Planet Blender

Textures: Skies Part Deux
Blender Tutorials Downloads Videos & Education - Blender Cookie - 2010-02-12 22:40:15

I put my computer to test again and had it grind a few more sky panoramic textures out for the community. By far the most downloaded free resource on the Cg Cookie network with over 4200 downloads, we felt it deserved a sequel. This next set of sky images are focused on [...]

http://blendercookie.com

B.A.R.S – Blender Army Regional Surabaya
Hello! - 2010-02-12 21:31:15

Pada hari jumat 12 February 2010, bertempat di XL Cafe Community Lounge – PLAZA MARINA SURABAYA Lt ground, telah lahir BARS (Blender Army Regional Surabaya). Komunitas Ini merupakan sub regional F.B.I (Forum Blender Indonesia) wilayah Surabaya.

Gatering kali ini adalah ketiga kalinya dalam kurun 6 bulan. Sebelumnya mereka mengadakan Gathering di J-Co Cafe Plasa Surabaya (I), lalu di UBAYA 10 November 2009 (II), dan ketiga bersamaan dengan llahirnya BARS.

Pada gathering yang di hadiri sekitar 10 orang ini sekaligus menepis anggapan bahwa selama ini komunitas Animasi Open Source terpecah-pecah. Mereka mempunyai tujuan sebaliknya, menyatukan visi, berkarya, dan membentuk ekosistem Animasi Open Source demi kemajuannya di Indonesia. Semoga kota kota lain termotivasi dengan event ini dan akhirnya lahir di setiap kota di Indonesia. BRAVO BARS.

FACEBOOK GROUP
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BARS-Blender-Army-Regional-Surabaya/326135202596?ref=mf

Announcing the BlenderNewbies Blender 2.5 Training DVD Pre-Order
Blender Newbies 3D Video Tutorials (Learn to Create 3D Graphics with Blender!) - 2010-02-12 19:33:00

I'm very happy to announce that I've begun production on my next Blender Training DVD!

This DVD will cover Blender 2.5 exclusively and will contain many hours of new and unpublished tutorials. There won't be any 2.5 versions of any of my existing tutorials so this will be fresh new content!



The training will be mostly small project-based tutorials so that what you learn is in the context of a real project scenario. This helps you understand not only How to do something, but also helps you have a better understanding of Why and When. Also, the project-based tutorials will allow you to repeatedly experience the full workflow so you develop a better understanding of how things work together.

In addition to the project-based tutorials, there will be several quick tips and technical demonstrations.

All of the tutorials will be broken up into sections lasting no more than 30 minutes so you can always have time to sit down and complete a lesson (no long tests of endurance and patience).

The level of the training will be for Beginner- to Intermediate-level users. Keystrokes will be shown as needed. If you're just getting started with Blender or 3d graphics, this DVD will be of tremendous value to you. However, no one really likes their results to look like beginner stuff, right? So, the lessons will be taught so that the results you get will be something you'll be confident in sharing with others. Bad lighting and crazy texturing will not be taught. :)

As a Blender Foundation Certified Trainer, I'm very serious about the tutorials I create, so the attention to detail and quality will be high (content, product materials, packaging, and delivery). The focus will be on teaching, instead of merely demonstrating. Also, there will be skill-building elements included such as exercise files, puzzles (crosswords, word finds, etc.), and short tests.

So, what will the DVD cover?



(In no specific order at this point)

• Interface tour
• Easiest approach to learning how to model a human head with good topology
• Rendering tips
• Lighting tips
• Several short modeling exercises (with texturing)
• Animation basics
• Cartoon character modeling and texturing
• Animating a bouncing ball
• Modeling and animating a spacecraft
• Sculpting basics
• Basic Video Editing
• Using text in Blender
• Smoke basics
• Cloth basics
• Particles basics
• Hair basics
• Composite Nodes
• Interior scene
• ...?

also

• Plenty of links to helpful resources within the Blender Community
• HTML interface for the disc contents

This list will likely change to some degree based on Blender's development. However, I will be sure to post information throughout the DVD's development to provide sneak previews, updates, and specific tutorial titles. A lot of smaller details (modifiers, interface elements and tools, etc.) will be covered within the context of the projects.

What will the DVD not cover?

• In-depth rigging
• Game engine
• Python programming
• In-depth character animation
• every aspect of Blender

The DVD will cost a modest $35 USD plus shipping. It will consist of at least one DVD disc and an extra CD-R disc or second DVD disc. In any case, the price is etched in stone so no worries about the price changing at any point.

Starting today, I am officially in a development mode for the DVD and I am taking pre-orders from this point until the release date (first week of May). This will be a major undertaking for me (cost and time) and I'm hoping that the pre-orders will be enough to fund the development and production of the DVD. As extra incentive for those that are interested in purchasing the DVD, I've setup a schedule of significant discounts leading up to the release date.

30% discount: February 12th thru March 5th ($24.50 + shipping)
20% discount: March 6th thru March 26th ($28.00 + shipping)
10% discount: March 27th thru April 16th ($31.50 + shipping)
5% discount: April 17th until official Release Date ($33.25 + shipping)
Regular Price: official Release Date onward ($35.00 + shipping)

Update: Official Release Date Changed...

Shipping cost:

• $3.00 U.S. deliveries
• $4.00 Canada
• $9.04 International

I'm really excited to finally get started on this project and I look forward to creating a top-quality resource for getting you up to speed with Blender 2.5!

Thank you for support! Please feel free to ask any questions or comment.

Kernon

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Things are getting busy
NewVision Animation Studios - 2010-02-12 10:50:09

It’s that time of year – things seem to be picking up a lot lately.  I’ve pulled more all-nighters in the last two weeks than I have all year.  Anyone else feel that way? On a side note, the Durian project seems to be coming along quite nicely.  Keep up-to-date through their website!  http://durian.blender.org/

Blender 2.5a0: Renderfarm.fi Distribution released!
Renderfarm.fi - 2010-02-12 10:41:52

Accessibility is a key issue to any service looking to gain acceptance. For this reason, we've created a python script that makes it possible for a user to upload render sessions to Renderfarm.fi directly from an instance of Blender. This has now been included to a special distribution of Blender, available both on a limited edition DVD and here. The script also checks that the scene settings are correct in order for the render to succeed. Note that in order to send work to Renderfarm.fi through the uploader, you still need to own an account on the service. You will find the simple instructions for using the uploader from here. New to Blender 2.5? Don't worry - we'll be hosting a blog for tutorials on using Blender 2.5 soon.

Please keep in mind that Blender 2.5 is still very much in Alpha (ie. changes happen daily) and that the uploader script is in Beta. Also note that although support for the new Blender 2.5 internal render engine is coming online during the next few days, until that time you can use the uploader to upload animations and stills done with Blender 2.48a.

 

Bits of Blender #39 – #41
BlenderNation - 2010-02-12 08:55:14

‘Bits of Blender’ is a series of mini-videotutorials by John R. Nyquist. After a break, he’s back now with three new episodes. John R. Nyquist wrote: My boy, Richard, and I have come out of a long hiatus. We just made two new episodes of Bits of Blender. We’re getting back into the swing of things so pardon any [...]

Blender Developer Job in Pisa, Italy
BlenderNation - 2010-02-12 06:00:15

Are you interested in working in Italy for a while? Check this out: The Institute of Clinical Physiology in Pisa are looking for a Blender developer to ‘develop a system that allows the seamless management of biological data flow between Blender and biological analysis software, including PyMOL, SwissPDBViewer and others.’ Monica Zoppe from the ICF was at [...]