Simon Reeves and Aidan Gibbons have posted a trailer for their upcoming short titled "Diversion". Some really nice compositing work combined with a funny, Pythonesque theme. Check it out! (Note: not created with Max)

(Updated May 2, 2006) Errata/Addenda - The availability and release of Exposé 4 has been announced by the publishers but the books seem to be currently available for preorder only. Estimated shipping dates have been added to the Exposé 4 web pages.
Ballistic Publishing announced the availability of the fourth edition of their EXPOSÉ digital art book series. Find out more at BallisticPublishing.com.

The latest version of the raster-to-vector conversion program features WMF file export, the ability to specify a Unit Size along the path of any 2 points, and several stability enhancements. Visit MagicTracer.com for more.

After going through some clouds, rain and rather turbulent development weather, Next Limit have finally released Maxwell Render 1.0.

What most digital still cameras call low resolution is what most camcorder vendors call high definition these days. But let's face it, both SD and HD are low resolutions. Red Digital Cinema has shown at NAB a prototype of a camera that seems to get closer to being worthy of the HD label. According to the company, the Red One camcorder can record up to 60fps in a resolution of 4520x2540 pixels. Check out the specs and an article by Charlie White for more.

Autodesk have released Service Pack 3 for 3ds Max 8. It includes a number of fixes for 3ds max 8 across several functional areas, including Biped, Cloth, Editable Poly, Load/Save Animation and Primitives. This service pack is only for the English-language version of max 8.

"Changes" is the latest short film from Daniel M. Lara, and he needs your help. He has 2 different soundtracks, and can't decide which one is the best. Head over to Pepeland and vote for your favourite.   [ more... ]

French artist Raphael Lacoste explains the creation process of one his latest images, CGSociety has the article. For more on Raphael's work, check out his portfolio at 3DArtists and CGSociety and read an interview at Raph.com.

Autodesk has decided to extend the Maya Masters program to include Max artists. If you know of an artist whose work and contribution to 3D computer graphics deserves recognition, send in your nomination by April 28, 2006. Please visit Autodesk.com/masters for more details.

NPower Software announced Power Translators Pro, a 3DS Max plugin for importing large CAD models and assemblies. New features in Power Translators Pro include: network translation on render farm or satellite nodes, multi-processor mesh generation, surface repair and reconstruction, face flipping / visibility tools, translation of Parasolid and SolidWorks files, and optional native translation of UG, Catia files.

Depth Of Field Generator PRO now has its own homepage with galleries, info, FAQs, feature lists, downloads, registrations, forum and more. Visit the site at DOFPro.com and check out the Batch Gallery for some interesting videos.

The Computer Animation Festival jury selected 97 films and two award winners from 726 entries. Visit SIGGRAPH.org for more.

Boot Camp allows users to install Windows XP on Intel-based Macs. Find out more at Macworld.com and Digit Magazine.

Ruairí Robinson ("Fifty Percent Grey") has posted new information on his upcoming short film, titled "The Leveller". He has also updated his "newly disinfected" website with images and animations from past work as well as some details on how he ended up working in advertising (read the Info section). Definitely worth checking out!

"The little cow from Malibu had one football shoe." The statement may sound a bit awkward at first, but after watching 3 mins 21 seconds of this video you'll be convinced, too. According to the team at Soul Pix studio, producing the latest video clip for 'Die kleine Kuh von Malibu' temporarily changed the production house into Animal Farm. "The four-week production of this 3D-animated music video dealing with a funny animal football team was quite a lot of fun and a real challenge, for we all know even coping with 2 legs can drive some kickers insane, ­ let alone having 4." Modeled and animated with Max, rendered with VRay.

A PDF lists new features including scripting, UI enhancements, and code optimizations for faster simulations.

(Updated April 3, 2006) Errata/Addenda - According to sources at NVidia, 3DS Max support for Gelato is expected to be available in early May. Amaretto will be packaged with Gelato, as the Mango plugin is right now.
NVidia has made available a beta version of their hardware-accelerated Gelato 2.0 renderer. Gelato 2.0 includes the option of adding the Sorbetto relighting technology. 3DS Max support is provided via Frantic Films' Amaretto plugin. (Note: an NVidia Quadro FX graphics card is needed to run Gelato - read the system requirements page for more).

Pepe-School-Land's website has been updated with new information on the animation courses to be taught at Daniel Martínez Lara's school (Spanish). The website also offers free videotutorials and models (this section has been translated to English).

Great news for Israeli CG artists, the recently inaugurated Jerusalem Animation Lab will be working on independent animated features with the idea of distributing them with major studios. The studio plans to complete its first feature-length movie by 2009. More information at RedHerring.com.