Hye blenderers!
as pointed out previously i have decided to do a special episode to say thanks for subscribing, and as i am almost at the 100 subscriber target, I should really start preparing.
so what is it all about first? well I asked a few weeks ago for suggestions on things that you might like to see translated from Maya or a C4D tutorial, and the suggestion i got back was for a skin deformation tutorial. ok fine, not a problem, except i have no idea how to do it!
My focus for the next couple of weeks will be to figure out how blenders deform tools work. I will be looking at the various ways blender deforms stuff so shape keys, lattices, soft bodies mesh deformers displacement textures, basically whatever i can come up with to create a nice skin deform effect.
but not to leave you all in the cold waiting, I obviously will need some assets, namely a skin to deform, so for my next few tutorials i will be covering the basics of creating an animation ready "thing" that in the special episode I will be discussing and building the deform rig ready for animation, so for my next tutorial I shall cover the basics of sculpting a base "mannequin" ready for topology to be applied in preparation for sculpting. this will be a low detail sculpt of forms but with enough detail to recognise it as a creature.
I shall be doing that over the weekend, hope fully I'll have it done by saturday afternoon so you all have time to play with it ( well the technique any way, theres no point in me releasing a startup blend really as you already have a default cube!)
So until then happy blending, see you all soon
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Beginners series, and whatever next
So finally, a couple of weeks turns into a couple of months, but the beginners series is now finished and posted on youtube! Having taken forever to edit and put together, with more than a few oops moments! Trying to be concise and to the point seems to be somewhat of an issue of mine, I must have edited out several hours of inane rambling about stuff that had zero relevance to the subject matter! Still it has been a good learning curve and I am managing to not try and give overwhelming amounts of information and keep on topic, also not to be afraid to split topics into multiple videos. I think it has gone quite well, each episode talks about enough of a single subject to get even the most nooby beginner started. there are a lot of things that I could have done better, like the intro video, man was that dull! the single most important video of the series and it was boring as hell! seriously, I had to pull it from the playlist it was so bad! so that is one video that is on the agenda for a re-release.
I did also kind of change tack about half way through the series, I got really bored with the opening sequence and thought it would be interesting to make the intro relevant to the content of each episode, so the cycles tutorial was rendered in cycles and has an animated texture node doing its thing, and the particles intro is made of particles. they were a lot of fun to do and as each one had to be made quickly in order to get them into the video each week between recording and editing, they are pretty lame! lol no time for refinements when you're on a deadline! but i think i managed to pull it off OK! ( maybe!)
Anyway here's the series,enjoy.
Beginners series
I hope to hear some comments and feed back on this subject, as the only way to improve is to know where I am going wrong!
So whats next then? well I have a few VFX videos that I am working on, I have a Plane track video which is new for 2.69 that I am working on for the CG Masters tutorial competition, basically showing how to use the new plane track feature in blender. There is currently nothing on plane track on the web, except a few demos of the early prototypes and a demo by the developers, but hopefully I can do something interesting enough to inspire you all, we shall see!
I also put out a request to see if there was anything you might have seen in a different software package, like autodesk or aftereffects, that you might like to know if blender could do the same. I was kind of expecting starry eyed newbies to reply asking if it was possible to make certain textures or do some effect that they had seen in an advert on TV or something. but no... I get one request...
Can blender do this skin sliding thing...? video
Great OK just request a feature that not only is like, the holy grail of blender deformation, but also not even a feature of Maya! It is entirely a custom plugin developed by Chad Vernon, co Founder of the Digital Creature Studio, responsible for amongst other things, Pirates of the Caribbean, with its tentacle faced pirates and sea monsters! Thanks a lot Slawek Nezumi!
So in the next few weeks I will be showing you how to recreate this effect using just the existing functions of blender, (including any suitable plugins I come across) and teaching you how to apply it to a character for animation. :D
But it will be a subscriber special and I will be beginning the series once I hit the 100 subscriber mark on youtube ( have to do something special to say thanks don't ya) :)
Happy blending, and don't forget you can keep in touch, we are available on Facebook, Twitter and G+
I did also kind of change tack about half way through the series, I got really bored with the opening sequence and thought it would be interesting to make the intro relevant to the content of each episode, so the cycles tutorial was rendered in cycles and has an animated texture node doing its thing, and the particles intro is made of particles. they were a lot of fun to do and as each one had to be made quickly in order to get them into the video each week between recording and editing, they are pretty lame! lol no time for refinements when you're on a deadline! but i think i managed to pull it off OK! ( maybe!)
