Interviews Love, Death + Robots – Volume 4: Tim Miller (Creator & Director) & Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Supervising Director) By Vincent Frei - 02/06/2025 Earlier this year, Tim Miller spoke to us about his animated anthology Secret Level. Now, he returns to discuss the latest season of Love, Death + Robots. Jennifer Yuh Nelson talked about season two of Love, Death + Robots in 2021. She later worked on The Sea Beast, before returning once again to the anthology universe. What was your overall vision for the fourth season of Love, Death and Robots and how did it evolve from previous seasons? Tim Miller (TM) // We have the same strategy as every volume – we try to pick the best stories we know of and provide a mix that is hopefully appealing to everyone. There are a lot of variables to consider. Including genre, tone, and style of animation, such as stop motion, CG, and 2D. We try not to have two stories that are too similar. For example, if there’s already a military sci-fi story, we avoid selecting another one. We like to mix humor, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and anything else that we think might be interesting from either a story or animation perspective. How did you approach the balance between experimenting with new styles and maintaining the signature identity of the show? TM // Honestly, we just try and follow our gut. What we think is interesting as filmmakers, animators, and storytellers will also be interesting to the animation community and fans alike. So, we keep an eye out for new voices, filmmakers, and new ways of doing things to keep things interesting. I’m not sure we have an identity of the show. In fact, I think if we did have an identity, it would be that we don’t have an identity… but we try and do whatever we think is interesting. Jennifer Yuh Nelson (JYN) // The fortunate thing about LDR is that the signature itself is experimenting with new styles. The trick is finding new aggressively experimental styles that still communicate to a mass audience. The stories are key to that. If the story is engaging, even to an audience that doesn’t usually gravitate to animation, then you can make it looks as weird as you want. What are some of the key challenges you faced while overseeing this season and how do you tackle them? TM // This season, there was a lot going on in the animation community that created some challenges with getting work done, whether studios were too full or ceased to exist entirely. Everyone struggled with budgets. But I didn’t feel like it was a problem with our show but rather a problem with the entire industry. People were struggling. And then it’s just always difficult when your ambition is high, your budgets are reasonable but still challenging, and you have to wrangle hundreds of people to get on board with your vision. (JYN) // These shows take a long time to make. R&D for a look that doesn’t exist can take a lot of trial and error. For example, Emily Dean, who directed Very Pulse of the Machine last season, did For He Can Creep this season. She had a cool angle of making her episode look like lithography. That was very very hard, but somehow Polygon, the studio that made both shorts, came through with it. And I think it turned out very well. Can you talk about how you selected the different animation studios for this season? What made you decide to work with the studios involved? (JYN) // We’ve been very fortunate to have worked with amazing people and studios these last few seasons, so it made sense to float some stories by them again. But it really comes down to the stories, and how each leans towards a certain technique. For example, How Zeke Found Religion was holding a slot where we wanted something 2D. We went to Titmouse because they were great with pushing the boundaries of 2D animation, and they suggested Diego Porral as a director who could bring a modern edge. How do you ensure each studio’s unique visual style complements the story and tone of each episode? TM // I know this sounds a little mystical and I don’t mean it to be, but I think the story speaks to you about style. Some things just feels right, and you have an innate concept of what would be the best version of the story, whether it’s stop motion, CG, 2D animation, or even live action. When you start thinking about the story in a creative way, a style becomes apparent. Which is not to say there aren’t many ways to do things and tell stories, but we feel a best version becomes clear. (JYN) // We do a lot of research, not just into what the studios have done before, but also into what they wish to do but haven’t had the chance to do. Often it’s just a matter of getting to know them and seeing if they have a philosophy of pushing for experimentation and risk. Then we try to support them as much as possible in their creative R&D. You both directed episodes for this season, what was that experience like? How did it differ from your work as overseeing directors? TM // For me, it’s really just trying to create the best story and I love working with the artists and trying to be open to what everybody brings to the table because everybody wants to do the best possible episode they can. I try and be open to letting people help carry that load. The best thing about being a director is that you get to pick and choose between all the great ideas that everybody has and shape the narrative by getting the benefit of everyone’s expertise and talent. (JYN) // It’s a different mindset. As a Supervising Director, I help. As a Director, I do. On episodes I’m not directing, I am deciphering that director’s ambition and pushing for whatever is required to make that absolutely great. On an episode I’m directing, every choice and image has to go through my brain so it’s more a reflection of my personal taste. Plus I tend to storyboard a lot more on my own episodes since it’s a way for me to communicate to the crew. I storyboard a lot on other episodes, but mainly to help figure out problems here and there. It also doesn’t come out of those director’s budgets so the free storyboarding is often welcomed. How did you choose the episode you worked on yourself and what aspects of it made it resonate with you both? TM // In my case with “The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur,” it was really by default. I had written the episode for Zack Snyder but Zack was too busy, and by that time I’d already fallen in love with the story, so I figured, why not just do it myself? As for “Golgotha,” I always loved the story. It was very efficient and short, which is hard to find in a story – it felt like a full meal. It has a beginning, middle, and end and it resolves in a satisfying way. “Golgotha” had all of that, plus it was funny. (JYN) // Spider Rose was on the story wall since the beginning. It was one of the “special” ones- very hard, ambitious, uncomfortable. Over the seasons we offered it to different directors and they veered away from it for one reason or another. But it glowed with a complexity that’s rare in a short story. I think that’s because it was written as an exploration for a far larger world that Bruce Sterling was developing. For me, it was the raw emotionality that drew me in. It’s how I understand how to communicate any story. And I love the way Spider Rose draws you in with emotion then shivs you with it. Were there any episodes in this season that particularly pushed the boundaries of what you had done before? How did that push happen? TM // I think “How Zeke got Religion” pushed the boundaries of 2D animation. The amount of detail and action that the guys at Titmouse were able to pull off was truly astonishing. Once again, Robert Valley outdid himself with 400 boys. The action scene at the end was one of my favorite pieces of animation in all of Love, Death, and Robots. (JYN) // Golgotha, Tim’s episode is live action, which is a rarity for the show. There was one live action episode in season 1, but none since. It is primarily an animation series, but nowadays, the line is so fuzzy that it seemed to make sense. How do you balance creative freedom with the thematic