Planet Blender v2 beta4 - 'Turning Pages'

“Making a DCP entirely with open source tools”
Tube - Epic Production Notes - 2010-03-15 19:47:47

At the Bit Films blog, our compadre Chris Perry has posted multi-stage details of his cool project to create a Digital Cinema Package for The Incident at Tower 37.

DCP is the digital cinema distribution format, delivered via hard drives which plug directly into theater projectors. Realizing that “we’re really just talking about some fancy conversions to a non-proprietary format,” rather than resorting to expensive commercial solutions, Chris set out to mine the resources free/libre software offers the independent filmmaker.

Bassam’s small contribution was to cry “FFmpeg!” when Chris wished, “If only there was a tool to automatically output PNGs from a QuickTime movie…”

Check out the climax and how-to, or head to the beginning for Making a DCP, Part 1.
New Book: Blender Studio Projects: Digital Movie-Making
BlenderNation - 2010-03-15 19:07:46

Tony Mullen and Claudio “Malefico” Andaur are working on a new Blender book, aimed at using Blender in a professional workflow. Tony writes: I thought your readers would be interested to know about the new Sybex book, “Blender Studio Projects: Digital Movie-Making”, co-written by myself and Claudio “Malefico” Andaur of Licuadora Studios and Plumiferos fame. This book is [...]
Work In Progress March 2010
processdiary.com - 2010-03-15 13:00:00

Welcome to the March WIP video. This month's installment continues on the modeling phase of the character, but focuses on getting the basic head model. No soundtrack on this video either.

The head modeling has been long-requested. This covers just getting the basic shape. I will be addressing adding features (ears, teeth, eyelids, eyes, hair, etc) in a future vidcast.

Please find the different size downloads linked below:
Addendum: Here is the reference image from the video.

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Work In Progress March 2010
processdiary.com - 2010-03-15 13:00:00

Welcome to the March WIP video. This month's installment continues on the modeling phase of the character, but focuses on getting the basic head model. [jwplayer config="TPD_Player" file="http://processdiary.com/tutorials/standard/Tholemo_

Maya, can you spot the difference
digital janitor - 2010-03-15 12:34:00

So now if you have read the previous entries, can you spot the difference between the two? Here is a revised script with a some differences. They almost do the same thing, but what is the 'almost' part? and which sections have I streamlined? There's even more more for Streamlining from reading the code, can you guess where?


import os
import platform
import datetime
import maya.cmds as cmds

#rename the parent based on the child name
def rename_parent(oSel):
    for i in range(len(oSel)):
        parent = cmds.listRelatives( oSel[i], p=True)
        cmds.rename(parent[0], "%s_ZERO" % oSel[i])

#create a basic controller
def create_simple_controller(oSel):
    rname = str(datetime.datetime.now()).split('.')
    cmds.spaceLocator(n='null_%s_zero' % rname[1])
    cmds.circle(n='circle_%s_ctrl' % rname[1], ch=False)
    cmds.setAttr( "%s.rotateY" % ('circle_%s_ctrl' % rname[1]), 90)
    cmds.makeIdentity('circle_%s_ctrl' % rname[1], apply=True, t=0, r=1, s=0, n=0 )
    cmds.parent('circle_%s_ctrl' % rname[1], 'null_%s_zero' % rname[1])
    return 'null_%s_zero' % rname[1]

# reset the object
def reset_multiple_objects(oSel):
    for item in oSel:
        cmds.xform(item, m=[1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0])

# create a basic controller on the selected object
def create_simple_controller_on_object(oSel):
    for item in oSel:
        parent = item
        child = create_simple_controller(item)
        cmds.parent(child, parent)
        reset_multiple_objects([child])
        cmds.parent(child, w=True)   

# align objects     
def align_objects(oSel):     
    if len(oSel) == 2:
      match = cmds.xform(oSel[1], m=True, ws=True, q=True)
      cmds.xform(oSel[0], m=match)
    else:
        print 'too many objects'

#replace L1 with R and R1 with L
def fix_mirror_name(oSel):
    for item in oSel:
        if item.endswith('L1'):
            new_name = item.replace('L1', 'R')
            cmds.rename(item, new_name)
        if item.endswith('R1'):
            new_name = item.replace('R1', 'L')
            cmds.rename(item, new_name)

12 Car renders that break the mold
Blender Guru - 2010-03-15 11:27:13

Car renders are a dime a dozen these days, so it takes a lot to stand out. Here’s a collection of the very best car renders across all 3d platforms.

Rainy Night by Morteza Najafi

Goldie by Maurice Panisch

Morning by Morteza Najafi

Porsche Speed by Daan Pol

Dirty Car by Jiwoong Chung

Power by Morteza Najafi

Green Snake by Ahmed AL Barazengi

Nissa Skyline Gtr 34 by Alessandro Baldasseroni

Honda Civic by Alexander Neskoromyuk

Mantis Burn by John Kearney

Crash Kiss by Nicolas Crombez

Snow Buggy by Marek Denko

HH-60G PAVE HAWK MEDEVAC by Andre Cantarel

Okay that last one’s not a car, but can you blame me?

If you liked this post, you might also like 20 Architectural renders that break the mold.

Have I missed one? Post a comment!

http://acantarel.cgsociety.org/gallery/474018/
“Lucy and The Time Machine” wins Blender 2010 Game Contest
BlenderNation - 2010-03-15 08:30:50

“Lucy and The Time Machine” is the winner of this year’s Blender Game Competition. Erwin Coumans wrote: Lucy and the time machine by vitorbalbio wins the best physics gameplay and graphics showcase (500 US Dollar + PSP Go) Cargo Games by z0r wins the second prize and Link It! by Jay-D third. Downloads Lucy and the time machine Cargo Games Link It! For further [...]
Multiply from the Project London Soundtrack!
Phil McCoy's Posts - Project London - 2010-03-15 04:00:00

Multiply the second "Lunar Singles" release by Half Acre Day hits the radio waves March 15 and will also soon be available globally on iTunes and a number of other services (see the list below). This is the first of two versions of the song, appearing exclusively on the Project London Soundtrack.

And guess what!? We are officially within days of releasing a new teaser clip featuring the Project London Mix of Multiply!

Listen to Multiply on the Half Acre Day web site. Multiply will soon be available at:

Amazon MP3
iTunes Australia/N.Z.
iTunes Canada
iTunes Japan
iTunes Mexico
iTunes UK/European Union
iTunes U.S.
Napster
MySpace Music
Rhapsody
Zune