Scott's Idea Dump
+4
Radialronnie
Dobi
finkgab
Xraygunner
8 posters
Page 3 of 4
Page 3 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Alright, I figure this is due for some updates. Just a lot of general business type stuff.
First and foremost, I'm alive. I had heart surgery back at the beginning of the month. A week of hospital stay, and a week at home falling asleep a lot. But I'm now entering week 3 and I'm feeling a lot like my old self, so that means I can finally get around to stuff I wanted to do for the summer. Still 6 more weeks until full recovery, but that's not too bad.
So for the summer, that's 3.5 months left to do basically whatever I want to (ignoring the obligatory applying to jobs since I graduate in December). So, here's my laundry list of stuff I want to try:
So as you can probably tell, I want to focus this summer on more 2D/drawing type stuff. Mainly because after all of these years of doing Blender, that's been the weakest part of my skill set. (And I recently though of an interesting idea: changing 'Wandering Eyes' into a children's book instead of a short). I might come up with a plan to do one speed drawing a day or something to help. I'm still trying to come up with a good plan to implement what I want to do.
Like always, any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, etc. Are welcomed!
First and foremost, I'm alive. I had heart surgery back at the beginning of the month. A week of hospital stay, and a week at home falling asleep a lot. But I'm now entering week 3 and I'm feeling a lot like my old self, so that means I can finally get around to stuff I wanted to do for the summer. Still 6 more weeks until full recovery, but that's not too bad.
So for the summer, that's 3.5 months left to do basically whatever I want to (ignoring the obligatory applying to jobs since I graduate in December). So, here's my laundry list of stuff I want to try:
- Work on my drawing. Nothing fancy/realistic, I enjoy a cartoony style, just want to work on that and digital coloring/shading.
- Work on coloring/shading. At some point I'll probably do some low poly assets and try my hand at texturing them. Relying mainly on the texture for the detail.
- Spriting. At some point I'd love to make a 2D game that just has sprites and no models.
So as you can probably tell, I want to focus this summer on more 2D/drawing type stuff. Mainly because after all of these years of doing Blender, that's been the weakest part of my skill set. (And I recently though of an interesting idea: changing 'Wandering Eyes' into a children's book instead of a short). I might come up with a plan to do one speed drawing a day or something to help. I'm still trying to come up with a good plan to implement what I want to do.
Like always, any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, etc. Are welcomed!
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Hey Scott, I'm sorry to hear about your surgery--but I'm glad everything came out alright. Something about Blender must give folks health ailments--too many Blender users we know here and on BlenderUnderground have had heart surgeries/ailments over the past few years. I'm glad everybody is doing well.
I think taking Wandering Eyes into a book form is a great idea and probably the better route. Are you thinking of a media-rich iBook or something like that?
Regarding your other goals, I highly recommend you buy a few month's subscription to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The price might sound steep, but here's why I recommend:
1. I've been using it for years so I can attest to the quality of the site and material hosted.
2. All the Blender books are there (Mastering Blender, Blender Foundations, Cycles Cookbooks, etc).
3. All the GIMP/Photoshop/Illustrator/Inkscape books are there.
4. There are a ton of engineering books (mechanical, chemical, material, etc) to keep your skills fresh and learn the more advanced stuff.
5. There are a lot more management, leadership, and job search/interview-related books which will help with getting the right job.
6. There is a good selection of drawing books for both hand-drawn paper/pen to digital, from beginner to advanced.
Good luck!
I think taking Wandering Eyes into a book form is a great idea and probably the better route. Are you thinking of a media-rich iBook or something like that?
Regarding your other goals, I highly recommend you buy a few month's subscription to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The price might sound steep, but here's why I recommend:
1. I've been using it for years so I can attest to the quality of the site and material hosted.
2. All the Blender books are there (Mastering Blender, Blender Foundations, Cycles Cookbooks, etc).
3. All the GIMP/Photoshop/Illustrator/Inkscape books are there.
4. There are a ton of engineering books (mechanical, chemical, material, etc) to keep your skills fresh and learn the more advanced stuff.
5. There are a lot more management, leadership, and job search/interview-related books which will help with getting the right job.
6. There is a good selection of drawing books for both hand-drawn paper/pen to digital, from beginner to advanced.
Good luck!
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Thanks Mike,
The surgery was a necessary procedure for a valve issue I've had since birth. Had to get it fixed before it caused any permanent damage. I didn't get it sooner because it was never really a threat to my health before.
