Google launches Gemini 3.8 Live with avatar features

Sony Pictures Imageworks texture and motion graphics artists detail how Adobe Substance 3D and After Effects formed the backbone of the production pipeline for KPop Demon Hunters, the 2026 Netflix animated film nominated for both Academy Award and Golden Globe honors. From generating over a thousand crowd character variations to crafting intricate Korean embroidery textures, the tools shaped both the scale and the fine detail of the film's distinctive look. Two key artists walk through the speci

Google DeepMind has introduced Gemini 3.8 Live, an updated multimodal model paired with a new Live Avatar feature that generates an animated, talking on-screen presence during real-time conversations. The combination allows users to interact with a responsive visual agent rather than a purely voice-based interface. The release marks another step in Google's effort to make AI interactions feel more immediate and embodied.

Runway has published a breakdown of its Model Router feature, examining how it performs across 250 image-to-video prompts with a focus on balancing output quality against generation cost. The analysis is aimed at developers weighing which router configuration suits their production needs. Results vary depending on the use case, making the comparison a practical reference for teams building at scale.

A new build of Google Flow has quietly updated its internal references, swapping out Nano Banana 2.5 Flash for Nano Banana 2.1. The change was spotted by TestingCatalog and suggests Google is iterating on the underlying image model, though no official announcement has accompanied it.