Hurray, the long-awaited update for The Cycles Encyclopedia is finally out. As promised it is free for every user who has already purchased the book. All updates refer to the official Blender 2.79b release. Here is what we added:

Blender 2.8 is in it's final stages of development. A lot has happend over the past year. Those used to the interface of Blender 2.7x might not even recognize their favorite 3D application anymore. Follow us on a journey through the development of the Blender 2.8 user interface.

Point Density Magical FX, our training- and template-package for point density textures in Cycles received a free update. Version 1.1 includes an all-new effect that allows you to set your logo on fire in a really stylish way. But there is more to it...

I recently started working on a new showreel. After creating a few new scenes, I started rummaging through my Blendfile folder to see if there was some unfinished stuff that I could use.

BlenderDiplom wishes all its readers a Merry Christmas 2016! Have a great time and keep on blending. 

The integration of Mantaflow into Blender got a big boost with this year's Google Summer of Code (GSoC). While it is still far from finished, interested users can test it out in the fluid-mantaflow branch.