What do you mean with a media-rich iBook? My initial thoughts was to get it published as an ebook and probably get it on iBooks (and the android equivalent) for free, would have to look more into that. But also keep it formatted so that if I ever wanted a physical book, I could get it printed. Then, if it were to go over well where people like it, I might continue with writing books. Could even turn my Koala idea into a series.
As for SafariBooks. I may have to look into that more. I already have a couple of drawing books, Blender books, and Unity books that I've bought over the past few months that I should probably make my way through first.
The surgery was a necessary procedure for a valve issue I've had since birth. Had to get it fixed before it caused any permanent damage. I didn't get it sooner because it was never really a threat to my health before.
What do you mean with a media-rich iBook? My initial thoughts was to get it published as an ebook and probably get it on iBooks (and the android equivalent) for free, would have to look more into that. But also keep it formatted so that if I ever wanted a physical book, I could get it printed. Then, if it were to go over well where people like it, I might continue with writing books. Could even turn my Koala idea into a series.
As for SafariBooks. I may have to look into that more. I already have a couple of drawing books, Blender books, and Unity books that I've bought over the past few months that I should probably make my way through first.
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Cool scarf! So how do you enjoy knitting? Do plan on doing more of these and calling it a hobby, or is it just a one-off project?
Radialronnie- Posts : 366
Join date : 2012-04-05
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Radialronnie wrote:Cool scarf! So how do you enjoy knitting? Do plan on doing more of these and calling it a hobby, or is it just a one-off project?
So that's the second scarf that I've made, the first being the one based on the game Journey. I'm just going to throw it out there and 2 colored pattern scarves are a real pain to make. The total amount of hours it took me per scarf is right around 60 hours, so it's fine if you don't mind starting and then chipping away an hour a day for 2 months. I might start another one eventually, just depends on if I get a good idea for a scarf and have the time available.
I spent the last few days learning how to crochet. Since I want to try my hand at making stuffed animals/people. Things like this:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Since the plushes would be small so to make them would only take a couple of hours tops. Plus, it'd be neat to have some like Spider-man or Superman to keep on a shelf, or even make generic snowmen or animals to try and sell them (my mom participates at craft fairs every once and a while so I could sell them there).
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Do you still have access to that SEM at school?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
?
Radialronnie- Posts : 366
Join date : 2012-04-05
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Heh, I actually came across those while looking for patterns of things to make.
On a totally unrelated note. Here's my preliminary attempt at painting low poly models:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Things I still need to do:
~Adjust the eyes, maybe make them slightly smaller.
~Fix bowtie, current thoughts is that it's too bright, so maybe dim it down.
~More details:
~Add fingers and toes.
~Something to make fur less solid grey -> thoughts? Don't know if I should try a more fur type pattern with small strokes similar to how the stomach patch is separated from the body (might be hard to see in the picture I provided), or just to brighter and darker patches with a more painted feel.
Let me know if you have your own thoughts or ideas to improve it.
EDIT: Quick update before bed:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
On a totally unrelated note. Here's my preliminary attempt at painting low poly models:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Things I still need to do:
~Adjust the eyes, maybe make them slightly smaller.
~Fix bowtie, current thoughts is that it's too bright, so maybe dim it down.
~More details:
~Add fingers and toes.
~Something to make fur less solid grey -> thoughts? Don't know if I should try a more fur type pattern with small strokes similar to how the stomach patch is separated from the body (might be hard to see in the picture I provided), or just to brighter and darker patches with a more painted feel.
Let me know if you have your own thoughts or ideas to improve it.
EDIT: Quick update before bed:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Finished up a new crochet project yesterday. Squirtle from pokemon:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
I give you a cactuar from the game Final Fantasy:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
These last few posts didn't show up as unread...
I quite like the Squirtle. So this was what you had in mind when you said plush animals?
The low poly model is cool too. Maybe, instead of adding something like a fur overlay, you could just paint a few spirals, or squiggles to imply furriness.
[edit] like these: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
I quite like the Squirtle. So this was what you had in mind when you said plush animals?
The low poly model is cool too. Maybe, instead of adding something like a fur overlay, you could just paint a few spirals, or squiggles to imply furriness.
[edit] like these: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Last edited by Radialronnie on Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
Radialronnie- Posts : 366
Join date : 2012-04-05
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Newest little project I finished up (it's a cat):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
@Daniel: Yeah, I thought about trying different ways to imply fur (that's a really neat link you posted). Although I haven't touched that project since posting it.
