What all can Blender do?
- Thread starter cjnixon
- Start date
www.blender.org you'll get the full rundown there.
I have it and love it. I am no pro though and really don't intend to be just now (I am just learning it to gain stronger insight on how to plan and incorporate vfx into my future works.) I am still learning it myself but you can do 3D modelling, animation, lighting, particle creation (I think) and simulation, compositing, and now with the new tomato branch - match moving. I in now way profess to be pro at any of these concepts as I am still learning about them all. I just wanted to see if I could be of any help. I am sure the vets on here will do a better job at answering these questions, or just go to www.blender.org (it also serves as a great portal to all other sites blender - especially some great training sites).
Oh and they have these projects where they create shorts with their tool. I helped fund their last effort Sintel (I think that was the Dorian project) by pre-ording a DVD and some other stuff. It was awesome. I also bought their Big Buck Bunny (which you can Google. Check it out to appreciate what a team of masters can do with this tool). I think they are working on the Mango project right now.
I know I was all over the place, but I hope there were some nuggets of good infor in there for you. Good luck.
I have it and love it. I am no pro though and really don't intend to be just now (I am just learning it to gain stronger insight on how to plan and incorporate vfx into my future works.) I am still learning it myself but you can do 3D modelling, animation, lighting, particle creation (I think) and simulation, compositing, and now with the new tomato branch - match moving. I in now way profess to be pro at any of these concepts as I am still learning about them all. I just wanted to see if I could be of any help. I am sure the vets on here will do a better job at answering these questions, or just go to www.blender.org (it also serves as a great portal to all other sites blender - especially some great training sites).
Oh and they have these projects where they create shorts with their tool. I helped fund their last effort Sintel (I think that was the Dorian project) by pre-ording a DVD and some other stuff. It was awesome. I also bought their Big Buck Bunny (which you can Google. Check it out to appreciate what a team of masters can do with this tool). I think they are working on the Mango project right now.
I know I was all over the place, but I hope there were some nuggets of good infor in there for you. Good luck.
Tons, aside form 3D modeling, animation and rendering... they've just added tons of features that are starting to make it really attractive for SFX purposes... and are working on the "Mango" project which is pushing that front forward. I've been pointing out some bits here: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=34402 and I'm really excited about this program!
http://creativecow.net "Blender Survival Guide"
http://www.blenderguru.com
http://www.blendercookie.com
These are my 3 big resources... take some time to "Steep" in the videos so things look familiar when you dive in to the REALLY DAUNTING interface. The Creative Cow series is targeted toward non-3D designers to get them making stuff quickly... it's a fantastic intro to the program that doesn't spend as much time on showing every little twiddle and dial available, and just dives right into making stuff.
http://creativecow.net "Blender Survival Guide"
http://www.blenderguru.com
http://www.blendercookie.com
These are my 3 big resources... take some time to "Steep" in the videos so things look familiar when you dive in to the REALLY DAUNTING interface. The Creative Cow series is targeted toward non-3D designers to get them making stuff quickly... it's a fantastic intro to the program that doesn't spend as much time on showing every little twiddle and dial available, and just dives right into making stuff.
[Edit]
Oop, Knightly had already linked this in his Blender thread. So let me instead link to his Blender thread here:
Knightly's Blender Adds Camera Tracking Thread
Sorry, Knightly.
[/Edit]
Anyway, it only intimidates me, but it probably won't intimidate you. Even though I don't know what the hell is going on, it's a blast to listen to Sebastian Koenig. His enthusiasm is infectious.
Oop, Knightly had already linked this in his Blender thread. So let me instead link to his Blender thread here:
Knightly's Blender Adds Camera Tracking Thread
Sorry, Knightly.
[/Edit]
Anyway, it only intimidates me, but it probably won't intimidate you. Even though I don't know what the hell is going on, it's a blast to listen to Sebastian Koenig. His enthusiasm is infectious.
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Part of that enthusiasm is because to do this type of effect previously, you had to suffer through HORRIBLE interfaces on 1 or 2 available open source linux softwares, or... spend a butt tonne of cash on software that gives you a better interface for this task... in blender, you get the free happys of open source, and the much better interface of the spendy software... Blender is the promise of open source software well achieved in that golden expectation of cooperation and focussed development.
It can get on your nerves, that's for sure. I watched some tutorials yesterday and this morning. Then, I did a basic animation of two squares chasing each other. Then when it cam etime to save the file, it was like trying to break into a safe. Long story short, I thought I had saved the file, closed out. Then tried to reopen the file. Nope, nothing. File is gone. I only lost about an hour of my life on the animation, but I really don't understand why they would make it difficult to save. What's wrong with SAVE AS, name the file and file type, click SAVE. But, from what I gather, blender files have to end in .blender or something like that. And there's something about "C/" or something.
I admit to not being the most computer savvy person out there, but I thought it was well within my means to save a file. Seeing some of the footage put out with this program is motivation to learn it but I'm planning for some frustration.
I admit to not being the most computer savvy person out there, but I thought it was well within my means to save a file. Seeing some of the footage put out with this program is motivation to learn it but I'm planning for some frustration.
The file dialog stuff is very Linux... and feels really familiar if you're used to that world. In the Mac/Windows world, it feels really clunky as our interfaces are dumbed down for the general public to use rather than high end hacker types who tend to prefer every option presented at their fingertips, not hidden under menus and pulldowns (read: they prefer crappy cluttered interfaces that adhere to no fundamental design concepts at all).
If you mentally remap the pertinent bits of that interface to the ones you're used to, it'll go much more smoothly - then it's really just the same keystrokes for saving and opening that you're used to - you may want to manually check your file system when you first initiate your save to be sure the file has been created. The part that annoys me is that it requires you to verify you want to save every time you hit cmd-s (ctrl-s)... fundamentally contrary to the "Save often" mindset espoused by the same people who are writing the program. Hard to follow their advice when it's made more difficult by them.
If you mentally remap the pertinent bits of that interface to the ones you're used to, it'll go much more smoothly - then it's really just the same keystrokes for saving and opening that you're used to - you may want to manually check your file system when you first initiate your save to be sure the file has been created. The part that annoys me is that it requires you to verify you want to save every time you hit cmd-s (ctrl-s)... fundamentally contrary to the "Save often" mindset espoused by the same people who are writing the program. Hard to follow their advice when it's made more difficult by them.