German digital botany software company Laubwerk announced their fourth collection of render-ready, realistic 3D trees designed specifically for CG artists and architects. It is available immediately for 3ds Max and CINEMA 4D. The new Plants Kit 4 is an impressive collection of 10 Mediterranean and other subtropical tree species found across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. The Kit includes the iconic Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), trees with magnificent floral display such as the Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica) and the world's most popular palm, the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) and other trees honored by the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [source]

Red Giant Software's color finishing plug-in Magic Bullet Looks for After Effects, Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, and Avid systems, has been released in v2.5. It features new tools and interface improvements, and is a free upgrade for Magic Bullet Looks 2.0 users. The new version features a Strength Slider controling the overall strength of the entire Look with an easy-to-use, keyframable slider; a speed increase of over 20%; improved looks previewing; new LUT Tool allowing to import .cube LUTs as well as 12 new LUT presets; new S-Curve Tool making it easy to add contrast without losing detail; and better custom looks management. [source]

Boris FX is having a spring special, offering Boris Continuum Complete 9 AVX at $1795.50 US (regularly $1995 US) and Boris Continuum Complete 9 AE for $895.50 US (regularly $995). Both versions are now shipping. BCC 9 FxPlug and BCC 9 OFX editions can be pre-ordered for $625.50 US (regularly $695 US). Upgrade prices are discounted as well, use the nab2014 code during checkout to apply. Offer ends 4/30/2014. [source]

3d-io GmbH released Flatiron 2.0, new version of its scene texture baking solution for Autodesk 3ds Max. The latest release of Flatiron 2.0 adds overall improvement in speed and adds new functions for advanced workflows, incl. multiple render elements texture baking in a single pass; animated texture baking support; customizable presets; adjustable background color for baked textures; support for 3ds Max 2015; and more. Flatiron 2.0 costs 299 EUR, updates are free. [source]

Livestream released a developer app for Google Glass that allows users to broadcast live from their Glass camera to Livestream's Platform with a single tap. Additionally, Livestream's Glass app enables users to view real-time chat messages from audiences online and respond via voice. With mobile live streaming apps now available for Glass, Android, iPhone and iPad, Livestream is furthering its mission to allow anyone to broadcast live to millions of viewers on any device. Now, Glass Explorers can use Livestream's mobile broadcasting technology for citizen journalism, news coverage, sporting events, concerts and more. [source]

Waves Audio announced the availability of Vitamin Sonic Enhancer, a multiband harmonic enhancer and tone-shaping plug-in that can make any track sound powerful by mixing an enriched version with the original signal. With its zero-latency processing, Vitamin caters to studio and live mix engineers alike. Used as an insert on any track or bus, Vitamin instantly delivers a warm, vital result that is comparable to what users would get from a parallel chain of EQ, compression and saturation processors. Vitamin is available separately as well as in the following bundles: Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Horizon, Mercury, Prelude, Essentials, Pro Show, and SD7 Pro Show. Owners of these bundles with current Waves Update Plan coverage can update the bundles and receive Vitamin at no additional cost. Vitamin Sonic Enhancer is currently available for $200 US (Native) or $300 US (SoundGrid) and a special introductory price of $99 US (Native) or $149 US (SoundGrid). [source]

Native Instruments released RISE & HIT - the first instrument dedicated to creating thrilling tension and suspense with build-ups and climactic hits. RISE & HIT uses an extensive range of over 8 GB of exclusively recorded and studio-produced sounds. An easy-to-use interface offers detailed editing with integrated effects and mastering tools for endless sound design capabilities. RISE & HIT runs in KONTAKT 5 or the free KONTAKT 5 PLAYER. Over 4000 samples are used in 700 single-layer and 250 multi-layer pre-designed sounds for creating hair-raising build-ups consisting of a swelling "riser" and a shorter, climactic "hit|". Each sound comes in four separate lengths to drastically alter the rise length, plus a transient "whoosh" hit option easily match any score without losing sound quality along the way. Up to four sounds can be layered at a time to create highly complex textures. Available now $149 US / 149 EUR / 129 GBP / 17,800 YEN. [source]

Thinkbox Software launched Krakatoa C4D, the first version of its high-volume particle renderer for MAXON CINEMA 4D, which is compatible with R14 and R15 running on Mac OS X and Windows operating systems. Also available for Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max, Krakatoa provides a powerful pipeline for quickly acquiring, caching, transforming, modifying, shading and rendering billions of particles. The C4D version offers full integration with the native particle systems of CINEMA 4D as well as with third party products like X-Particles by Insydium Ltd. and TurbulenceFD by Jawset Visual Computing. Krakatoa C4D originated as an external effort by Ugly Kids artist Daniel Hennies, who collaborated with a developer to program a bridge to the stand-alone version of Krakatoa (SR) via the C++ API. Upon acquiring the code, Thinkbox refined the Krakatoa C4D feature set for off-the-shelf functionality. [source]

The preview version of the new Unity for PSM build option can be download as part of a dedicated version of the Unity engine with the PSM build option. Due to restrictions on this platform, the PSM build is only available in the Windows version of Unity. The PSM build option will be available for both the Pro and Free versions of Unity and will require developers registering with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. More here. [source]

Universal Audio Direct Developer partner Brainworx has released three plug-ins for the UAD platform and Apollo audio interfaces - available for purchase for $199 US each, the Chandler Limited GAV19T Amplifier, bx_refinement, and bx_saturator V2 plug-ins are part of the new UAD Software v7.6 release. Available exclusively for UAD-2 and Apollo-equipped workstations, the Chandler Limited GAV19T Amplifier plug-in is an exacting emulation of the dual EL84-powered boutique guitar amp. Inspired by British classics such as Vox and Marshall - and lesser-known gems from Watkins and Selmer - the plug-in offers features not found on the original hardware, such as an FX Rack with an onboard noise gate, host-syncable lo-fi delay, Power Soak, and pre/post switchable EQ filter controls. The bx_saturator V2 plug-in is a powerful multi-band M/S processor that allows users to add saturation, drive, and distortion; while the bx_refinement plug-in allows mixing and mastering engineers to remove the harsh, hard edges of their tracks without dramatically altering the character and tone of their source material. Download the new UAD Software v7.6 here. [source]