Anyway here's the series,enjoy.
Beginners series
I hope to hear some comments and feed back on this subject, as the only way to improve is to know where I am going wrong!
So whats next then? well I have a few VFX videos that I am working on, I have a Plane track video which is new for 2.69 that I am working on for the CG Masters tutorial competition, basically showing how to use the new plane track feature in blender. There is currently nothing on plane track on the web, except a few demos of the early prototypes and a demo by the developers, but hopefully I can do something interesting enough to inspire you all, we shall see!
I also put out a request to see if there was anything you might have seen in a different software package, like autodesk or aftereffects, that you might like to know if blender could do the same. I was kind of expecting starry eyed newbies to reply asking if it was possible to make certain textures or do some effect that they had seen in an advert on TV or something. but no... I get one request...
Can blender do this skin sliding thing...? video
Great OK just request a feature that not only is like, the holy grail of blender deformation, but also not even a feature of Maya! It is entirely a custom plugin developed by Chad Vernon, co Founder of the Digital Creature Studio, responsible for amongst other things, Pirates of the Caribbean, with its tentacle faced pirates and sea monsters! Thanks a lot Slawek Nezumi!
So in the next few weeks I will be showing you how to recreate this effect using just the existing functions of blender, (including any suitable plugins I come across) and teaching you how to apply it to a character for animation. :D
But it will be a subscriber special and I will be beginning the series once I hit the 100 subscriber mark on youtube ( have to do something special to say thanks don't ya) :)
Happy blending, and don't forget you can keep in touch, we are available on Facebook, Twitter and G+
Sunday, 6 October 2013
updated youtube channel
so, i have been busy making certain changes to my youtube channel to create a bit of recogniseability, as anyone that has been following on google+ will already be aware.
i decided on a fairly simple yellow and red theme which looks quite pretty but i am considering diversifying across the different softwares so each program video will have its own individuality. though i am not there yet progress is coming along and i can finally get around to doing the fun part- creating great images and teaching how its all done! enjoy the video and subscribe if you hanvnt already!
i decided on a fairly simple yellow and red theme which looks quite pretty but i am considering diversifying across the different softwares so each program video will have its own individuality. though i am not there yet progress is coming along and i can finally get around to doing the fun part- creating great images and teaching how its all done! enjoy the video and subscribe if you hanvnt already!
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Agenda for the next couple of weeks!
It has been a while, not that i have been slacking off or anything... OK i have been slacking off, but mainly i have been looking at how to take this channel forward, and creating regular tutorials that are relevant to both beginners and intermediate users and also incorporating additional software tutorials such as GIMP and Krita. Although i haven't yet decided if i want to create a separate blog for each program or keep everything unified. considering though, that the aim of this blog is to help you the reader/viewer to get the best out of your digital art and as that means often crossing from one platform to another, it kind of makes sense to have everything in one place.
so with that in mind i will be completing an introductory series for absolute beginners covering the basics of :
1: installing and setting up blender
2: introducing the 3d viewport and toolbar
3: basics of object mode
4: basics of edit mode
5: modelling a simple thing
6: lighting and texturing in blender internal
7: lighting and texturing in cycles
8: rendering in blender internal
9: rendering in cycles
10: basic animating
11 basic rigging
12: rendering an animation
13:basic compositing
14: introduction to the video editor.
once the basics have been covered i will be able to move on to more advanced, fun stuff like designing scenes and doing short movies and stuff and introducing the other software. i will also be reviewing the free software that i have found around the interwebs, there are some surprising toys out there even from the commercial software houses so stay tuned for them!
anyway, back to work!
so with that in mind i will be completing an introductory series for absolute beginners covering the basics of :
1: installing and setting up blender
2: introducing the 3d viewport and toolbar
3: basics of object mode
4: basics of edit mode
5: modelling a simple thing
6: lighting and texturing in blender internal
7: lighting and texturing in cycles
8: rendering in blender internal
9: rendering in cycles
10: basic animating
11 basic rigging
12: rendering an animation
13:basic compositing
14: introduction to the video editor.
once the basics have been covered i will be able to move on to more advanced, fun stuff like designing scenes and doing short movies and stuff and introducing the other software. i will also be reviewing the free software that i have found around the interwebs, there are some surprising toys out there even from the commercial software houses so stay tuned for them!
anyway, back to work!