unity required for a show like Love, Death, and Robots? TM // There isn’t really a thematic unity. We’re just trying to create the best version of each of the episodes. They don’t tie into each other, they don’t relate to each other, they aren’t supposed to be about either Love, Death or Robots – the title is a meant to be a “catchall” that could hold ANY story or visual art we thought might be cool. Hopefully, the overall assemblage feels like a balanced meal with a little bit of something for everybody. But thematically speaking, again, I think our theme is that there is no theme. (JYN) // We try to set the foundation with a good story, based off the many short stories Tim has read over the years. Then the HOW of what that story becomes is the wooly Wild West. The directors and studios are fully encouraged to push all the boundaries of how to make these as innovative, impractical, and beautiful as they want. And, since each short is under 15 minutes, the studios we choose can be as experimental and scrappy as each story demands. Looking at the overall direction of the season, was there any unexpected moments or surprises that stood out to you during production? TM // Yeah, I think the color palette for “Zeke” was a shock to me in a wonderful way because it was completely unexpected and nothing I would ever do as a director but boy did I love it. And I think that “Can’t Stop” was an interesting addition. We wanted to do a music video from volume 1 onward, and this was the moment that we took to do it. I think it’s the greatest concert video ever made. (JYN) // Why do we have so many cats and babies? I’ve no idea. But when we saw the first giant baby shots in 400 Boys, it was a rare joy. They walk like babies, real babies. And somehow that was both accurate and terrifying. Looking forward, where do you see the show heading in future seasons, are there any new themes or concepts you’d love to explore? TM // So many directors in the industry have asked if they could play in our sandbox, and I would like to expand our reach to get some established names. Not that we don’t want new talent – we will always want that – but it would be great to have some really fantastic directors who have accomplished big movies come and play with our stories. I also think there’s a version where we bring in some content that may have existed in other mediums like comic books and perhaps tell some larger stories that take more than one episode to tell. Truthfully, I’ve already got a some really interesting stories picked out for the next few seasons, — of course those will change as the show evolves, but they’re fascinating stories that explore the whole arc of history… past, present, and future and some of the big challenges that humanity is facing today. I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that many of them explore the future of what mankind will become with the advent of AI and how artificial intelligence and humanity’s future intersect. (JYN) // Often themes only show up afterwards. There is a bit of a “herding cats” energy to the show that promises surprises in the production process. But the point of a show like this is that it is surprising. It has its own energy, and sometimes we just have to listen to it rather than dictate. If you had the opportunity to create any kind of story for Love, Death, and Robots, what would your dream narrative and what type of animation style would you envision for it? TM // Well, I have to say that I love high-end 3D animation, and that’s what Blur does for a reason. And secondly, I’d like to do a kind of story that could be live action and has some vast scope to it, but we choose to do it in animation because we get more value from using the techniques that animation brings. We can tell a bigger story, with more scope, and more action than we would using any other methodology…. and it competes favorably with live action in terms of the kind of audience that comes to watch it. Not just fans of animation, but fans of good cinema. (JYN) // I’d love to see an anime episode, like a Tsutomu Nihei fight scene, or something by Katsuhiro Otomo. A big thanks for your time. WANT TO KNOW MORE?Blur Studio: Dedicated page about Love, Death + Robots: Volume 4 on Blur Studio website. © Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025

Category: ID@XboxMay 30, 2025 Eternal Evil Hits Xbox Series X|S – Vampires Grow Stronger with Your Blood Imad Khalil, Partner, Human Qube Eternal Evil is a first-person survival horror game that captures the spirit of the genre’s roots. With two playable characters, limited resources, and a city on the edge of collapse, players must think fast, aim carefully, and survive the night. In Eternal Evil, Every Mistake Fuels Your Enemy Vampires don’t just attack – they feed. If you let them get close, they’ll grow faster, tougher and harder to kill. This survival horror FPS turns every encounter into a choice: strike first, or be bled dry. At the core of Eternal Evil is its “feeding mechanic” – the longer a vampire is on you, the stronger it becomes. What starts as a basic fight can quickly become a deadly chase if you hesitate. You’re not just trying to survive. You’re managing your own downfall. Every Bullet Matters Combat is slow, deliberate, and brutal. Ammo is scarce. Headshots are everything. You won’t blast through hordes – you’ll count every round and pray you brought enough. The game demands tight inventory management, attention to detail, and preparation. Puzzles are embedded in the environment. There are no glowing objectives or quest markers. Progress comes from observation, not hand-holding. Two Storylines. One Outbreak. You’ll play as two characters: detective Hank Richards, locked inside a hotel during the first wave of infection, and his ex-military ally Marcus, navigating the city from the outskirts. Each path reveals a different part of the story – and only one of them makes it to the end. Environments shift from cramped hallways to burned-out streets and abandoned facilities. Enemy placement and pacing are designed to keep tension high throughout both campaigns. No Shortcuts, No Hand-Holding There are no tutorials. No mini-maps. No regenerating health. Eternal Evil respects your ability to adapt – and punishes those who don’t. If you’re stuck on a puzzle, an optional item allows limited auto-solves – but nothing comes free. Everything in Eternal Evil has a cost. Pure Survival Horror Eternal Evil doesn’t chase spectacle. It builds fear through restraint. Minimalist UI. Cold, comic-style cutscenes. No noise – just tension. This is what defined the golden age of survival horror: constant pressure, deliberate pacing, and the kind of dread that doesn’t let go. Eternal Evil is now available on Xbox Series X|S. Eternal Evil Axyos Games ☆☆☆☆☆ 4 ★★★★★ $19.99 Get it now In Eternal Evil, you'll immerse yourself in a dark, blood-soaked atmosphere filled with terrifying enemies and a gripping, mysterious storyline. Armed with a diverse arsenal of firearms, you'll experience realistic shooting mechanics as you battle evolving ghouls. The game challenges you with intricate puzzles. As you explore diverse and immersive locations, you'll manage your inventory carefully, all within a classic survival-horror experience. The game also features a physics-based damage system, allowing for enemy dismemberment, adding to the intense and visceral horror. Fans of traditional survival-horror gameplay—featuring tight corridors, limited resources, and a constant sense of dread—will feel right at home. The experience pays homage to the golden age of the genre with a modern edge, offering methodical combat, strategic exploration, and a deeply atmospheric world. Related Stories for “Eternal Evil Hits Xbox Series X|S – Vampires Grow Stronger with Your Blood” Category: Next Week on XboxNext Week on Xbox: New Games for June 2 to 6 Category: ID@XboxA Little Roguelike Fun: Cryptmaster’s Deckbuilder in the Anniversary Update Category: ID@XboxGet Connected: Indie Selects for May 2025 The post Eternal Evil Hits Xbox Series X|S – Vampires Grow Stronger with Your Blood appeared first on Xbox Wire.

