Back in February the lovely Tim Flett posted the news that Chaos Group were soon to be releasing an update for V-Ray 2.0 for 3ds Max 2013…well ladies and gentlemen today is that day.
Intel Reveal the “Ivy Bridge” Range of Processors
So Intel has finally made their official reveal of the new 'Ivy Bridge' range of processors after much speculation. Although it’s not really speculation as multiple 'leaks' and certain overeager e-tailors were listing the processors well in advance of this official release. They follow the same naming convention as the past two generations in the series so we still have the i3, i5 and i7, although only the quad-core variants have been announced thus far.
Webinar: Explore the New Features Inside ZBrush 4R3
Following the recent release of ZBrush 4R3, we are running a webinar on May 10th, 2012, that will present some of the more important new features now available in this 3D modelling software. We have invited the development team at Pixologic to show off what makes this new version even greater.
Escapees Day Out with Framestore, Part 2
Moving on from the presentation by Kevin Jenkins we turned our attention to Ben Morris who gave us the low-down on his role as a VFX Supervisor. As we watched the end sequence of War Horse, which is the part where we discover the fate of our hero’s horse, we all became a little misty eyed, but were quickly reassured by Ben that no horses were harmed during the making of this film. Needless to say, we were all very impressed with the great VFX work done by the guys at Framestore and how realistic the horse looked. Surely Mr Spielberg wouldn't have it any other way.
An Upgrade to V-Ray 2.0 for 3ds Max
V-Ray 2.0 for 3ds Max has had a bit of a makeover, as Chaos Group integrate a range of new features that are sure to speed up your workflow considerably.
Win an HP Mobile Workstation with V-Ray for 3ds Max Software
For all of you architects and designers out there, we’ve just launched a competition which could see you win the latest kit on the market! In association with HP and Chaos Group we have a much coveted prize up for grabs for one lucky winner who can answer three questions correctly. The successful winner will take home an HP EliteBook laptop with software V-Ray for 3ds Max – two essential tools to compete in a fast paced, competitive industry.
A Successful UGM for Softimage
On 16th November 2011, Escape Studios and Autodesk joined forces to organise a Softimage user group meeting. The event was held at the Autodesk London office on Broadwick Street, where product manager Jason Brynford ‘Chinny’ Jones presented updates as well as a preview on the Softimage roadmap. An over subscribed event, the UGM attracted an obvious attendance from users within Soho but also users from as far as Sweden, France, Bulgaria, and Germany.
New Release: Maxwell Render 2.6
The guys at NextLimit have just announced the release of Maxwell Render Suite 2.6 which introduces some great new features and improvements.
NVIDIA Maximus New Release
As a creative professional, we hope you’re going to find the information below as exciting as we do. Last week, 14th November 2011, NVIDIA announced the arrival of NVIDIA Maximus, a technology that is set to revolutionise the way we all work. Delivering significantly increased speed and productivity to any pipeline with a single system that allows you to achieve a range of compute-intensive and graphics-intensive tasks simultaneously, you may start to wonder how you ever managed without it.
KATANA 1.0 Release: Andy Lomas Q&A
Yesterday afternoon The Foundry announced the release of KATANA 1.0, the much anticipated look development and lighting tool. In addition to this, The Foundry also shared the news that Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a Lucasfilm Company, have purchased a licence of this latest version with the hope to boost their production pipeline across their ILM and Lucasfilm companies.
Free Tutorial: Generating Faster Renders Using Command Shells
In this month's free tutorial, I have a real treat for you - something which I know many VFX artist wish they could do. It all stems from my experience working in the industry where I have so often witnessed artists resorting automatically to using Maya's Render Tool when they could actually be so much more efficient if they knew some of the alternatives available to them.
New Event: Andy Bechtolsheim Discusses the Solution for a Better Network Platform
Ever find yourself wondering about a better alternative to your current network setup? Could there be a larger, faster and more predictable solution out there for your server / storage requirements? You are not alone in asking this question. This is fast becoming a major concern for many IT teams in the media and entertainment sector. That’s why we will be addressing this very topic at a special event being held in London on September 16th, 2011. Andy Bechtolsheim, a highly respected figure in the Information Technology industry is coming to London to share his expertise on this issue. Andy has been involved in the IT industry throughout his career. He has witnessed first-hand how computing infrastructures have scaled over the decades, and how network speeds have failed to keep up.
Hayes Davidson Put Our V-Ray for Max Course to The Test
Matt Clinch is an Associate Partner at world renowned architectural visualisation practise Hayes Davidson; we asked Matt to give us some feedback on one of our recent online courses, V-Ray for Max, and here is what he had to say.
What Happened at the London RenderMan UGM
We hosted the much-anticipated London Pixar RenderMan User Group Meeting last week, and all I can say is that it was pretty packed.
Mantra for Maya & Other Renderers
I have been looking at Maya to Mantra today, and thought: "Great! Means that sometime soon we'll be able to try out Houdini's Mantra Renderer in Maya".
Free Tutorial: Effects in V-Ray for Max
For those of you who want to learn V-Ray for Max, you’re in for a real treat this month. We’ve released a tutorial from our new V-Ray course which will be launched over the coming weeks. The tutorial has been taken directly from one of the major case studies within the course and this video is designed to demonstrates the power of V-Ray.
V-Ray 2.0 for Maya is Now Shipping
V-Ray 2.0 for Maya is now shipping. And, just so you know, it now comes with interactive rendering on GPU and CPU.
V-Ray Online Training - Shhhh.... Keep It Secret
Shhhh, don't tell anyone but the images in this blog have been 'lifted' from our brand spanking new self directed course: VRay 2 for 3DS Max... We are very happy with it... But keep it quiet as it may help improve your skills ;-)
Rhythm & Hues: Effects Apprentice Program
Calling all escapee's and graduates... An opportunity to be part of this amazing apprentice program in California!
Chaos' Top Man Vlado Koylazov Talks to Escape
Chaos have been super busy working on their new V-Ray 2.0 for Maya, so when the opportunity came up to chat to Chaos’ top man, CTO Vlado Koylazov, we didn't hesitate to get the inside scoop. So, for the lowdown on where the new ideas come from, what's in store for future releases, and his favourite CG project, read on.