Planet Blender v2 beta4 - 'Turning Pages'

Render !
Blender Minutes - 2012-03-07 20:23:02

Finally I have (virtually) pressed the big RENDER button on my render machine and with this I have started the last part of the visual voyage for Ara’s Tale.

Since my last post I have worked through all the remaining todo’s and checked each shot file for problems and consistency. Where I knew of better solutions to problems, I applied those to older shot files. I also consolidated all the naming conventions, which greatly eases the creation of various helper scripts for the final rendering.

It was a very interesting experience to go through all the files again and ensure that all my standards are adhered by each shot. This is where a real checklist comes in very handy.

While going through each shot, I did test renders and compositing for 1 or two frames and with this I kept track of the total estimate in rendertime and more importantly the final size of the renderpass files.

Now I know the exact numbers:

total rendertime : 350 hrs ( on my render machine)
total filesize : 2,4 TB

With this knowledge I have created scripts which will allow me to automate the render process almost to 100%. There is yet one problem to solve: I am short of ~250 GB of harddisk space, so I will have to get some more space. ( Unfortunately the harddisk prices have risen considerably since the disastrous thailand floods some months ago).

The Music for Ara’s Tale is right on track too. Phil managed to create the first 250 seconds of the score and I can tell you: its everything I have dreamed of and then even more.

Now lets hope my render machine is up to the task and I have a 1080p picture locked footage in 14 days from today.

Stay tuned …

ps: and this post’s title image was my first go with the cycles render engine …
Kickoff Workshop: Day 3
Tears of Steel - 2012-03-07 19:01:27

Day 3!

The hump! Everything’s coming together, but we’re at the dangerous point where we go, “Psh! Filmed and edited in 2 days! We have nothing but time!” I suspect we’re going to wake up tomorrow, look at everything that’s left, and start sprinting.

Totally amazed by everyone’s skills today. Destruction and dust simulations, tons of motion tracking, even more bug fixes, insane compositing- it’s wild. And I’m not just saying that in the polite, “Go team! Everyone’s great!” way- no. My day was a daze of revelations and discovery!

And the Video Sequence Editor is surprisingly awesome!

Huge CG jump coming tomorrow!

Below is my current wallpaper.
Naruto Live Action Chapter One
BlenderNation - 2012-03-07 18:00:30

By stridermax. stridermax writes: So this is a live action I did where the main baddie is a puppet. If you know a lot about naruto it will make 100% sense but if not its still ok. So the puppet … Continue reading →
Use the Double Edge Node to Stylize your Rendering
BlenderDiplom - Blender Tutorials and Training - 2012-03-07 13:47:15

In this Tutorial Frederik Steinmetz demonstrates two elegant ways to stylize renderings using the new double edge mask node. Additionally he shows how to use node groups in order to keep your compositing nice and organised.
Extraction
BlenderNation - 2012-03-07 12:36:40

By ! FaB ! ! FaB ! writes: Hey! Here is my latest work made with our favorite 3d software! 90% Blender and 10% photoshop I hope you like it ! Link BlenderArtists Thread
5 Passos para um Projeto com bom fluxo
Blender Total - 2012-03-07 12:28:15

Foi postado um excelente artigo no BlenderCookie, que nos dando cinco ótimas dicas para termos um bom fluxo de trabalho ao realizarmos ou participarmos de algum projeto. Como você já deve saber o assunto ‘projeto’ é sempre intrigante no meio da comunidade Blender pelo fato de que uma grande parcela de projetos iniciados jamais são [...]
Mango Fun: Videos!
BlenderNation - 2012-03-07 08:25:48

The Mango team is updating their blog almost daily – too much for me to keep up and turn BlenderNation into MangoNation. Instead, I’ll do periodic updates on the project. Here are some...

[read the full article on blendernation.com]
Non-Blender: Get Free Unity Licenses for iOS and Android
BlenderNation - 2012-03-07 07:59:50

Unity is a free (as in beer, not open source) game design and deployment platform. Until April 8th, you can also get a free license to export your games to iOS or Android. Enjoy!

