Blender released their 2026 roadmap, Cinema 4D gets a scene node power-up, and Adobe kills Adobe Animate... then brings it back to life.
This week Adobe killed and then necromanced Animate back to life, Blender shared their 2026 plans include Eevee Next improvements (and much more), and Theory Accelerated released a new GPU liquid solver for Houdini as a free open beta. Also, Runway launched Gen-4.5 Image to Video with improved camera control and character consistency and Friends of Motion tested AI 2D-to-3D tools like Hunyuan and Rodin.
Cinema 4D got Druckli Tools V2 for scene nodes, PureRef 2.1 added shapes and background grids, and Figma launched Vectorize for converting rasters to vectors. Plus Pwnisher's new Dream Sequence 3D challenge, Dash Studio's 2025 motion design survey results, and some awesome work from Imaginary Forces, Studio Nuts and more.
New Course: UX Animation Essentials
We are excited to release UX Animation Essentials, where you'll learn to transform static interfaces into engaging experiences using industry-standard UX motion tools. You'll work through a realistic music app project from kickoff call to developer handoff, learning not just how to animate interfaces, but why certain motion choices solve specific user problems. You'll also get introduced to the strategic toolkit - Figma for rapid prototyping, After Effects for polished assets, ProtoPie for gesture-based interactions, and Rive for runtime animation - while also learning when to reach for each tool, how to speak the language of product teams, and how to spec your work so engineers can build it.
Please Note: UX Animation Essentials is included as a part of our All-Access and Team Training programs.
🎓 SCHOOL OF MOTION COURSES MENTIONED
- School of Motion All-Access
- School of Motion Team Training
- Mogrt Mania
- NEW: UX Animation Essentials
- Courses & workshops coming soon
🗒️ SHOW NOTES
- Blender development roadmap for 2026
- Blender 5.1 Alpha - New Features & Updates
- Cinema 4D Gets New Scene Node Asset Pack
- OFFF Barcelona 2026
- FITC Toronto 2026
- NAB Las Vegas Show
- Camp Mograph
- Making Midwest 2026
- Theory Accelerated - Houdini Liquid Solver
- Adobe Animate maintenance mode FAQs
- 2D Image to 3D (no modeling) - Worth It Yet?
- Runway
- Pure Reference 2.1
- Figma - Vectorize Images Tool
- Pwnisher's 3D Challenge - Dream Sequence
- Dash2025 Motion Design Survey Results
🎨 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
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