LED lighting is rising in popularity but this free fxphd lecture explains and compares LED lights in this free in depth BKD class from fxphd.com. The results are surprising.

Pirates, sailors and Assassin’s Creed – behind the scenes of Digic Pictures’ Black Flag trailer with CG turntables and making ofs.

We talk to DOP Claudio Miranda, ASC and the visual effects supes from Digital Domain and Pixomondo about Oblivion.

Behind the scenes of the VFX in Syfy’s new TV series Defiance, with befores and afters imagery and a bonus gallery.

How DreamWorks Animation employed Point-Based Global-Illumination on The Croods, relied on HDRs to inform lighting and developed a new cross-over between effects and animation.

How ILM’s VFX art director literally put his body on the line to help make Jurassic Park, and what the hardest thing in the film was to convert for its 3D release – you’ll be surprised.

Dinosaurs to dragons, Easter bunnies and…avalanches. We look at characters and creatures in recent TVCs.

Find out how the biggest effects shots in G.I. Joe: Retaliation were created by ILM, Digital Domain and Method Studios. Featuring exclusive Digital Domain making of VFX clips.

We break down the visual effects behind Olympus Has Fallen with before and after imagery and making of videos.

How practical and digital effects, previs and complete greenscreen environments help bring the shows The Walking Dead, Mr. Selfridge and Spartacus to your TV screen. UPDATED with Stargate’s Walking Dead breakdown reel.

How do you create a Lava Monster, crush streets and still have fresh breath? Behind the scenes of MPC’s VFX for a new spot pitting The Ice Man ‘superhero’ against a molten lava monster named… James.

The Foundry has launched Mari 2.0, with advanced layering functions. Here’s our rundown of the new features of the 3D paint program.

A look at the rendering and game engine tech behind the VES Award-nominated Codemasters game DiRT: Showdown.

How performance captured giants and massive beanstalks were imagined for Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer.

Behind the scenes of the VFX in History Channel’s ‘The Bible’ by London’s Lola. Plus a video making of breaking down key shots.

Behind the scenes of the web series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn with making of VFX videos from Arc Productions.

Behind the scenes of Vine’s visual effects for Merlin, including the scanning tech and Arnold pipeline used for season 5 of the BBC TV show.

Behind the scenes of Glassworks Amsterdam’s The Art of RAW campaign film for G-Star, including an EXCLUSIVE making of video.

Behind the scenes of the 4 biggest effects sequences in A Good Day to Die Hard with Screen Scene, UPP, Pixomondo, Scanline and Method.

Find out how the impressive 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards opening trailer was made, with references to Portal 2, Assassin’s Creed 3 and other big games of the year.

As part of our irregular For Example series – which look at how key visual effects artists work with their tools – we talk to vfx supervisor and artist Keith Adams about shooting plates and, for example, lining up perspective. Keith is at SPIN VFX Atlanta.

fxguide sits down with Framestore in London to discuss the invisible effects behind Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. Includes breakdown making of images.

How Legend3D converted Tony Scott’s seminal 1986 film Top Gun to 3D, plus a look back at the film’s miniature plane and in-camera effects.