustration throughout the hero’s journey. So, I created a scalable mask-image which defines the visible area and applied it to the figure element: figure { mask-image: url(mask.svg); } To ensure the mask matched the illustration’s dimensions, I also set the mask-size to always cover its content: figure { mask-size: cover; } Try this yourself: figure { clip-path: ellipse(45% 35% at 50% 50%); } However, the hard edges of a clip clip-path don’t create the effect I was aiming to achieve: Try this yourself: Finally, to add an extra touch of realism, I added a keyframe animation — which changes the mask-size and creates the effect that the lamp light is flickering — and applied it to the figure: @keyframes lamp-flicker { 0%, 19.9%, 22%, 62.9%, 64%, 64.9%, 70%, 100% { mask-size: 90%, auto; } 20%, 21.9%, 63%, 63.9%, 65%, 69.9% { mask-size: 90%, 0px; } } figure { animation: lamp-flicker 3s 3s linear infinite; } Try this yourself: I started by creating the binocular shape, complete with some viewfinder markers. Then, I applied that image as a mask, setting its position, repeat, and size values to place it in the center of the figure element: figure { mask-image: url(mask.svg); mask-position: 50% 50%; mask-repeat: no-repeat; mask-size: 85%; } Try this yourself: To let someone know they might’ve reached the end of their adventure, I wanted to ape the zooming-in effect I started this article with: <figure> <svg>…</svg> </figure> I created a circular clip-path and set its default size to 75%. Then, I defined the animation keyframes to resize the circle from 75% to 15% before attaching it to my figure with a one-second duration and a three-second delay: @keyframes error { 0% { clip-path: circle(75%); } 100% { clip-path: circle(15%); } } figure { clip-path: circle(75%); animation: error 1s 3s ease-in forwards; } The animation now focuses someone’s attention on the hapless hero, before he sinks lower and lower into the bubblingly hot lava. Try this yourself: See the Pen Mike Worth’s error page [forked] by Andy Clarke. Bringing It All To Life Masking adds an extra dimension to web animation and makes stories more engaging and someone’s experience more compelling — all while keeping animations efficiently lightweight. Whether you’re revealing content, guiding focus, or adding more depth to a design, masks offer endless creative possibilities. So why not experiment with them in your next project? You might uncover a whole new way to bring your animations to life. The end. Or is it? … Mike Worth’s website will launch in June 2025, but you can see examples from this article on CodePen now.

Ready for more racing? This month’s free update from the Polyphony team comes with four new cars to rip around on your favorite GT7 circuits: the ’17 Ferrari 812 Superfast, ’01 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, ’12 Suzuki Carry KC, and ’21 Honda CR-V e:HEV EX Black Edition. In addition, three new events are coming to World Circuits and Sophy, the AI racing agent, has been expanded to support the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Layout. Update 1.59* for Gran Turismo 7 is available as of today Wednesday, May 14 at 11:00pm PDT / May 25 at 3:00pm JST / 8:00am CEST. Play Video New cars ’01 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) (Can be purchased from Brand Central / Used Cars) The peak of the 5th gen Corvette line-up revives the classic Z06 moniker. In 1999, a hardtop model was added to the Chevrolet Corvette C5 lineup. Though it removed the detachable roof and rear hatch from the coupé, this model utilises the increased rigidity from the new design to improve driving performance. Its dedication to performance is further evident from the fact that selecting the hardtop model included an automatic upgrade to the Z51 handling package and manual transmission. What’s more is that even with all these features, it was still cheaper than the standard coupé model. It’s no wonder that enthusiast drivers flocked to it despite its somewhat niche appeal. From 2001, the hardtop Corvette was equipped with a 384.6 BHP LS6 engine, an improved version of the LS1, and was renamed the Z06. The Z06 name was taken from a race package option code that had existed for the C2 Corvette. It featured a full titanium exhaust which is very unusual for a production car, along with reinforced suspension components with a specially tuned wheel alignment, and was only available with a manual transmission. However, in exchange for this wealth of equipment, there was a significant increase in the price. This made it the most expensive model yet, exceeding even the price of the convertible, which made it less obtainable to the users who had previously been attracted by its sturdy hardtop body and spartan equipment. Even so, further improvements were made to the Z06, with the maximum output increased to 405.3 BHP in 2002. Achieving over 394.5 BHP in a small block engine was an unprecedented feat, making it one of the fastest mass-production cars in the world. