After years of hard work, UK-based Infinite-Realities is demoing its Aeon 4D scanning system: a synchronized 6K multi-machine vision camera array (global shutter) recording at 30 FPS. According to the developers the system is getting closer to becoming a commercial reality. The recorded data was reconstructed with Agisoft Photoscan and is being played back in the video in Unity at up to 250 FPS, buffered, VR ready. The technology opens impressive new possibilities for VR and filmmaking. Watch the video on Vimeo and find out more on Infinite-Realities' website.

New features in the latest version of Epic Games' game engine and development tools include: volumetric fog, lightweight rigid body and low level cloth simulation tools, realistic bloom post effect, Distance Field Ambient Occlusion and Ray Traced Distance Field Shadows are now 30-50% faster, VR functionality improvements, etc. More on Unreal Engine's website.

Autodesk and Microsoft are teaming up to offer a new cloud rendering platform based on Azure technology that allows to submit rendering jobs from Autodesk software. Azure Batch takes care of the heavy lifting associated with job scheduling/queueing, managing failures, retry policies and auto-scaling. On-demand jobs can now be submitted using Maya, 3DS Max and Arnold, without any need for managing licenses or infrastructure and paying only for what you use. Furthermore, you can cut down on your data movement by not having to export scenes locally. According to Microsoft, they will will be supporting more rendering applications in the future. Microsoft is also releasing an SDK for integrating with custom pipelines to automate render workflows. Head over to Microsoft Azure's website for more.

New features in the Foundry's 3D painting software include: optimized performance and texture management, plus a Lift Option in the Marquee Select Tool that allows to lift the texture from the current paint target to the paint buffer for further manipulation. More on the Foundry's website.

Faceware Technologies has updated it software for capturing a live actor's facial performance and transferring it to a 3D character in real time. New features include: face tracking is more stable and better at detecting different types of faces, Animation Tuning Workflow allows to customize live streaming animation, ability to trigger calibration via command-line for improved automation, Animation Preview Characters allow to test motions on various facial structures, etc. More on Faceware Technologies' website.

RealtimeUK has posted a VFX breakdown of their work from the Dreadnought trailer. Watch it on Vimeo.

The visually rich, and final trailer for Luc Besson's, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, has been released. Watch it on YouTube.

Imaginary Forces has posted a behind the scenes look at the main titles they created for the Netflix series, Anne With an E. Watch it on Vimeo.