(Updated) New tools keep being added. Check out the latest video: Insert premodeled pieces into mesh. (more...)

Sydney-based Mirari & Co. studio has created a video for HBO Asia with nice use of CG sand to reproduce iconic images from HBO's TV series. Watch it on Vimeo.

Framestore has released a breakdown of their VFX work for  King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.  Watch it on YouTube.

Amazon has announced the release of Lumeryard's source code on GitHub. This is not the first time the source code has been made available, it is included as part of the standard installer, but after several requests from users it is now possible to get the Lumberyard source code directly from a GitHub repository and use it to manage code, maintain source control and collaborate with a team. Find the repository on GitHub and read more on Amazon's AWS site.

London-based design & motion studio ManvsMachine has released a commercial for Ilohas that depicts the process of water purifying as it travels though the depths of a mountain. Watch it on Vimeo.

CG artist Bruno Ducloy pays homage to Pixar in this remake of John Lasseter's Luxo Jr. short film, which premiered originally in 1986 and was produced to promote the Pixar Image Computer, back when the company was focusing on selling hardware. Bruno recreated the short using Blender, and he aimed to retain the aesthetic of the original film while modernizing the rendering slightly thanks to the technology introduced in the 30 years that went by. Watch the video on YouTube and find out more on 3DVF's forum. (French)

The Story of Inc - a SciFi narrative artbook that revolves around a man and his robot trying to survive on a barren desert planet - has relaunched on Kickstarter. The original release unfortunately was cut short by a claim that the main robot infringed an IP. Rather than fight a lawsuit, the books creators Neil Blevins, Bill Zahn and Stephan Bugaj have redesigned the droid and restarted the campaign. Nine additional artists from companies like Blur Studio, ILM, Pixar, Tippett, 343, Industries, Id Software, Blizzard, and many others collaborated to create a 168 page book with over 200 paintings, sketches, and 3D renders, plus a section of tutorials. For more information, you can visit the Kickstarter campaign.

Procedural technical artist Anastasia Opara has released a summary of her research while an intern at Electronic Arts into creating realistic procedural trees with Houdini. The aim was to create a flexible setup capable of outputting LODs and textures; the final setup takes into consideration many environmental factors to shape the tree including access to light, competition and natural resources. Watch it on Vimeo (this research also formed a part of Anastasia's recent SIGGRAPH talk available on Vimeo)