Dave Johns reviews Corel's image editing software for PCWorld: "... affordable and powerful Photoshop alternative (...) faster, but its interface is still clunky". More on PCWorld.

AAA Studio announced the release of a new version of their interactive, production quality GPU renderer, which adds 3DS Max support among other features. Watch a new features video, read the v4 release notes and find out more on AAA Studio's website.

It's Art Mag has published an interview with Pixomondo VFX Supervisor, Sven Martin, discussing the work they completed for Game of Thrones Season 3. You can read the full interview over at It's Art Mag.

The Foundry have released a preview of  Nuke 8.0, their popular compositing software. The announcement was made at IBC 2013, and you can check out the preview video on The Foundry's website.

The team at Fabric Engine has released three videos demonstrating the latest developments of their real-time renderer in 3DS Max. Fabric Engine's RTR is an interactive viewport renderer that incorporates high-end game engine rendering technology, allowing to use several orders of magnitude more geometry and lights, as well as handling post-effects and HDR lighting. (more...)

Adobe's David Helmly lists the new features that will be released as part of the upcoming October update for Adobe video applications. Highlights include a Mask Tracker tool and a detail-preserving upscale effect for AE. More on David Helmly's blog.

E-on Software has released v1.0 of its plant modeling, animation and rendering system. Features include: multi-platform, massive populations, breeze or wind animation that can be exported using a rigged mesh or baked, ability to grow plants on objects, etc. E-on's license places significant restrictions on distribution of content created with the software (read The Plant Factory's documentation). (more...)

After receiving many requests for tutorials and training, talented CG artist Alex Roman has been hard at work putting together a book in which he shares the art principles and CG techniques behind the production of The Third & The Seventh, called "From Bits To The Lens". In an interview with Filmnosis, Alex discusses various unknown aspects of the short film, providing some great insights into how it was made, and gives a preview of the new book. Also of note, Filmnosis has done an in-depth analysis of The Third & The Seventh, focusing on what sets it apart from architectural visualization reels. All this and more on Filmnosis: Alex Roman interview, The Third & The Seventh film analysis.