And there are 3D holiday cookies up for grabs. Yum!
(Image credit: Patrick 4D / Maxon)
Christmas has come early! Maxon's treating us to a bunch of updates that it reckons will tick off items on artists' holiday wishlists. There are new capabilities to enhance workflows for artists, animators, VFX professionals and studios in Cinema 4D 2025, ZBrush, Red Giant and Redshift.
There's a new Boolean generator in Cinema 4D. Meanwhile, Redshift gets improvements in Toon rendering, and Zbrush for iPad is getting closer to the full desktop program. And right now there's 25% off Maxon One and Redshiftin the Cyber Week sale.
Let's break down what's new. Cinema 4D 2025.1 introduces a new Boolean generator that allows artists to create complex shapes from animated elements, streamlining the modeling process through intuitive shape addition and subtraction. We're told the new algorithm is faster and more robust, enabling users to work with complex geometry while maintaining high frame rates, even with intricate animated booleans.
Also in Cinema 4D, precise control over particle behavior is now possible with custom properties and the Particle Node Modifier, part of the growing GPU-accelerated Unified Simulation toolset. Quality-of-life improvements include enhanced USD import/export and improvements to XRef performance and reliability.
Meanwhile, Redshift 2025.2 brings more improvements to Toon rendering, even faster renders in ZBrush and Cinema 4D, and support for fully three-dimensional contours. Adobe Substance integrations have been tightened up, and Redshift Random Material Switch makes it easy to vary materials across MoGraph clones and other objects, while improved cross-platform AI-based denoising enables faster and more efficient renders.
Over in ZBrush, cross-platform compatibility continues to see enhancements, with the ability to transfer with just a few clicks from iPad to desktop. GoZ has also simplified the process of sending ZBrush sculpts to the 2025 versions of Maya and 3DSMAX.
ZBrush desktop also now includes faster Redshift rendering, with denoising and separate AOV passes for shadows, reflections and more to more easily composite in Photoshop. The Anchor Brush in ZBrush for Desktop now has a new Bend mode, allowing users to easily pose characters using two anchor points.
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Updates to the new ZBrush for iPad include UV and texture mapping, surface noise, localization, and improved support for Apple Pencil Pro.
Meanwhile, Red Giant 2025.2 includes updates in Maxon Studio and Universe that make it easier for content creators to add on-trend effects, transitions and motion templates. Universe and Red Giant subscribers have six new Pixel Dither effects for pixel art creation, using advanced dithering effects that aim to capture the essence of retro gaming and animation
And the cookies? Yep, 3D artist and 'digital chef' Patrick 4D has baked up some digital goodies for the holiday season: a collection of gingerbread cookies crafted in ZBrush. They're available to customise for users of the trial or full version of ZBrush.
Now's a good time to sign up to Maxon's products if you don't yet have them since its Cyber Week sale is still on for another couple of days. there's a discount of 25% on Maxon One and Redshift.
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
