The last time I tested 3D AI tools was back in 2024 (and it was rough.)

Over the past week, I’ve been catching up on how far things have come in 2025, and the honest answer is: we’re still not “there” yet. BUT a handful of tools have made real, practical progress that's probably worth having on your radar.

And, with a new year just a few weeks away, this felt like the right moment to pull everything together into one focused video to cover:

1) which tools actually live up to their demo promises, 2) the ones you can safely ignore for now, and 3) what their real capabilities and drawbacks look like as we enter 2026.

That video is still on the way and will be dropped soon as I test more of these closed betas and put the tools through their paces myself.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few of the most interesting tech demos and tests that I've bookmarked on Twitter and LinkedIn as a preview of what people are managing to pull out of 3D AI right now.

But first here's the weekly roundup of tech and tool updates that are shaping the future of worldbuilding, gamedev, and creative work.

NEW TECH UPDATES
1. Unity 6.3 LTS Release

Unity dropped their first Long-Term Support release since 6.0 this week (meaning 2 years of guaranteed support).

For artists, the headline changes include improved GPU lightmapping with a new xAtlas‑based packing algorithm, plus much stronger 2.5D support in URP so you can render 3D meshes through the 2D Renderer and light them alongside sprites.

On the material side, Unity 6.3 expands Shader Graph with custom lighting sample content and dedicated terrain shader support, lets you use up to 8 texture coordinates for more advanced looks across terrains, characters, and effects, and improves SubGraph workflows with nested properties and keyword handling to keep larger graphs manageable.

Check out the release blog.

2. ZBrush Updates

New Feature: A dedicated Retopo Brush that mimics TopoGun-style workflows directly inside ZBrush.

iPad Update: ZBrush for iPad 2026.1 added a new Photogrammetry module allowing you to scan objects with the iPad camera and sculpt on them immediately.

Check out the big December release.

3. GDevelop 5.6 adds 3D.

The open-source, no-code engine GDevelop released version 5.6 this week, adding a native 3D Editor to its previously 2D-centric toolset.

While it likely won't replace Unity or Godot for professional production, it does offer a compelling new option for 3D artists who want to build interactive 3D scenes without learning C# or GDScript.

Check out the blog.

FROM THE COMMUNITY
Creator Spotlights

1. Gaussian Splatting + Nano Bana Pro for real-time VR/AR applications

2. 3D model with Hunyuan 3D in Scenario

3. World Labs Marble + Octane

4. Experimental Blender add-on connects ComfyUI for native texture previews inside of Blender.

5. SAM 3D Objects + 3DGS + Marble = interactive 3D world that compensates for gaussian splatting limitations at close range

6. Another Marble test combined with an FPS setup and lens simulation inside of Unity

7. Hunyuan 3D-Part

8. Threejs + Spark + World Labs