Alright, so Maxon just pushed out their big fall release. I've cut through the noise to give you the rundown on what actually matters.
Here's the breakdown, tool by tool:
Cinema 4D: Liquids and UDIMs
The big headline for C4D is the new GPU-accelerated liquid simulation system. It's now integrated into the unified simulation framework, meaning you can have your liquids interact with cloth, rigid bodies, and other sims right out of the box. They've added a "Liquid Fill" emitter to easily fill objects and a "Liquify" modifier to turn standard particles into a fluid. It seems geared more towards motion graphics-style, smaller-scale sims rather than massive ocean shots, but it's a solid addition.
Just as important, especially for anyone in a real pipeline: C4D finally has proper UDIM support. It was one of the last major DCCs without it, so this is a huge quality-of-life update for texturing workflows.
They also added a new local AI search for the asset browser, which could be handy for quickly finding what you need without relying on an internet connection.
ZBrush: Python and a Glimpse of the Future
This is a big one for TDs and anyone doing pipeline work: ZBrush now supports Python scripting on the desktop. For years we've been stuck with ZScript, so having a proper, industry-standard language to automate tasks and integrate ZBrush into pipelines is a massive step up.
The iPad version is also getting more serious, adding the 3D Print Hub and Scale Master plugins from the desktop version. This makes it a much more viable tool for prepping collectibles and other 3D prints on the go.
And for the features we've all been waiting for, they've officially announced that a full UV editor and new manual retopology tools are coming later this year.
Redshift: Better Skies and Smarter Scaling
The Redshift team seems to have focused on environments. They've introduced a new Physical Sun & Sky model along with a procedural clouds object. This means you can generate and animate dynamic clouds directly in your scene, which should save a ton of time compared to sourcing VDBs or relying on matte paintings.
A couple of other key updates:
- Scene Unit Awareness: Redshift is now smarter about handling scene scale changes. This should help prevent materials and lights from breaking when you import assets or switch units mid-project.
- Next-Gen Texture Displacement: A new, more efficient texel-based displacement method is coming soon, promising faster interactive previews.
- Distorter Shader: The Distorter shader, previously only in C4D, is now available in all supported DCCs.
Red Giant: Smarter Templates and a Depth Tool on the Horizon
For the motion graphics and compositing crowd, Maxon Studio (part of Red Giant) now lets you create and share templates, or "Capsules," that can bundle assets like video files and images. You can also save entire effect stacks into a single capsule for easy reuse.
They've also continued to improve DaVinci Resolve support, adding on-screen gizmos for better control and bringing over popular tools like Shine and Starglow.
The most interesting tease is a coming-soon automatic depth estimation tool. This would allow you to generate a Z-depth pass from 2D footage, which could be a game-changer for adding depth-based effects in post without needing a 3D render.