Rusty Hazelden has released a new detailed 5 part series of tutorials titled The Art of RenderMan Volume 1. Watch it on YouTube. 

iToo Software has released an advanced 20-minute tutorial explaining how to layout and render Cityscapes with RailClone, Forest Pack and 3DS Max. Find out more on the iToo Software website.

Blender ArchiPak is an add-on for Blender that adds several tools for Architectural Visualisers including the ability to create walls, doors, windows, slabs, fences, stairs, floors, roofs, trusses, kitchens, mouldings, blinds, beams and more. Archipak 2.0 has added support for Blender 2.8 and costs 49€. Find out more on the product's website. 

SideFX has released a new plugin for Houdini that adds photogrammetry tools using the open source AliceVision Photogrammetric Computer Vision Framework. After installation, 7 new nodes are added to Houdini which allows the user to add and analyse images, recreate then mesh a depth map, and finally, texture the generated mesh.  Find out more and download the plugin for free from . 

Quadspinner has announced that Gaea is now out of its early-access phase and officially released. If you've yet to hear about Gaea, in a nutshell, it's a promising looking new standalone landscape modelling tool that combines procedural heightmap creation techniques with artist directed erosion, akin to sculpting with the natural elements. (more...)

Update: Damien Peinoit has just published another his latest instalment of handy tips for 3D Generalists, this time with a focus on environment art. See them on Artstation.  (more...)

CGWire has announced the release Kitsu, a new open source production tracking solution they describe as "Better than Excel, cheaper than Shotgun". In fact, the software is offered in two flavours, a free self-hosted option available under a GPL 3 license on Github, and a commercial cloud solution.  (more...)