I'm happy to announce that Blendo is now technically Rigged! Tomorrow I'll do some final touches with the shape keys, BUT, we will be releasing the rigged version of Blendo to the Community Absolutely FREE first thing Next month! AAAAAAND, because Him and Exa/Blenda share the same rig, they can technically share Animations - Which can be super useful for us when making the game lol
I will be crediting the names of Everyone here on Patreon as a Sponsor for the Male Rig. It's the least I...
2021-01-25 12:11:32 +0000 UTC
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Alright Squad, next week we'll be hitting the Programming Tutorials, which means this is the last week we'll have to prepare as much as possible. Generally, I like to have all the 3D assets completed by the time I start programming a project. That's why I've taken this month to work on the main 3 Models: Exa, Basic Male Soldier, and basic Enemy Virus.
As it stands right now: Exa is more or less complete. There are some small details like retopologizing the hair and UV Mapping some pro...
2021-01-23 09:30:31 +0000 UTC
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So these were the top picks from the last poll! Honestly, I'm pretty happy with the picks you guys decided on - They all have similar characteristics, and I have a few ideas for a design that will hopefully take pieces of each, and get something new and unique :)
Also, I really appreciated and enjoyed reading the comments last post, so thank you for sharing your thoughts yesterday. I'll do my best to come up with a cool design from these references - !
2021-01-21 12:21:12 +0000 UTC
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We're approaching the end of Exa's model adjustments. Our game has a Hero, now we need to create her enemies. I haven't really decided what kind of germs or virus she's fighting yet. But, for a generic "Infection" enemy. What is your PRIMARY pick, and what is your close second? And, explain why in the comments if you can, It really helps to hear your thought process on these things :)
2021-01-20 10:38:03 +0000 UTC
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I still don't quite understand how it happened, but we have reached our 3rd Patreon goal of 750! As a result, I've been spending a little more time looking into the process of getting the Rokoko face rig stuff to work. It seems like the biggest "task" to overcome is the fact that the face MoCap only works if your 3D head already has the 52 standard shape-keys that the IphoneX format is using.
Now, I really didn't have the time to make 52 facial shape keys on my own, so I bought the Bl...
2021-01-18 11:08:37 +0000 UTC
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A big thanks to everyone for voting and leaving very clear comments about their reasonings for their votes in the last poll - I'd like to follow up with a second more specific poll - In my experience, it doesn't really matter what program you use to model, sculpt, UV, and Texture. Blender is more than powerful enough to warrant not leaving another software for most of those things. The REAL question is just HOW MUCH better or worse Blender's Rigging, Animation, MoCap, & FBX Export tools c...
2021-01-17 09:56:31 +0000 UTC
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So, as I've been practicing zBrush every day for a week now, and I'm beginning to understand why it's the number one sculpting software. This led me to a very important question I think we should seriously address here in our community:
At what point do you think we should consider adopting another software over Blender?
My reason for asking is because I have been keeping an eye on Blender's competition, and I'm quite impressed with the how fast they are catching up. Blender's bigg...
2021-01-15 03:04:54 +0000 UTC
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Alright, after literally hours of thinking and reviewing our discussions here. I believe I've found a solution that maximizes the outcome for both the community, the Patron Squad, and potentially build a career -
When a character is completed, there will be a window (maybe 1 week?) everyone in our community will have the chance to have the MODEL for free. This allows everyone following the character creation process to have something to look forward to when the character is done, and ...
2021-01-13 07:00:17 +0000 UTC
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Thank you so much everyone for voting and sharing some amazingly useful comments on the last poll :) You guys brought up a lot of points that I didn't even consider before, I never considered things like people hopping onto Patreon just to download all the models and then hopping off quickly afterwards. Or the gumroad style option with a recommended level of donation and no cap- Really helped, thank you -
So, here are my thoughts after looking at the votes and reading the comment...
