Deep FX World has released a new procedural standalone physics and animation tool called Deep FX Studio. (more...)

Method Studios has posted a brief but interesting VFX Breakdown for Robert Zemeckis' Making of Marwen, outlining the process of bringing the miniature town of Marwen and its modified Barbie dolls to life.  Watch it on Vimeo.

RE:Vision Effects has released  RE:Lens V2, a plugin for lens conversions, projections and stabilization for 360 and 180 VR and fisheye footage. New Features include:  (more...)

Paul Neale has posted an interesting post discussing facial rigging methods. In addition to a an overview and tutorials for several rigging methods, he suggests that people asking the question "what facial rigging method should I use for my production?" should reframe the question as, "what are my production needs".  Read it in full on Paul Neale's website. 

SideFX recently completed a long-running 7 part series of tutorials explaining how to rig a human character in Houdini. Watch them on Vimeo: HDA & Spine | Head, Eyes & Neck | Left Arm |  Left Hand & Left Arm Completion | Left Leg | Left Foot & Completing Left Leg | Finishing Rig & Next Steps. 

Aleso3D has released a new commercial training course titled "Learn to render realistic 3D interior from scratch – from shaders to final post-production". It uses Corona Renderer in 3DS Max and includes scene files. The course costs $39.99, available from the Aleso3D website.

Chilton Webb has released Glycon, a new tool that allows the user to turn their VR rig into a motion capture platform, for games and animations. According to the developer it works by mixing your movements with a full body IK system, and exports FBX files based on that. The tool currently supports HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, with support for Windows Mixed Reality promised soon. A free version is available with FBX export disabled or prices start from $49 for the Indie version. Find out more on Liberty3D.com.

MadView3D is a lightweight object viewer compatible with Windows, Linux, MacOS, Rasberry Pi and Tinker Board. The free application supports many 3D file formats including .3ds, .obj, .fbx, .gltf, and many more. To view a file simply drag it to the MadView3D interface and navigate using familiar mouse controls. Find out more about the latest version and download the application from the Geeks3D Website.