USDZ! - LIVE #215

BlenderToday is a weekly live show highlighting the latest news in Blender development, the community, and Q&A. Streaming from the Blender HQ in Amsterdam since 2018, hosted by Pablo Vazquez. Support Blender by joining the Development Fund #b3d #BlenderToday * Music by  @Thaehan  -- BLENDER TODAY #215 BLENDERHEADS! Documentary CYCLES Use faster and exact GGX VNDF sampling algorithm temporarily disable AMD Vega GPU rendering due to compiler bug update Intel Graphics compiler to on Windows fix rendering with Nishita Sky Texture on Intel Arc GPUs Switch microfacet code to non-separable shadowing-masking term WORKBENCH Workbench Next Rewrite of the Workbench engine using C and the new Draw Manager API SCULPT & PAINT 3DTexturing: Improve fix seam bleeding for manifold parts of mesh Sculpt: PBVH node splitting for texture paint Sculpt: Resolve `Shift R` shortcut conflicts Sculpt: Add numpad aliases for number keymap entries in expand modal map UV UV: add “similar object“ and “similar winding“ to uv “select similar“ GREASE PENCIL GPencil: Change range for Length value in Simplify modifier Gpencil: Expose stroke and point time properties to API VSE Sequencer: Improve Image Transform Quality When Exporting ImBuf: Limit transform region to pixels that are affected by the transformation VSE: Handle drivers when duplicating strips VSE: Add Update scene frame range operator COMPOSITOR Metal: Realtime compositor enablement with addition of GPU Compute EEVEE Metal: Optimize shader local memory usage NODES Node Editor: Controlled node link swapping Skip sorting in topology nodes if possible Optimize start point case of Points of Curve node don’t show warning in modifier with multiple geometry inputs Fix T98594: missing uv editor redraw with geometry nodes modifier MODELING Mesh: Add operator to flip quad tessellation Merge By Distance: Optimize algorithm to find duplicate polygons Transform: fix use of “snap_point“ property I/O USD import: Support importing USDZ Enable USD Preview Surface import by default USD import unused materials Fix T103984: USD exports pass usdchecker USD IO CI Tests POTPOURRI PyAPI: Generic UIList for CollectionProperties Python API: add a method for reordering modifiers ADD-ON GPencil Tools: Layer navigator