Hi folks, this is a 30 minute explanation of the main rig features, intended for new and continuing animators on the project. It has pretty bad audio (recorded on my phone, with lots of noise and uhms and aahs) and also has been shrunk and compressed quite mercilessly. That being said, it just explains the various features of the rig to be handy for our animators.

I didn’t see any reason not to make this public, so I’m putting it on the main blog:


You can download here: mp4, ogg, or webm in case the in-browser thing doesn’t work.

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Today on our way into the Drome from a nice Sunday run+swim, we encountered some unlikely arrivals: a cluster of bright yellow mushrooms growing in the potted plant outside the studio. For your enjoyment:

Pics taken with my mobile phone. What do you think, should we eat them? ;) . Now I wonder if we should use the mushroomer for mushrooms as well as the other things we want to grow/animate with it. If mushrooms can grow in the studio environment, they can live anywhere, including subway stations.

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Since Dimetrii just posted his eye material and texture, I thought I’d show this quickie test of the eye rig – missing such things as eyebrows, eyelashes and that insane little membrane on the inside corner by the tear duct.

The rig features two directional controls, a track-target and an on-face widget, that can be used separately or together, a pupil dilator, controllable eyelids that mimic muscle motion but also have a limited vertical track with the eyeball, and an even more limited horizontal one, and a deformational lattice that allows the non-spherical eye to ‘push’ the skin around it. I may add a shrinkwrap to the inner eyelid to make sure it stays on the surface.

Finally, I’d like to thank everybody who, in an idle moment, took a video camera to their eye and posted it on youtube. Viva la crowd-sourced reference!

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Hi guys.

Решил сделать скульптуру всего тела. Тяжело, бл… . Много деталей не добавить. Multires добавляет проблем. Если мы перешли на нижний уровень, подкоректировали, вернулись на верхний уровень …. (а-а-а-а-а!!!!), на модели появились дефекты.  Нет кнопки удаления нижнего уровня и subdivide модели только Catmull-Clark или Simple ( нет возможности их комбинировать).

Сделал немного модель. Надо рендернуть Cycles-ом. Результат очень хороший, только очень очень очень медлено. Картинку размером 1600*1500 и 800 пассов считает 1 час и это только diffuse shader, без рефлектов и других нод. Specular, SSS и мех решил сделать в Internal и объеденить на композе. Для теста не плохой результат.

Decided to make a test sculpture of a body. Seriously. Many details are added. Multires adds problems. If we switched to a lower level, corrected returned to the upper level …. (a-a-a-a-a! !!!), model appeared defects. There’s no button to delete the lower level and you must subdivide the model either with Catmull-Clark or Simple (you can not combine them).

Did a little model.Made a render with Cycles. The result is very good, just very very very slow. Image size is 1600 * 1500 and 800 passes, it took one hour for only the diffuse shader, no glossy/reflective or other nodes. I made Specular, SSS and fur in Blender Internal and united them in the compositor. For a test this is not a bad result.

and Video Cycles_man

 

ГЛАЗ.

Новая задача сделать модель глаза и шейдер для Gilgamesh. Мне нравится, что получилось.

Рендер Internal без композа. Источники света без теней, дают только свет. И очень немного Ambient Occlusion.

EYE.

The new job is to make the model’s eyes and shader for Gilgamesh. I like that happened.Internal Render without Compos. Sources of light with no shadows, only to give light. And very little Ambient Occlusion.

 

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Calling all students (18+), recent graduates, and professionals wanting to ply their 3D skills in libre software:

Applications are open to join Bassam’s team this summer for the ‘Tube’ production, hosted by the very cool Bit Films Animation Incubator at Hampshire College, Massachusetts.

Helmed by Chris Perry, formerly of Pixar and Rhythm & Hues, the program draws together a number of interesting projects and a lot of talent, so although the internships are unpaid, it promises to be a very stimulating and fruitful space.

For applicants to Tube, there is a possibility that housing can be offered.

The official internship period runs from Tuesday May 31, 2011 through Friday August 26, 2011. Applications are due (via email) no later than Monday May 16, 2011 at 5pm (EDT). We understand that this is short lead time for those needing to make visa and travel arrangements. Because the project is ongoing, the internship period is flexible; if in doubt, apply!

Although it may not provide as immersive an experience, we are open to considering applicants to a remote internship. Remote interns would join the already global team using our web-based project management software, SVN, and IRC.

Please read *carefully* the open positions announcement and FAQ! Have more questions? Email fateh [at] freefac [dot] org.

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Вот и оно – тестовое изображение Gilgamesh, примерено какой она должна стать. Много пришлось повозиться с кожей…подобрать нужный  оттенок, добавить дефекты кожи ( раны, царапины, прыщи) и отражения. Прическа не как на скетче, потому что сложная и специфическая. Такая тоже не плохо выглядит ;) .

Я думаю, что для первого раза работы в Гимп, не плохой результат. :)

This is a test image of Gilgamesh. An example of what she could be. I had to tinker a lot with the skin … find the right shade, add skin defects (wounds, scratches, pimples) and reflections. Hairstyle, not as the sketch, because it is complex and specific. This is also not bad looking ;) .

