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Blender is Good

gomidoggomidog
edited October 2008 in Everything Else
So, as a Maya user I used to dismiss Blender because of it's odd interface and various other gripes. Today I had some free time, and so I installed Blender and set about to learning how to do all the basic things, You know, just in case I need to do 3D and I don't have access to Maya. "In Case of Emergency," as it were. When I actually tried hard to learn it for once, and I got a little more used to the controls, I was surprised at how robust of a program it is. Not quite Maya, but really, it's surprisingly great.

Any Blender users on the forums? Let's all learn Blender together! We could make short films! (Not yet, though. Have to finish current movie first.)

Comments

  • The BurritoThe Burrito
    I've used blender a bit, but not in a while, I suspect its better than it was last time I tried it. It is capable of some good stuff though, Elephant's Dream and Big Buck Bunny are the first things that come to mind. I primarily use 3DS Max though, because my high school gave me a license and I've been using it since.

    I mostly do video game stuff, so I'm not terribly useful for doing shorts, but would like to see what people here can do. Also, if anyone here is good at modeling people, any resources that would be good for learning? My lack of skill here is slowing my current project.
  • MrRobotoMrRoboto
    The usual:

    Ease of use ----> Cinema 4D
    Open Source----> Blender
    High End ------> Maya/Max (depending if its modeling or animation)

    All of them are capable of doing what the others do, and honestly, I've seen work done in all and all are high quality, it just boils down to your budget and what you already know.

    Zbrush, a must for all (if modeling)
  • gomidoggomidog
    Also, if anyone here is good at modeling people, any resources that would be good for learning? My lack of skill here is slowing my current project.
    That is my forte, so I can give you a couple of really helpful tutorials.

    Joan of Arc     - One of my absolute FAVORITE free tutorials, not only do you end up with a decent mid-poly model, but because of the concise way everything is explained, you are able to get great results in a very short amount of time.

    Ben Mathis Low Poly     - I could take or leave the model on this one, but it is a decent ref if you are modeling for games. I found it because I really dig the texture painting part of the tutorial.

    "Stop Staring" is one of the best books on medium to high-poly facial modeling. The layout of the geometry loops lets you get a lot of mileage out of the expressions, and the step by step advice on building the face is applicable to a great number of styles.

    Basically, my favorite way to learn modeling techniques is to just look at other people's completed wire-frames. Even JPEGs of them will do. By looking at the final product you see what you are aiming for. Everyone has their own methods to model; it's how the geometry ends up that will affect the animation and deformation.

    I just bought a book on Amazon about modeling for games, but I was very disappointed. It was mostly stuff I already knew and the models were SUPER low poly. Then I looked at the date it was published. 2001! No wonder it was five bucks. Anybody want it? ColumbianShadow has first dibs on it, though, 'cause he modeled some shelves for me.

    As for Big Buck Bunny and Elephant's Dream, I have seen both. In all honesty, while technically impressive, as short films went I was kinda meh about them. Also: Show me a decent thing done in cinema 4D, because I most of the stuff I have seen is really bleh. I always attributed that to it being a kind of n00b software, where the pros go for Maya and the hefty programs.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    I made a half-ass attempt at learning Blender a while back, just for modelling. I ended up giving up and sticking with Wings3D, which does most of what I need to do much more easily (I mostly just model buildings for backgrounds, and whatnot). I'd be up to give it another shot, though.
  • MrRobotoMrRoboto
    edited October 2008

    As for Big Buck Bunny and Elephant's Dream, I have seen both. In all honesty, while technically impressive, as short films went I was kinda meh about them. Also: Show me a decent thing done in cinema 4D, because I most of the stuff I have seen is really bleh. I always attributed that to it being a kind of n00b software, where the pros go for Maya and the hefty programs.
    Well, the bodyPaint app is widely used I believe and I've seen some great stuff in GCSociety.org
    Post edited by MrRoboto on
  • The BurritoThe Burrito
    That is my forte, so I can give you a couple of really helpful tutorials.