You just set up your brand new Mac and are about to scroll through a long document. You press the middle button on your mouse, expecting to be able to scroll by moving your cursor the way you can on Windows or Linux. Nothing happens. What gives?It turns out macOS doesn't support this feature, sometimes called auto scrolling. There are all kinds of little annoyances when you switch from one operating system to another, even if you prefer the operating system you're switching to. This is an example of that but, as usual, there's an application you can install to get things working the way you expect.Scrollapp is a free and open-source application that does one thing: Add the fast scrolling feature to your Mac. This simple application can be downloaded from the website and installed by dragging it to your Applications folder. You might see a security warning after trying to run it—you'll have to head to Security and Privacy in the Settings app to enable the application. After you do that, you'll see Scrollapp running in the menu bar, as seen above.After that, you should be able to scroll the way you did on Windows—just click the middle button and move your mouse. You can also enable the feature from the menu bar—just click the Start/Stop Auto-Scroll option—or by pressing the Control key and scrolling a little. That last option is great for trackpads.The speed of scrolling depends on how far your cursor moves from the starting point, meaning you can scroll more quickly by moving your cursor farther. It's a great way to power through a long document when you're looking for something specific.Disabling the auto scrolling is simple: Just click the left mouse button, or click the middle button again.This is a simple application, granted, but it solves a specific problem that new Mac users have. If you have more such problems, we've got advice about adding the best Windows features to your Mac, so be sure to read that for more tips like this one.

New York City’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is falling apart. Built between 1946 and 1964, the urban highway runs 12.1 miles through the heart of the two boroughs to connect on either end with the interstate highway system—a relic of midcentury car-oriented infrastructure, and a prime example of the dwindling lifespan of roads built during that time.  The degradation is most visible—and most pressing—in a section running alongside Brooklyn Heights known as the triple cantilever. This 0.4-mile section, completed in 1954, is unique among U.S. highways in that it juts out from the side of a hill and stacks the two directions of traffic on balcony-like decks, one slightly overhanging the other. A third level holds a well-loved park, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  This unusual layer cake of a freeway was a marvel of engineering in its day, though not without controversy. Masterminded by Robert Moses, the city’s all-powerful, often ruthless city planner for more than four decades, the roadway bisects working-class and immigrant neighborhoods that grapple with the health and environmental fallout to this day. Like the reputation of the man who built it, the triple cantilever has aged poorly. Its narrow width, (33.5 feet for the roadway in either direction) has made all but the most basic maintenance incredibly difficult, and its 71-year-old structure is constantly battered by the ever heavier automobiles and trucks. Designed to accommodate around 47,000 vehicles per day, it now carries more than three times that amount. Deteriorating deck joints and failing steel-reinforced concrete have led many to worry the triple cantilever is on the verge of collapse. An expert panel warned in 2020 that the triple cantilever could be unusable by 2026, and only then did interim repairs get made to keep it standing. [Photo: Alex Potemkin/Getty Images] The mounting concern comes amid a 50-year decline in direct government spending on infrastructure in the U.S., according to a recent analysis by Citigroup. Simply maintaining existing infrastructure is a challenge, the report notes. Meanwhile, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ grade for the country’s infrastructure has improved, from a D+ in 2017 to a C in 2025. Now even private credit firms are circling: As reported in Bloomberg, Apollo Global Management estimates that a boom in infrastructure deals help could grow the private debt market up to a staggering $40 trillion.   Independent urban designer Marc Wouters has an idea on how to fix BQE’s cantilever. He’s been working on it for years. “My process is that I always interview people in the community before I do any drawings,” he says. “So I really have listened to pretty much everybody over the past few years.” Unsolicited and developed in his own spare time, Wouters has designed an alternative for the triple cantilever that he named the BQE Streamline Plan. BQE Streamline Plan [Image: courtesy Marc Wouters | Studios/©2025] His concept, based on decades of experience in urban planning, infrastructure, and resilience projects in communities across the country, is relatively simple: extend the width of the two traffic-bearing cantilevers and add support beams to their outside edge, move both directions of traffic onto four lanes on the first level, and turn the second level into a large freeway cap park. Instead of major rebuilding efforts, Wouters’s proposal is more of a reinforcement and expansion, with a High Line-style park plopped on top. Though he’s not an engineer, Wouters is confident that his design would shift enough strain off the existing structure to allow it to continue functioning for the foreseeable future. (What actual engineers think remains to be seen.) “What I’ve done is come up with a plan that happens to be much less invasive, faster to build, a lot cheaper, and it encompasses a lot of what the community wants,” he says. “Yet it still handles the same capacity as the highway does right now.” So what will it take for this outsider’s idea to be considered a viable design alternative? This idea had been brewing in his mind for years. Wouters, who lives near the triple cantilever section of the BQE in Brooklyn Heights, has followed the highway’s planning process for more than a decade.  