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The biggest thing with BlenderSensei is that his interface changes and methods don't dovetail fully with other tutorials so there are potential issues for some getting started if bouncing between tutorials specific to BlenderSensei and other more generalized tutorials. It is an interesting take on Blender and worth checking out if you are less woried about that then having perhaps some easier ways to do some tasks. Also, there is a free version that is fully usable that you can check out before paying for the full version. It is very nice, and it's what I used to evaluate his software. Also, he has done a great job of putting up tutorials on using Blender with his tools/modifications which are extensive enough they might be all one needs to get up and running.
Raydream Designer (oops, mean Cararra) is interesting software in it's own right. :)
Things are changing so fast in the 3D space now however that it takes a pretty big commitment to try and stay up with it all considering how much money and resources are going into anything that is able to stay relevant. Blender might have a small team and budget but it does have the largest community base of contributors and that is what is at the heart of how Blender will play out against the commercial software. This community base is starting to include top R&D environments around the world who are using Blender to do specialized functions like molecular modeling due to it's opensource, open license, and Python integration. Quick note, what is the dominant programming language for Rasberry Pi and Arduino? Oh yea, Python. Translation, one can make something in Blender that interacts directly with both of them. The implications are big. :)
Ahh someone besides me remembers Cararra before it was Cararra
I started with Ray Dream... whichever the first one was.
Nowadays, Carrara is my modeler of choice. It might not have a lot of bells and whistles, but I find the interface coherent and it has what I need.
And at ~$60 on sale, it's pretty affordable.
just wish it wasn't abandoned.
A bit of a sidetrack (sort of) is that with the upcoming changes to Blender there will be realtime animation available, through Eevee and other tools inside Blender. However, there are actually some pretty good realtime tools available already in Unreal Engine that are free and well developed as this tutorial on How to create movies in Unreal engine demonstrates. Blender will have to do some interesting things re: interface customization to be able to compete with this, however with some of the many features due out it actually might. Btw, you don't need a game license for your DAZ products if you are only using them inside Unreal Engine for cinematics and the distributable will be a finished animation (avi, h.264, etc...)
An (unfortunately) good example of the difference in interface design is how RayDream and I'm guessing Cararra used a 'Lathe' tool to carve out an object as if made on a lathe using the outline, a curve. In Blender there is the same functionality but it uses a curve with the screw modifier. Figuring out that took time, but once I realized that, my previous experience with the lathe tool directly translated. A big issue for good interface design is that it should inspire creative exploration which RayDream did and unfortunately, Blender typically fails at. Hopefully this will change. Don't get me wrong, Blender does have some issues with the interface at the beginning levels, but it actually has some advantages for more advanced artists. That is the hump it is trying to get past right now.
A great philospher once said "Existence does not imply Legitimacy".
Yeah, annoying things exist in any 3D software. But does that make it right?
One of the unfortunate things about software (IMO) is many people accept what is, no matter how poorly designed. And sometimes it becomes a source of pride after they figure it out. I prefer to call things as I see them, and try to change them for the better. I don't enjoy wasting my time, banging my head against the wall trying to figure stuff, rather than producing stuff.
I'd rather get a bunch of us together, making a list of those many annoyances, and present that to Blender.org and see if they'll fix some of them.
Nothing wrong with wanting to make things better. The problem starts when you're not getting work done. A certain amount of "just deal with it" will always be needed. 3D software today is incredibly advanced. People made full featured CG 20 years ago on software that by today's standards was absolutely horrible.
...I've been saying that for a while (for all "full featured" CG software). To me the old "Jack of all trades..." adage come to mind.
I'd rather have a set of individual tools in the box each fully dedicated to their specific function. This is why I still prefer Hexagon even given it's instability iissues.
..same here. I particularly like it's texture/shader system. I find it more intuitive for someone with a traditional art background (like myself) than "noodle based" ones.
When I came back to CGI a few years ago I was excited to buy Carrara to go with Daz, because I assumed I'd be able to at least bridge some of the cool stuff I remember doing in the 1990s within Daz.
Ha.
A ha ha ha.
I am about to give Carrara another go after trying it once before & having it crash dump on me. Actually I've started already but keep getting distracted - currently I'm rendering a scene using the new freebie Breakfast Nook but not as part of the Carrara scene I'm animating. I won't say what I'm going to try next with Carrara will be easy because it' won't be - I essentially going to try and hand animate via a series a poses in Carrara - maybe not wise considering I've sat an hour or two before posing one character in DAZ Studio just so only to not be satisfied with the pose...but oh well.
According to the website, the commercial versions of Alchemy and Zero Brush don't require the installation of Blender Sensei, which makes them quite a bit more attractive, as the rest of the Blender interface would remain untouched. Blender Sensei looks quite interesting too, but of course most of the tutorials would be more difficult. Maybe a dual installation of Blender would give the best of both worlds??
