LogInStay updated on the latest tools, updates, and announcements you might have missed during the holiday season.
The holiday season is a time for celebration and taking a well-deserved break – but it’s also when some exciting updates and new releases can slip under the radar. To help you stay in the loop, we’ve put together this digest featuring the latest tools and announcements for game developers and artists from the Christmas holidays and early January. Perfect for catching up and finding new additions to your workflow!
FACEGOOD presents the P2 Real-time Capture System and Avatary Studio Universal Solver Software, designed to streamline animation workflows. The P2 system offers 120 FPS real-time capture, a lightweight design (380 g) for extended use, faster setup times, and high-precision data capture. Complementing this, Avatary Studio integrates AI-powered automation, cross-platform compatibility, and customizable templates to enhance efficiency.
A free trial of Avatary Studio is available from Jan 1 to Mar 31, 2025. Apply here.
At the end of December 2024, DreamWorks Animation released a significant update to MoonRay, its open-source in-house production renderer renowned for creating breathtaking visuals in films such as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Bad Guys, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
The 1.7 update introduces several noteworthy enhancements. These include a new light type, PortalLight, updates to MoonRay’s XPU render mode, and the addition of Cryptomatte support to hdMoonRay. The update also features numerous other improvements aimed at making MoonRay even more powerful and efficient.
Just before the Christmas holidays, Sparseal released Uniform 1.3, the latest version of their iPad-based app for 3D modeling, texturing, and rendering.
Uniform 1.3 introduces a fully customizable user interface, complete with a flexible panel and layout system that allows users to tailor their workspace. The update also features a new deferred viewport renderer with path-traced global illumination. Additionally, an object modules evaluator has been added, enabling the creation of procedural objects with greater ease and precision.
In early January, a completely revamped version of Tik Manager, the VFX and game project management tool, was launched.
Far more than a simple update, this release represents a full transformation of the tool. Rewritten from the ground up, it retains the core strengths of its predecessor while introducing exciting new features and improvements.
Tik Manager now supports a wider range of DCCs, including Maya, Houdini, Blender, Nuke, and more. It also boasts a powerful work-publish system, along with built-in mechanisms for validation, extraction, and ingest – designed to automate and streamline even the most complex workflows.
Learn more about the new Tik Manager and download it here.
The hugely popular digital art software Clip Studio Paint has announced a feature-packed update, set to release in March 2025. Version 4.0 not only includes all the features introduced since the launch of Ver. 3.0 but also adds a wealth of new tools and enhancements designed to elevate the creative experience.
Among the highlights are advanced finishing and processing features, such as a puppet warp tool for effortlessly posing 2D characters, improved filters, and enhanced "convert to lines and tones" functionality. The 3D toolset also receives significant upgrades, including the ability to draw directly on 3D primitives, work with 3D drawing figures, and cast realistic shadows between 3D objects.
Learn more about the new features and updates, and pre-order Clip Studio Paint 4.0 here.
Before we wrap things up, we’d like to give a shoutout to some of the awesome tools and updates that hit the scene in 2024. These tools definitely left their mark and gave artists and game developers plenty to work with over the past year. Let’s take a quick look back at some of the highlights that made 2024 a year to remember.
Check out our article for a detailed overview of the new nodes. You can also explore API improvements, VFX platform requirements, and other updates in Substance 3D Designer 14.0 by reviewing the release notes.
Discover the capabilities of Blender Auto Setup in our detailed article, and download the plug-in here.
These were our highlights of the latest tools and announcements to kick off 2025. Keep an eye on our articles for more insights and coverage throughout the year!
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