As complex infrastructure projects go, this one is particularly convoluted. The BQE is overseen by both the state of New York and New York City, among others, with the city in charge of the 1.5-mile section that includes the triple cantilever. This dual ownership has complicated the management of the highway and its funding. The city and the state have launched several efforts over the years to reimagine the highway’s entire length. In winter 2018, the city’s Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) released two proposals to address the ailing cantilever. Not seeing what they wanted from either one, Brooklyn Heights Association, a nonprofit neighborhood group, retained Wouters and his studio to develop an alternative design. He suggested building a temporary parallel bypass that would allow a full closure and repair of the triple cantilever. That proposal, along with competing ideas developed under the previous mayoral administration, went by the wayside in 2022, when the latest BQE redesign process commenced. Wouters found himself following yet another community feedback and planning process for the triple cantilever. The ideas being proposed by the city’s DOT this time around included a plan that would chew into the hillside that currently supports the triple cantilever to move the first tier of traffic directly underneath the second, and add a large girding structure on its open end to hold it all up. Other options included reshaping the retaining wall that currently holds up the triple cantilever, moving traffic below grade into a wide tunnel, or tearing the whole thing down and rebuilding from scratch. Each would be time-consuming and disruptive, and many of them cut into another well-loved public space immediately adjacent to the triple cantilever, Brooklyn Bridge Park. None of these options has anything close to unanimous support. And any of them will cost more than $1 billion—a price tag that hits much harder after the Federal Highway Administration rejected an $800 million grant proposal for fixing the BQE back in early 2024. BQE Streamline Plan [Image: courtesy Marc Wouters | Studios/©2025] Wouters is no highway zealot. In fact, he’s worked on a project heading into construction in Syracuse that will replace an underutilized inner-city highway with a more appropriately sized boulevard and developable land. But he felt sure there was a better way forward—a concept that would work as well in practice as on paper. “I just kept going to meetings and waiting to see what I thought was a progressive solution,” Wouters says. Unimpressed and frustrated, he set out to design it himself. Wouters released the Streamline Plan in March. The concept quickly gathered interest, receiving a flurry of local news coverage. He has since met with various elected officials to discuss it. But as elegant as Wouters’s concept may be, some stakeholders remain unconvinced that the city should be going all in on a reinterpretation of the triple cantilever. What might be more appropriate, critics say, is to make necessary fixes now to keep the triple cantilever safe and functional, and to spend more time thinking about whether this section of highway is even what the city needs in the long term. A group of local organizations is calling for a more comprehensive reconsideration of the BQE under the premise that its harms may be outnumbering its benefits. Launched last spring, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Environmental Justice Coalition wants any planning for the future of the BQE to include efforts to address its health and environmental impacts on neighboring communities and to seek an alternative that reconnects communities that have been divided by the corridor. One member of this coalition is the Riders Alliance, a nonprofit focused on improving public transit in New York. Danny Pearlstein, the group’s policy and communications director, says implementing a major redesign of the triple cantilever would just reinforce car dependency in a place that’s actually well served by public transit. The environmental justice coalition’s worry is that rebuilding this one section in a long-term fashion could make it harder for change across the length of the entire BQE and could increase the environmental impact the highway has on the communities that surround it. “This is not just one neighborhood. This is communities up and down the corridor that don’t resemble each other very much in income or background who are united and are standing together for something that’s transformative, rather than doubling down on the old ways,” Pearlstein says. [Photo: ©NYC DOT] Lara Birnback is executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, representing a neighborhood of roughly 20,000 people. Her organization, which worked directly with Wouters in the past, is circumspect about his latest concept. “It’s certainly more interesting and responsive to the kinds of things that the community has been asking for when thinking about the BQE. It’s more of those things than we’ve seen from any of the designs that New York City DOT has presented to us through their engagement process,” she says. “But at the end of the day, it’s still a way of preserving more or less the status quo of the BQE as a major interstate highway running through the borough.” She argues it makes more sense to patch up the triple cantilever and use the extra years of service that buys to do a more radical rethinking of the BQE’s future. (For example, one 2020 proposal by the Brooklyn-based architecture studio Light and Air proposed a simple intervention of installing buttresses on the open-air side of the triple cantilever, propping it up with a relatively small addition of material.) “We really strongly encourage the city to move forward immediately with a more short-term stabilization plan for the cantilever, with repairs that would last, for example, 20 to 25 years rather than spending billions and billions of dollars rebuilding it for the next 100 years,” Birnback says. Birnback says a major rebuilding plan like the one Wouters is proposing—for all its community benefits—could end up doing more harm to the city. “I think going forward now with a plan that both embeds the status quo and most likely forecloses on the possibility of real transformation across the corridor is a mistake,” she says. NYC DOT expects to begin its formal environmental review process this year, laying the necessary groundwork for deciding on a plan for what to do with the triple cantilever, either for the short term or the long term. The environmental process will evaluate all concepts equally, according to DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone, who notes that the department is required to review and respond to all feedback that comes in through that process. There is technically nothing holding back Wouters’s proposal from being one of the alternatives considered. And he may have some important political support to help make that happen. Earlier this month, Brooklyn’s Community District 2 board formally supported the plan. They are calling for the city’s transportation department to include it in the BQE’s formal environmental review process when it starts later this year. [Photo: Sinisa Kukic/Getty Images] Wouters argues that his proposal solves the pressing structural problems of the triple cantilever while also opening resources to deal with the highway’s big picture challenges. “The several hundred million dollars of savings is now funding that could go to other parts of the BQE. And there are other parts that are really struggling,” he says. “I’m always thinking about the whole length and about all these other communities, not just this one.” With a new presidential administration and a mayoral primary election in June, what happens with the triple cantilever is very much up in the air. But if the environmental review process begins as planned this year, it only makes sense for every option to fall under consideration. What gets built—or torn down, or reconstructed, or reinterpreted—could reshape part of New York City for generations.

