Uncle! Ok, I Give In…

Posted on October 17, 2012 by SusanG

I have been trying for some time to learn to use the open source 3D modeling and animation program Blender. The fact that such a robust and extensive program exists, is free, and open source, is something that I find really exciting. And I want to learn it and support it.

However, for me, it isn’t working out at the moment. It is actually getting in the way of having fun creating art. I am not finding it the easiest program to learn, and I have been trying. I have one of the newer books and I tried to work along with one of the chapters only to find that one of the tools being featured has since been deprecated from that specific incarnation to something and somewhere slightly different. It took me half an hour searching help and the wiki to figure out what to use instead. Were it not for being really determined to work along and try to learn how to use the features, I would have given up and gone and played a game.

I’m not inept at digital art programs and I have had experience with 3D programs, though it has been quite a while, and I can draw. Blender just turns out to be more challenging than I have the patience for at the moment. So I give in.

I still want to create 3D art.

What to do. I suppose the next thing is to look at some of the programs that are not open source and not free and are used in industries that make use of 3D art.

Where to start though. I could try to go back to the program I used in school and see if I can pick up the newer tools and functionality, and hope they kept some of the things that I remember making things a bit easier for creating. I am afraid I will find it to be more challenging than I remember. There is a 30 day trial so I could test it out before committing to it, which is good. If it turns out it is easy to pick up and get going then the next problem becomes the price. Right now, it’s a little high for my budget. Maybe it will be a goal, something to strive for.

I’ve been reading some sites and magazines and have found two other programs closer to my budget, also with 30 day trials. I have decided on one that I think I will enjoy working with the most, initially. I may still want the other once I get proficient with the first one.

I’ve watched several of the training videos on the site, and know once I get the trial I will go back and watch some of them again. I’ve even ordered a book so I have some reference.

I haven’t downloaded the trial yet. I’m hoping to do that this weekend. I am trying to time the 30 days to coincide with some time off from work that I have scheduled, that way I have larger chunks of time to spend with it so I can really see how I like it.

More soon. And who knows, maybe pictures in a post or two.

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Nothing to Say

Posted on July 4, 2012 by SusanG

I know I’ve mentioned that one of the things I enjoy doing is playing guitar. I play electric guitar and I mostly play rhythm guitar. When I go to the local blues jam that’s all I play, rhythm. Most of the time, when I’m offered a solo slot I pass on it. I prefer to just stick with rhythm.

While on the one hand I would say playing rhythm guitar is just easier, on the other hand I have to say that it is not quite as easy as you think it is. If you get too much of the rest of the group wandering all over with the rhythm and pace of the piece you’re playing, or supposed to be playing, then you may be the only thing holding that sound together. None of that is why I prefer to play rhythm guitar.

I prefer to play rhythm guitar because, musically, I have nothing to say. To me, if you are going to play lead guitar you really need to have something to say, a story to tell. I don’t have anything to say, musically, anyway.

I haven’t really had much to say here on this site either. It isn’t that there haven’t been a lot of things happening. There have been. I don’t feel that every little thing needs to be reported on. Thus the huge gaps between posts. Of course moving house again this year certainly hasn’t helped.

Things are settling down again and I am getting a bit back into those things that might have been worth commenting on so hopefully I will get back into posting things again.

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Learning As I Go…

Posted on February 8, 2012 by SusanG

I know to some this might not seem like that big a deal. I haven’t added a material or any fancy lighting yet, however, this little cube actually represents some serious learning. The previous version of this salt shaker idea took me quite some time over several days. This one here took only a couple of hours in an afternoon. I haven’t done anything fancy to it yet, no materials or special lighting. It is much closer to the look I want so I’m quite pleased with it.

Revised Salt Shaker

As I learn more of the tools and options that are available to me I find faster and better ways to do what I am trying to do. I am often surprised and the difference learning one or two things can make.

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More 3D Stuff – This Time a Salt Shaker

Posted on February 5, 2012 by SusanG

I’ll get back to the coffee pot project later. Right now I’m working on a model of those sort of glass salt shakers. You know the type, the ones with the top that looks a little like a bullet tip. Except I’m not trying to make it in a cut glass style, more like a free form style. I’m not sure how well that is going to work yet. It’s taken a bit of work just to get things to look uneven.

In any event here’s how it’s looking so far. I’ve set a transparent green for the glass so you can see inside and to add some interest I put a light source in the inside cube.

The beginnings of the salt shaker

 

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Playing in 3D

Posted on January 21, 2012 by SusanG

Once again I am taking a stab at 3D computer art. I’ve tried before and not gotten very far because I went about it all wrong for me. I tried getting a book and working through it and learning from the beginning. I really only do that when I go to school. If I’m learning on my own I usually jump right in then middle somewhere and then starting figuring it out.

So this time, I got the latest copy of Blender, which has a much improved interface. Then I found a few quick getting started videos. I still have a book or two which work great for reference. I keep moving my center point which totally messes up my transforms. Anyway, being able to look up the command to re-center the cursor has been helpful.

Here’s a shot of what I’ve been working on. It’s a big difficult to tell that it is meant to be from this angle. I spent one whole evening cutting that hole in the side of that cylinder. Of course as I write this I think of another way that might have been easier…hm, then again, maybe not.

Still, it’s a lot farther a long and more interesting to do it and figure it out instead of just following the book.

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