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image ’17 Ferrari 812 Superfast (Can be purchased from Brand Central) Adopting the classic V12 FR layout, this Ferrari achieves blinding speed while retaining usability. The 812 Superfast was released in 2017 as a successor to Ferrari’s historic tradition of front-engined 12-cylinder models. The 812 name itself refers to the engine’s power and layout, being ‘800 PS, 12 cylinders,’ while the Superfast moniker was carried over from the legendary ‘500 Superfast’ itself produced in 1964. The body styling was conceived by Ferrari’s own Styling Centre. With a long nose and short deck, the body proportions are typical of a 12-cylinder front-midship layout, however the refined aerodynamics and details give it the elegant aura of modern Ferrari design. The 788 BHP and 718 Nm (73.3 kgfm) produced by the naturally aspirated 6.5L V12 unit are routed to the rear tyres through a 7-speed DCT transaxle. The car is also notable for being the first Ferrari model to incorporate an electric power steering unit. Additionally, the running gear features an evolved version of the 4-wheel steering setup found on the previous F12berlinetta model, dubbed the ‘Virtual Short Wheelbase 2.0’ system. The prime benefit of this system is it allows the nose to turn in sharply on even the tightest corners, despite the relatively long 2,720 mm wheelbase. With trunk space behind the seats and a spacious cargo area in the rear end, the 812 Superfast may be the perfect supercar for grand touring. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image ’21 Honda CR-V e:HEV EX・Black Edition  (Can be purchased from Brand Central) The 5th generation model of this popular SUV is the first to feature a hybrid system. In the 1990s, Honda set their sights on creating cars for leisure activities, dubbing the category ‘Creative Movers’. The first such model was Odyssey which released to widespread commercial success in 1994, and was followed in ’95 by a high ground clearance SUV model. This was the first generation CR-V. From then, the CR-V became a long-selling hit, especially in the North American market. Eventually reaching the model introduced here, the 2021 model which is based on the 5th generation CR-V originally introduced in 2016. The model notable feature of the 5th generation is the introduction of a hybrid powerplant, the first ever in the series. This system combines a 2L Atkinson cycle engine with 2 electric motors, able to operate in both series or parallel. This highly efficient system also allows the petrol engine to provide power when cruising at high speeds. The availability of a 4-wheel drive option with this hybrid system further contributed to the CR-V’s popularity. Aesthetically, many characteristics have been carried over from the previous generation model, but the body has been slightly enlarged to increase leg room for rear passengers, improving their comfort. Additionally, the car is also able to carry a large amount of luggage with over 1,100L of cargo space available just by folding down the back seats. The petrol model also featured a 3-row 7-seater layout. The fifth generation CR-V is not only a refined SUV, it also features numerous driver assist systems like collision avoidance braking and adaptive cruise control. This makes it a perfect choice not only for leisure but for everyday driving as well. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image ’12 Suzuki Carry KC  (Can be purchased from Brand Central) A quintessential example of the ‘micro-truck’ trend that’s sweeping the globe. Japan’s micro-car segment, known natively as ‘kei’ cars, has grown into an indispensable tool for everyday life. The kei segment of course features many passenger models, along with SUVs and sports cars too, but there are also a large number of commercial vans and trucks which support infrastructure. The Suzuki Carry is one such microtruck that reflects commercial kei cars as a whole. The Carry has a long history behind it, which stretches back to its birth in 1961. The 10th generation model was introduced as a full model change in 1999 in order to meet changes to the kei car certification standard introduced in 1998. The model introduced here is the 2012 model, the final model of the 10th generation following several other facelift models. The body has been enlarged over the previous generation, now measuring 3,395 mm long and 1,475 mm wide. The engine is located under the feet of the occupants in a semi-cabover configuration, and has a displacement of only 658 cc though the initial line-up did also feature turbocharged models. The Carry is available in a number of different model grades to fit purpose and price, but the KC is the most luxurious, featuring power steering and air conditioning as standard equipment. Along with a rear-wheel drive layout, it was also available with four-wheel drive allowing it to perform to its fullest even in the snow or on uneven mountain roads. The kei truck’s adorable aesthetics and excellent usability have also earned it attention from overseas. Preowned Carrys have found themselves to be popular for agriculture and farming in the U.S. where right-hand drive models are automatically qualified road-worthy 25 years after their initial release. A small body housing enormous potential, the Carry is yet another example of a uniquely Japanese car finding worldwide appeal. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image World Circuits (New Events) The following new events have been added to ‘World Circuits’: Lightweight K-Cup: Eiger Nordwand American Clubman Cup 700: Autódromo de Interlagos Ferrari Circuit Challenge: Deep Forest Raceway ​​ Gran Turismo Sophy The next-generation racing AI agent, ‘Gran Turismo Sophy’ is now available on the following courses. Look for the Sophy icon in ‘Quick Race’ and ‘Custom Race’ on each track to test your skills against Sophy Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Layout. Scapes ‘Shooting the perfect square’ has been added as a featured Curation in Scapes, enabling square-photos with geometric backgrounds for social media. *Internet connection and Gran Turismo 7 game required for update.