🎞️ *Breakdown Maker* – Animate your Blender projects like a pro 🕹️ Find Out More Here: https://superhivemarket.com/products/... Want to show off your modeling or FX process step-by-step? Breakdown Maker automates stunning reveal animations—great for portfolios, client work, or social posts. 🧩 Use cases: modeling breakdowns, motion design, behind-the-scenes reels, tutorials ⚙️ Easily animate parts by collection, object, or modifier 🎬 Supports various effects like: build-ups, fly-ins, dissolves & custom effects ✅ Works in Cycles & Eevee 📜 Royalty-free license for personal & commercial use Make your work speak for itself 👉 https://superhivemarket.com/products/... #b3d #Blender3d #Addon #blender #AnimationTools #3DShowcase #BreakdownMaker #Motion #Design (Feed generated with FetchRSS)

Reading Time: 11 minutes Choosing the right drip email software can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. With a variety of options available, understanding the pricing models and features each tool offers is key to making an informed decision. In this guide, we’ll walk you through essential factors to consider when evaluating pricing, so you can select the best solution that fits your needs and budget for your drip email campaigns. Ready to dive deeper? Let’s explore your options.   What Does Drip Email Marketing Software Cost? Drip email marketing software typically follows a few different pricing models, depending on the provider. Here’s a quick breakdown of the most common ones: Pricing Based on MAUs (Monthly Active Users): You pay based on how many unique subscribers actually engage with your emails (or your system) each month, not your entire list size. It’s a much fairer, scalable way to pay, especially if your audience fluctuates. You only pay for real activity. Flat-Rate Pricing: You pay a fixed monthly fee, regardless of usage, list size, or activity. But flat rates are often bloated to cover all usage types, so you’re likely overpaying if you’re not sending a massive volume of emails. It’s not cost-efficient for scaling brands. List-Based Pricing: You pay based on the total number of contacts in your database, whether they engage or not. However, you end up paying for cold leads, dead emails, and inactive contacts. This makes your costs climb unnecessarily as your list grows. Email Volume-Based Pricing: You’re charged based on how many emails you send each month. It can discourage you from running important nurturing campaigns or re-engagement flows because every email adds to your bill. It’s unpredictable and can spike costs during promotions. For email marketers, this model means added pressure to limit sends, often at the cost of customer experience and long-term engagement. Some platforms even bundle unnecessary features into expensive tiers, which bloats the pricing, especially for features you may not actually need. This is where MoEngage stands out. The platform offers a more transparent and scalable approach so that pricing is aligned to your actual usage and outcomes rather than inflated send limits.   6 Biggest Factors that Affect Drip Email Pricing Drip email pricing depends on several factors. Here are some of the biggest ones: 1. Number of active contacts Some platforms, particularly the ones that use the MAU pricing model, charge based on the number of customers who interact with your emails. The higher the number of active customers, the higher the pricing. 2. List size Managing an email list is easier said than done. Nevertheless, if you have a large database of contacts, you will be charged a higher monthly fee. In this case, pricing will remain the same even if you don’t have many active subscribers on your list. 3. Email volume The number of emails you send plays a big role in pricing. This is because high-volume automated email marketing campaigns require significant infrastructure for email delivery, tracking, and reporting. 4. Advanced features Platforms offering advanced features like RFM segmentation, automation, A/B testing, analytics, and AI-driven personalization typically charge more than others. Some pricing models allow you to opt for some or all of these features, depending on your business requirements. 5. Automation complexity If your drip campaign involves complex workflows, like different stages, conditions, triggers, etc., it can impact the pricing. Automation requires more resources to set up and maintain, which increases the price. 6. Integration with other tools Connecting your email platform with CRMs, Ecommerce tools, or analytics systems can drive up costs, especially if platforms charge extra for native integrations or require third-party connectors. Before signing up, ask yourself: how many of these tools are truly essential? Can any be replaced with ones that integrate more easily? A cluttered tech stack not only costs more but also complicates your workflows.   Top Features to Look For in a Drip Email Marketing Software Since you’re on the lookout for a drip email marketing software platform, focus on the features we’ve mentioned below. Core features that drip email software absolutely needs These features are the must-haves. They are the foundational tools required to automate, personalize, and optimize your email drip campaigns at scale. Journey designer: Easily set up multi-step workflows triggered by parameters like customer actions, behaviors, or time delays with minimal coding. Behavioral targeting: Send emails based on real-time customer behavior, such as cart additions, subscriptions, app activity, and more, for highly relevant messaging. Personalization engine: Dynamically include customer attributes based on past interactions and preferences to personalize emails at scale. High inbox deliverability: Tools and practices that ensure you have a healthy sender reputation and high inbox placement. Campaign optimization with A/B testing: Test different email versions to learn what drives higher engagement and optimize your drip flows continuously. Real-time analytics and insights: Access detailed reports and dashboards that track key drip email marketing metrics like opens, clicks, and conversions, and identify drop-offs in your drip journeys. Other features that are very useful to have These features aren’t absolutely necessary to run an effective campaign, but they can improve customer experience and operational efficiency. AI-based predictive segmentation: Leverage AI to predict customer behavior like churn or likelihood of conversion, and automatically adjust campaigns accordingly. Omnichannel messaging: Integrate messaging across various channels, like push notifications, SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging for a cohesive customer journey. Pre-built templates: Quickly access pre-built, customizable email templates to launch campaigns faster without heavy design work.   9 Steps to Choosing a Drip Email Marketing Software With so many options available in the market, choosing the right drip email marketing software can seem like an uphill battle. No worries! We’ll even walk you through exactly how to evaluate and compare drip email tools for yourself. Once you’ve asked the right questions and gathered the facts during demos, it’s time to break down your decision-making process into clear, actionable steps. Step 1: Define Your Non-Negotiable Features The first step is to make a list of all the features that are necessary for you. For example, if your goal is to send behavior-triggered drip campaigns (like abandoned cart emails or re-engagement nudges), then features like behavioral targeting and multi-step customer journey automation are non-negotiable. On the other hand, if you only need basic scheduled newsletters, you might not need advanced workflow builders or AI recommendations. Once you have a list of non-negotiable features, it becomes easier to narrow down your platform choices. Step 2: Research and Compare All Viable Options Don’t just go with the most well-known or even the most affordable-looking tool. Research platforms that fit your business size and industry. Use peer reviews, comparison guides, and case studies to understand how the platform performs in real-world use cases. Also, remember that low entry pricing can be misleading. What matters is the total cost of ownership. Look for things like hidden fees, integration costs, or feature-based tier upgrades. These will add to the pricing later. Step 3: Book a Personalized Demo (and Demand Proof) When choosing your drip email marketing tool, make sure you request a personalized demo based on your business context, use cases, and workflows. A simple, generic walkthrough isn’t helpful because this is your first real glimpse into how the platform is going to support you long-term. If the demo isn’t tailored to your business, that’s a red flag—because if they can’t offer personalized attention when they’re trying to win your business, you’re unlikely to get it during onboarding or implementation. Ask to see features live, rather than just screenshots or slide decks. If a feature is critical, ask to see it in action. At times, sales teams may promise features that are still ‘in development’. Step 4: Attend the Demo with a List of Questions Once you’ve booked a demo, prepare a checklist of questions, like the one we shared above. This will help you stay focused and gain the clarity you