2021-01-12 06:23:46 +0000 UTC
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So, after taking a lot of feedback and ideas for how to go about our RPG Community Character Set, I've come up with the following options. It's very important to me that in some way we stay true to our "Giving to the community Awesome Quality stuff for free" ideals. At the same time, this is also something I'd like to turn into a profession, and make a living doing if possible.
I think what's most important about the time I spend this year is that the time I put into creating these cha...
2021-01-11 07:14:41 +0000 UTC
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Many of you are probably aware of our Plans to generate high quality characters for the Community. Specifically our "RPG Set" that will start with the Witch. I just started messing in zBrush for the first time today and it ROCKED my world, and I thinking the Witch will also be the first character we create in zBrush. I've found a whole lot of AMAZING tools that super speed up the character creation process -
However, the very "first" character we give to the community is going to be EX...
2021-01-10 07:28:32 +0000 UTC
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If nothing else, soft shading will get you a lot of milage and provide a foundation to build the rest of the normal shading process. Here you can see a summary of the whole process in a compact video! Ms. Ruki was generous enough to show and explain her technique in thorough detail here.
Please remember that this video, by contract, is for Patron's Only. She plans to release the full tutorials on her techniques in the future on her own channel. In the meanwhile, please respect h...
2021-01-09 06:01:47 +0000 UTC
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Literally just BARELY able to afford it, but we finally got zBrush!!! This was the final Software I ever wanted to buy. Only messed with it a tiny bit, but I'll definitely practice sculpting a high-poly body when I get the chance. Right now, I have to focus on finishing the Unity and Anime series before I can spend a real chunk of my time every day to practice sculpting. lol
BUT, for the first time in a long time, I feel safe dedicating practice into a software I know I'll be using for...
2021-01-07 09:13:58 +0000 UTC
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If we're lucky and I've done my math right, we might be able to afford zBrush very soon :) This is the FINAL piece of software we need for the year, so cross your fingers things go well!!!
2021-01-06 10:33:30 +0000 UTC
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ALRIGHT!!! So, even though I don't plan to release videos any time soon, there's ALOT of stuff I have to prepare in order to do the best job possible for the Programming Series. I know some of you have been waiting for over 2 years for this series, so I'm taking it very seriously, and I really appreciate you for being so patient. I'll do my best to complete it as fast as humanly possible. As soon as it launches, I'll be pumping a video out every other day, maybe sometimes twice a day.
2021-01-04 09:32:39 +0000 UTC
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Ms. Ruki was generous enough to include a video explaining her technique in thorough detail here. Please remember that this video, by contract, is for Patron's Only. She plans to release the full tutorials on her techniques in the future on her own channel. In the meanwhile, please respect her decision to keep this private on Patron -
2021-01-02 23:44:25 +0000 UTC
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I'll be posting a video later, but for now here's a glimpse at Exa's face shading now! Courtesy of Ms. Ruki. This was quite an eye opening experience to be a part of. On one hand, I feel like I understand the shading style a lot better, but on the other hand it's still A LOT of work -
It's a very trial & error process, but while watching her work, I feel like I have a few ideas on how to streamline a few of the steps. I'll be releasing the "Patreon Only" video of her explaining he...
2021-01-02 09:33:52 +0000 UTC
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Well Ladies & Gentlemen, we have somehow made it to the end of 2020 haha It has been one hell of a ride, but hey, somehow we're here lol. December was both one of the busiest months in the channel's history, but I also think it was one of the most important. Modeling was a HIGHLY requested video series for almost a year. I'm really glad to have the series completed :)
Next month will be a little 'lay-low' since I wont be uploading any tutorials on YouTube, but I will still be quit...
2021-01-01 02:27:53 +0000 UTC
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Congratulations on completing the course :) If you've made it this far, you have a solid understanding of each field in 3D and are ready to make the next important decision. It's time to decide your path for next year -
2020-12-31 08:52:50 +0000 UTC
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So, I just wanted to address a few points for anyone who may be wondering about the short animation project and Witch character plans we made.