Electronic music icon Don Diablo is known for pushing the boundaries of music, visual arts and live performance — and the music video for his latest single, “BLACKOUT,” explores using generative AI, combining NVIDIA RTX-powered and cloud-based tools in a hybrid workflow. Set inside an industrial warehouse, the video features Diablo performing in front of an immersive, AI-generated environment — blending stylized effects, a cinematic mood and personalized elements. The image creation and experimentation was done locally on a desktop powered by a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, while the final animation was rendered using Kling AI, a cloud-based generative video tool. This hybrid approach gave the team creative control and high-fidelity results. CTRL + ALT + Create With RTX All image-based work in the music video — including stylization and identity modeling — was performed locally using ComfyUI, a visual, node-based interface for building and customizing generative AI workflows. With minimal setup, the team could launch preconfigured workflows and experiment freely with different models and techniques. ComfyUI offered speed, ease of use and support for a wide range of open-source tools — enabling fast iteration and distinctive visuals that aligned with Diablo’s creative direction. Diablo wanted the visuals to reflect his identity — not just serve as decor. To achieve this, a custom model was trained on a facial dataset of Diablo, using low-rank adaptation in the FLUXGYM user interface. The resulting model was then loaded into ComfyUI and integrated into a Stable Diffusion pipeline for stylized image generation. An identity-embedding node ensured consistent facial features across frames, as well as stylistic cohesion. Once the imagery was locked, the team turned to Kling AI in the cloud to animate the visuals into dynamic scenes, harnessing the tool’s advanced physics and cinematic capabilities. This workflow, all running locally on an RTX 5090 GPU, enabled faster iteration, precise visual control, tighter feedback loops and full creative autonomy. It showcases how creators can use local RTX-powered tools — as well as cloud-based platforms for pre-defined workloads that require more compute — to quickly and easily produce high-impact content on their terms. “Working with these new AI tools literally feels like stepping into my own mind,” said Diablo. “We were able to creatively raise the bar, shape the visuals in real time and stay focused on the story. AI is a powerful tool for creativity.” Creative Workflows, Powered by RTX AI Watch the full “BLACKOUT” music video to see how the team brought their creative ideas to life with RTX AI. Artists and developers are already using generative AI to streamline their work and push creative boundaries, whether exploring concepts, designing virtual worlds or building intelligent apps. With RTX AI PCs, users can access the latest and greatest models and tools, as well as powerful AI performance. Learn more about the NVIDIA Studio platform and RTX AI PCs. Each week, the RTX AI Garage blog series features community-driven AI innovations and content for those looking to learn more about NVIDIA NIM microservices and AI Blueprints, as well as building AI agents, creative workflows, digital humans, productivity apps and more on AI PCs and workstations. Plug in to NVIDIA AI PC on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X — and stay informed by subscribing to the RTX AI PC newsletter. Follow NVIDIA Workstation on LinkedIn and X.

