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Watchtower – Blender Studio

studio.blender.org

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Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#31

Post by f0e4c2f7 »

hwers wrote: post #24
doctoboggan wrote: post #2

Blender is such an amazing open source tool. It used to have a reputation (along with GIMP) of having a steep learning curve, but that is definitely no longer true. They recently (v2.8) did a major UI/UX overhaul and its now very easy to use. Its also completely scriptable in python. I used blender on google cloud platform for my startup ( https://lulimjewelry.com ) where I digitally engrave my customers fingerprints…

Right now is honestly a great time to get into 3D stuff with blender and threejs etc. They've been brewing in adolescence for like a decade but it's all suddenly really mature and exciting right now (and mobile GPUs have caught up nicely). If anyone finds themselves asking "where the heck are the low hanging fruit anymore?" (like I did recently) the answer is in 3D content for the web and other places. It's a much mo…

I agree. Very exciting time and feels much more accessible now than when I tried it a few years back. I'd also reccomend trying unreal engine 5 which is royalty free up to $1M in revenue or something.

You can also create in blender and then import into unreal.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#32

Post by Topgamer7 »

archerx wrote: post #20
onion2k wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been doing 3D for about a decade and a half You have a lot of inertia to overcome. That's 15 years of muscle memory and expectations built using different UIs, different paradigms, and different ideas to achieve the same result. You need to factor the fact you're going to be thinking "But I could do that much more easily in !" a lot. It's possible that you won't ever overcome those thoughts. Forgetting is a lo…

If blender is so great why can I jump between many different 3D programs without much friction, why was I able to learn other 3D apps a long the way without much friction? I have been trying to use Blender since at least 2003 and each time it refused to stick and was happy to stop using it. Sure it does everything but excels at nothing.

Blender is exceptional for the price. That's always been the way its been. You aren't buying into just the software, you're buying into a community, and development that strives towards innovation and creating new tools for its customers. You can find excellent free resources to get started, and people to work with. I've been working with blender on a hobby level since 2004, I learned 3d modelling, animation, texturing, rigging, video editing, nodes, uv editing; all through free online resources. I participated in community forums, community modelling competitions, irc discussions. If a 12 year old in 2004 learned it, I think the problem doesn't quite lie in the software UX. If it has to excel in one thing, it's its community.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#33

Post by WHA8m »

throwpupper wrote: post #28
doctoboggan wrote: post #2

Blender is such an amazing open source tool. It used to have a reputation (along with GIMP) of having a steep learning curve, but that is definitely no longer true. They recently (v2.8) did a major UI/UX overhaul and its now very easy to use. Its also completely scriptable in python. I used blender on google cloud platform for my startup ( https://lulimjewelry.com ) where I digitally engrave my customers fingerprints…

This person posts an identical comment in every single Blender thread to promote his startup. Check their post history. I am just wondering, is such a consistent plugging allowed on HN? To me it lowers the quality of the discussion and their posts are often voted to the top on all Blender related posts.

Thanks, I knew I've read this before...

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#34

Post by sodality2 »

toppy wrote: post #3

Similiar tool would be great for movie players - interface where one can see overall view of a plot but also references to particular actor's appearance for instance.

I always thought something similar would be a cool side project. Annotating plot, character overlays, subtitles with the name of the character for easier understanding, etc. Prime Video has some feature that lets you see the characters in each scene. Getting at least some annotations done by hand would probably be not too difficult - some shows and movies have some VERY dedicated fans.

I've attempted to start with something basic - some code to pare down an audio stream into basic hash identifiers a la Shazam - so that media can be identified regardless of quality etc (even encoded to 64kbps mp3, for example). Which is surprisingly difficult...

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#35

Post by tinus_hn »

archerx wrote: post #20
onion2k wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been doing 3D for about a decade and a half You have a lot of inertia to overcome. That's 15 years of muscle memory and expectations built using different UIs, different paradigms, and different ideas to achieve the same result. You need to factor the fact you're going to be thinking "But I could do that much more easily in !" a lot. It's possible that you won't ever overcome those thoughts. Forgetting is a lo…

If blender is so great why can I jump between many different 3D programs without much friction, why was I able to learn other 3D apps a long the way without much friction? I have been trying to use Blender since at least 2003 and each time it refused to stick and was happy to stop using it. Sure it does everything but excels at nothing.

It really excels in allowing everyone to do 3D modeling and rendering for free, legally.

Perhaps you can afford a license to all these ‘different 3D programs’ you are jumping between but not everyone can or wants to.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#36

Post by mrtksn »

hwers wrote: post #24
doctoboggan wrote: post #2

Blender is such an amazing open source tool. It used to have a reputation (along with GIMP) of having a steep learning curve, but that is definitely no longer true. They recently (v2.8) did a major UI/UX overhaul and its now very easy to use. Its also completely scriptable in python. I used blender on google cloud platform for my startup ( https://lulimjewelry.com ) where I digitally engrave my customers fingerprints…

Right now is honestly a great time to get into 3D stuff with blender and threejs etc. They've been brewing in adolescence for like a decade but it's all suddenly really mature and exciting right now (and mobile GPUs have caught up nicely). If anyone finds themselves asking "where the heck are the low hanging fruit anymore?" (like I did recently) the answer is in 3D content for the web and other places. It's a much mo…

+1 on this. Years ago I looked at it a bit but the interface was only for people who knew what they are doing and my laptop was way too slow anyway.

