Gamasutra (login required) and the CGChannel (login required) have posted reports on this year's GDC. Check out also Digit Magazine for some information on Sony's next generation PlayStation (1000x CPU power, Linux-based).

"Website 3DBUZZ has started shipping its free video training CD's based on 3d MAX (Maya, also available and Softimage to follow)...remarkable quality and its...absolutely free!!!" (more...)

NewTek has reduced the suggested list price of Lightwave 7 to $1595, a $900 price reduction. NewTek is also offering a promotion for current Lightwave users to purchase Video Toaster 2, their real-time, uncompressed, non-linear editing system for only $1995. "We're trying to bring some sanity to the way high end 3D tools are priced," said NewTek founder Tim Jenison. "The days of 3D software that costs thousands of dollars are over, and they aren't coming back (...) nobody today can say with a straight face that a higher price is somehow a magic shortcut to professional quality." Read the whole PR.

Digital Producer reviews Trapcode's Shine, 3D Stroke and Sound Keys AE-compatible (yep, they work with Combustion too) plugins: "Shine, 3D Stroke and Sound Keys are great plug-ins that produce very unique effects..."
Creative 3D reviews Rhinoceros 3D v2.0: "If Rhino is your first venture into NURBS modeling then you are in for a treat..."

A new version of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece will feature 30 more minutes of film. Read the article at Entertaiment Weekly. National Geographic has also put up a great webpage with some brief information on Tokien's sources and influences (the Kalevala, the epic Eddas, etc. where names such as Gandalf appear :-) while writing his books, and what makes The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's works so unique. Check out also these pictures from the upcoming 'The Two Towers' movie.

Intrinsic Graphics, developers of the Intrinsic Alchemy game development platform, have released the Alchemy ArtistPack for 3ds max. This new release makes the artist tools available, separately from its full commercial toolkit, to evaluate and use at no charge. Alchemy ArtistPack for 3ds max software provides a flexible scene viewer that can be embedded directly within 3ds max viewports. It allows artists to immediately grasp, at modeling time, how content assets will perform on the hardware platform they are creating for. Exporting in the free version is limited to the PC.

"Artist Marco Spitoni used 3ds max extensively to create an award-winning short film in which he creates a visually stunning world covered by rain forests and giant lakes, where thousands of species live together in a wonderful and wild environment.
Check out the astonishing CG visuals and thrilling action sequences."