need. Ask whether the features you care about are included in the base plan or locked behind premium tiers. Dig into pricing: will the costs scale predictably as you grow, or are there hidden fees that only show up later? Some platforms may offer attractive deals upfront but raise prices later or charge extra for essentials like API access, automation workflows, or deliverability support. The demo is your chance to surface all of this before signing anything. Step 5: Evaluate Ease of Use The drip email software you choose must be easy to use. Since marketers with little to no technical knowledge are most likely to use the platform, look for solutions that allow you to build email campaigns, segment audiences, and personalize messages easily. Say no to complicated or clunky interfaces that are not intuitive and require a steep learning curve. Step 6: Check for Advanced Capabilities Ask about AI features like predictive segmentation or email send-time optimization. Even if you don’t need them right now, having future-ready capabilities ensures you won’t outgrow the tool too soon. Step 7: Test for Scalability and Deliverability This is an important one. Look for solutions that can handle large volumes of emails with good email deliverability rates. Make sure the software you choose has a high inbox placement rate. Check if they have a solid infrastructure and dedicated IPs, should you need them. Also, consider scalability: will this platform still meet your needs when your contact list grows from 10,000 to 100,000? Make sure you’re not locked into expensive pricing jumps or performance bottlenecks. Step 8: Review Integration Options Make sure the tool you choose fits seamlessly into your existing workflow. It should integrate with your CRM, mobile app, Ecommerce system, and anything else in your ecosystem. Even if it doesn’t directly integrate, ensure that it offers flexible APIs and webhooks, or supports third-party connectors like Zapier, so you can still automate data flow without manual workarounds. Step 9: Compare Customer Support Quality Good software with bad support can be a nightmare. Check for onboarding help, technical support, availability, account management, and resources. Ask about how quickly the support team responds and resolves software issues to ensure that you have minimal downtime.   5 Best Email Drip Campaign Software and Tools It’s time to weigh your options in choosing an email drip campaign software for your business. Give this list a quick read! 1. MoEngage: Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting   MoEngage is a comprehensive customer engagement platform designed to deliver personalized and automated drip email campaigns at scale. Its powerful AI capabilities allow you to use behavioral targeting to reach customers at the right time with the right message at different stages of their customer journey. Why MoEngage is Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting: MoEngage offers multiple features that allow you to provide cohesive customer experiences across various touchpoints. You can reach out to customers via not just email, but also SMS, push notifications, in-app messages, and even ad networks without missing a beat. Features like advanced segmentation enable you to send hyper-personalized drip email campaigns tailored to individual customer actions, such as cart abandonment or inactivity. This ensures that messages are timely, relevant, and effective in driving engagement. How Pricing Works: MoEngage offers flexible drip email pricing based on the scale of your business and the exact features you’d need. You can always reach out to their sales team to learn more about their custom pricing plans. How to Set Up a Demo: To experience MoEngage firsthand, you need to book a demo first. Their team will then contact you to schedule a personalized walkthrough that showcases how the platform can meet your specific drip email marketing goals. 2. ActiveCampaign: Best for Email and Marketing Automation ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform that allows you to create email campaigns on channels your customers connect with. The platform offers predictive content features that help you show customers the most meaningful content. Why ActiveCampaign is Best for Email and Marketing Automation: ActiveCampaign excels in delivering sophisticated automation campaign workflows that can be tailored to various customer journeys. How Pricing Works: ActiveCampaign offers a four-tiered drip email pricing plan. The basic plan starts at $15/month for 1K contacts, while the Enterprise plan starts at $1,169/month for 50K contacts. If you have contacts upwards of that number, you need to talk to their sales team. 3. Kit: Best for Creators Using Emails Kit is tailored for creators, bloggers, and solo entrepreneurs who want to send customer relationship emails. It offers a user-friendly interface with powerful automation capabilities. Why Kit is Best for Creators and Solo Entrepreneurs: Kit’s email-first operating system allows creators to build long-term connections with customers. Its intuitive email designer can be used to create effective on-brand emails that are optimized for deliverability. Plus, it allows you to send email broadcasts for announcing product launches, sharing content updates, or promoting limited-time offers to your entire list in bulk. How Pricing Works: Kit offers a free Newsletter plan with basic features like visual automation, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts to up to 10K subscribers. But you can implement just 1 visual automation and an email sequence on the free plan. Advanced plans start at $25 per month for up to 1K subscribers, and go up to $2,166/month for 400K contacts. 4. Drip: Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation Drip is a marketing automation platform designed specifically for Ecommerce brands. It offers tools to create personalized email campaigns that drive customer engagement and sales. Why Drip is Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation: Drip provides deep integrations with Ecommerce platforms, allowing businesses to leverage customer data for targeted campaigns. Features like behavior-based automation and pre-built workflows help in crafting effective drip campaigns. How Pricing Works: Drip’s pricing starts at $39/month for up to 2,500 contacts. The cost scales up to $1,999/month based on the number of contacts, with custom pricing available for larger lists of over 180K subscribers. 5. Mailmodo: Best for Interactive Email Marketing Mailmodo is an email marketing platform that enables the creation of interactive drip emails using AMP technology. This allows recipients to take actions like filling out forms or booking appointments directly within the email. Why Mailmodo is Best for Interactive Email Marketing: Mailmodo stands out by offering interactive email capabilities that enhance customer engagement and conversion rates. Its drag-and-drop editor simplifies the creation of dynamic emails without any coding required. How Pricing Works: Like the other drip email marketing software on this list, Mailmodo’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and emails sent per month. Its three-tiered pricing model starts at $39/month for 500 contacts, going up to $939/month for 250K subscribers. Any more contacts, and you have to reach out to their sales team.   How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Drip Email Software Here are some of the ways in which you can leverage your drip email software to its maximum potential. Save time through automation: Automate welcome emails, follow-ups, and re-engagement campaigns to free up your team for more strategic work. Boost engagement with timely messaging: Set up triggers so that emails are automatically sent based on customers’ actions. This keeps your audience interested at every stage of their customer journey. Drive higher conversions with targeted sequences: Send the right email at the right time to move leads through the sales funnel towards a conversion. Personalize customer experiences at scale: Use segmentation and dynamic content to create a personalized customer experience without manually customizing every email. Continuously optimize with data-driven insights: Track performance metrics like open rates and conversions to refine your drip email campaigns and maximize results over time.   Maximize Engagement With MoEngage’s Drip Email Marketing Software To sum it up, drip email marketing can be quite powerful for engaging customers at different stages of their journey. Having the right drip email software in your tech stack ensures smooth, efficient workflows. Your team can focus on higher-value tasks while automating routine processes. It also ensures that your drip emails always reach the right person with the right message at the perfect time. MoEngage’s powerful email automation platform allows you to automate personalized campaigns that drive higher engagement and conversions. With advanced segmentation, behavior-triggered messaging, and seamless integration with your ecosystem, you can nurture relationships more effectively than ever. Curious to see how MoEngage can elevate your campaigns? Schedule a discovery call today. The post Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide appeared first on MoEngage.

