By

New features in PipelineFX's render farm management system include: expanded ArtistView UI, centralized preferences, extended OS support, etc. More on PipelineFX's site.

Klaas Nienhuis has updated Sketchfab's 3DS Max Exporter script, which lets you easily publish your models directly from Max. Changes include: it now uses the FBX file format (instead of OBJ) allowing to upload animations, OAuth2 login allows for simpler and safer connection, and you can now choose to upload in Draft Mode, which enables you to tweak Sketchfab settings and model metadata before sharing the model publicly. More on the Exporter Page and Official Documentation. (more...)

NVidia's recent release of paid Iray integration plugins for 3DS Max and Maya (with others soon to be available for Revit and Rhino) brought some confusion due to the Iray versions already bundled with those software and the lack of detailed information explaining the differences. The way the plugins were named was perhaps another factor. In a recent post on the subject on Autodesk's Area, NVidia's Director of Advanced Rendering Products Phillip Miller shed some valuable information clarifying why the plugins were developed and the additional features they provide. More on Autodesk's Area.

Pixar has released a beta version of its Universal Scene Description (USD) open source project. USD is an efficient, scalable system for authoring, reading and streaming time-sampled scene descriptions for interchange between graphics applications. The system facilitates the creation of scalable collaborative pipelines and aims to bring standardization and efficient exchange of scenes among 3D applications, while trying to preserve file referencing and non-destructive editing capabilities. More on Pixar's website.

New features in Autodesk's modeling tool for combining parts from different 3D models and outputting them to 3D printers include: (more...)

ATON is an Arnold Interface-compatible display driver and Nuke plugin developed by Sosoyan for direct rendering into the Nuke interface. Features include: (more...)

Kara is a Star Wars fan film by US director Joe Sill, who also created some of the VFX. Watch it on Vimeo.

London-based BlueBolt has posted a video with breakdowns of VFX work the studio did for the TV series produced by Carnival Films. Watch the video on Vimeo.

New features in Ludovic Habas' advanced character rigging and animation tools for 3DS Max include: (more...)

Toon Boom Animation has released v5 of its storyboarding software that offers camera controls, 3D models import and collaboration tools. The latest version streamlines the workflow with new creative tools, adds improvements to the 3D workflow, and provides better integration with editorial. New features include: (more...)