I'm at a point where I don't really know what to do with my digital art at the moment. I know back at the beginning of the summer I said I wanted to focus on drawing/coloring/spriting to improve my skills, but I can't really think of any projects that would drive these things. Like if I'm working on something or practicing a technique, I do better if I have an end goal; like working on sprite making so that I can make assets for a game idea I have or work on low poly texturing for a low poly project. But at the moment I don't seem to have an ideas for any digital projects (which is a surprise since usually I have too many ideas).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
@Daniel: Yeah, I thought about trying different ways to imply fur (that's a really neat link you posted). Although I haven't touched that project since posting it.
I'm at a point where I don't really know what to do with my digital art at the moment. I know back at the beginning of the summer I said I wanted to focus on drawing/coloring/spriting to improve my skills, but I can't really think of any projects that would drive these things. Like if I'm working on something or practicing a technique, I do better if I have an end goal; like working on sprite making so that I can make assets for a game idea I have or work on low poly texturing for a low poly project. But at the moment I don't seem to have an ideas for any digital projects (which is a surprise since usually I have too many ideas).
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
That is the coolest thing, Scott... I like the quirkiness of it--it looks like a cartoon cat! Did you use a pattern or are you going off your imagination?
- Side-note: Steven Covey of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" has an exercise to help you focus your projects that might be helpful but takes a bit of time to complete:
- First: picture your funeral where your parents, girlfriend, friends, and professors speak. What would you want them to say about you? Your legacy for you from each of their perspectives? Next: of those four legacies, which do you want to pursue? Next: how could you achieve those legacies--map it out, a legacy of "improving mankind" might involve a major project like "curing ebola". Continue mapping those out until you get to something doable within the time period you have this summer.
For example: A legacy I want to leave is to "change the world"--I want to do that through efficient and inexpensive desalinization that arid and poor nations of Saharan Africa, Mexico and others could use to convert waste land into crop-growing or livestock-grazing farms and improve local sanitation. To do this I must create a process, either using physics or chemistry (as well as researching other methods like biology--what if there is a bacteria that could do this?). In order to create the process I have to have the funding, personnel, assets, and education to do so--each of those has a long list of precursor needs. At the end of the process, I'm left with a few hundred small tasks that are accomplish-able with my current abilities and workload. It's just a matter of knocking those out, one at a time--and updating your map as your "legacy goal" or situations change.
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
BnBGobo99 wrote:That is the coolest thing, Scott... I like the quirkiness of it--it looks like a cartoon cat! Did you use a pattern or are you going off your imagination?
Ah, forgot to post the behind the scenes stuff. So I have this small notebook that I'll throw ideas into or sketches for ideas when I have them. So back when I started this project I was like: "I need to crochet a cat for my friend who loves cats" and then I drew up a sketch:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
*note: I ended up changing the ear design and the collar pendant didn't look good*
So with crochet, I try to keep everything as basic shapes, mainly because I'm a beginner and simple shapes are the easiest. But once the sketch is complete I import it into Blender and make sure it's at a scale I want. Once it's in, I'm able to create an outline of the shape that I use to measure distances/circumferences/etc.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
From these measurements I'm able to convert everything into stitches and thus create a pattern that results in a similar looking piece:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Hey Scott, I was thinking about your process to make your crochet creations--I think that would make a great feature on BlenderNation. Bart is always looking for great stuff, I would hit him up on Twitter with your workflow and see if he's interested in hosting it. I can help you draft and host it if you don't have a Wordpress or other blog site.
Also--saw this and I thought it looked like something you might make:
Also--saw this and I thought it looked like something you might make:
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Hey Mike, that's a pretty interesting idea you have there and I'd be all for it. Personally though I'd wait until I do a new project that involves that workflow since then I can do better documentation as I go. My current project is a pillow and that requires no use of Blender (see image below) since it's just a sprite pattern from pokemon, and that project is halfway done; still need to make the other side. Once that's done I'll probably be making something that'll require Blender work and see what sort of write up I can do. I have a blog though for my crochet/knit projects (needlehook.tumblr.com)
Also, that's a pretty neat octopus in the video you posted.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Also, that's a pretty neat octopus in the video you posted.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Alright so after some unexpected delays due to health reasons, I finally managed to finish up my pillow.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Now I already know what I making next, however, since I'm moving back to college this coming week, I'm delaying that project for a while. Instead I'm hoping to take a break from yarn projects for a short while and jump back on the digital train. So expect my next post to be something either digitally 3d or 2d related.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Now I already know what I making next, however, since I'm moving back to college this coming week, I'm delaying that project for a while. Instead I'm hoping to take a break from yarn projects for a short while and jump back on the digital train. So expect my next post to be something either digitally 3d or 2d related.
