New features in The Foundry's 3D texture painting software include: (more...)

Southpaw Technology has made available a desktop version of its web-based production asset management system under an open source license. Tactic Team is aimed at smaller teams and for the evaluation of Tactic’s core features. Once users get accustomed to Tactic Team, they can upgrade to the more robust Enterprise version, which is also available as open source but must be requested by contacting Southpaw. The company will continue to offer support packages, professional services and commercial licenses to entities who prefer or require such licenses. More on Southpaw Technology's website.

Byzantos 3D has released a free substance that creates seamless circular tiling patterns. Though intended for Lumion users a quick test has verified that this works equally well in 3DS Max 2011+. Find out more and download from Byzantos.com.

Vicon announced that it will be showing its Cara head-mounted facial capture system at SIGGRAPH, along with a new device that allows for intuitive interaction with virtual objects in a 3D environment. The Interaction Device provides haptic vibration feedback for model collision warning and object identification. Also of note, Vicon will be showing Blade 2, the latest version of its motion capture processing software. More on Vicon's website.

Docracy is a new site that serves as a repository for free, socially-curated contracts and other legal documents. It also allows for e-signing documents. More at Docracy.

OpenSubdiv is a set of open source libraries that implement high performance subdivision surface (subdiv) evaluation on massively parallel CPU and GPU architectures. It is optimized for drawing deforming subdivs with static topology at interactive frame rates. OpenSubdiv is covered by the Microsoft Public License and is free for commercial or non-commercial use. More at OpenSubdiv's website.

New features in the open interchange format that focuses on efficiently storing and sharing animation and scenes across multiple software include: (more...)

New features in IDV's trees and plants creation software include: (more...)

Viz-People once again offers free 3D models. This time it's 6 detailed models of chairs, free for commercial use. They can be downloaded from Viz-People's site. (Registration required)

Shotgun Software, makers of the pipeline tools Shotgun, and Revolver, have just announced a new software in their lineup, called Tank. Tank is a digital asset management system that ties in closely with Shotgun, their production tracking system. It also ties in with tools like 3DS Max, Maya, Nuke, to provide a robust system that organizes, and keeps track of assets as they are created throughout the pipeline. You can read the full details on the Shotgun Software website.