Click image to enlarge.

More details on the Durian Open Movie Project blogsite.

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

I watched this excellent documentary and couldn't resist sharing it with you. It's about the importance of creating previsualization (previs) for CG and Live Action movies. Frankly, a lot of what they call previs I would be happy to call "finished"!

Check it out, I found it very interesting and fun to watch.

(Yeah, I know, get back to working on the DVD!) :p

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

Here are the results from one of a few bouncing ball animation tutorials that will be on the BlenderNewbies Blender 2.5 Training DVD.

Other bouncing ball animation tutorials will include: Multiple Bounce with Roll to Stop (yeah, I need a better title) Ball Bounce (with Tail) Animated scene with Ball & Tail character (EDIT: if there's time and disc space)

Also, there's been an announcement from the Blender Foundation that they plan to remove some features from the 2.5 release! Hopefully, this won't cause me to have to redo/rethink some of the tutorials. I definitely don't want tutorials covering features that were removed at the last minute. More info...

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

Learn more about the BlenderNewbies Blender 2.5 Training DVD

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

Here are the results from one of a few bouncing ball animation tutorials that will be on the BlenderNewbies Blender 2.5 Training DVD.

Other bouncing ball animation tutorials will include: Multiple Bounce with Roll to Stop (yeah, I need a better title) Ball Bounce (with Tail) Animated scene with Ball & Tail character

Also, there's been an announcement from the Blender Foundation that they plan to remove some features from the 2.5 release! Hopefully, this won't cause me to have to redo/rethink some of the tutorials. I definitely don't want tutorials covering features that were removed at the last minute. More info...

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

Development for the dvd has picked up since some previous bugs have been squashed in Blender. Texture painting and some aspects of dealing with materials is still a bit buggy, though. I experienced lots of crashes when using texture painting to clean up uv seams. The devs are aware of these issue, though, so I'm sure things will be ironed out sooner than later.

Here are a few draft examples of tutorials that will be on the dvd.

There will be several simple modeling tutorials that will involve simple uv-mapping. These will be designed to get you comfortable with the overall process.

This is an example of a project where the texturing is more complex. Yes, I will add some ketchup in the final tutorial! :)

This butterfly flight example is more involved than it might seem, even though the model is not meant to be realistic. There's 2d painting needed to prepare the wing graphics, a touch of uv-mapping, some magic applied in the graph editor, and some final touches added via the compositing nodes.

Also, close to 8 hours of reference videos have been recorded! And, I'll be including some tutorials on modeling in a cartoon style based on photo references.

Kernon

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

This blender video tutorial provides an introduction to some fundamental animation techniques. The techniques covered are Drag, Follow-Through, and Overlapping Action.You can check out the tutorial at BlenderCookie.comVersion Compatibility: 2.4x+Tutorial Level: Beginnertechnorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

In this quick tip, we’ll take a look at how to easily create a procedural noise texture that’s stable during animation, unlike the default “Noise” procedural texture that’s available in Blender.Version Compatibility: 2.4x, 2.5 alpha zeroTutorial Level: BeginnerYou can check out the tutorial at BlenderCookie.comtechnorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

In this Blender tutorial, we'll take a look at how to add simple transitions to camera changes in an animation. This will be accomplished using Blender's Video Sequence Editor.This tutorial is an extension to the Camera Changing tutorial.$2.00 (ZIP download 38.8MB, MOV video format)Higher Resolution video (1280 x 800)View sample snapshot of download quality.Additional Info:Blender's Video Sequence EditorEffects in the Video Sequence Editortechnorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

This video tutorial will show you how to use multiple cameras in your animation, and easily control the camera switching in your animated scene.$2.00 (ZIP download 29.6MB, MOV video format)Higher Resolution video (1280 x 800)View sample snapshot of download quality.Additional Info:To assign a camera to be active at multiple points during your animation, simply add the necessary frame numbers to the camera's name, separated by commas (no space required).Example---------A camera desired to be the active camera at frames 48 and 1726 should be named as follows:48,1726You can have as many assignments per camera as desired, up to the character limit for object names. Note that frame numbers greater than 4 digits should not be formatted with commas (i.e. 1,429 should be named as 1429).technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

This video tutorial will show you how to use multiple cameras in your animation, and easily control the camera switching in your animated scene.$2.00 (ZIP download 29.6MB, MOV video format)Higher Resolution video (1280 x 800)View sample snapshot of download quality.Additional Info:To assign a camera to multiple points in the timeline of your animation, simply add the necessary frame numbers to the camera's name, separated by commas (no space required).Example---------A camera desired to be the active camera at frames 48 and 1726 should be named as follows:48,1726You can have as many assignments per camera as desired, up to the character limit for object names. Note that frame numbers greater than 4 digits should not be formatted with commas (i.e. 1,429 should be named as 1429).technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

This video tutorial will show you how to use multiple cameras in your animation, and easily control the camera switching in your animated scene.$2.00 (ZIP download 29.6MB, MOV video format)Higher Resolution video (1280 x 800)View sample snapshot of download quality.Additional Info:To assign a camera to multiple points in the timeline of your animation, simply add the necessary frame numbers to the camera's name, separated by commas (no space required).Example---------A camera desired to be the active camera at frames 48 and 1726 should be named as follows:48,1726You can have as many assignments per camera as desired, up to the character limit for object names. Note that frame numbers greater than 4 digits should not be formatted with commas (i.e. 1,429 should be named as 1429).technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

This video tutorial will show you how to use multiple cameras in your animation, and easily control the camera switching in your animated scene.$2.00 (ZIP download 29.6MB, MOV video format)Higher Resolution video (1280 x 800)View sample snapshot of download quality.technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Hello,Here's Part 1, of a 3-part video tutorial series, that will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated.In Part 1, we’ll take a look at how to create the sprite graphics that will be used in the particle system.Check out Part 1 on

Here's Part 3, the final part of the tutorial series that will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated.In Part 3, we'll take a look at combining the sprite graphics with our particle system, and then tweaking things, including a little bit

Here's Part 3, the final part of the tutorial series that will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated.In Part 3, we'll take a look at combining the sprite graphics with our particle system, and then tweaking things, including a little bit

Hello,Here's Part 1, of a 3-part video tutorial series, that will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated.In Part 1, we’ll take a look at how to create the sprite graphics that will be used in the particle system.Check out Part 1 on

Here's Part 2, of a 3-part video tutorial series that will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated.In Part 2, we’ll take a look at how to create the particle system that will be used with the sprite graphics created in Part 1.Check out Part

Hello,Here's Part 1, of a 3-part video tutorial series, that will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated.In Part 1, we’ll take a look at how to create the sprite graphics that will be used in the particle system.Check out Part 1 on

I recently wrote an article on some of the tools and techniques that Blender offers for efficient preview rendering.Preview rendering is an important part of your workflow and needs to be as efficient as possible. It’s important to have strategies and techniques for the earlier stages of scene development that facilitate a smoother workflow. The less time you spend waiting for renders during the