Grant Adam has written an excellent utility for quickly getting to the directories you use often, from the place you are doing the navigation (that includes Max, Fusion, XSI and other programs). A demo video is available, find out more at RPManager.com.

PipelineFX, makers of the Qube! render farm management system announced that it has released updates and enhancements to Qube! interfaces to several major 2D/3D applications. Updates are available for Max 2009, Vue, Rhino 3D, AfterEffects CS4 and Mayaman. Read the whole PR at PipelineFX.com.

A tutorial by Alessandro Cangelosi on using Particle Flow for generating drops of water falling from a specified object.

Gnomonology are offering a video tutorial by Mental Ray meister Jeff Patton with an in-depth look at rendering vehicles in 3DS Max 2009.

The fine folks from Seagulls Fly have posted a brief video on the making of Quercus, their recent animation on global warming. Check it out! (Note: direct link to file)

A new book on poly modeling has been published by Focal Press. "Poly-Modeling with 3ds Max: Thinking Outside of the Box" was written by CG artist Todd Daniele and according to the publisher's description is "a collection of tips, tricks and techniques on how to create professional models." More information at Focal Press, Elsevier and Amazon.

New features in Luxology's tool for creating seamless textures and high resolution images from low resolution sources include: up to 10x faster, support for dual core machines, improved memory management to handle larger scenes, runs as a plugin for Photoshop CS3, CS4 or standalone program, etc. Visit Luxology.com for more.

The latest version of Autodesk's sculpting and detailing software has been released. More information, complete help file and a trial version can be found at Autodesk.com.

Turkish artist Arda Kutlu has written a useful script to automate the creation of turning pages.

The V-Ray presentation given at the user group meeting at the Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles last August has been made available online. Vladimir Koylazov presents some of the new developments that will appear in future versions of V-Ray including Interactive Active Shade renderer, measured BRDF materials and new GI engine.

Neil Bennett reviews Magic Bullet Steady for Digital Arts: "... might not be good enough to justify spending over £100 – but it’s a useful addition to the Magic Bullet Suite nonetheless."

Digital Arts has an interesting interview with CalArts alumnus and The Orphanage co-founder Stu Maschwitz.

Many new features and enhancements in this latest release of the open source graphics program. Find out more at GIMP.org.

(Updated October 3, 2008) Unwrella developers have mentioned in a post at their forums that precise seam placement will be included as a feature in a future version of the plugin.
Wiesbaden-based 3d-io have been working on a very useful Max plugin. Unwrella is a new plugin designed to unwrap 3D models with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. Features include fast and simple automated UV generation, optimal UV space usage, creation of less chunks, advanced options which allow for padding & limiting chunks or stretch parameters, load & save settings, and making the creation of seamless textures and normal maps possible. The Unwrella unwrapping plugin for Max 9, 2008, 2009 is now available in a freely downloadable open beta release. Read the complete list of features and check out some sample images at Unwrella.com.

New York-based artist Joe Gunn has released a new commercial video tutorial on photorealistic studio car rendering. To keep costs down and get quick access to training material, the tutorial is available as a digital download. It contains over 2 hours of instructional video not including bonus tutorials.   [ more... ]