    Joan of Arc    - One of my absolute FAVORITE free tutorials, not only do you end up with a decent mid-poly model, but because of the concise way everything is explained, you are able to get great results in a very short amount of time.

    Ben Mathis Low Poly- I could take or leave the model on this one, but it is a decent ref if you are modeling for games. I found it because I really dig the texture painting part of the tutorial.
    Thanks for links. I'd seen the Ben Mathis one somewhere before. I'm really liking the other one so far, Maybe I can finally have something to show off other than inanimate objects.
  • ColombianShadowColombianShadow

    Joan of Arc
    Fuck yeah. It's how I learned to model humans.
  • CramitCramit
    I tried to learn blender, but found that it is just not really suitable (at least as far as I could find) for creating 3d models of parts that are to be assembled. Luckily Autodesk now provides Inventor for educational use.
  • gomidoggomidog
    Dunno about that. You can combine polygonal objects and then merge edges or vertices. Ability to model figures piece by piece is basically a must, and it seems like it does it.
  • CramitCramit
    Maybe it was the design philosophy that was my problem. In Inventor I am used to creating basic shapes and then augmenting those shapes with a series of features ( i.e. To create a metal plate you draw a rectangle then extend it to a box, then add holes to it for screw holes). To assemble the parts you can line things up by thier featuresusing mates and incerts. I couldn't figure out how to do that in Blender.
  • IlmarinenIlmarinen
    Maybe it was the design philosophy that was my problem. In Inventor I am used to creating basic shapes and then augmenting those shapes with a series of features ( i.e. To create a metal plate you draw a rectangle then extend it to a box, then add holes to it for screw holes). To assemble the parts you can line things up by thier featuresusing mates and incerts. I couldn't figure out how to do that in Blender.
    Inventor is CAD, Blender is not. They are made for completely different uses.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    Since we're on the subject of 3D software -- what are the best programs for quickly modeling architectural/technical objects? I've been using Wings3D, which is free and actually pretty handy despite its simplicity, but it has some major shortcomings. Sketchup is cool, but I need more precision and...automation? I'm keeping my eye on Autodessys' BonZai 3D, but it's not nearly out yet. I need to model things like buildings and cars.
  • thaneofcawdorthaneofcawdor
    Did anyone else think of this guy
    image
    when they read the title of this discussion?
  • ......
    Did anyone else think of this guy
    image
    when they read the title of this discussion?
    It's the first and obvious thought, does it really need to be mentioned on a geek forum?
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    Flexo == Blender ?
  • IlmarinenIlmarinen
    Since we're on the subject of 3D software -- what are the best programs for quickly modeling architectural/technical objects? I've been using Wings3D, which is free and actually pretty handy despite its simplicity, but it has some major shortcomings. Sketchup is cool, but I need more precision and...automation? I'm keeping my eye on Autodessys' BonZai 3D, but it's not nearly out yet. I need to model things like buildings and cars.
    From what I've seen, Google Sketchup is pretty damn nice for architecture, and it's pretty easy to use(I haven't used it much, but I've heard nothing bad from people who use it daily).
  • gomidoggomidog
    One bad thing about the stuff I've seen that comes out of Sketchup is OMG is the poly layout a mess. It's really hard to import files made in sketch-up into any other 3D program. We've had a lot of trouble with it. I suppose if you are just modeling stuff to be traced over in 2D, that doesn't really matter, but if you want to texture or animate the object to be used in a short, you'll have a bit of trouble.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    I could murder a good 2D sketching program to put diagrams into my blog. Any sugestions?
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    . I suppose if you are just modeling stuff to be traced over in 2D, that doesn't really matter, but if you want to texture or animate the object to be used in a short, you'll have a bit of trouble.
    Yeah, tracing is basically all I need. But Sketchup doesn't fit my needs for other reasons. FormZ looked promising, but the interface is so crazy -- I don't have the time to mess with that. Plus, it's expensive.
    I could murder a good 2D sketching program to put diagrams into my blog. Any sugestions?
    I'm not sure I understand the question, but Gimp is free (Gimpshop is easier to use if you're used to Photoshop) and ArtRage is decent and cheap.
  • AnastiusAnastius
    I could murder a good 2D sketching program to put diagrams into my blog. Any sugestions?
    Well, you could murder serial killers, for example.
  • LusankyaLusankya
    I could murder a good 2D sketching program to put diagrams into my blog. Any sugestions?
    It's expensive, but here at work we use Rhinoceros 3 in the Wireless division and AutoCAD everywhere else. Rhino is NURBS and shines for 3D work, but it's just as powerful in two dimensions as AutoCAD, with a bunch of shortcuts and utilities to make it the most powerful CAD/CAM modeller I've ever used.
  • AprecheApreche
    I heard something on a grapevine. A new version of Blender just came out that supposedly has a completely new GUI. That's all I heard, so who knows if it's good or not. It's probably worth it for interested parties to investigate.
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited April 2011
    Oh Please may this be true. May it at least have a plug in that brings it closer to the industry standards in mouse controls. If I could swap in Maya mouse controls I wouldn't care if the hotkeys were different. I can learn new hotkeys and menus, but it changes the whole workflow and fucks me up when I go back to Maya.
    Also, the pivot selection thing drives me bonkers.
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    edited April 2011
    No idea about standards with respect to Maya, but the Blender home page is right now talking about a new version with a revamped UI being out.

