Last Thursday (30th March) I attended the inaugural V-Ray user group meeting, kindly hosted by our good friends at Foster + Partners.

Chaos Group has made major improvements to adaptive lighting and GPU rendering in V-Ray 3.5 for Maya.

Chaos Group have redesigned V-Ray for SketchUp to create a brand new rendering experience.

Thinkbox Software has released the latest version of their industry-leading compute management tool for render farms, Deadline.

With Phoenix FD 3 for Maya now available, Chaos Group are running an exclusive bundle offer.

UK game developer SEGA has acquired Crytek Black Sea, forming Creative Assembly Sofia.

Leeds-based production facility VTR North have invested in a new Autodesk Flame system, provided by Escape Technology.

Leading software vendor Autodesk has announced changes to its maintenance model.

As the leading event in the British music industry’s calendar, the Brit Awards is home to some of the biggest artists current today.

Join Escape Technology at BVE where we’ll be showcasing the latest Autodesk Flame and HDR displays.

Allegorithmic has released the latest version of their material authoring tool, Substance Designer.

The Grammys are always a haven for high production values and a little decadence. They’re also great for recognising the impact that artists can have on people's lives and pay tribute when that talent passes.

Last night’s BAFTA Awards saw MPC win another accolade for their work on The Jungle Book.

Chaos Group have announced the release of V-Ray 3.5 for 3ds Max.

If you missed out on last year’s Autodesk upgrade offer there’s good news - for a limited time you can get 30% off when you trade in licences for new three year subscriptions.

The fourth episode of Creative Rooms took place last October exploring the theme Moving Pixels. This three-day event included discussions on the art of motion graphics, how to set up a creative studio, the practical applications of VR and more. If you missed this event, then you’re in luck as we’ve published some of the video highlights below.

BVE is back at the ExCeL London from 28 February to 2nd March. The UK’s leading entertainment and media tech event, it is dedicated to the broadcast, production and post-production sectors. We’ll be there with our friends PNY to demonstrate the hardware that supports a High Dynamic Range (HDR) workflow and the introduction of the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) system.

The season for technology trade shows has well and truly begun and we’re looking forward to a busy but innovative year ahead. From the 7-10 February we’ll be in Amsterdam for Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world’s largest AV systems integration show.

The VFX Festival organised by Escape Studios is back for it’s fifth consecutive year and you’ll be glad to know the schedule is packed to the brim with the creme de la creme of VFX talent. If you’re attending this year’s event, you’ll find us in the technology hub with HP, SideFX and The Mill demonstrating some of the tools that fuel innovation across the VFX industry. And our CTO Lee Danskin will be joining the Innovation in Technology panel discussion on the morning of 9 February.

There’s a new post production facility in town and we caught up with Colourist Susumu Asano to learn more about their unique offering and how they’re settling into their new digs in Covent Garden.

Bjork has always been one for pushing artistic boundaries, embracing new technologies as they come to the fore.