MetinSeven.com has added an online knowledge base for users of the new renderer Maxwell.

Press Release here. A list of Nominees is here. VFX Nominees; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I, Robot, Spider-Man 2. Congratulations to Blur Studio for the nomination of Gopher Broke in the Best animated short film category.

Animation World Magazine takes a look at five short films including Gopher Broke and In the Rough produced by Blur Studio. Includes Quicktime movie clips.

Richard Rosenman has put up an informative page on Next Limit's upcoming Maxwell renderer. Also of note, many new pictures have been posted at Maxwell Render's forum.

Paul Hellard interviews Tomek Baginski on his latest short film, "Fallen Art". Check it out!

Max 7 Cloth Extension available to subscription members!

Adam Watkins has updated his website with many new images and animations from the crowd simulations he created for films using Max. Check out the impressive "Making Of" videos as well as the Demo Reel.

"Without question, [Halo's first-day sales record] signaled to the world that the video game industry has become a cultural and economic force that rivals, if not surpasses, the film industry." If television has been responsible for some profound changes in our cultures as many researchers have argued, this article is a good hint of how our societies may be transformed in the future. Read the article at CGW.com.

Doug King reviews ParticleIllusion 3.0 for CGW: "... a powerful tool worthy of consideration by anyone developing effects or motion graphics."

Ornatrix v1.1 has been released. The new demo version is a 7-day trial with unlimited features. Things like dynamics, animation, net-rendering, and many bugs have been addressed. Read more at Ephere.com.

Happy birthday to our friends at 3DVF!! Today marks their 5th anniversary, and it's really a pleasure to see how much 3DVF has grown these past years. Félicitations et longue vie à 3DVF!!!

Hypercosm announced the release of the Hypercosm Teleporter for 3D interactive exporting of 3ds max scenes.   [ more... ]

Many new pics available at Raph.com.

Aqsis is an open source, Renderman-compliant renderer. Version 1.0 does not support raytracing or any form of global illumination but plans are underway to include raytracing and global illumination functionality in the next version.

Bionatics has announced a 40% average decrease on EASYnat prices, and according to the press release (PDF format) the company intends to become the "referent provider of 3D vegetation" for the Building & Construction industry.

CG film production in Spain advances at a steady pace. La Coruña-based DYGRA Films has chosen to adapt Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and turn it into a full CG-animated feature. The result is "El Sueño de una Noche de San Juan", a film which, according to Cine por la Red, has already secured contracts for distribution in 40 countries, including Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, China, Egypt, Israel, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, among others. (Note: Spanish version of the trailer also available)

The latest version of Naturalmotion's "virtual motion capture studio" provides a range of new features including new and enhanced adaptive AI behaviors and a fully user-definable character.   [ more... ]

CGUnderground interviews Albacete-born artist Juan Siquier.

MetinSeven.com reviews the new online HDRI-Studio service.   [ more... ]

RPManager.com has released some new commercial 3dsmax plugins - Transmographier; Paste Vertex Buffer; ColorPolyByVerts; and a free plugin ExtendedMultipassMotionBlur. All are free for personal use, some require a small licensing fee. -- http://www.rpmanager.com/otherGear.htm   [ more... ]

Robert Seidel has posted his latest short film online. "_grau" is an experimental film created using Max 5 and After Effects that departs from the kind of aesthetics 3D animation is currently most commonly used for. The film is a "personal reflection on memories coming up during a car accident, where past events emerge, fuse, erode and finally vanish ethereally." (Note: this is an experimental film and does not contain narrative elements in the traditional sense)

"As video games get more and more involved, people are finding it difficult to switch their brains back to reality." Read the article at Wired.com. For other perspectives on the same issue check out the following articles at GameSpot, VirtualCritic and Game Research.

The list of films with digital FX created using Max keeps growing and growing. If you have worked on a film using Max that is not yet listed please contribute by emailing Kieron Helsdon at maxinfilm@groundzerofx.com.

The trailer for Piratas en el Callao, the first CG animated feature from Peru is now available online.

Trail v1.0 by Pavel Kuznetsov is a new plugin that generates trails behind moving objects. Available for R6 and R7.

New free Particle Flow operators from the developer of Particle Flow: Camera Culling, Copy Out Test and Display Script. Visit Orbaz.com.

We review Allan McKay's Advanced Visual Effects DVD: "... [makes] it easy to understand the real power behind Max's 'new' particle system." The review comes in two flavors, an English version and a Spanish version specially written for El Portal del 3D y la Animación.

The latest version of Marsel Khadiyev's treatment for Max's baldness has been released as a commercial plugin. Ornatrix 1.0 features include a completely new toolset, dynamics and rendering engine, UI, core components, MaxScript and SDK access, among others. Check out the screenshots and features pages for more information. Ornatrix 1.0 is being offered at a special introductory price of $149.99; a demo version is available for download.

MultimediaPhoto announced the release of Photomatix Basic, a light version of its dynamic range software Photomatix Pro. Photomatix Basic creates High Dynamic Range images and combines two differently exposed images of a high contrast scene.

Natural:shaders for 3ds max are now available at a SRP of $165.00 + tax (a 42% discount). Visit Rebelthink.com for more.

Radia Labs have updated their product line with new material categories. Moreover, normal bump maps are now included in all texture packs. All Radia Labs products now come also in a free, low-resolution but complete, version, to let their customers get a better idea of the quality of their textures.

CGunderground has posted an interesting interview with Steven Stahlberg.