    Oh, and the UI is apparently scripted entirely in Python. If you know Python (or know someone else who does), you can theoretically rewrite the entire UI to your liking.

    I'm definitely interested in playing a bit with Blender. I'm no 3D modeller, but it may be kinda neat to throw some models together.
    Post edited by Dragonmaster Lou on
  • Omar_RamirezOmar_Ramirez
    I've been using blender since the GUI change in Beta, it really improves the program to no end, and it has improved a lot in the last year too (technology wise).
    Oh Please may this be true. May it at least have a plug in that brings it closer to the industry standards in mouse controls. If I could swap in Maya mouse controls I wouldn't care if the hotkeys were different.
    You always had the option of changing the hotkeys and all, but now you do have a preset for maya users (You can select it in the splash screen). it does help a lot, I've seen (though I prefered to change my workflow from the start, although I did start with maya myself)

    I definitely recomend it, you can download the new stable version (2.57) here [Link]
  • IkatonoIkatono
    I first used Blender when I saw the portable app and downloaded. I tried tooling around with it when I was bored. I think I made a square.
    Anyways, I'll probably use a tutorial to actually learn how to use it now.
  • gomidoggomidog
    I've been using blender since the GUI change in Beta, it really improves the program to no end, and it has improved a lot in the last year too (technology wise).
    Totally. I was really happy with the release. 2.5 was a huge improvement. Now all I have to do is convince my 3D friends that it actually is something usable by this point.
    You always had the option of changing the hotkeys and all, but now you do have a preset for maya users (You can select it in the splash screen). it does help a lot, I've seen (though I prefered to change my workflow from the start, although I did start with maya myself)
    It was the mouse movements/camera controls that always fucked me up. I can make custom prefs/hotkeys any time, but seriously, jumping from one mouse control scheme to the other made my head hurt. I had heard about the Maya thing, but I could never find it.
  • Omar_RamirezOmar_Ramirez
    It was the mouse movements/camera controls that always fucked me up. I can make custom prefs/hotkeys any time, but seriously, jumping from one mouse control scheme to the other made my head hurt. I had heard about the Maya thing, but I could never find it.
    Sorry XD I meant to say you could change the hotkeys and Mouse control. not big problem, really. it's all under user preferences (or using the selector in the splash screen)

    Blender FTW! o_O (Sorry, I'm a blender nerd XD)
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