In an industry where typefaces are designed to be used by thousands, a radical new concept has emerged that turns conventional type distribution on its head. David Březina, managing director at Rosetta Type, has created a typographic experiment called Only Yours: a typeface system that generates unique variants available exclusively to individual customers. The premise is brilliantly simple yet revolutionary: nine new variants of the typeface are released every day. Once purchased, a variant is permanently removed from circulation, ensuring that no one else will ever own that specific design. "The idea for a typeface that would be different for each customer has been on my mind for a few years," explains David. "According to surveys, most designers do not know how to use OpenType features and hence letter alternates. I'd been working on a still-unreleased typeface called Sacco, and at some point, it was so easy to create more and more letter alternates that it seemed like a shame to keep them tucked away somewhere in the font where no one would look." This observation sparked a more profound question: what if instead of hiding alternates within a font's features, the alternates themselves became the foundation for entirely unique typeface variants? Inspired by Dylan The concept lay dormant, though, until a surprising moment of inspiration. "I sat on it for a few years," recalls David. "The project seemed intimidating in scope, and I didn't really see a good reason to do it. "Then I went to see Bob Dylan, who's known for constantly rewriting his songs, in concert. It occurred to me that having so many perceivably different variants would bring more authenticity to the users. They could each have a unique font, in the same way concert-goers can attend a unique performance." This parallel between the legendary musician's ever-evolving performances and the notion of typographic uniqueness crystallised the concept. What began as design work in December 2025 led to a soft launch at the Automatic Type Design conference in Nancy, France, in February 2025. Science behind the system Only Yours isn't merely a stylistic exercise; it's grounded in David's PhD research on letter similarity perception. "I studied how they are clearly different, yet, in a well-designed font, they also look visually coherent," he explains. Technical implementation is where things become fascinatingly complex. Rather than designing alternative letters, David took a more fundamental approach. "Similarity perception is explained in terms of distinctive visual features that are shared by some of the letters, but not necessarily all of them," he explains. "More shared features mean stronger perceived similarity between the letters. It occurred to me that I could hack into this system and design alternates, not for the letters as we're used to from contemporary fonts, but for the individual features." While keeping some aspects of the generation process proprietary, David confirms that this feature-based approach allows for remarkable diversity while maintaining design coherence. "Using a reverse-contrast design remotely related to Antique Olive also helped to incorporate some rectangular elements more easily. The coherence does not need to be perfect, after all. Some of my favourite variants come from unexpected violations of the overall coherence." Scarcity as a feature, not a bug In an era of unlimited digital reproduction, Only Yours deliberately introduces scarcity. With over a million variants, the decision to release just nine per day transforms typography selection into something akin to a daily treasure hunt. "We didn't want to design a system for users to pick and choose," David notes. "The value of the project is not in providing all the options. It is in exclusivity. "Originally, I wanted the variant to be chosen randomly for the customers," he added. "But that did not seem right, so we settled on a compromise: offering nine new variants every day, which also turns it into a game. They're never shown again, so if you like one, you better get it." This approach creates a fascinating tension between the digital nature of typefaces and the artificial scarcity that makes each variant valuable. Once a customer purchases a weight from a variant, all weights within that variant become exclusive to them, preventing anyone else from fragmenting their unique typographic identity. Redefining typographic identity When sharing his concept with fellow designers before launch, David received some scepticism. "When I tried to discuss this idea with some friends, graphic designers, in November, they told me that it would be 'totally useless for branding'," he recalls with amusement. I disagree: since every variant is exclusive, it is perfect for branding!" Far from being an obstacle to professional use, the consistency within each variant across weights ensures practical usability while maintaining uniqueness. "Each variant of Only Yours is consistent across multiple weights, so it should work just fine in professional contexts," he asserts. The potential applications extend beyond individual designers. "Creating unique experiences in branding is not new. There is Freitag with their bags, each original, or even Coca-Cola with their named cans, which is a step in that direction," David points out. "Perhaps Only Yours could make it easier in some cases. We could, theoretically, generate thousands of unique variants for someone to licence as a bulk. Or a magazine could get a new variant for each issue." Looking to the future: Softly Yours Building on the success of Only Yours, Rosetta Type has already announced plans for Softly Yours, a rounded version using the same generative framework. "We set the price quite affordable to be more flexible," David adds. "We do have customers who already purchased multiple variants." Overall, this project represents a fascinating intersection of typographic design, computational creativity and exclusivity marketing. In a world increasingly concerned with digital ownership and authenticity, Rosetta Type has created something that feels almost paradoxical: a digital asset that can't be perfectly duplicated. For graphic designers and branding specialists, Rosetta Type offers something truly novel: the guarantee that your typographic voice won't be inadvertently duplicated by competitors. In an industry constantly searching for uniqueness, David has engineered it directly into the fabric of his typeface. As the nine variants change daily and customers claim their exclusive pieces of typographic history, Only Yours and Softly Yours aren't just new fonts. They represent a new relationship between designers and their tools, where scarcity, exclusivity and personal connection have been reintroduced to the digital realm.

