Pixar makes RenderMan free for non-commercial use
Use for tools development is fine too. Ships with Maya and Katana plugins; Houdini and C4D to come.
Tuesday, March 24th, 2015
free
DNA Research ships 3Delight for 3ds Max 2.0
RenderMan-compliant renderer used on Elysium now available for 3ds Max. The first licence is free.
Thursday, March 19th, 2015
E-on software releases LumenRT VIZ for free
New non-commercial edition gives SketchUp users free access to e-on's real-time rendering system.
Thursday, March 12th, 2015
Download 18 free HDRIs from BoCo Studio
Download a set of ultra-hi-res panoramic HDRI exteriors, all licensed for commercial use.
Wednesday, March 11th, 2015
Gnomon to host free event on the making of Big Hero 6
Discover how Disney created the Oscar-winning animated feature at Gnomon's Hollywood HQ on Thursday 19 March.
Monday, March 9th, 2015
BUF to release complete in-house set of VFX tools
Bcreative and Bpipeline product suites cover the studio's full range of tools, from 3D and compositing to asset management.
Monday, March 9th, 2015
Nvidia releases PhysX source code on GitHub
Get the full C++ source of the top game physics system, including the clothing and destruction libraries.
Thursday, March 5th, 2015
Marmoset unveils Marmoset Viewer for Toolbag 2
New WebGL exporter will let artists share 3D models in a web browser, with physically based shading.
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015
Our new Source 2 engine will be free, says Valve
Successor to the engine used on Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 will be 'free to content developers'.
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015
Unity launches new free Unity 5 Personal Edition
Artists earning under $100,000/year now get all the features of Unity 5. Pro users get extra cloud tools.
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015
Corona Renderer 1.0 ships
Long-awaited commercial release of 3ds Max renderer adds interactive rendering, SSS, big speed boosts.
Thursday, February 26th, 2015
Autodesk launches Memento
Free professional desktop software turns scan data or photos into 3D meshes and cleans them for export.
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015
Download Eisko's free hi-res 3D scan of a female head
Get this ultra-detailed scan in FBX format with 4K texture maps, plus a bonus Marmoset scene file.
Monday, February 23rd, 2015