The 1998 film Small Soldiers wasn’t just an action-packed family movie—it was a groundbreaking project in visual effects, blending practical puppetry with cutting-edge CGI. The film’s ambitious approach led to the creation of new scanning tools and software at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), allowing digital artists to input highly accurate 3D scans of the…
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of the 2024 Scientific and Technical Awards, recognizing groundbreaking innovations that have significantly advanced filmmaking technology. Among the honorees are Wētā FX’s ML Denoiser, Disney’s ML Denoiser, and Intel’s Open Image Denoise, highlighting the industry’s growing reliance on machine learning for high-quality image…
Blender, the widely-used open-source 3D software, is grappling with financial challenges despite its extensive user base and acclaim in the creative industry. The organization is calling for increased donations to sustain its development and compete with industry heavyweights like Maya and 3ds Max. Key Highlights 📉 Low Contribution Rates: Blender’s funding model relies primarily on…
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards, and the Best Visual Effects category is packed with extraordinary contenders. The nominees for Best Visual Effects are: The 97th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the iconic Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The…
ComfyUI has rolled out support for Nvidia Cosmos, introducing groundbreaking tools for AI video generation. This update includes the Cosmos 7B model, optimized for high efficiency on GPUs with 24GB VRAM and even functional on 12GB GPUs, albeit with slower render times. By lowering hardware demands, the integration promises broader access to advanced AI video…
Adobe has launched Substance 3D Modeler 1.18, introducing a series of bug fixes and workflow improvements for users. The update focuses on enhancing export options and refining functionality when working with 3D primitives. Key Updates in Substance 3D Modeler 1.18 Primitive to Clay Conversion Export Improvements Pricing and Compatibility Substance 3D Modeler remains compatible with…
Adobe Research and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have teamed up to create TransPixar, a cool new AI model that makes Premultiplied visual effects stock footages like smoke, reflections, and magical portals—way easier and better. “Alpha channels are super important in VFX. They let transparent elements like smoke and reflections fit…
In a move set to reshape the stock asset market, Getty Images and Shutterstock, the world’s two largest stock photo companies, have announced their plans to merge in a deal valued at $3.7 billion. If approved by regulators, the merger will result in Getty Images Holdings, with Getty’s shareholders owning approximately 54.7% and Shutterstock’s shareholders…
After months of speculation, NVIDIA has officially launched its RTX 50-series GPUs at CES 2025, setting a new benchmark in performance for desktop and laptop graphics cards. Touted as the fastest GPUs ever developed by the company, the RTX 50-series offers groundbreaking advancements in speed, efficiency, and AI capabilities. Pricing and Availability The lineup starts…
Irrealix, the team behind the popular Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) plugins for After Effects and DaVinci Resolve, has announced another breakthrough: Gaussian Splatting for Nuke. This groundbreaking plugin brings Radiance Field technology into Nuke’s industry-standard compositing environment, VFX professionals to import, manipulate, and render 3D Gaussian Splatting models in real-time with GPU acceleration. So What is Gaussian…
