PFX has released new reels showcasing their recent motion graphics, automotive, and colour grading work along with many new projects on their Vimeo channel.

Thi Lima has released an animation called Under, an unusual architectural visualisation named after the flooded environments seen in the second half of the film. Watch it on YouTube.

Matte Paint is a new resource site with a growing collection of over 100,000 extremely high resolution photos suitable for matte painting artists. Images are available in multiple resolutions at 5 exposures, categorised under general headings like aerial, skies, locations landscapes, castles, forests, water and much more. Within each section are many sub-categories plus filters for resolution and viewing angle to make finding images even easier. The repository uses a credit-based system to purchase images, or low resolution versions are available for free accounts. Find out more on Matte Paint's website.    

Mikros Image has posted a breakdown of an animated CG ice cream factory created to promote Magnum for their client Unilever. Watch it on Vimeo.

Julius Ihle, TD at ILM, has released a free OSL shader that simulates the interior of a room with proper parallax. This enables artists to create the illusion of depth using a single flat plane, it's ideal for adding depth to large city renders without needing to model the insides of buildings. The shader requires a map laid our in a specific way with 5 squares for walls floor and ceiling, and additional spaces to add curtains and midground objects like furniture or people. The download includes the source code in addition to compiled files for Blender, Arnold, and RenderMan but should also work with other renderers that support the OSL standard. Read more about this technique and download the files from Julius' blog.

FXGuide's Mike Seymour has published an in-depth article examining the technology behind Renderman's implementation of the Marschner Hair shader, including interviews with both Professor Steve Marschner from Cornell University and Christophe Hery at Pixar Research group. Read the full article on FXGuide.

Chaos Group has posted an interview by AV3 Software with Screenscene VFX's visual effects supervisor Ed Bruce and senior 3D artist John O’Connell about their work on season four of Black Sails.  During the interview they discuss the challenges of recreating a photo-realistic version of 18th century Philadelphia,  as well as how they created, laid out and lit large period cityscapes. Read the interview in full on Chaos Group's website (expect content aimed at promoting V-Ray).

Kitbash 3D has released a new asset library of Victorian buildings and modular architectural components, created to rapidly populate city scenes. Textures are not included, but all models are UV unwrapped ready for tileable maps. This is the fourth library from Kitbash 3D who released neo tokyo, art deco and gothic collections earlier this year. The kit costs $199, but a 50% discount applies by entering "DAY1" at the checkout during the first day of sale, ending on 11 October 2017, 12AM PST. Find out more on Kitbash3D's website.