Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers, including: Pixar's shared universe revealed by Disney, the case for and against snipers in Overwatch competitive play, nine skills that should be on your resume.

Pixar has been working on a piece of software that will simplify the animated filmmaking process allowing animators at the smaller end of town to make movies like the big studios do. And it wants to give the software away for free by making it open source.

If you like to do any 3D modelling or animation, Pixar's in-house software that's been used for movies like Toy Story, Cars, and recent films like Guardians of the Galaxy is now completely free to download and use.

If your rugrats are anything like mine, you're probably sick to death of Frozen by now. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful movie filled with likeable characters, a positive take-home message and effortlessly catchy songs. But the magic starts to wear a bit thin after the two-hundredth viewing. With Term 3 school holidays about to kick off, things are about to get even worse. Luckily, Lifehacker's resident cartoon geek is here to help...

Sometimes immersing yourself in the creative world of people doing amazing things can bring unexpected results. My son Justin is interested in 3D animation, and my daughter Chloe is into screenwriting, so it was a thrill to take them on a tour of Pixar Animation Studios, courtesy of one of the Pixar animators.

This week, we were invited to an advanced screening of Monsters University by Pixar Animation Studios, the follow-up to the Academy Award-winning Monsters Inc. The film is an enjoyable romp for all ages... but does "enjoyable" really cut it when you're paying through the nose? These days, a family trip to the cinema costs around $50 -- and that's if you forgo 3D and the snack bar. So the question is: does Pixar still have what it takes to put your bum in a seat?

Lee Unkrich has an impressive Pixar pedigree: working his way up through editing roles at the animation giant, he eventually directed Toy Story 3 and co-directed Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and Toy Story 2. To celebrate Finding Nemo's re-release in 3D, he chatted with Lifehacker about productivity, decision-making, teamwork and the best things about being a director.