Big thanks to everyone for being so patient last month, it took a lot of testing and preparation in order for me to really understand the ins and outs of the new Facial Software. But, I can firmly say I'm very comfortable with it now, and I have a good idea of what can do to address potential things that can go wrong. I think it's safe to say through the promo project, I encountered just about everything that could have possibly went wrong lol And, thus will be sharing everything I've found s...
2022-02-03 00:02:14 +0000 UTC
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Thank you to everyone for being so patient. Today, I present the Facial MoCap Promo Vid which tests everything I've learned over the past 2 months! Thought it was a great way to combine my favorite game with my favorite K-Pop group lol - Had a blast creating it, so I hope you guys enjoy :)
Our next stop is the Facial MoCap Series!!
2022-02-01 06:34:02 +0000 UTC
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Big thanks to everyone voting in the last poll, it was quite a resounding "yes" so I'll be sure to add at least 1 video covering how to translate the workflow for non-human characters. And, depending on how much time we have, I may demonstrate the workflow for something like monsters or machines since we have a few of those from Macrophage, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there next month :)
The promo vid should be ready in 3 days, which will immediately kick us off into high g...
2022-01-28 11:20:15 +0000 UTC
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So, everything is just about ready. The promo video will be released in 4 days, and we will begin our Facial MoCap series - It occurred to me that a number of you have non-human characters, so before I solidify the series line-up, would you guys want an extra video covering how to set up the workflow for non-human faces. Characters like Fox and Falco??
If so, let me know down below, so I can work it into the plan -
2022-01-27 10:29:48 +0000 UTC
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So, a HUGE thank you to everyone who voted in the last poll, and another huge thank you to those who left really insightful comments on the subject. It was extremely fun to read the different points you each had, and I think it really helped me sort out some possible direction - This was probably the most unified poll results we've ever had lol. Didn't expect it to be so stacked, but was totally worth testing.
Just to further flush out some final thoughts on the matter, I do think it i...
2022-01-21 14:14:34 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad - So, now that we've finished the improvement series, as many of you know I'm spending the next 2 weeks preparing for the Facial MoCap tutorials, and in this kind of downtime, I like to collect thoughts and information for the future, and something I've been curious about is your thoughts on Photo-realism as opposed to Stylized - After spending a year in Anime style it really changed my perspective about the Pros and Cons of PBR vs NPR. I'll share my thoughts below, but definitely, ...
2022-01-17 10:11:24 +0000 UTC
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Today we conclude the series! And, I'd just like to say thank you and share some closing thoughts about why am really looking forward to Blender's Future :)
2022-01-15 11:20:16 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad, just a bit of a general announcement, part 6 was the last of the Blender Improvement series, I have one more video planned to end the series out called "Closing Thoughts" - There were a lot of other things I wanted to fit into the improvement series, but in the end I thought it best to keep it small and only the "Most" reasonable things given Blender's small team.
I'll go into more detail about this in the final video, but I've been extremely busy lately working on the prom...
2022-01-11 13:16:20 +0000 UTC
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Some of you probably saw this coming, but today we'll talk about one of my favorite features in Maya, and how Blender is VERY close to copying it!! Just needs a few more tweaks :)
2022-01-09 06:54:12 +0000 UTC
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Alright Squad, here's the hit-list we got for January - There was a crazy spike in our Monthly donation amount yesterday, and... I honestly don't know if it's temporary or not, but either way, I'm a man of my word. And, I really appreciate the support from you guys - So, we hit the $1000 mark, and I'm bumping all the facial MoCap series stuff up in the agenda priority. The rigging series will come after we've completed the Facial MoCap stuff.
Now, I am working on a small fun demonstrat...
2022-01-04 10:10:45 +0000 UTC
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Special Announcement, today we had an incredible Breakthrough - Over the last few months, I've been working on optimizing a super fast and easy Facial Motion Capture Workflow. I've also been running a lot of tests and various types of characters and faces, but today I've finally tested the final product and - Well, it works. It works really well - It's simple, streamlined, and looks real good with virtually no manual clean-up required, so it saves a LOT of time lol.
Here's a little pr...
2022-01-03 08:59:11 +0000 UTC
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The first time I opened Z-Brush, I was shocked how streamlined it was, and I think we could implement some of it into Blender - Here is the one feature I think we could easily copy that would save New User's a lot of time :)
2022-01-02 12:11:41 +0000 UTC
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Well Squad, it was a one hell of a month, but we made it - LOTS of good progress with Facial and hand motion capture research behind the scenes, much of which I hope to demonstrate in the very near future - We're also just about done with the Blender Improvement Series - And, I've got a brand new and improved 3.0 rigging/animation series planned to kick off the next month, so I hope you guys look forward to it!
A huge welcome to all the new members of the Squad, thank you very much for...
2021-12-31 01:27:31 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad - Looks like we're almost done with the Blender Improvement Series. Since 3.0 has now officially been released, the first thing I'll be updating is the rigging series - A few things have changed for the better, and I think I can save people a lot of time with some new rigging techniques I've found over the year.
That being said, is there any particular aspect of rigging/weight painting that you find challenging, that you would really like to see me cover in the new updated se...
