BlenderArt Magazine

Blenderart Mag Issue #28 now available

dreamsgate — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:34:21 +0000

Welcome to Issue #28, “Blender 2.5+”

Blender 2.5 has been out and fairly stable for a while now, so in this issue we have a little fun with Blender 2.5 as we “kick the wheels” so to speak.

So grab your copy today.

Also be sure to check out our gallery of wonderful images submitted by very talented members of our community.

Table of Contents:

Creating 3D contents using Blender 2.5
I Love My Bubble
Up to Speed
Blender 2.49 Scripting
High resolution rendering @speed of the light
And Lot More…

Call for Content Blenderart Magazine #29

dreamsgate — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:11:52 +0000

It’s time again to start thinking about articles, tutorials and images for Issue # 29 of Blenderart Magazine.

The theme for this issue is “Industrial Revolution”

It’s time to start our own “Industrial Revolution”. So gather up all your shiny and not so shiny heavily mechanized projects to share with us.

Here are a few ideas to consider:

Steam Punk
Industrial Machines: big and small
Factories and Industrial landscapes
Pipes, Gears & Gadgets
Grungy Materials suitable for industrial environments and objects

Articles

Send in your articles to sandra
Subject: “Article submission Issue # 29 [your article name]”

Gallery Images

As usual you can also submit your best renders based on the theme of the issue. The theme of this issue is “Industrial Revolution”. Please note if the entry does not match with the theme it will not be published.

Send in your entries for gallery to gaurav
Subject: “Gallery submission Issue # 29″

Note: Image size should be of 1024x (width) at max.

Last date of submissions August 5, 2010.

Good luck!
Blenderart Team

Book Review: Blender 2.49 Scripting

dreamsgate — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:15:52 +0000

“The wait for a comprehensive book on Python scripting in Blender 2.49 is over”. I said this in my mind when I got to review the book titled “Blender 2.49 Scripting” by Michel Anders (and published by [PACKT] Publishing). I only hope this book had come out earlier, but I guess its better late then never. What follows is my review of the book, arranged into sections.

Introduction

Blender is a premier open source tool for 3d content creation and its tool set and work flow has helped many an artist to realize his creativity into reality. Apart from its built-in tools, having the ability to extend the tool set and customize the software in a pipeline with Python was a bonus. The community has risen and developed quite a number of tools ranging from simple to complex using the Blender Python API.

But there was a dearth of good tutorials on Python scripting in Blender and on using the API to create better animations and such. The books from Blender Foundation really helped bridge the gap between the software and novice users, but the missing link was a book for Python.

The wait is over. Enter “Blender 2.49 Scripting”.

What this book assumes?

This book assumes that the reader is already familiar with using Blender and understands the data system. But, the basic concepts, needed to script using Python in each chapter are reviewed.. for example Object and DataBlock system, IPO and their uses, Poses etc., are reviewed so that one has good theoretical grounding before jumping into scripting.

The first chapter sets the ground by helping with installing Python and also explaining how Python scripts are automatically integrated into the menu system, help system with simple examples.

Learn By Example

One of the big strengths of this book is the breadth of programming/scripting examples across various aspects of Blender’s tool-set. From simple examples to intermediate and complex ones, the author lays down steps of the algorithm in simple English and then goes on to build the python code.

Especially the scripts/drivers for animating an IC engine and their design with illustrations is very commendable. I have learnt a lot of new stuff that i was not aware of about using pydrivers and designing custom constraints.

Another thing the author did was to make use of Python library modules (internal and external) to create some very interesting scripts. For example, using Python’s wave module to animate meshes using shape keys was a very good example of creating a complex systems using existing tools. Render management has also got good coverage and the examples for stitching images from various cameras was excellent (And using Python Imaging Library is a very good example of system integration to get a job done well!)

The best part for me was understanding how to extend the Python’s built-in script editor by writing plugins. On top of that the examples on integrating the editor with SVN is simply amazing.

Thank You!! Support Files

Support files (blends, py scripts) provided with the book are indispensable and go hand in hand with reading the book.

Some of the chapters deal with writing complex tools, for which the author provides a nice code walk through of the important pieces of the code and the full source code is provided with instructions on usage in Blender. Also, the references chapter is a nice addition to the book. And links to Wikipedia pages that cover the theoretical details of some of the example scripts was really helpful in illustrating the importance of research before implementing an idea.

What could have been Better?

I believe that this book would have satisfied a much wider audience if there were very simple scripting examples at the beginning of every chapter. Especially the chapter on programing custom mesh objects in Blender would have benefited.

Also, in some cases, when the code for complex scripts is explained, the paragraphs could have been broken down into smaller ones for better readability.

More examples on adding OpenGL overlays to the 3D View would have been useful. I believe that ability to do OpenGL programming in Blender is a really awesome feature and good examples on how to achieve the same are few and far in between.

In Summary

In summary, Blender 2.49 Scripting is a great technical and programming book for anyone interested in learning about the process of designing and implementing Python scripts for Blender. Also Animators will benefit a lot to create better rigs and create complex animations using the python integration into the animation system in Blender.

review by Satish Goda

1st Hebrew Translation of Blenderart Magazine available

dreamsgate — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:06:03 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Shlomi Israely (aka sijp) has translated issue #27 of Blenderart Magazine into Hebrew. The Blenderart staff appreciates his hard work.

You can find it on our Issues Page, along with all the other wonderful translated issues.

Blenderart Mag Issue #27 now available

dreamsgate — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:54:14 +0000

Welcome to Issue #27, “Shadow Showdown.”