Wow! I actually still have a copy of RayDream 5.5 (I think it 5.5) floating around somewhere. Carrara is great (I like Hex too), but with no love from DAZ, I'm looking at other options, and Blender has always been on my list to learn because it has so many great features, including things beyond just 3D like compositing.
Blender Foundation just put up a new 25 video series on Blender.
Whew! Whew! I just got my book delivered today too.
Have yours already downloaded and play with Gleb Alexandropvfree HDRI tutoriall? really useful and fun (he offer all blender scene in download package too, then you may need not any additional download)
http://www.creativeshrimp.com/hdr-lighting-in-blender.html
I've mentioned this before but it bears retelling. I've been proud to make a teeny tiny contribution to real science with this project using Blender. http://arc-team-open-research.blogspot.ca/2012/11/taung-project-3d-forensic-facial.html ; The Open Archaeology Project is also working on numerous other fossil reconstructions using Blender.
Whilst I agree with you, that you having to figure stuff out and when a design makes it harder that we feel it should be, it is annoying.
This though, doesn't take into consideration that we all learn slightly differently, there are things we learn at different rates, and that sometimes it is due to the delivery method; I like Blender's delivery method, however, trying to find something better is always good.
Similarly I don't like Hexagon's; it looks simple, yet I don't find it so.
Sometimes when we 'don't get' it is easy to complain about it; but not everything can be tailored to suit us perfectly; after all, if it suites us perfectly, it is certain it will not suit some other folks as much, and likely others it will not suit at all.
If the short cuts are kept pretty much as-is, then that will likely mean it will not bother me much at all.
Having said that, I hope the Blender changes don't affect me in any significant way, and also allow others who previously hated its UI to finally get to grips with it. I hated it prior to 2.5. I fear that I won't like it as much, but I hope my fears are groundless. Hope: I hate that word, but that would be a different discussion. :)
Hmm, got: Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist.
This works well for some, and is easy to do with Blender since it is self contained in it's folder, just drop the different versions somewhere on your computer (anywhere really) and link to the executable file in each. It can be confusing for some though going between different versions. In general, if it works for you it would be a good exercise in being more cognitively flexible regarding the interface.
A note on being able to adapt to different interfaces. The reason that advanced users can switch from a program they know to one they don't whereas newer users can't has to do with the way our brain works with large amounts of data being given to us at one time. Basically, with an advanced user, they have absorbed a large amount of information about 3D modeling in general and built patterns on that so that this foundational knowledge becomes more reflexive/automatic. When this level of user looks at the interface, they are not thinking about 'how do I do I do this task,' 'which tools do I need to use,' or any of these fundamental thought processes that are weighing down newer users, they are mostly focusing on, 'ok, I need to do this task and I want to use these tools to do that, what and where are the equivalent tools in this application.'
The point is, don't put off learning concepts. Understanding the underlying concepts makes being able to understand any interface much easier and a change in the interface becomes a small thing compared to the disabling thing to the artist who is still struggling with the fundamentals. Optimally, we want to get to the level where we can watch tutorials from various programs for ideas and translate those techniques into our own favorite toolset. Different applications and interfaces do support different thought processes and patterns. It's the reason why different tools are primarily used for different tasks. That doesn't mean we can't do the same things in our tools, it just means we tend to need to be a more advanced user to incorporate those types of tasks efficiently into our prefered tool (as long as it supports the underlying tasks of course, DAZ Studio isn't going to make an effective modeling tool for instance) and by going to tutorials where the software is the primary tool used for a given area (C4D for instance for commercials and short video fx) we can get new ideas. The interface does matter for guiding us, especially in the beginning, and in being efficient at higher levels, but the underlying concepts and techniques are what we absorb, bring to the table and serve us best in the long run.
nm
I've downloaded Blender about six times in as many years and for the most part have been lucky if I could get as far as making the cube move, although last year I did manage to sub-divide the thing. I am so not a keyboard shortcut person. I've tried most of the popular 3D modeling programs (as well as some of the unpopular ones) and eventually settled on buying Metasequoia. I can't claim to have used more than a fraction of what it offers, mostly because there's not a vast amount of info out there about it and the instructions (which seem to stop instructing almost entirely once you get as far as UV editing) are translated from Japanese and sometimes lose a bit in the process. Nonetheless, I did click with it and it's met my limited needs (although it was probably instrumental in limiting them at times!). The only other 3D program I got on with was Silo, but my trial ran out before I'd answered all my questions. Crash-prone Hexagon did not last long. Then ten days ago I tried Blender again and was surprised to find the veil lifting after a few minutes - it was all beginning to make sense and has continued to do so ever since.