This year, I’m giving it another try with the infamous Doughnut tutorial and I’m very impressed. Once I got a general idea on the thing, I’m able to navigate the interface and figure out how to do stuff without too much effort. It’s incredibly powerful piece of software(it has scripting and visual programming capabilities) with a very healthy community.

Oh an my Macbook Air M1 is more than enough to get it going. Disney doesn’t need to get scared just yet but having access to such a powerful software on such a portable device makes you feel powerful.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#37

Post by HonestOp001 »

throwpupper wrote: post #28
doctoboggan wrote: post #2

Blender is such an amazing open source tool. It used to have a reputation (along with GIMP) of having a steep learning curve, but that is definitely no longer true. They recently (v2.8) did a major UI/UX overhaul and its now very easy to use. Its also completely scriptable in python. I used blender on google cloud platform for my startup ( https://lulimjewelry.com ) where I digitally engrave my customers fingerprints…

This person posts an identical comment in every single Blender thread to promote his startup. Check their post history. I am just wondering, is such a consistent plugging allowed on HN? To me it lowers the quality of the discussion and their posts are often voted to the top on all Blender related posts.

They are posting where necessary, it allows them to build seo and overall works for them.

Smart play, as it feels organic until you pull back the veneer.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#38

Post by jermaustin1 »

throwpupper wrote: post #28
doctoboggan wrote: post #2

Blender is such an amazing open source tool. It used to have a reputation (along with GIMP) of having a steep learning curve, but that is definitely no longer true. They recently (v2.8) did a major UI/UX overhaul and its now very easy to use. Its also completely scriptable in python. I used blender on google cloud platform for my startup ( https://lulimjewelry.com ) where I digitally engrave my customers fingerprints…

This person posts an identical comment in every single Blender thread to promote his startup. Check their post history. I am just wondering, is such a consistent plugging allowed on HN? To me it lowers the quality of the discussion and their posts are often voted to the top on all Blender related posts.

Thought I was having Deja Vu. Why is it always near the top too. It's always one of the first comments I read on a blender post.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#39

Post by r_hoods_ghost »

archerx wrote: post #4

I'm always told how blender is amazing and there seems to be some impressive tech under the hood, the simulations look amazing and some stuff produced with it looks great but every time I try to use it, it is incredibly frustrating, like it's close but still so far away when it comes to the UI. I have been doing 3D for about a decade and a half, I have made intros and virtual sets for TV shows so I have some experien…

I empathise but I've used Blender, 3dStudio, Lightwave, Maya, Houdini, and Z-Brush professionally and they all have complex interfaces that have pluses and minuses. From a modelling point of view I am waaaaaay faster in Blender than I ever managed to be in Maya or 3DStudio, and I first used 3DStudio in probably 1996. Contrary to you I also love the ease of navigation in the Blender viewport compared to 3DStudio and Maya (and noughties Lightwave. Shudder). Numpad controls, split ui, frame object, edge, collection, verts etc.

The one thing is that Blender is heavily keyboard oriented, either shortcut or search based and while you can do everything by clicking around like most people do in Maya or Max, this is definitely suboptimal. Also if you don't have a numpad and a mouse wheel you're screwed. Honestly though, if you're doing 3D professionally, use whatever your studio / industry uses. If you're starting out today Blender is great because it allows you to produce high quality professional work, has great add-ons that are often free or cheap compared to other packages and is free (as in beer).

There are other aspects of the UI that are annoying mind. Horizontal node graphs are irritating, its only now getting an asset browser, there's a distinct lack of proper progress bars, and from an add-on developer point of view it's a pain in the arse to draw on the viewport, the core codebase is basically not documented and the API is stupidly unstable and is broken All. The. Time. The UI / UX has improved for new users but I definitely agree they need to hire some UI / UX people and technical writers / tutorial makers to make the learning curve less cliff like.

Re: Watchtower – Blender Studio

#40

Post by Too »

archerx wrote: post #4

I'm always told how blender is amazing and there seems to be some impressive tech under the hood, the simulations look amazing and some stuff produced with it looks great but every time I try to use it, it is incredibly frustrating, like it's close but still so far away when it comes to the UI. I have been doing 3D for about a decade and a half, I have made intros and virtual sets for TV shows so I have some experien…

In the parallel league of photo editing. This is exactly how I feel about Gimp. It’s a super advanced program with many features on par with Photoshop. But using it is just so much more complicated that I’d rather deal with the deficiencies of mspaint instead of using something so difficult/different. For most needs Paint.net is my preference, just lacking a good story for Linux.
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