2021-12-29 00:49:21 +0000 UTC
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This has been something I've really wanted to see Blender improve for a long time, so today I'd like to show how two other software have optimizing controlling multiple objects simultaneously -
2021-12-28 09:28:45 +0000 UTC
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I know it's a bit early, but I wanted to go ahead and wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy new year :) I will be taking the next 2 days off to visit and spend time with family, so for today and tomorrow I wont be posting any updates, but immediately afterward, we'll finish the last few videos in the current series -
I genuinely wish you all have a wonderful and warm holiday - Please be safe, enjoy the end of the year, and as always have a Fantastic Day :)
2021-12-24 11:34:36 +0000 UTC
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Thought I'd share a funny little story that happened today - As, most of you know, I've been working on a way to super speed the Facial MoCap process, and for the most part, I have succeeded. There are a few little kinks I'm trying to further improve/automate, and for that usually I ask questions directly with the Autodesk Technical Support staff. Since, they know the software better than anyone else -
Now, the guy who's been helping me so far has been super DUPER awesome at giving me...
2021-12-22 09:06:05 +0000 UTC
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Today let's talk about improvements Blender 3.0 could make without needing to build any extra features or add-ons. There are plenty of native things we could improve within Default Blender, here is one of the simplest ideas I think would drastically improve new user experience :)
2021-12-21 04:06:24 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad, I would like your opinion-! (definitely leave a comment if you got the time to flush out your take) - In the next vid we're going to be talking about a subject that I feel is extremely under-explored. I had a good discussion with some other software users, and they pointed out something of a paradox within Blender that I do think is worth giving thought, and that is, at what point does a paid add-on defeat the point of Blender being free? - The best retopo addons are well over $100...
2021-12-19 10:25:53 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad, just wanted to get everyone up to speed on some decisions I've made regarding the rest of the Month - After some thought, I've decided to postpone game development while we are on the "Blender Improvement" series. Truth be told I expected 3.0 to take longer to release, so I was expecting to have more of December to focus on Game Development and Facial MoCap research. And, honestly, I'm glad that 3.0 came out early - However, I wasn't expecting to do the 3.0 series so suddenly...
2021-12-18 07:36:59 +0000 UTC
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I think it's important to remember that there are a lot of things Blender can improve that don't require extra development - Today we'll look into what I believe is the smallest big thing blender could do to save it's community lots of cumulative time :)
2021-12-16 12:38:16 +0000 UTC
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So, great news-! My research on finding fast and efficient ways to quickly set up Facial MoCap is really starting to pay off - I had a theory, and have spent the last few days testing it, but it finally worked, and now I have created a "button" that once pressed, automatically generates all 52 blend-shapes needed for standard iphone motion capture!!
I would like to add a few things to it in order to make it more flexible, but you can see it in action in the video above-! And yes, once ...
2021-12-11 08:07:03 +0000 UTC
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Alright, here we go - Let's talk about things I really hope Blender starts to adopt from other software, and what standards I'll be using to judge the competition - The rules are very simple :)
2021-12-10 12:19:32 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad, as many of you know, in the next few videos, we will be covering the most important ways I believe Blender could be improved - We've been waiting a long time for 3.0 to release, and since it's finally here, I think now is a good time to really display a "head-to-head" comparison on things I would really want to see Blender learn from other software.
Ironically, most of the changes I'm about to recommend are actually quite simple and small, but if implemented, could definite...
2021-12-08 08:51:37 +0000 UTC
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ALRIGHT!!! Was a CLOSE deadline, but we made it - All the assets for the game were completed just in time for December-!! I just finished posting it all on art station, here is a list of all the characters, enemies, and weapons - I had more designs and ideas, but we have to keep the ball rolling, so here is what we got to work with for the rest of development :)
If you go to art station you can see LOTS of extra pictures for each model above, clicking on the main thumbnail > will s...
2021-12-06 06:37:54 +0000 UTC
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So, 3.0 finally came out, and I'm honestly very pleasantly surprised with all the changes. They really targeted a lot of the things I felt the neglected in previous versions, so it was a nice to see Animation really got some love finally :)
2021-12-05 09:23:02 +0000 UTC
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Well, Squad, here we are, the final month of the year, and as usual, there's a lot to cover before we close 2021 - While we are waiting for 3.0 there are a few topics I'd like to talk about regarding things I believe could really improve blender that I hope to see worked on in the future. I've been doing a lot of animation for the game in the background too, so I figure while we wait, I might as well share some useful tips that have been really helpful for me animating last month. Hopefully w...
2021-12-03 14:31:54 +0000 UTC
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Alright Squad, despite being relatively quiet on YouTube, A LOT of work happened in November - The most important accomplishment was the creation and completion of the Community Character (Neutrophil) It took an entire 2 weeks to create the Neutrophil community character, and I believe it was well worth the time - Also, did a bunch of development on the game behind the scenes as well. There was too much stuff to list, so I summed it up as "Prototyped Gameplay" lol. And, there were many last m...
2021-11-30 23:34:35 +0000 UTC
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One of the most HIGHLY requested - Here's the easiest way I've found to bring the Anime Style Shading from Blender to Unity in 2 Minutes-!!
2021-11-30 01:23:20 +0000 UTC
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Alright, I told you guys I'd make a GG Anime Style character for you to study and play around with, and he's finally done-!! I know it took a while, but I really put my all into this one, hope you guys like it :)
https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/p/g12zm/guilty-gear-anime-style-character-neutrophil
2021-11-24 13:59:24 +0000 UTC
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