Welsh startup Space Forge has raised $30mn to advance its first commercial in-orbit manufacturing satellite, ForgeStar-2. The NATO Innovation Fund led the funding round, the largest Series A financing in UK space tech history. Space Forge’s demonstrator — the ForgeStar-1 — is set to launch from the US on a SpaceX rocket this year. The oven-sized satellite will then harness the conditions of space to produce “supermaterials” that are impossible to make on Earth. Joshua Western, Space Forge’s CEO and co-founder, compared the technology to a sourdough starter — a small but potent base for growing something much bigger. “Our satellites utilise the zero-gravity, ultra-cold, vacuum environment of space to produce tiny crystals of a higher quality than could ever be made otherwise,” Western explained.  View all speakers Once returned to Earth, the crystal “seeds” can be used to grow larger crystals that form the basis of ultra-efficient computer chips, which could power everything from data centres to telecoms networks. Space Forge says these semiconductors could halve the time it takes to charge an EV. The technology could also be used to make new metal alloys or pharmaceutical drugs.   At least, that’s the long-term vision — but Space Forge hasn’t yet made its materials in space, and ForgeStar-1 won’t be coming back to Earth. Instead, the satellite will be intentionally burned up in the atmosphere.   Sensors on board, however, will enable the team to measure whether the crystal-forming process was a success. The first mission aims to validate the startup’s key technologies in preparation for the launch of ForgeStar-2.   Designed to be reusable, ForgeStar-2 will be equipped with a heat shield called Pridwen that will protect its precious payload from the intense heat and pressure of re-entry. That could enable it to make regular trips to space and deliver new seeds back to labs on Earth.    Space Forge predicts its crystal seeds could be worth up to £45mn ($60mn) per kg, which would easily cover the costs of launch. The company also claims that the power-saving gains of its semiconductors in technologies like EVs will offset the carbon emitted when launching the satellite.  Space Forge will use the fresh funding to accelerate the development of ForgeStar-2. As hinted by NATO’s participation in the round, the company’s technology could also have potential applications in security and defence. It may enhance European security by enabling the production of advanced materials for defence systems and reducing reliance on foreign suppliers for critical components. Chris O’Connor, partner at NATO Innovation Fund, said Space Forge would advance Europe’s access to space, supply chain independence, and long-term resiliency.  “We look forward to working with the Space Forge team to leverage their technological breakthroughs in order to secure the future of NATO nations,” he said. Update (11:10AM CET, May 14, 2025): This article previously stated that ForgeStar-1 was Space Forge’s first demonstrator. However, the first was actually ForgeStar-0, which was destroyed following the failed launch of Virgin Orbit from Spaceport Cornwall in 2023.

Credit: Amazon Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Learn more about how we select deals. SAVE $55: As of May 14, the Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet is down to just $174.99 at Amazon after sitting at the same sale price of $184.99 for months. That's a savings of 24%. Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet (64GB) $174.99 at Amazon $229.99 Save $55 Most of Amazon's Fire tablets are just OK. The Fire Max 11, on the other hand, takes the Fire lineup to new heights. If you're looking for a new tablet that can almost compete with the iPad and won't cost a fortune, this is your guy. As of May 14, the Fire Max 11 tablet with 64GB of storage is on sale for just $174.99 at Amazon. That's a savings of 24% or $55. It's also a welcomed price drop after sitting at the same sale price of $184.99 for months. The specs on the Fire Max 11 are pretty maxed out (sorry). It features a crisp 11-inch display, which is the largest Fire tablet you can buy, plus an upgraded octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 8MP cameras that support 1080p video, WiFi 6 compatibility, and a 14-hour battery life. As Mashable's reviewer noted, it's also "blazing fast, making it a good alternative to pricier tablets for streaming and games." Just keep in mind that with just 64GB of storage, you may need a memory card for extra space — especially if you like to download games or movies for offline viewing. Related Stories Mashable Deals Want more hand-picked deals from our shopping experts? Sign up for the Mashable Deals newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! The Max 11 is also the only Amazon tablet that's compatible with the magnetic keyboard case and made for Amazon stylus (both sold separately). With these on board, you can effectively turn this tablet into a small laptop. It is, like other Fire tablets, still limited by the Amazon Appstore, so be sure to check that the apps you need are available before pulling the trigger. Aside from that, we're huge fans, which is why we named it Amazon's best iPad competitor and our favorite budget tablet. Snag it while it's down to $174.99 for a steal. Topics Amazon Christina Buff Christina Buff is a Nashville-based freelance writer for who covers shopping with a splash of entertainment. If you’re ever wondering what streaming service you need to watch something (and the cheapest way to sign up for it), she’s your girl.Christina received a B.S. in Business Communication (concentration in writing) from Stevenson University and began her professional journey writing and editing press releases. Since then, she’s written content for a marketing agency, blogged for celebrities, and covered local news, politics, women’s lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and just about everything in between for various publications.When she’s not writing, she’s probably enjoying live music, studying human design, or embroidering and upcycling clothes. You can follow her on Instagram at @touchinfinity.

