Gnomon has introduced a new site called Gnomonology. It contains several short, affordably priced, downloadable video tutorials covering many aspects of 3d and animation. Software covered includes Photoshop, Maya, and 3DSMax. A few of the current videos might be of particular interest to designers looking to improve their 3d skills. Try “Intro to Subsurface Scattering” from Alex Alvarez and “Speed vs Quality in VRay” from Christopher Nichols.