Alibaba's QwenLong-L1 helps LLMs deeply understand long documents, unlocking advanced reasoning for practical enterprise applications.Read More

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Alibaba Group has introduced QwenLong-L1, a new framework that enables large language models (LLMs) to reason over extremely long inputs. This development could unlock a new wave of enterprise applications that require models to understand and draw insights from extensive documents such as detailed corporate filings, lengthy financial statements, or complex legal contracts. The challenge of long-form reasoning for AI Recent advances in large reasoning models (LRMs), particularly through reinforcement learning (RL), have significantly improved their problem-solving capabilities. Research shows that when trained with RL fine-tuning, LRMs acquire skills similar to human “slow thinking,” where they develop sophisticated strategies to tackle complex tasks. However, these improvements are primarily seen when models work with relatively short pieces of text, typically around 4,000 tokens. The ability of these models to scale their reasoning to much longer contexts (e.g., 120,000 tokens) remains a major challenge. Such long-form reasoning requires a robust understanding of the entire context and the ability to perform multi-step analysis. “This limitation poses a significant barrier to practical applications requiring interaction with external knowledge, such as deep research, where LRMs must collect and process information from knowledge-intensive environments,” the developers of QwenLong-L1 write in their paper. The researchers formalize these challenges into the concept of “long-context reasoning RL.” Unlike short-context reasoning, which often relies on knowledge already stored within the model, long-context reasoning RL requires models to retrieve and ground relevant information from lengthy inputs accurately. Only then can they generate chains of reasoning based on this incorporated information.  Training models for this through RL is tricky and often results in inefficient learning and unstable optimization processes. Models struggle to converge on good solutions or lose their ability to explore diverse reasoning paths. QwenLong-L1: A multi-stage approach QwenLong-L1 is a reinforcement learning framework designed to help LRMs transition from proficiency with short texts to robust generalization across long contexts. The framework enhances existing short-context LRMs through a carefully structured, multi-stage process: Warm-up Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT): The model first undergoes an SFT phase, where it is trained on examples of long-context reasoning. This stage establishes a solid foundation, enabling the model to ground information accurately from long inputs. It helps develop fundamental capabilities in understanding context, generating logical reasoning chains, and extracting answers. Curriculum-Guided Phased RL: At this stage, the model is trained through multiple phases, with the target length of the input documents gradually increasing. This systematic, step-by-step approach helps the model stably adapt its reasoning strategies from shorter to progressively longer contexts. It avoids the instability often seen when models are abruptly trained on very long texts. Difficulty-Aware Retrospective Sampling: The final training stage incorporates challenging examples from the preceding training phases, ensuring the model continues to learn from the hardest problems. This prioritizes difficult instances and encourages the model to explore more diverse and complex reasoning paths. QwenLong-L1 process Source: arXiv Beyond this structured training, QwenLong-L1 also uses a distinct reward system. While training for short-context reasoning tasks often relies on strict rule-based rewards (e.g., a correct answer in a math problem), QwenLong-L1 employs a hybrid reward mechanism. This combines rule-based verification, which ensures precision by checking for strict adherence to correctness criteria, with an “LLM-as-a-judge.” This judge model compares the semanticity of the generated answer with the ground truth, allowing for more flexibility and better handling of the diverse ways correct answers can be expressed when dealing with long, nuanced documents. Putting QwenLong-L1 to the test The Alibaba team evaluated QwenLong-L1 using document question-answering (DocQA) as the primary task. This scenario is highly relevant to enterprise needs, where AI must understand dense documents to answer complex questions.  Experimental results across seven long-context DocQA benchmarks showed QwenLong-L1’s capabilities. Notably, the QWENLONG-L1-32B model (based on DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-32B) achieved performance comparable to Anthropic’s Claude-3.7 Sonnet Thinking, and outperformed models like OpenAI’s o3-mini and Qwen3-235B-A22B. The smaller QWENLONG-L1-14B model also outperformed Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking and Qwen3-32B.  Source: arXiv An important finding relevant to real-world applications is how RL training results in the model developing specialized long-context reasoning behaviors. The paper notes that models trained with QwenLong-L1 become better at “grounding” (linking answers to specific parts of a document), “subgoal setting” (breaking down complex questions), “backtracking” (recognizing and correcting their own mistakes mid-reasoning), and “verification” (double-checking their answers). For instance, while a base model might get sidetracked by irrelevant details in a financial document or get stuck in a loop of over-analyzing unrelated information, the QwenLong-L1 trained model demonstrated an ability to engage in effective self-reflection. It could successfully filter out these distractor details, backtrack from incorrect paths, and arrive at the correct answer. Techniques like QwenLong-L1 could significantly expand the utility of AI in the enterprise. Potential applications include legal tech (analyzing thousands of pages of legal documents), finance (deep research on annual reports and financial filings for risk assessment or investment opportunities) and customer service (analyzing long customer interaction histories to provide more informed support). The researchers have released the code for the QwenLong-L1 recipe and the weights for the trained models. