August 21 - 4:35pm EDT   In SIGGRAPH news, DAZ 3D has announced its ARENA Real-Time Mocap plug-in for DAZ Studio, bringing motion capture to the 3D animation tool. Also at SIGGRAPH, Andersson Technologies' camera tracking software SynthEyes 2008 has been upgraded for 8-core compatibility. [full story]

August 14 - 1:20pm EDT   Electric Rain has released a Universal Binary of Swift 3D 5.0 and also added performance gains to the 3D-rendering application. Swift 3D imports and renders Flash content and exports Flash 3D content via Papervision3D export. Version 5.0 adds low-level changes that triple rendering speeds for vector and raster renders on Intel chips. The update also speeds rendering and increases compatibility for Power PC chips. Swift 3D 5.0 adds new rendering textures, views and animations, while upgrading the user interface. It requires Mac OS X 10.2 an above, with minimum requirements of a 400MHz processor and 128MB RAM. Swift 3D 5.0 is available now for $250 with a 15-percent discount ... [full story]

August 12 - 4:50pm EDT   Maxon on Tuesday unveiled Cinema 4D Release 11, a major update to its 3D animation suite, introducing an enhanced lighting engine, animation tools, and improved render speeds, among other features. In addition to the aforementioned inclusions, Cinema 4D now offers enhanced compatibility with other industry software, such as the COLLADA file format, and the CineMan Renderman accompaniment. The updated sweet also comes with BodyPaint 3D Release 4, which now includes WACOM tablet support. [full story]

August 12 - 2:50pm EDT   e-on software today is previewed Vue 7 at Siggraph in Los Angeles. Vue is a 3D-environment solution, which creates, animates, renders and integrates natural 3D visuals, working with Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Maxon Cinema 4D and Newtek LightWave. Vue 7 will feature a third-generation of Vue's EcoSystem technology (for creating nature-based visuals) and Spectral 2 atmospheric engine. Also new is Vue 7's SolidGrowth 4 HD, a new indoor Radiosity engine. [full story]

August 1 - 5:35pm EDT   Informatix Software says its Piranesi "3D Painting Technology" tool now works with Luxology's Modo 302. Piranesi gives a hand-rendered look to 3D sculptures, models and images created in Modo 302. Informatix has developed a free EPix plug-in using the Modo SDK, so files can be exported to Piranesi. Luxology says Piranesi is a "good match" with Modo, and welcomed the move. Both applications run on Macs or Windows PCs. [full story]

July 29 - 4:00pm EDT   LightWork Design has announced LightWorks 7.9 will debut at next month's SIGGRAPH computer graphics exhibition. The company is also promising a new progressive rendering technology and an update to its LightWorks Studio Edition. LightWorks is a 3D graphics rendering toolset. Version 7.9 adds Ambient Occlusion, which adds ambient lighting features for 3D images. New to v7.9 are Complex Reflective Shaders for generating realistic material effects, including reflectance shaders like Glossy Reflections, Frosted Glass, Enhanced Car Paint and others. There are extended CgFX material effects added to v7.9, as well as refinements to Specular Final Gather that provide faster ... [full story]

July 17 - 1:00am EDT   DAZ 3D on Wednesday unveiled the Human Data Acquisition Center, featuring extra textures, bodies, and poses for users of the Victoria 4 Elite model. The HDAC permits users to obtain high-resolution textures that are taken with a proprietary lighting/camera system to ensure that inappropriate shadows are eliminated. Users also have access to a complete set of scan data for body and joint shapes, as well as a collection of scanned poses. Victoria 4 Elite is available for a special price of $75. [full story]

July 12 - 3:10pm EDT   Dauger Research has introduced Atom in a Box for the iPhone, a 3D real-time volumetric raytracing iPhone application that visually presents quantum orbitals of a hydrogen atom. Using the iPhone's multitouch interface and accelerometer, the user can reorient and interact visually with the atomic orbital. The software is even able to show the "flow" of the electron around the orbital by presenting the time-evolving phase of the wavefunction as color. Atom in a box is available for $10 at the iPhone Apps Store, for both the iPhone and iPod touch. It requires the iPhone 2.0 software update and is also available as a Mac OS X application. [full story]

July 2 - 12:10pm EDT   Bunkspeed has released HyperShot 1.5, an upgrade to its 3D-rendering visualization software. The new version provides performance enhancements that allow interaction between HyperShot and all major 3D solid and surface modeling products. It also adds more realistic photographs rendered faster from 3D models. The software requires an Intel Mac and is available now for $200 (web version - 800x450 realtime resolution), $1000 (HD version - 1920x1080 realtime resolution) and $3500 (Pro version - unlimited realtime resolution). [full story]

June 30 - 7:15pm EDT   Ashlar-Vellum is preparing updates to its line of CAD software tools and 3D-tool Grasshopper is progressing towards the Mac platform. Ashlar-Vellum has announced Graphite v8 SP1 Beta, which has new features, and it is about to release Cobalt, Xenon and Argon v8 for PowerPC-based Macs according to Architosh. Also, Grasshopper is coming to Mac OS X, although it may have problems with Microsoft .Net incompatibilities. [full story]

June 23 - 3:50pm EDT   A updated rendering application and a new 3D plug-in for Google Sketchup have been announced, according to Architosh, a site for Mac-based architects and CAD/3D professionals. IMSI/Design has unveiled IDX Renditioner, a plug-in for photo-realistic rendering in SketchUp. Architosh is also reporting the release of Maxwell Render 1.7, bringing new features and improved realism to that company’s rendering software. [full story]

June 23 - 1:55pm EDT   Kinemac has announced Kinemac 1.6.6 , a bug-fix release of its 3D real-time animation software for Mac OS X. The company says anyone can create professional-level 3-D animations using its software. Kinemac plays animations in real-time in full screen mode, and can export to QuickTime or to a series of still images. The software is designed with TV advertising, movie trailers, video clips and scrolling messages in mind, and retails for $300. It requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher and a graphic card with 128MB VRAM or better. [full story]

June 18 - 4:00pm EDT   LightWork Design has taken the wraps of what it says is a "game-changing" rendering solution for developers of 3D design software. The company claims LightWorks SE has the “easiest to use toolkit ever,” and includes pre-configured content settings to simplify complex rendering projects. LightWork says it uses an industry-based approach so the product can be tailored to individual customers. [full story]

June 15 - 8:15pm EDT   Braid Art Labs has updated its Groboto 3D imaging software to tease users with a “sneak preview” of the upcoming version 3.0. The company says it will roll out “limited implementations” of several version 3 features in the coming weeks to preview the new release. The software offers intelligent, algorithmic drawing tools called ‘Bots’ that create unique geometric forms ranging from organic, to abstract, to architectural. Bot behaviors, drawing shapes, and textures are adjustable in real-time and users can create and save unlimited Bot variations. The first teaser includes a revamped style editor that adds graphical and paint effects to final rendering, including outline ... [full story]

June 12 - 4:00pm EDT   Side Effects Software has released a public beta of Houdini 9.5, its node-based 3D animation software that allows artists to collaborate from different platforms. Houdini has been used in the production of a number of major Hollywood films, including The Chronicles of Narnia, and all three Spider-Man movies, but until now was only available for Windows and Linux. The Mac version requires a 64-bit Intel Mac running Leopard, and is set for final release on July 15. [full story]