In this issue we explore lighting and creation of shadows with a nice variety of tutorials and articles on various lighting tools and techniques.

So grab your copy today.
Also be sure to check out our gallery of wonderful images submitted by very talented members of our community.

Table of Contents:

Fun with Shadows
I finally get it ! – Ambient Occlusion
Mesh Lights
Studio Pack Shot
Robbie the Robot
Using Textured Light to Spice Up a Scene
Lighting the Vault
Lighting Troubleshooting Tips

And Lot More…

Update on the Weta digital design competition

dreamsgate — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:13:17 +0000

Press Release from the RayGun Shootout contest
Cassie Merrick
Marketing Support Representative
InterGrid Limited

By golly, by hokey, April! What a month it has been…
Dr. Grordbort has worn his brain thin trying to distinguish which of your feeble attempts is worthy of one of his glorious prizes
Greg Broadmore and Richard Taylor came to his aid and helped him make this tremendous decision!
A winner was reluctantly chosen for the April competition ‘the most futuristic Raygun’

And the winner is…

The ”String Manipulator XII” has won for its swirling‐ice‐cream‐cone‐of‐death good
looks, and minimal effort required to fire. jrobot will receive a Righteous Bison for their efforts

The winner for the most popular design (erhh the one at the top of the leader board) is
P4blo for his ‘Age Accelerator HWG’ which you buffoons voted to top place so well done
to him, jolly good job.
He will receive a prize of a mini Goliathon 83 for his exertion also.

So for those of you who have had your posteriors clenched with anxiety I guess the wait is over…
But alas you might be one of Dr. Grordborts less fortunate spot prize winners.

Dr. Grordbort took a bit of fancy to Alltaken for his BRMCO brain Ray Mind Controller 3
And Praxedes for his Phlogistonic Perterburator
A copy of Doctor Grordbort’s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory will be on its merry way
to these not so deserving winners.
For those of you who failed to impress Dr.Grordbort with your appalling efforts, stop
being a crybaby and get to work on producing your entry for this month’s design –
The finest alien Raygun!
So come forth, stride to victory, good man!
www.raygunshootout.com

GreenButton’s new US$10 capped rate

dreamsgate — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:00:56 +0000

GreenButton…your own personal (super) computer!

GreenButton is a high performance cloud computing solution that offers a plug-in which enables you to process your work from right within the application you are using.

With the power of the servers that were used to render the “Lord of the Rings” behind them – Green Button offers an easy to use service which renders your work at rapid speed.

Go to www.greenbutton.net to sign up and download the GreenButton plug-in.

GreenButton’s new US$10 capped rate:

Our crazy new marketing guy has decided that all jobs run on GreenButton will cost no more than US$10.00 – he has managed to convince our finance department, who initially freaked, but have now agreed!

So we are excited to announce GreenButton’s new US$10 dollar capped rate available until the end of June 2010!

This means you can run any job with GreenButton and it will cost you no more than $10 dollars.

Go to www.greenbutton.net now to start submitting your jobs

Call for Content Blenderart #28

dreamsgate — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:29:43 +0000

It’s time again to start thinking about articles, tutorials and images for Issue # 28 of Blenderart Magazine.

The theme for this issue is “Up to Speed” with Blender 2.5+

The Blender 2.5 series has been out for a while now, and while it still is under going a lot of changes and refinement, it is stable enough for some serious testing and playing.

So let’s get everyone “Up to Speed” with Blender 2.5 and how to best take advantage of all the wonderful new toys and options available.

Since there is a lot of ground that can be covered, this is going to be something of an open theme. Which means you can submit articles and tutorials on just about anything as long as Blender 2.5 is used.

Here are a few ideas to consider:

Work flow
Tips, techniques
Tools: both new or improved tools
Personal and or commercial projects in 2.5
Surprise me!

Also wanted, great shaders, materials and node setups for great looking materials and effects.

Articles

Send in your articles to sandra
Subject: “Article submission Issue # 28 [your article name]”

Gallery Images

As usual you can also submit your best renders based on the theme of the issue. As the theme of this issue is somewhat open, feel free to send in anything done in Blender 2.5, we are looking for any and all well lit images. Please note if the entry does not match with the theme it will not be published.

Send in your entries for gallery to gaurav
Subject: “Gallery submission Issue # 28″

Note: Image size should be of 1024x (width) at max.

Last date of submissions June 5, 2010.

Good luck!
Blenderart Team

Call for Content: 4th edition of the magazine blender Indonesia

dreamsgate — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:10:02 +0000

4th edition of the magazine blender Indonesia invited local and international Blender artists to participate. Please send artwork with the theme “HOBBY”. Send before April 5, 2010 to: kapten@blenderindonesia.org. Thanks

via Facebook | Hiza Ro’s Photos – Wall Photos.

Blenderart Mag Issue #26 now available

dreamsgate — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:01:39 +0000

Update: Due to some layout errors, we have uploaded a corrected issue for download.
This issue we not only take a look at how Blender is used in various game production pipelines, but we see two very creative uses for Blender’s internal game engine and how those uses have helped children.

So grab your copy today.
Also be sure to check out our gallery of wonderful images submitted by very talented members of our community.

Table of Contents:

Making of – Circolino
Making of – Going Retro With the BGE
Making of – Blender in 2.5D Games
Making of – Big Pixel
Making of – Infinite Skies
Making of – Pahelika Artwork
Making of – Shootin’ Annie
Making of – Mii School

And Lot More…