FX artist Sergey Shlyaev has implemented a number of BRDF models as V-Ray shaders. Check out a sample video and find out more on Sergey Shlyaev's site.

Red Giant Software announced the public beta of a new subscription-based licensing plan they are offering that provides access to a number of new and upcoming plugins. Also, Red Giant will take suggestions regarding which next plugin they should develop from Universe members. A free Universe account with limited access to plugins is available. Red Giant are still offering the option to purchase stand-alone licenses. More on Red Giant Software's site.

Thinkbox is also looking for beta testers for v6.2 of its rendering management system. New features include: overall enhancements and new functionality added to existing plug-ins and scripts, support for Autodesk 2015 software, Anime Studio 10, DJV Imaging, The Foundry’s Modo 8xx and Trimble SketchUp 3D. Deadline 6.2 also supports the GPU-accelerated Redshift renderer in Maya and Softimage, all Maya Extensions, and includes a new integrated submitter for Houdini. More information on Thinkbox's website.

Two nice particle test videos by London-based artist Vahid Tehrani: Evolution ver.1 WIP, Dance stream 2.

Brad Peebler from The Foundry has written an interesting post, reacting to the news of Softimage's discontinuation. It's also interesting to note the replies to his post from Modo and Softimage users. More on The Foundry's forum.

Texas-based inventor Tim Jenison, who founded NewTek and was involved in many CG-related projects, has spent a number of years studying the techniques of Dutch painter Vermeer, and the technology he may have used for creating realistic paintings. Tim Jenison has recently headed a film project documenting his theories and discoveries. More on IMDB and Bob Groothuis' site.

Another impressive, energetic game trailer created by Blur Studio, this time for Rocksteady Studios's Batman: Arkham Knight video game. Watch it on YouTube.

HQ Plants has released a new collection of detailed 3D models for 3DS Max and Cinema 4D. The library includes over 140 3D models. Check out the list of included models (PDF) and find out more on 3DMentor.ru.

HDR Sets is a new site based in Germany that sells production-ready lighting environments. Each set contains a spherical HDR panorama, backplates, matched 3D cameras (in various formats) and a scene setup file based on SIBL. A number of free sets (with lower resolution) are available for testing purposes. Custom HDR Set creation is available upon request. More on HDR Sets.

AXYZ-design, known for their Anima crowd simulation software, have released a new collection of 30 static, ready-posed Asian Models. They are available in 3DS Max, Cinema 4D, SketchUp and Wavefront OBJ formats. More on AXYZ-design's website.