Gemini, Google’s AI-powered chatbot, can now connect to GitHub — for users subscribed to the $20-per-month Gemini Advanced plan, that is. As of Wednesday, Gemini Advanced customers can directly add a public or private codebase on GitHub to Gemini to allow the chatbot to generate and explain code, debug existing code, and more. Users can connect GitHub to Gemini by clicking the “+” button in the prompt bar, selecting “import code,” and pasting a GitHub URL. A word of warning: AI models, including Google’s, still struggle to code quality software. Code-generating AI tends to introduce security vulnerabilities and errors, owing to weaknesses in areas like the ability to understand programming logic. One recent evaluation of Devin, a popular AI coding tool, found that it could only complete three out of 20 programming tests. The new GitHub integration arrives just a few days after OpenAI launched a GitHub connector for ChatGPT deep research, a tool that searches across the web and other sources to compile thorough research reports on a topic. AI companies, including Google and OpenAI, are moving quickly to ship new capabilities in an effort to make their products stand out in an increasingly crowded field. Case in point, OpenAI on Tuesday brought SharePoint and Microsoft OneDrive connectors to ChatGPT deep research.

In February, as part of my role as a senior software development consultant for Unity Accelerate Solutions, I led a technical webinar about the Addressables Asset System. During the live session, I demonstrated various profiling tools that you can use to optimize a project’s runtime memory and build size. The webinar ended with a Q&A, and our team received more questions than we had time to answer.The following is an extension of that closing Q&A, so we can answer more of your questions.Q: Is the Addressables system needed for light games – like casual, arcade, or puzzle games – if I don’t have memory issues? A: Maybe not, but it’s good to keep in mind that the Addressables system doesn’t only improve memory performance. Having the ability to choose when you load content can improve loading times. Building content in Addressables enables you to have iterative builds that don’t take as long. For example, if you make a small script change, you may not have to rebuild all of your bundles.Q: Are loaded assets released when the scene switches? A: Potentially. Loaded assets from Addressables that are ready to be released because they have a ref count of zero might be unloaded from memory during a scene transition. When transitioning from scenes non-additively, call Resources.UnloadUnusedAssets(). This is expensive on the CPU, but allows you to partially unload AssetBundles.Q: Do object pooling and Addressables work well together? A: Yes. You can load your object once from Addressables and then instantiate multiple copies of it to create your pool. When you are done with the pool, destroy all the objects and release the AsyncOperationHandle that was used to load the asset.Q: Are groups and bundles loaded into memory all at once? A: Addressables groups are an Editor-only concept. At runtime, you only deal with bundles. Bundles are loaded into memory only when they are needed and only the desired content is loaded.Example: You have one bundle with 10 characters in it. You ask Addressables to load three characters. The bundle’s metadata and the three characters will be loaded.Q: If I want to release an asset, do I need to keep the AsyncOperationHandle or the AssetReference? A: We recommend keeping the handle and using it, since you’re responsible for releasing content when you are done using it.As an example, members of our team will often go the handle route in order to avoid calling Instantiate/Release directly on the AssetReference.Q: What are the disadvantages of many small bundles? A: This documentation lists several disadvantages of too many bundles.Q: When an asset in a bundle is needed, what overhead do the other assets in the same bundle have? If it’s a remote bundle it must be downloaded, but is there really no memory overhead from unused assets in the bundle? A: Correct, a remote bundle will be fully downloaded before you can use it.Unloaded assets in a loaded asset bundle have minimal overhead at runtime. Whenever you load assets from a bundle, you need to load the bundle’s metadata. Part of this metadata includes a table of contents that lists all the assets in the bundle. More assets in a bundle equates to larger metadata.You can view this memory overhead by taking a capture with the Unity Memory Profiler. In the “All Of Memory” tab, there’s a list of all the “SerializedFile” objects in memory, one for each bundle. These objects are your bundles’ metadata.Learn more about this metadata in our documentation.Q: When working in an open-world setting, what bundling strategies can I use to unload individual assets without half unloading a bundle and relying on Resources.UnloadUnusedAssets() to clean it up, without the overhead of having every asset in its own bundle? A: The key thing to remember is that content should be bundled together if you expect to unload it at the same time. If your game world has “static” content, like trees and rocks for a certain biome that will not be moved by the player, that content should be bundled together. Any “dynamic” content, like items the player can pick up, should be bundled separately.This blog post and linked