DVD Blend & Paint
Blend&Paint video trailer
Blend & Paint 'B&P' is my second DVD tutorial after Chaos & Evolution. It's a DVD focusing on paint-over 3D mesh done in Blender. The DVD content is spitted in two parts :
- a quickstart to learn to use Blender ( written for 2D artist beginner with 3D )
- a complete making-off commented ( with text label over video ).
2 hours of videos!
the main illustration done in this training is a big high detail 6K picture of a science-fiction environment, with space ship, a city, plants and trees, and several characters. The real target of the training is to understand the 3D to 2D workflow.
An open DVD ? why to buy it ?
Simply because if you can't support, open project like this one will stop one day. The Blender Open Movie Workshop DVD series is a Blender Institute product. Think about it ; By purchasing this DVD you support the Blender Foundation projects, artist like me and the free culture.
Buy Blend&Paint DVD on Blender e-shop now
Requirement :
- a basic knowledge of Gimp-painter or any digital painting software is recommended.
Specifications :
- DVD-Rom ; not meant for DVD player but for PC/Mac ; HTML menu, videos as *.avi files.
- 2 hours of videos of 1280x720, 30fps ; play well in browser,VLC, etc...
- Short, concise steps, commented with english labels (no voice-over).
- Made for Blender 2.5 - Gimp-painter 2.6 - Mypaint 0.9 ,
- licensed as Creative Commons 3 Attribution
Screenshot gallery :
Blend&Paint main artwork
Tutorial , first parts about navigation and manipulation of 3D object in Blender
Set the light source in the 3D scene
Pasting texture in 2D with Gimp
Painting over details with Mypaint
The 3D scene before exporting
A speedy exercice to do a concept-art from a 3D model
Another Speedy video result : using 3D to setup view angle
Main menu ( html file on the DVD )
Main course menu with all the videos
Buy Blend&Paint DVD on Blender e-shop now
Support page :
Every DVDs link to this page. Use the comments of this blog post to ask your questions, or report issues, or post your artworks. Printing issue with the manufacturer : first batch of DVDs printed got short (8.3) names in Windows, Mac.
A temporary HTML fix is available here for download now. On any request to the shop, the Blender e-shop will send you a reprint for free.
Typos :
In the 'resources' documentation, 2 typos in the code to install all softwares were found ... too late. This code on Linux is also irrevelant now.
Gimp 2.6 user : you'll need the plugin file-ora.py to open *.ora. Gimp 2.8 user wont need it.
Video erratas :
Clip duplicated or badly rendered by Kdenlive:
- Blender-02_basics : 13:05 Bevel sequence get a "Mirror" clip
- Blender-04_modeling2 : 5:20 during multiple duplication , a part of the Del/X Demo clip come back
FAQ
This question were found on the youtube video comments posted above. Feel free to ask more in the comment part bellow this post.
Q: What kind of program is used to create the "subtitles"?
A: I use Kdenlive (http://www.kdenlive.org/) and the template titles engine (http://www.kdenlive.org/discover/0.7.5#template ).
Q: **I really want this..but i don't have a dvd player..**
A: The DVD is a DVD-Rom , to read on a PC with VLC ; so you don't need a TV home dvd player. If your computer don't have a DVD player, feel free to download it ( a torrent will be surely available by the community soon after release) don't forget to support the Blender foundation with a Paypal donation (http://www.blender.org/blenderorg/blender-foundation/donation-payment/> ) if you think it worth it.
Q: Doesn't anyone feel a certain element, or even a large chunk of the magic involved in creating , admiring and displaying, has been removed from the whole essence behind illustration ?
A: No, this is just less pains for illustrator. Difficulties and technical skill are just frontier for artist to express their essence. All possibilities and way are good if the final result express something interresting : a feeling, an idea. Don't mix the Art ( the idea, the result ) and the Handicraft ( the technics, the road to get it ) . Art history with Marcel Duchamp and Readymades already crossed ( almost one hundred years ago, 1917 ) this reflexion with a lot more of provocation than my 3D paint-over technic , really cool ! ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readymades_of_Marcel_Duchamp
Q: I would also like to know is there is a suitable BOOK, normal paper, that will teach me about thing s using the new blender interface 2.5?
A: Yes, I advice this one : http://www.blendernation.com/2011/04/18/book-introducing-character-animation-with-blender-updated-for-2-5/
Q: The future Blender Movie Project???! :P It would be so cool if the next project will be a "science-fiction" story^^ ;)
A: :- ) 'Mango' (codename) will be about sci-fi ; and I really plan to be around to help with concept-art if the future team want it ;)
Q: I am a new beginner on blender and 3D world, and from the moment I realized that blender is a wonderful tool for my future work, I am interested to buy your video DVD blender and Paint. But, this is the question: I do not use MyPaint. I have another colouring software that I bought, and I was wondering if I still can follow your DVD instructions using my software.
A: As a beginner, it will be a bit harder to follow it with OpenCanvas or Photoshop or Corel Painter. But the DVD present a workflow more than a real 'press this button' tutorial . So I think you can benefit from it.
Q: Cool, I wonder how easy this would be to translate into doing 2D animation... the way traditional animation is done with painted backdrops and simply shaded cartoon "layers" has always left me unsatisfied somehow, if this technique used more 3d rendering and less direct hand work would create some beautiful animation
A: For creating 'frame' this techniques would still be to slow in my opinion ( for a traditional 2D anim ) , but for painted background, it's ideal. I learned most of it while doing the backgrounds for the video games Troll de Troy ( watch many screenshots here : http://www.jeuxvideopc.com/screenshots/32972-trolls-de-troy-la-cite-de-la-mort-rose/ )
Q: Just wondering how much the 3d art is used in the end product. is it mostly for reference, or is it almost 100% traced?
A: I would say the right proportion is around 30% of 3D, and 70% of paint-over
