New features in the latest version of the UV mapping tool include: FBX plugin is now available as two plugins: 2010 and 2012 (FBX animations now load faster), added MESH importer for Torchlight by Runic Games, Prune animation key times tool, updated Sketchup SKP and OGRE XML plugins, etc. More at Unwrap3D.com.

Hype is a new software by San Francisco-based Tumult designed to create animated HTML5 content. It's currently only available for the Mac. More at Tumult.

(Updated) New Alex Roman making of interview! Read the news item.
Chaos Group interviews talented Spanish artist Jorge Seva (a.k.a. Alex Roman) on the production of his well known works, The Third and The Seventh and Silestone. He shares some interesting facts on the origins of the TT&TS, among other information. Read it at Chaos Group. (Disclaimer: expect direct questions aimed at highlighting V-Ray's capabilities)

Students from Canada's Queens University have developed a 360 degree display using two Kinects, a projector and a dome mirror. Watch a video on YouTube.

The 5big Storage Server offers up to 10TB of expandable capacity and can be used for network-attached data storage or as a file server to deliver work files quickly. It can also be set up as a backup target for data replication, and supports up to 100 users. More at LaCie.

RevUp Render announced today RevUpVCS 3.0, a service that allows you to have your own high end workstation and use it from any location around the world. RevUpVCS is not meant for rendering but rather for your 3D modeling and design work. Current RevUpVCS 3.0 system specs are: 2 Xeon Westmere 3.0GHz series processors, 32GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 8 NVIDIA Quadro 4000 graphics cards, Cloud Storage Backup (optional), and Windows 7 64bit. 3DS Max has already been tested on the system. More at RevUp Render.

The Mill presents its latest TV and film showreel. Watch it on Vimeo.

Autodesk has created an open-source repository for 3DS Max SDK and MAXScript developers, with the goal of helping users develop scripts and plugins. More at Autodesk's 3DS Max SDK blog.