I think that for the first time working in Gimp, not a bad result. :)

dshsdfhjsdfhjsdjhl Internal sdasdkljsadnsadnc,nckzs/md.mm.   dzjdlkf Cycles. dsdfsdlkflksdflk Internal.

(For more information on this amazing new renderer, search “real cartoons”…)

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Привет

Сейчас я работаю над персонажем Gilgamesh. Пришлось сделать полностью новую модель и вылепить лицо. Трудно было с УВ-разверткой. Но!!! Пришло время рисования текстур! Много тестов с Projection Painting и слоями (diffuse, bump, specular….).


Мы встроили Cycles из исходника с помощью отличных инструкции Брехта и с помощью DingTo на blendercoders IRC. После выключения эффектов рабочего стола и второго монитора мы смогли использовать опции аппаратного ускорения (с помощью CUDA) для действительно быстрого рендеринга. Просто для удовольствия, мы добавили модели Gilgamesh и скульптуры, и создали несколько простых рендеров в Сycles, опираясь главным образом на самосветящиеся кубы в качестве источников света. Работа в этом рендере очень отличается от Blender Internal в настройке физически точных материалов с использованием нод для объединения шейдеров. Этот рендер никогда не останавливается, и если у вас есть терпение ждать, можно получить картинку с хорошим качеством . Это действительно очень быстро, если вы используете простые шейдера и рендеринг.
Для окончательного рендера Tube мы, скорее всего, будем использовать Blender Internal , так как Cycles вряд ли будет готов до завершения проекта, но это определенно “путь в будущее”.
Небольшой совет: использовать Cuda, вам нужна новая версия драйвера NVIDIA (270 или больше), которого нет в Ubuntu 10,10. Вы должны использовать PPA или получить ее прямо из NVIDIA.

English Version:

I am currently working on the character Gilgamesh. I had to make a completely new model and sculpt the face. It was difficult to do the UV unwrapping. But! It’s time to paint textures! Many tests with Projection Painting and layers (diffuse, bump, specular ….).


We built Cycles from Source using Brecht’s excellent instructions and with help from DingTo on blendercoders irc. After turning off Desktop effects and the second monitor we were able to use the GPU acceleration option (using Cuda) for really fast rendering. Just for fun, we brought in the Gilgamesh model and sculpt and set up some simple renders using Сycles, mainly relying on emitting cubes as light sources. Working in this renderer is very different from blender internal- you set up physically accurate materials using a node tree to combine shaders, quite unlike the diffuse-specular-etc model that internal uses. The render never stops, rather it continues to get better as long as you have patience to wait, but it’s really fast if you use simple shaders and GPU rendering.
For the final render of Tube we will most likely use Blender Internal, as Cycles is unlikely to become production ready before the project is over, but this definitely feels like ‘the way of the future’.
Small tip: to use Cuda, you need a new version of the nvidia driver (270 or greater) which is not in the Ubuntu 10.10 repo. You have to use a PPA or get it directly from nvidia.

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Hey folks – long time no blog! we’ll have two today to make up for it.
We’ve been very busy over here, both on Tube and on freelance projects, hence the lack of posts. A new member of the team- the insanely talented Dimetrii Kalinin from Russia is at the studio, modelling like mad.
And now to the subject of this post! we’re coming to NYC for the Blender Meetup at the MongrelFX studio, announced previously on Blendernation. I think it’s going to be fun weekend with lots to talk about, what with Cycles, Blender 2.57b, Tube, etc. If you’re in the New England area, maybe you should make a quick trip! (don’t forget to RSVP at the meetup site)

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Hey folks!
We’re working on principal character animation currently, but as I look forward, I see the need for simulation coming up, we currently have a load of papers, some being manipulated by the main character, some floating around. She’s also got clothes, and hair.
Some of this can be animated, indeed, I’ve already animated the paper in several shots, but some of it could be simmed, and furthermore, we might find a way to combine the two.
Paradoxically, producing good results with simulation tools requires lots of expert time! Parameters are not always intuitive, and usually require feedback and re-tweaking, and set-ups that allow linking/combining sim and animation are hard to do.
So here’s an official shout out call for expert simulators (not dissimulators ) to come join the team.
You can email or just reply in the comments if you’re interested.
Cheers
Bassam

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Calling all students (18+), recent graduates, and professionals wanting to ply their 3D skills in free software:

Applications are open to join Bassam’s team this spring for the production of Tube, hosted by the very cool Bit Films Animation Incubator at Hampshire College, Massachusetts.

Helmed by Chris Perry, formerly of Pixar and Rhythm & Hues, the program draws together a number of interesting projects and a lot of talent, so although the internships are unpaid, it promises to be a very stimulating and fruitful space.

For applicants to Tube, there is a possibility that housing can be offered.

The official internship period runs from February 7, 2011 through May 13, 2011. Applications are due (via email) no later than Monday January 31, 2011 at 5pm (EDT).  We understand that this is short lead time for those in need of making visa and travel arrangements. Because the project is ongoing, the internship period is flexible; if in doubt, apply!

Although it may not provide as immersive an experience, we are open to considering applicants to a remote internship. Remote interns would join the already semi-distributed team using our web-based project management software, SVN, and IRC.

Full Bit Films announcement and FAQ. Questions? Email fateh [at] freefac [dot] org.

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