Saturday, 22 June 2013
meh, stupid idea anyway
Oops should have up dated this posted ages ago!
anyway,so having decided to create a most excellent adventure, it all turned out just a little bit pants and didn't work at all how i wanted. For two reasons, first I didn't notice there was a time limit on the length of the film and second I suck bad at animating!
so I had to re-think the film based on what assets i had, and came up with a warehouse heist, kind of what i had in mind for the original opening sequence.
my goal was to have an android cop investigating a robbery in progress, it enters building sees various things in the main office such as stock manifests and distribution route plans, on holo screens then it enters the warehouse and finds the criminals in the process of looting shipping containers. there ends up a big fight ending with the cop being beat to scrap by a loading mech, a kind of sci fi fork truck but for shipping containers, so, big.
criminals escape. cue chapter 2 once the comp is finished. Easy. No.
models were rushed through and not well rigged making the whole animation process slow and cumbersome, and knowing very little about proper animating the whole thing looked horrific.
Scenes were cut and then cut again to get everything into the time frame, with time running out completely I had only just time to download and hack together the most absurd sound effects.
with blender playing up and not allowing me to hear the sounds in the VSE i had to attempt to time them in audacity and hope it melded together properly back in blender. nothing of the sort happened, and i also ran out of time to add actual script to the players so the whole film no one says anything, though clearly speech is meant to be happening.
anyway the whole thing sucked like the worst sucking thing ever and probably caused a few WTF raised eyebrows from the judges, and every other submitted film looked like some pretty awesome professional work. but oh well.
lol, enjoy.
anyway,so having decided to create a most excellent adventure, it all turned out just a little bit pants and didn't work at all how i wanted. For two reasons, first I didn't notice there was a time limit on the length of the film and second I suck bad at animating!
so I had to re-think the film based on what assets i had, and came up with a warehouse heist, kind of what i had in mind for the original opening sequence.
my goal was to have an android cop investigating a robbery in progress, it enters building sees various things in the main office such as stock manifests and distribution route plans, on holo screens then it enters the warehouse and finds the criminals in the process of looting shipping containers. there ends up a big fight ending with the cop being beat to scrap by a loading mech, a kind of sci fi fork truck but for shipping containers, so, big.
criminals escape. cue chapter 2 once the comp is finished. Easy. No.
models were rushed through and not well rigged making the whole animation process slow and cumbersome, and knowing very little about proper animating the whole thing looked horrific.
Scenes were cut and then cut again to get everything into the time frame, with time running out completely I had only just time to download and hack together the most absurd sound effects.
with blender playing up and not allowing me to hear the sounds in the VSE i had to attempt to time them in audacity and hope it melded together properly back in blender. nothing of the sort happened, and i also ran out of time to add actual script to the players so the whole film no one says anything, though clearly speech is meant to be happening.
anyway the whole thing sucked like the worst sucking thing ever and probably caused a few WTF raised eyebrows from the judges, and every other submitted film looked like some pretty awesome professional work. but oh well.
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Blenderguru sci fi competition
competition time! yep the guys at Blenderguru.com have announced their new competition.with a sci fi theme, with a choice of a still image or an animated short.
obviously six weeks is nowhere near enough to make a short movie from scratch so...
that is exactly what i am going to do!
because i'm nuts.
and hopefully, everyone else will think the same so my competitors will be minimal! :D
i am considering a simple chase scene through a future city. so hover cars, robot cops, flying police drones, dangerous criminals and a sexy female detective for sex appeal, miscellaneous droids and a holographic cat
(a must in any sci-fi adventure) now all i need is an actual plot and some kind of voice talent
sound effects will be collected from freesound.org
i'll post updates on models and characters as they are made, here as well as the official work in progress thread at blenderartists.org
obviously six weeks is nowhere near enough to make a short movie from scratch so...
that is exactly what i am going to do!
because i'm nuts.
and hopefully, everyone else will think the same so my competitors will be minimal! :D
i am considering a simple chase scene through a future city. so hover cars, robot cops, flying police drones, dangerous criminals and a sexy female detective for sex appeal, miscellaneous droids and a holographic cat
(a must in any sci-fi adventure) now all i need is an actual plot and some kind of voice talent
sound effects will be collected from freesound.org
i'll post updates on models and characters as they are made, here as well as the official work in progress thread at blenderartists.org
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Space sunset
This is a quick little scene I did to try out blenders glare node. It's ok I guess but I think I need some more practice. I shall possibly do a tutorial on it but that depends on the feed back I get from the community! enjoy. I shall post the model to blendswap so you can pull it apart for your own scenes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)