I had planned to work on a short animation, but that was assuming that the Rokoko Gloves arrived for hand motion capture. They were supposed to arrive this December, but I guess they weren't able to make their deadline. Also, as we voted on solving the Anime shader first, we pushed back our ability to purchase & experiment with facial motion...
2020-12-30 07:06:29 +0000 UTC
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In the spirit of starting the new year fresh and fun, I'd like to go with the new theme of the community badges from last post. YouTube let's members wear badges depending on how long they have been supporting. The longer they support, the higher their badge becomes. You can see the first 4 above. And the last two for 1 Year & 2 Year are 'Ace' and 'Joker'.
You probably noticed that our theme for the badges are suits in a deck of cards. My reason being is that I believe a deck of c...
2020-12-29 10:15:08 +0000 UTC
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Hey Squad -! A few days ago YouTube informed me that the channel was eligible for Memberships. I wasn't sure what that was, but it seems to be YouTube's version of Patreon.
Now, I've been giving this a lot of thought and debated whether or not to activate this feature because I didn't want to divide our community. And, after much discussion with some close friends, I've made the decision to activate it next year.
The biggest reason is convenience. I've been told by other creators t...
2020-12-28 08:31:51 +0000 UTC
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Well Squad, we did it... As of the last video, we have finally completed the Blender Fundamental Series. From now on, for anyone in the world starting 3D for the first time. There is a complete series FREELY available that will get them started step by step through: Modeling, UV-Mapping, Texturing, Procedurals, Rigging, Weight painting, Drivers, Shape-Keys, Manual Animation, Motion-Capture Animation, Kitbashing, Exporting, and even a little Unity.
I honestly, can't even imagine how muc...
2020-12-25 23:14:10 +0000 UTC
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I present the final and most important 3D modeling technique all Artists NEED to be aware of, KitBashing - This information would have saved me years of wasted time back then. I hope it will spare you of the same fate :)
2020-12-24 04:40:08 +0000 UTC
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As, some of you may know, we have been wrestling with finding a way to do anime shading quickly and easily. And, I was lucky enough to get into contact with (In my opinion) the world's Leading Blender Anime Shading Expert. I showed her a few pictures of our Shader, and what I've got so far, and she said we were very close (Yay----lol). She offered to perfect the face shading for us at a cost of $250 - Which I actually believe is more than fair for her level of Quality (You can see a link to h...
2020-12-21 07:26:32 +0000 UTC
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I wasn't originally going to give her this kind of weapon. But, as I was making the tutorial it actually didn't turn out so bad. Should she keep it?? What do you think?
2020-12-20 10:37:57 +0000 UTC
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Mastering Arrays is a MUST-KNOW for ALL aspiring Blender Users. Learn how to use arrays to quickly trace curves and paths in 2 minutes!!!
2020-12-20 10:30:54 +0000 UTC
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This is a bit of a continuation from the last discussion - And, I'm pretty happy with the decision to focus on Characters, but I just wanted to clarify for those who are really looking forward to Animation that when I say 'focus' on creation, I don't mean that I'm not going to animate anymore. It just means I will no longer spend my time 'Practicing' animation.
Me focusing on Sculpting just means that's where all my practice time will go - Every time we create a new character, we will...
2020-12-18 07:13:51 +0000 UTC
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Mid-Poly can be a little tricky to navigate if you're not sure where to spend your poly. Here's the crash course to guide you through the process if you're not sure how to do it :)
2020-12-18 05:57:15 +0000 UTC
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Well, the poll results were a perfect split between Modeling & Animation. And, A lot of you left some very good insight in the comments. After reading the feedback, and all the points that were made, here's what I' think about going forward.
Because of you guys, I'm in a very blessed position of being able to give all best ideas, characters, and animations to the community for Free. I've been the jack of all trades for my whole life (focused on modeling, rigging, and animation), bu...
2020-12-16 10:02:48 +0000 UTC
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