Speed Zine _ 2025 FC: 💭 Procreate Dreams 2 Sneak Peek & Blender 4.5 is CRAZY Fast...

Happy Monday!

I want to be transparent here, I think it's clear everyone is tired of seeing those Apple Liquid Glass renders.

We can see right through the hype.

ALL ACCESS IS HERE!

School of Motion All-Access is here. Get every course, unlimited critique on your work, a vibrant 24/7 community, verified Credentials and much more! Even better, get it all for one low price.

LEARN MORE!

THIS WEEKS MOTION MONDAYS VIDEO!

This week Disney, Marvel, and Universal sued Midjourney for billions - potentially reshaping the AI industry. Blender 4.5 beta dropped with Vulkan support delivering 14x speed improvements.

AE Scripts has summer deals on tools like Limber 2 and Bendio. Apple's new Liquid Glass design looks great but faces accessibility criticism. Check out Bell Brothers' hilarious Sesame Street horror VFX mashups, or level up with SilverwingVFX's Octane materials breakdown.

WATCH THIS WEEK'S NEWS!

NEWS OF MOTION

💧 Apple's Liquid Glass Causes Design Drama

Apple unveiled their "Liquid Glass" UI overhaul for iOS 26, and (spoiler alert!) the design community has opinions! Inspired by Vision Pro, the translucent interface refracts light and looks kinda cool—when you can read it, that is. Early feedback points to some legibility issues with notifications and Control Center elements that look like abstract art. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if this is Apple slowly training us for their inevitable AR glasses future where this is how we'll interface with the real world... through rose-colored popups.

🥃 GSG Studio Goes Crystal Clear

Speaking of glass, Greyscalegorilla just dropped their most transparent update yet. Studio now features 40 render-optimized glassware models, 45 liquid materials, and 74 glass presets that finally solve the nested dielectrics nightmare haunting every product renderer's dreams. The collection includes everything from clear soda-lime glass to frosted finishes, with some materials featuring dispersion. Smart Send now works with Blender and Houdini, so you can…fluidly…move these materials between applications.

⚖️ Disney and Universal Tag-Team Midjourney

Midjourney is looking like they'll have to prompt their AI lawyers. The major Hollywood studios are throwing down against the AI image generator company. Disney and NBCUniversal filed a joint lawsuit against Midjourney, calling it a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for training on copyrighted material without permission. Users can simply prompt for Darth Vader or a Minion and get downloadable images featuring protected characters. We'll see how this all plays out — at the very least, this legal battle could force filtering systems that restrict certain prompts.

🎨 Procreate Dreams 2 Previews Big Updates

Procreate just teased version 2 of Dreams, and it's bringing some highly requested features to the table. The update includes a lasso tool (YAS!) for selections and GIF exports—two features that users have been asking for since launch. The redesigned timeline will feature dedicated workspaces for keyframing, performing, and editing, plus an enhanced Flipbook mode that combines Animation Assist features with Dreams' layering capabilities. The update will be free for existing users when it releases later this year, be sure to be on their mailing list to be the first to know when it drops!

⚡ Blender 4.5 Beta Flexes New Vulkan Powers

The Blender 4.5 beta just landed and artists are reporting some of their favorite new features! Thomas Marcos highlighted his favorites, starting with Geometry Nodes finally letting you drag-and-drop external files. Point Cloud Objects are now fully supported with proper editing tools, and Adaptive Subdivision got a 14x speed boost on multi-core systems. Plus, Vulkan support makes OpenGL look like it's running on a potato. Full release hits July 15th.

🎯 Silverwing Breaks Down Every Octane Material

Raphael Rau, aka the Octane whisperer himself, just dropped the definitive guide to Octane's materials. If you've ever stared at Octane's material list feeling like you're ordering at a restaurant where everything sounds fancy but you have no idea what it actually is, this video is for you. Raphael (who is also the best Ninja Turtle, come at me, internet) walks through every material from Diffuse to Portal, answering the age-old question: is Universal material really the one material to rule them all?

🌍 Terrain Builder for C4D Gets Updated

Terrain Builder for Cinema 4D just dropped version 4 and this update brings a sleek new interface, GPX file support straight from Google Maps links, and a KML to GPX converter for when your coordinate systems are having compatibility issues. The real magic is still the MapBox API integration, letting you pull realistic terrain data from anywhere on Earth without leaving C4D. Perfect for epic flyovers or convincing mountains.