[read the full article on blendernation.com]
Five Keys to a Happy Project Workflow
Blender Cookie - 2012-03-07 07:19:50

Hello and welcome to this project workflow tutorial!

Unless you are an artist or team member that is actively involved in a studio production environment, chances are you find the requirements and good practices for a project workflow to be a complete mystery. It is not uncommon to see new, or even intermediate Blender users with little, to no idea how to efficiently structure a project. This can cause unnecessary delays and challenges during production.

Before getting down to it, I would also like to take a moment to give a small pitch for our Citizen Membership. If you like this guide and want to take it with you for easy reading or reference then sign-up for a Citizen account and download the print-ready PDF to take with you on your iPad, Kindle or phone! Citizen also gives you access to download the source files for all our tutorials and it includes exclusive tutorials you can only view with a Citizen pass.

This tutorial, or editorial of sorts, is meant to try and shed some light on a few things you can do to help make your production more successful; regardless of your project is or who is involved.

Efficiently structuring a production, and the project workflow is absolutely key to succeeding with larger projects. If your project is not a solo project, and instead you’re working with a team then this is even more crucial!

An effective project workflow, or production workflow, not only helps you get the job done faster but it helps you produce better work. You will enjoy the process more and it leaves you with a project that is easier to navigate several years down the road; even if the person looking at the project was not on the original team.

Every project is different and the workflow must be adapted to fit that particular project as best as can be. However, there are a few things that are universal to all projects. In the below text you will find a few of my thoughts on these things, along with some of the techniques I have found to make a successful project workflow during our productions here at the CG Cookie Studio.

I have attempted to break the key parts of a production or project workflow into five components. These are Project Roles, Team Communication, File Structure and Naming Conventions, Asset Management, and Finishing the Project! Let’s take a look at each one of these in turn.

#1 – Project Roles

Being part of the Blender Community, I believe many of us have this idealized picture of a large group of people all coming together and communally working to produce something awesome without a centralized direction or project lead. This is a great mental image but in reality, particularly when it comes to your beloved project that has been stewing in your mind for years it just doesn’t work.

One of the first things you should do before you produce a single project asset is define team member roles. Determine who is doing what, which roles need to be filled and figure out how you can best make use of the skills your team brings to the table.

Below are some example roles which you should be looking to fill. Granted, depending on the size or type of project you may also include User Interface Designers, Concept Artists, Marketing, and others. The exact roles for your team may vary, the important thing is that you define them.

Example Primary Roles:
1. Project Lead - the person responsible for making project-wide choices and keeping the team on task and motivated.
2. Art Director – the person that takes charge of the look and feel of the project. On smaller teams this person may also help direct marketing.
3. Production Artist(s) and respective Leads - these people are charged to ensure all project assets are completed to spec. Depending on the spec of your project, this may be broken into several areas such as: Character Artist Lead and Environment Artist Lead.
4. Animation Lead – the person that keep tabs on all animation to ensure quality and consistency
5. Tech artists / Engineers - these people are responsible for making sure everything actually works. This can boil down to shader development, optimization, custom tool creation and staring at lines and lines of codes for months on end.
When you have these roles defined, stick to them! Within the production environment, it is crucial each member fills their role to the best of their ability; this includes everything from the producer keeping the project going to the asset artists pumping out quality work. Doing this helps everyone stay on track and keep moving towards project completion.

Aside from making the best use of available skills, this also helps to avoid work overlap and too much head-butting. It is very common for new directors/producers to try and always be nice and let everyone do what they want, but this nearly always results in one things: you getting walked all over and the team getting nothing done. Let’s face it, this is your project and it should be done the way you want it to be.

#2 – Team Communication

I cannot stress just how important team communication is…personally I believe it is more important than your entire team, hardware, location, and everything else combined. The only reason this isn’t the #1 key is because the roles can determine aspects of the communication. Without good team communication your project will start to fall apart even before you begin. Good team communication should be a lot like your neighbors annoying, clanging, noisy machine that is always spouting steam! It’s always there, constantly makes a racket and refuses to be turned off.

