Handy Maya add-on RefTool speeds up portrait modeling
Neat script collects the key controls for modeling to reference images into an intuitive UI, preserving your creative flow. Version 2.1 is free.
Tuesday, March 24th, 2026
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NanoGS puts 'Nanite-style' Gaussian splatting in UE5
VFX artist Tim Chen's free add-on renders large 3DGS scans more efficiently inside Unreal Engine, for VFX, games and arch viz work.
Thursday, March 19th, 2026
Canva releases first major update to its free Affinity software
Check out the new features in Affinity 3.1, including Live Tone Blend Groups and a new Tone Brush for compositing and retouching images.
Wednesday, March 18th, 2026
Blender 5.1 is here: discover its 5 key features
Read our pick of the latest features in the open-source 3D software, from the Raycast node to rendering and animation improvements.
Tuesday, March 17th, 2026
GIMP team releases GIMP 3.2 with new vector and link layers
Open-source image editor gets Smart Object-like link layers, plus a new Vibrance filter, and better interoperability with Photoshop.
Monday, March 16th, 2026
Get NVIDIA's new path tracing fork of the Godot game engine
Experimental version of the game engine capable of 'really good' looking ray tracing is now available on GitHub under a MIT license.
Friday, March 13th, 2026
Neat free Blender add-on LimbKit generates 3D hands and feet
Fast, fun Geometry Nodes-based tool lets you block out hands, feet, paws and claws quickly for illustration or animation work.
Friday, March 6th, 2026
tyFlow 2.0 now simulates smoke and fire as well as particles
Popular 3ds Max particle and multiphysics add-on for VFX and motion graphics gets neat new GPU-based Zenith fluid engine.
Thursday, March 5th, 2026
Get AlgoMesh's free Cinema 4D plugin for Differential Line Growth
Neat free add-on turns splines into complex organic forms suitable for motion graphics and VFX. Works with text splines too.
Monday, March 2nd, 2026
Download the free edition of RenderMan 27.2
Free edition of the renderer is licensed for personal use and tools development. Compatible with Blender, Houdini, Katana and Maya.
Saturday, February 28th, 2026
Canva acquires next-gen motion graphics tool Cavalry
Motion design app is the 'missing piece' of Canva's Affinity design software, now available free. Read our FAQs on what it means for users.
Wednesday, February 25th, 2026
Pikimov 5 is a free alternative to After Effects and CapCut
Promising browser-based app gets a new Classic editor for video editing, as well as editors for 2D and 3D motion design.
Tuesday, February 24th, 2026
Quixel Mixer is discontinued: get the final version for free
Quixel Mixer 2023.1 makes it possible to run the material-authoring software offline indefinitely, unlike previous versions.
Friday, February 20th, 2026