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
I like the back and front effect.
Hope everything is going well, health-wise--and good luck on the upcoming semester!
Hope everything is going well, health-wise--and good luck on the upcoming semester!
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Some random doodles and what not:
So at work at the 3D Lab, now that game I was working on is 'done' (it was sent to be used in the study, but won't be officially released until after the study takes place), I'm basically a consultant. That means I sit at a front desk answering questions as people stop by, which also means there's a lot of down time for doodling up stuff, so without further delay:
The pokemon bellsprout, more or less I wanted to get some practice with cycles:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
We also do 3D printing, one service is the self-service 3D printing where students can use Cube 2 printers to print stuff, as long as they buy their own cartridge of material. Recently the lab acquired a Cube 3, so I had to do some tests. (I did not model what was printed, I found it online since I didn't have time to model it)
Cube 2 version:
Early in the print:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Halfway?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Finished! (I took the picture at a good angle, the other side of the helmet didn't turn out as well)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Cube 3 version:
Just starting:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Finished!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Pretty fun using 3d printers, I can't wait to get my Micro 3D Printer in January.
So at work at the 3D Lab, now that game I was working on is 'done' (it was sent to be used in the study, but won't be officially released until after the study takes place), I'm basically a consultant. That means I sit at a front desk answering questions as people stop by, which also means there's a lot of down time for doodling up stuff, so without further delay:
The pokemon bellsprout, more or less I wanted to get some practice with cycles:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
We also do 3D printing, one service is the self-service 3D printing where students can use Cube 2 printers to print stuff, as long as they buy their own cartridge of material. Recently the lab acquired a Cube 3, so I had to do some tests. (I did not model what was printed, I found it online since I didn't have time to model it)
Cube 2 version:
Early in the print:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Halfway?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Finished! (I took the picture at a good angle, the other side of the helmet didn't turn out as well)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Cube 3 version:
Just starting:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Finished!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Pretty fun using 3d printers, I can't wait to get my Micro 3D Printer in January.
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Neat printer, Yodaman! About how big did the bust come out to and how much filament did it take? I looked up the Micro 3D printer--that's a good price. Have you seen anything that's been printed by it? All the pictures on the website are renders, so I'm curious how "smooth" the edges will be (since most 3D printers leave that step-effect). But for the price, that's just a bit more than a good home laser printer, so that's at a good price to get a lot of buyers and (hopefully) a lot of quality user-generated content!
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
So the build volume is 5.5 inches cubed. So the helmet is probably around 2 inches. As for the amount of filament, not too much since the inside isn't solid, but sparse filled. From what I'm told a cartridge can print up to half a chess set.
As for the Micro here's a video of it printing something:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Apparently it can get down to 50 microns for a layer resolution. For comparison, the storm trooper helmet I printed on the Cube 2 was 200 micron resolution and on the Cube 3 was I think 70 micron resolution. Once I get it, I'm going to put it through some tests to see how good it really is though.
As for the Micro here's a video of it printing something:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Apparently it can get down to 50 microns for a layer resolution. For comparison, the storm trooper helmet I printed on the Cube 2 was 200 micron resolution and on the Cube 3 was I think 70 micron resolution. Once I get it, I'm going to put it through some tests to see how good it really is though.
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
Few more updates.
Here's a little koala I'm making. All that's left is eyes, nose, and bowtie. I'm looking to be done by this coming weekend.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Also, the other day at work I was trying out a 3D scanner and ended up having a co-worker scan my head. This was the result, and no that looks nothing like my hair. It's not the cleanest result ever, but one of these days I'm going to use it as a base to make 3d version of me.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Here's a little koala I'm making. All that's left is eyes, nose, and bowtie. I'm looking to be done by this coming weekend.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Also, the other day at work I was trying out a 3D scanner and ended up having a co-worker scan my head. This was the result, and no that looks nothing like my hair. It's not the cleanest result ever, but one of these days I'm going to use it as a base to make 3d version of me.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Re: Scott's Idea Dump
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Yodaman921- Posts : 235
Join date : 2012-04-04
Age : 32
Page 3 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
Page 3 of 4
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
|
|