The first step to good team communication is to put together a group of people that actually like to communicate. If each member of your team is off gallivanting with no regard for the rest of the group your project is doomed to fail. Every person on the team should actively contribute to team discussions and updates while also following the project lead. It is their job to help guide the project through completion and it is everyone else’s job to fulfill their role.

There are many different ways teams choose to communicate, if you’re looking for some new options then here’s a brief list to ease the process:
1. Skype - this works great for active discussions, particularly if the group chats are used to keep all members up to date
2. Wunderkit - the newest member of the 6WunderKinder family, this software is a great team to-do list and management application
3. BaseCamp - this tool is renowned for great team management while offering a wealth of tools
4. email - while boring, email is tried and true but it takes a very good team to not lose track of messages and to make sure everyone is on the email list. Use mailing lists to help solve this problem.
In the end, the most important thing is to simply keep the communication going!

#3 – File Structure and Naming Convention

If there’s a single thing I would consider a pet peeve of mine in the production process, it is bad or inconsistent file structures and naming conventions. When I’m knee-deep in a project, the last thing I want to do is spend hours searching for the files Sneaky Tom sent me because I don’t know what they’re called or where they’re at. Hours may be an exaggeration, okay fine it’s a huge exaggeration, but you get the point. If each team member follows a consistent naming convention and file structure it will be much easier for each member to pick up where others left off or make use of files from other people on the team.

You can use most any structure and naming convention as you like, just so long as it’s consistent and everyone sticks to it!

An example project directory structure:
- Project Root
This is merely an example and could be broken down further for specific projects. For example, you might further separate assets into characters and environments.

#4 – Asset Management

Right up there in importance with file structure and naming convention, is asset management. While working in a team environment it is crucial that every member know exactly where each and every file exists that is pertinent to them.

There are many different ways you can manage your assets, but I highly recommend using something like Dropbox with shared folders to keep everyone in sync and on the same page. The requirements of your project may bring to light other challenges for asset management, but Dropbox or some of the other software is a good place to start.
1. Dropbox - an automatic file syncing tool that allows for shared folders between team members; also includes file change history in case of emergencies.
2. SugarSync – another automatic file syncing utility with much the same feature set as Dropbox but with wider range of customizations.
3. SVN – a version control utility that lets team members check in and out from a central source. It is great for coding projects but not so good for animation projects due to file sizes.
#5 – Finish the Project

This sounds like a silly thing to bring up in a workflow guide, but this is probably one of the hardest things to do. We’ve all seen and been around the start-up projects where everyone is excited, anxious and pumped to get started. Only to find out months and sometimes just weeks later that the project is on hold… Somebody is upset at somebody else, this other person won’t answer e-mails, and the motivation to work on this awesome project instead of going streaking on Saturday night isn’t winning.

If you follow the above project guidelines you will be making the first steps towards a successful project. By making communication a priority, defining team roles and managing your assets well you can not only give the project a successful start but be well on your way to finishing the project and going on vacation!

All vector artwork done by the excellent Yuanden
Space Weasle
Starbright Illustrations (blog) - 2012-03-07 00:37:43

And, I’ve just uploaded another phone skin to society6. I had an image I doodled of a space weasel, which I had originally created very, very small indeed. I made it a few years ago in Photoshop, and there was just no way of improving the quality.

So I imported it into Inkscape, and copied the shapes as vectors. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t wanted to upload it to the art site for possible sale. After creating it as an .svg file in Inkscape I can now resize the file to any size I want.

It’s perhaps a little bare with a white background, so I might add some detail to the image behind the subject. Perhaps a spaceship bridge, or the surface of a strange alien planet.

The planet might benefit from having dinosaurs of course, because there really isn’t any image that wouldn’t benefit from a few dinosaurs in the background, or perhaps this illustration will just languish on my hard drive, like so many others. I’m feeling guilty about not working on my novel after all, and it might be time to try and finally get it finished.

Or I might let it stay just the way it is, an illustration of a cute character, against a simple white background. I’m thinking it might look really nice on a phone skin.

The vector art process is a very useful addition, even to an artist like me who thinks of himself as a painter rather than a graphic designer. It unifies and simplifies an image, and gives it really nice clean look. And with Inkscape, there is much less chance of nasty ol’ pixelation.