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a novel resin system for multicolor digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing that enables rapid fabrication of freestanding and non-assembly structures using dissolvable supports. The work, led by Zachariah A. Page and published in ACS Central Science, combines UV- and visible-light-responsive chemistries to produce materials with distinct solubility profiles, significantly streamlining post-processing. Current DLP workflows are often limited by the need for manually removed support structures, especially when fabricating components with overhangs or internal joints. These limitations constrain automation and increase production time and cost. To overcome this, the team designed wavelength-selective photopolymer resins that form either an insoluble thermoset or a readily dissolvable thermoplastic, depending on the light color used during printing. In practical terms, this allows supports to be printed in one material and rapidly dissolved using ethyl acetate, an environmentally friendly solvent, without affecting the primary structure. The supports dissolve in under 10 minutes at room temperature, eliminating the need for time-consuming sanding or cutting. Illustration comparing traditional DLP 3D printing with manual support removal (A) and the new multicolor DLP process with dissolvable supports (B). Image via University of Texas at Austin. The research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, and the Robert A. Welch Foundation. The authors also acknowledge collaboration with MonoPrinter and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. High-resolution multimaterial printing The research showcases how multicolor DLP can serve as a precise multimaterial platform, achieving sub-100 μm feature resolution with layer heights as low as 50 μm. By tuning the photoinitiator and photoacid systems to respond selectively to ultraviolet (365 nm), violet (405 nm), or blue (460 nm) light, the team spatially controlled polymer network formation in a single vat. This enabled the production of complex, freestanding structures such as chainmail, hooks with unsupported overhangs, and fully enclosed joints, which traditionally require extensive post-processing or multi-step assembly. The supports, printed in a visible-light-cured thermoplastic, demonstrated sufficient mechanical integrity during the build, with tensile moduli around 160–200 MPa. Yet, upon immersion in ethyl acetate, they dissolved within 10 minutes, leaving the UV-cured thermoset structure intact. Surface profilometry confirmed that including a single interface layer of the dissolvable material between the support and the final object significantly improved surface finish, lowering roughness to under 5 μm without polishing. Computed tomography scans validated geometric fidelity, with dimensional deviations from CAD files as low as 126 μm, reinforcing the method’s capability for high-precision, solvent-cleared multimaterial printing. Comparison of dissolvable and traditional supports in DLP 3D printing. (A) Disk printed with soluble supports using violet light, with rapid dissolution in ethyl acetate. (B) Gravimetric analysis showing selective mass loss. (C) Mechanical properties of support and structural materials. (D) Manual support removal steps. (E) Surface roughness comparison across methods. (F) High-resolution test print demonstrating feature fidelity. Image via University of Texas at Austin. Towards scalable automation This work marks a significant step toward automated vat photopolymerization workflows. By removing manual support removal and achieving clean surface finishes with minimal roughness, the method could benefit applications in medical devices, robotics, and consumer products. The authors suggest that future work may involve refining resin formulations to enhance performance and print speed, possibly incorporating new reactive diluents and opaquing agents for improved resolution. Examples of printed freestanding and non-assembly structures, including a retainer, hook with overhangs, interlocked chains, and revolute joints, before and after dissolvable support removal. Image via University of Texas at Austin. Dissolvable materials as post-processing solutions Dissolvable supports have been a focal point in additive manufacturing, particularly for enhancing the efficiency of post-processing. In Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), materials like Stratasys’ SR-30 have been effectively removed using specialized cleaning agents such as Oryx Additive‘s SRC1, which dissolves supports at twice the speed of traditional solutions. For resin-based printing, systems like Xioneer‘s Vortex EZ employ heat and fluid agitation to streamline the removal of soluble supports . In metal additive manufacturing, innovations have led to the development of chemical processes that selectively dissolve support structures without compromising the integrity of the main part . These advancements underscore the industry’s commitment to reducing manual intervention and improving the overall efficiency of 3D printing workflows. Read the full article in ACS Publications. Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to keep up with the latest 3D printing news. You can also follow us onLinkedIn and subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry YouTube channel to access more exclusive content. At 3DPI, our mission is to deliver high-quality journalism, technical insight, and industry intelligence to professionals across the AM ecosystem.Help us shape the future of 3D printing industry news with our2025 reader survey. Featured image shows: Hook geometry printed using multicolor DLP with dissolvable supports. Image via University of Texas at Austin.

Imaginary Forces has unveiled a reimagined Marvel Studios logo alongside the premiere of Thunderbolts*. Produced under the creative direction of Tosh Kodama, the logo pays homage to Marvel Studios’ iconic comic book flip-intro imbued with the darker, edgier tone of Thunderbolts*. “The latest Marvel Studios logo builds on the rich creative history between Imaginary Forces and Marvel Studios,” said Kodama. “Our goal was to retain the iconic essence of the comic book flip while pushing it into new visual territory within the Thunderbolts* canon.” The sequence features thousands of comic book images from the pages of Thunderbolts*, projected onto a drifting 3D rendering of the Marvel wordmark. The camera pans in, around, and through the passageways of each letter. The logo is never fully revealed and eventually dissolves into blackness, foreshadowing of The Void, Sentry’s alter ego. “We wanted to create something truly epic and large-scale,” added Kodama. “The sequence tells a story, albeit a subtle one, evoking the gritty, morally complex world of the Thunderbolts*. Aesthetically, it’s also a notable departure from the warm and vibrant hues of the previous logo animations, with the black slowly creeping in and overtaking everything, creating a sense of mystery and unease.” To express The Void sonically, Imaginary Forces overlaid a haunting sound effect over Michael Giacchino’s iconic ‘Marvel Studios Fanfare,’ reflecting the character’s hollow, engulfing nature. “Fans get jazzed the minute they hear the fanfare and they know it well,” said Kodama. “So, sonically augmenting it was a simple but highly effective choice to subvert expectations and add intrigue.” As a long-time branding and storytelling partner, Imaginary Forces created its first Marvel logo animation for the 2002 release of Spider-Man. 10 years later, they partnered with Marvel Studios for a stereoscopic 3D reimagining that premiered before Thor: The Dark World (2012). “Back in 2002, no one could have predicted Marvel would grow into the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe we know today,” concluded Kodama. “We’ve been thrilled to collaborate with Marvel on the evolving logo animations over the years. Being part of the MCU’s next chapter is always an exciting and rewarding experience.” Source: Imaginary Forces Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologist—L'Wren brings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.