I feel like I've spent years circling a huge and inviting building, occasionally trying the door to get in, and have suddenly gained access and am inside and partying. I've done more with Blender in those ten days than I've done in the whole two years I've had Metasequioa. Yes, there are lots of frustrations - keyboard shortcuts must be great if you're a touch typist, but if you're a hunt and peck one-fingered 60 wpmonth typist like I am then it takes longer to move your eyes from the screen to the keyboard and locate your key(s) than it does to move the mouse from whatever you're working on and over to a handily placed screen icon or to right-click and quickly click on a drop-down. I used to think that caps lock in instant messaging meant someone was shouting, but I've come to realise it means 'SORRY. I'M A BLENDER USER AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO HIT 'SHIFT' IN A HURRY!' :) However, I'm persevering with a combination of navigation plugin, preference editing and shortcuts that I can't get out of using, and am making such leaps in progress that I can't believe how much I've done. I'm also weirdly excited by how much there is still left to learn - masses of it.
When I haven't been playing/fighting/working with Blender I've been watching Youtube tutorials. Yes, there are a lot of questionable ones up there, but you soon figure out the users you can trust to provide decent info. I've read a lot too, including this entire thread(!). I also bought the latest edition of 'Blender For Dummies', partly for quickly referencing the basics and partly because it's the kind of racy bedtime reading I enjoy (my husband stopped questioning this kind of thing after I took my motherboard manual with us on holiday). I have barely touched the book yet, being far too busy playing/fighting/working with Blender.
I changed right-button select to left in preferences and am getting used to how different the xyz co-ordinates are to virtually everything else I've ever seen. Sometimes I wonder though if the original designers of the program deliberately set out to be contrary. For instance, if I want to pick out items from an array or list in any other Windows program, I CTRL-click each one of them, and if I want to select that array or list in it's entirety then I Shift-click the first item and Shift-click the last. In Blender, that works the other way round and you quickly realise it once you've selected a whole line of polygons or vertices when you only wanted two of them. So..why? It's early days here and I expect I'll run into other quirks, but my biggest surprise so far has been the lack of an align feature, alignment being achieved by snapping/scaling or a combination of both, depending on the circumstances. Mysteriously, you can align in the UV edit window.
No it's not easy in places, but overall, I'm not finding it hard. More time-consuming than it has to be, probably, but I suppose you get used to that way of working and even pick up little ways of making things quicker and easier as you go. The difficulties I've come up against (easily resolved once you find out what Twilight Zone method the program uses - there's lots of instruction out there) have paled in comparison to what I've got out of using it. No regrets here at all regarding the time invested in finding out what makes it tick. It's a flawed but beautiful creation, and I love it in spite of it's shortcomings.
You can do everything through the menu system that you can do with shortcuts.
The align features in Blender are basically done with snap tools.
I'm glad it's working for you. :)
Oops, try this link http://arc-team-open-research.blogspot.ca/2012/05/forensic-facial-reconstruction-with.html
Very nice :)
Here's a paid add-on that looks very interesting, Asset Management. Another, stamping details into normal maps with DecalMachine is a fast way to detail out your models without adding a lot of polygons and at a fraction of the work. Similar to DecalMachine, we have Hard-Ops. The difference being that Hard-Ops is actual geometry changes, not normal maps, so it will increase poly count. Hard-Ops is basically like booleans and bevels on steroids with kit bashing thrown in. The geometry is not always the best in the end and will probably need cleanup as the developer himself says.
No matter what 3D software you are using, you should take a moment to check out these add-ons for Blender as they put in perspective 'some' of what is possible with an extensible framework like Blender.
Btw, notice how a lot of what many people use zBrush for can be done with much less expensive tools and in some cases in a much more streamlined workflow for getting to a finished product (less retopo work/normal map baking...) I'm not saying it's a replacement for zBrush, they are fundamentally different products. What I'm saying is that for some workflows, tools like these might be a better fit.
When exporting a DAZ character to Blender, how do you fix the eyes? On my Genesis 2 minotaur, I tried copping out by making EyeReflection and Tear transparent, but when I did that I got scary empty eyesockets, despite the fact that the sclera, irises, and pupils are visible in my viewport. BTW, right now I'm using Blender Render; I'm going to wait till later to worry about Cycles or Eevee.
I've attached a pic to show what I get by export/import, before messing with the eyes. In the pic, the materials for EyeReflection and Tear are hiding the eye.
Transparent means just that, transparent. 100% transparent = invisible. For a quick fix try a glass shader. Basically you need to add reflection and refraction to have 'transparent' != invisible.
* Just noticed the part about the sclera, iris and pupils also being invisible. I'm not sure why that is happening. I would have to look at the file. Perhaps someone else is familiar with what is happening. I'm guessing that perhaps you didn't set specific materials on the other parts and they inherited the transparent shader?