Pixologic discloses more new features that will be available in the upcoming release of ZBrush.

Smith Micro Software have released the latest version of their 2D animation application. New features include: integrated lip-syncing, motion tracking, timing and synchronization of audio and video tracks, etc. More at SmithMicro.com.

CGArena has an interesting interview with Alessandro Baldasseroni on his experience of working at Blur Studio and his views on Italian cuisine.

Pilgway studio have announced the release of the latest version of 3D-Coat, their sculpting, texturing and detailing software developed specifically for game asset creation and 3D art needs. Features include volumetric sculpting without any topological constraints and direct painting over low-poly models. A trial version is available for download. Check out the image gallery and features list page for more.

A funny and creative short film by Liron Topaz, who recently graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design. Check it out! (Note: not created with Max)

We had the pleasure of interviewing Clément Crocq, Margaux Durand-Rival and Nicolas Novali, the team behind Machu Picchu Post, on the production of their short film, their personal experiences at Supinfocom, and their views on why some of the best CG animated shorts produced in recent years are coming from France. If you liked the short film you're definitely going to enjoy this article.

Many enhancements, bugfixes and overall changes in the latest version of Splutterfish's renderer including: re-worked and much improved displacement modifier code, better render-time performance and smaller footprint, considerable speedups in scenes where shadow computation is expensive, Ray Count framebuffer channel for diagnosing which areas of the image could possibly use optimizing, increased CPU/core limit to 32, Max 2010 compatibility, etc. More at Splutterfish.com.

Learn how to model a high-res version of a complex modular fountain from scratch with Max 2010. The sculpting portions of the video are done twice, once in Mudbox 2009 and again in Zbrush 3.1. Over 8 hours of video. Find out more at Eat3D.com.