CaptiveMotion have released a Max plugin designed for retargeting facial mocap animation to any character (even 2D ones). Embody Animation allows to retarget facial mocap data to a bone rig or directly to a mesh and supports industry standard facial mocap formats, including C3D and TRC. The software provides additional tools for noise reduction, importing, exporting and batch processing. A free trial is available. Read the list of features (PDF) and find out more on CaptiveMotion's site.

Hyperfocal Design is producing a number of HDR timelapse sky domes and is offering a free one-day length HDR timelapse sky dome that runs from sunrise to sunset. There are 586 .EXR frames provided in 1024x512 resolution, so you can preview every frame. Also included is a single high resolution 9500x4750px frame. The first commercial timelapses are expected to go on sale in Q2 2014. You can find more information, view a time-lapse animation and download the free sample at HyperfocalDesign.com. (Note: signing up to an email list is required to download the HDR timelapse)

Mighty Instruments has released a Photoshop version of their plugin for creating high resolution tile-based textures, including brick walls, parquet, and cobblestone pavements, using individual bitmap images. The Photoshop filter is currently in open beta, users interested in taking part can find out more on Mighty Instrument's website.

Thinkbox Software has made available the videos recorded during the Deadline 6.1 live webinar sessions that took place on March 12th and 13th. More on Thinkbox's website.

German artist Timur 'Taron' Baysal is developing a painting software based on fluid dynamics. The free application is in early state of development, but it's already available for download. It runs on Windows and requires a a graphics board no older than 3 years. Watch some sample videos (video 1-video 2-video 3) and download it from Taron's website.

Epic Games has released v4 of their game engine and development tools, along with the complete C++ source code, through a new subscription model. Developers can sign up for UE4 for PC, Mac, IOS and Android by paying $19 per month, plus 5% of gross revenue resulting from any commercial products built using UE4. Watch a new features video, listen to a message from Epic's founder Tim Sweeney and find out more on Epic Games' website.

Autodesk has announced the new features and improvements of the upcoming version of 3DS Max 2015. Some of the features include new placement tools, Populate enhancements for creating crowds, Python scripting, and many more. For the full list, you can head over to the Autodesk 3DS Max features page.

Quixel has announced a new suite that incorporates reimagined versions of NDO and DDO, their texturing and normal map creation tools, and a new PBR previewer. Current owners of the tools will receive the upgrade free. In addition the existing legacy version of DDO has now been released free of charge. Find out more on quixel.se