GitHub repo covers splitting bundles for an open-world game. It also features a way to deduplicate bundles to reduce the memory overhead of each bundle. Stages 4 and 5 are particularly relevant to open worlds.Q: When should I leave “AssetBundle CRC” enabled? A: The recommended practice is to have this enabled, excluding cached AssetBundles for Remote groups, and disabled for Local groups. The check is only meant to make sure the data wasn’t corrupted on download. There’s almost no reason to do the check for local AssetBundles.Q: When is it not worth it to use Addressables due to CPU performance concerns when loading and unloading assets? A: The Addressables system has a positive impact on CPU loading performance due to not needing to load all content up front.If you don’t use Addressables when loading a scene, you’d have to load all content and references. If you move the content to Addressables, you can choose when to load which content.For example, say you have an Inventory Manager in a scene that has a reference to 1,000 inventory items. If you don’t use Addressables, you’ll have to load every mesh, texture, audio clip, etc., for all these inventory items. If you wait to load this content, loading the scene will be faster.Q: Do all dependencies of an addressable asset also need to be Addressables, or is that only necessary if they are shared? A: Dependencies do not need to be marked addressable. Dependencies will be pulled into Addressables during the build process if necessary.As an example, if you make a player prefab an addressable, you don’t have to manually mark the player’s mesh, textures, or audio as addressable, too. When the bundle is built, all the dependencies that don’t yet exist in Addressables will be automatically included in the player prefab bundle.Q: If I forgot to release an asset and change scenes, what happens to this asset? A: Changing scenes does not inherently interact poorly with handles. But if you load an asset and forget to release its handle, the asset will persist in memory.Addressables has an internal reference-counting system. Handles are how we interact with this system. Loading an asset increments the reference count, and releasing decrements the reference count.Creators are responsible for keeping this reference count up to date. The asset will be in memory as long as the reference count is greater than one.Q: Related to the webinar example, suppose I’m making an open-world game. The boss is present somewhere in the open world. When the player heads to the boss, how do I use Addressables here? Do I send the command to load the sword async, via a trigger, at a certain distance from the enemy, or something else? A: It can be a fine line to choose when to load and unload content. You want to be sure the boss is ready when the player needs to see it, but might not want to load it too early when the player is still able to turn around and avoid the boss.The good thing is that you can iterate on when to load and unload content – you don’t have to get it perfectly optimized on the first try.To get started, we suggest loading all content for a particular “zone” when the player gets near (e.g., the player approaches a dungeon entrance which causes everything inside the dungeon to load). If this causes unnecessary memory pressure, you can add more fine-grained loading and unloading.If the sword is not loading soon enough, consider moving the loading trigger to start earlier, improving the load time of the sword assets by using Unity Profiler’s CPU module to see what is being loaded, or using Addressables synchronously to ensure the load is finished.This documentation includes more details and a code snippet for synchronous Addressables.Q: If I load an addressable when a scene starts, do I need to have a loading screen for it? A: Loading from Addressables is typically done in an asynchronous way, like with Addressables.LoadAssetAsync().There may be some content you don’t want to load before leaving a loading screen. You can collect these AsyncOperationHandles and wait for the necessary ones to complete before leaving.Q: What is the memory footprint of the addressables metadata at runtime (before loading any of its data)? A: During Addressables initialization, the catalog file is loaded so that Addressables knows how to map labels and addresses to assets on disk or in remote locations. A larger catalog equates to a larger memory overhead at runtime.Catalog size can be reduced by stripping unnecessary data, like not including labels or GUIDs in groups that don’t need them, or by reducing the size of existing data. For example, by setting a group’s Internal Asset Naming Mode to GUID instead of filename or full path (which can be longer). You can view the runtime memory size of the catalog in Unity Memory Profiler.Q: What is the Unity Editor doing in the time it spends building Addressables? A: A build report log is output in the /Library folder. This log shows each step of the build process. To add additional details to the log, follow this path to select “Use Detailed Build Log”: Enabling Edit > Preferences > Scriptable Build Pipeline > Use Detailed Build Log.Check out visuals and documentation on how to view the log.Q: Does Resources.Load() also have a duplication problem? A: Yes. It can be useful to think of Addressables content and Resources content as different “worlds.” If you have a texture in /Resources, one copy of that