For the last few months I have been working with a fellow named Andrew Browne, http://phrenzy84.wordpress.com/ , on a CG-orientated podcast! It’s been a slow start getting it off the ground but we’ve finally managed to get the first few shows launched. This last week’s episode, #003, brings you an interview with one of the primary developers behind Winds 3D, Richard Jones. Listening to how Richard came to develop for Wings is quite a treat; like Andrew said, “[he] [is] the most unconventional programmer i know…”
Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve posted. I’ve certainly kept myself busy though. I am effectively finished the local studio internship I’ve been a part of here in Adelaide and the studio has offered me paid work for the next few months on a pre-rendered game cinematic. It’s a large application piece to help them apply for a broader range of projects so it won’t appear on your PS3 or anything a year from now, but it should be a whole lot of fun. Then as previously mentioned, I’ll be off to join the Durian team!
Above is the first completed project from my internship, the second one is getting pretty close now. Hope to be rendering by Monday.
For the Mousetrap project, I needed flames as a pretty key effect. Seeing as volumetrics is still underway, I came up with another solution based on an older file I found online. To read a bit more about it an see some examples, please check the following.
Finally, I couldn’t help but experiment with a new feature in Blender, even though I’m trying to cut back on the purely experimental stuff so I can finish a couple of things off. But I’m sure you’ll understand when you see the following image.
Blender now has Final Gather to play with! http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=146887&page=6 to get builds and see some early experiments / information. While this is now useable, it probably has a way to go before being officially included in Blender. Still – a whole lot of fun!
Today I have another video tutorial for you all. This was posted a couple days back but I’ve only just gotten around to adding it to the blog.
This time around we’re looking at how to model and texture an old wooden barrel in Blender. In this video tutorial you’ll learn how to use Blender’s modifier system for non-destructive modeling that allows you to change the barrel very easily at almost any point in the process. It also users Blender’s new projection painting system to paint on the textures.
I hope you enjoy this tutorial and keep an eye out for more very soon (lighting rig and tutorial anyone?).
I’m finishing my studies at the “National Animation and Design Centre” in Montréal and I just wanted to share with you guys two short films I’ve been working on while I was at the school. I’m actually working on a third short short film (30sec) and then another special project I’ll present later in August
These projects were rendered using Softimage|XSI 7.01 but quite a few things were made in Blender. For ‘ClockWise’, I had to produce my models quite fast..and Blender seemed the way to go for me so most of the desk stuff was made in Blender. As for the 2nd video, titled ‘Pardon’, we had to find a way to make the paint appear on the ground and on the different object. The production time was quite short, 6 weeks, so I brought back Blender and I used its Fluid Simulator to generate liquid-like white matte that I would use on the UVs of my model in XSI to indicate where the paint would show up. We obviously used alot of compositing for the whole thing, and all of it was done in Fusion 5.3
So here we go: Clock Wise My Role on the production: Everything
And in 2nd, Pardon
My Role: Modelling, Lighting, Matte Artist, Compositing, all around generalist
Team: Xavier Drapeau Mayer (Texture Artist, Modelling, Compositing), Julie Le Roy (Rigging, Animation, Painting, Character modelling)
This is a project we have been working on for a while and are pleased to announce it’s launch!
Quoting the homepage:
“Mavenseed is an CG education website that offers private one on one training from an expert in the respective field.
The benefit of private one on one tutoring is that you are able to address your personal concerns, questions and goals immediately. There is no running through topics you already know in software manuals, or course requirements. Our instructors work with your schedule as best they can and are available to you for the requested time.”
It has been a real pleasure working with Wes and I am excited to be one of the first instructors to offer their services on the site. If you are interested in personal Blender training head on over!
It is with great pleasure that I announce one of our own, Ben Dansie has just been accepted into the core team of Project Durian. As the forth open movie/game project from the Blender Foundation this is an incredible opportunity for Ben. With all of the great work he’s been doing there’s no doubt he’ll continue making leaps and bounds in his Blender work. He will be working alongside a lot of other very talented artists and developers to complete this project. Congrats Ben!
For more info on Project Durian and the other team members head on over to the Durian blog.
I just sat down and recorded a brief overview video of some of the changes and additions to Blender 2.5. Keep in mind, 2.5 is still under heavy development and many things will be added/changed. That being said, what has been done so far is incredible!
As you may have noticed we have been running on a temporary theme for a while now… even the default Wordpress theme for a bit… Ugh! But no more! Thanks to a lot of hardwork from my brother and a lot of proding by myself, we have overhauled the entire site. Everything from the theme to the content. The site should actually be useful now! You should also see a lot more frequent updates as well. Seeing as the entire site is now built on Wordpress it is exceptionally easy to update. There are still a few things here and there that I need to finish up (the DVDs don’t have their full info) and I’m sure things will pop up that don’t work but I will get to them as soon as possible. In the mean time, go peruse all the new content and look!
Putting that aside, I have also been busy recording more tutorials. The latest covers the new Projection Painting in Blender 2.49. Projection painting makes it exceptionally easy to stencil images onto your models UVs. Check it out HERE!
Normally our posts on this blog have to do with the studio or art but today I have some very exciting, personal news! My oldest sister just brought a beautiful little boy into the world in the wee hours of this morning. Weighing in at 8.2 pounds Luca David Flindall is taking a wonderful first step into the world. There’s no doubt he’s going to bring a lot of happiness. Now I just have to do part as an uncle and make him a little artist
Wes Burke has just launched an initial preview of a new site, Mavenseed. The site is dedicated to offering private one-on-one CG tutoring! Myself and a fellow artist named Alessandro have been brought on as the first two instructors to test the waters. I see this as a very exciting project and potentially a great resource to CG artists.
To get things started Wes has posted a simple survey to get a better idea of what our target audience is looking for. If you have a spare moment please head on over and fill it, every bit helps!
Keep an eye out in the coming month for the official launch and more details.
“Mavenseed is an CG education website that offers private one on one training from an expert in the respective field.