texture is included in the Resources file. If bundles in Addressables depend on that texture, each bundle includes an implicit copy of it. You end up with multiple copies of the texture on disk and potentially multiple copies in memory.To avoid this duplication, move the texture out of /Resources and add it to an Addressables group.Q: Do you get similar size on disk issues that are resolved by removing duplicate bundles when you don’t use Addressables? A: Yes. In the webinar and slides we show how deduplicating the two water racing scenes significantly reduced build size.Q: How can I prevent shader variant duplicates? A: Shaders can be deduplicated in the same process as any other asset – explicitly declare them in a group.If an asset is explicitly declared in an Addressables group that is going into your build, that asset will not be duplicated across multiple bundles.For shaders specifically, it is common practice for projects to use a “Shared shaders” group to contain shaders that you expect to need in memory for the lifespan of your app, and that are shared across many assets.Q: Do two Unity scenes sharing the same prefab duplicate build size? A: This depends on if the prefab the scenes depend on has been explicitly included in Addressables, and if the scenes are in the same or different bundles.See the visual explanation of how duplication occurs in the webinar slides and in this blog post under Stage 4.The key to remember is that all content going into a bundle needs to be able to access all of its dependencies. If you put a scene into a bundle, all of its dependencies need to either be:Explicitly included somewhere in AddressablesImplicitly included in the same bundleQ: Is it possible to compare duplicates in given groups to prevent having all the game assets packed together into an isolated group? A: Yes. You can run the built-in deduplication rule and then sort the assets in the Addressables Groups window into better groupings.Or, a more scalable approach is to write your own Addressables AnalyzeRules, which will appear in the Analyze window. The built-in rules are delivered as C# in the Addressables package and can serve as a baseline.For example, you may want to find every duplicate across all of your groups that start with “Character-”. Any implicit duplicates can be placed in a “Shared-Character” group.Q: Are you going to cover remote builds and local paths? A: We did not cover remote and local paths, which are called “Addressables Profiles” in the webinar. However, we do describe what Addressables Profiles are and how to use them in this documentation.Q: How does Addressables work with Cloud Content Delivery (CCD)? A: CCD integration is discussed in this documentation.Q: Can you please give pointers on best practices to implement low- and high-resolution Addressables variations? A: You can find an example in the Addressables Sample on GitHub.Q: What if bundle content is encrypted? Does the UnityDataTool also decrypt the content? A: No. The data will need to be decrypted before UnityDataTool can analyze the content.Q: Is it a supported use case to build bundles from one Unity project and load the bundles at runtime from an app built from a different project? A: Yes. This is covered by using multiple catalogs at the same time.Q: Are there drawbacks to using InstantiateAsync, or situations where it is better to use LoadAsync + manual Instantiate? A: It is recommended to use Addressables.LoadAssetAsync() and call Object.Instantiate(). Addressables.InstantiateAsync() has a larger performance cost.Q: I have a lot of ScriptableObjects with at least 1–2 sprites referenced as variables. If I want to change the sprites to Addressables, do I have to change the references to Addressables one by one, or is there any trick to do this? A: An Editor script is probably the way to go to convert these references.You can add the AssetReference fields to your ScriptableObject (and temporarily keep the Sprite fields). Then, you can write an Editor script that iterates through your ScriptableObjects, looks up the Sprite asset in Addressables to find the associated AddressableAssetEntry, and stores the address or creates an AssetReference to be stored on the ScriptableObject.Lastly, you can remove the direct Sprite references and swap any related code to use the AssetReference.Q: Can I use addressables for WebGL games? If yes, are there any specific things to look for? A: Yes, and yes. Two things to note: First, WebGL does not support threading, so don’t use Tasks. Second, caching works differently on WebGL – we’ve seen issues with caching remote AssetBundles before.Q: If I use Shader.Find(“ShaderName”), is this coming from the build or Addressables? A: These are coming from the build of the Unity Player, not Addressables. Shader.Find() does not return results from AssetBundles.Q: How can I organize the Addressables Groups window when I have many similarly-named groups? A: For organizing the Addressables Groups UI, you can enable Group Hierarchy with Dashes. This will group similarly-named groups together. For example, “Character-person” and “Character-person2” will appear in the UI under the “Character” grouping.This does not affect how bundles are created. This is only a UI organizational change.Share your feedback with us in the Addressables forum. Be sure to watch for new technical blogs from other Unity developers as part of the ongoing Tech from the Trenches series.