Blender Short Film

looks like a gorillaz music video from 1999

>Linux Mint for the host OS
you really didnt have to do that

for a 1-man project its decent, but it lacks boobs and violence.

I always wonder how much can be made by a single person in a reasonable amount of time. This looks pretty good for that. How long did it take you?

I'd like to be able to do a similar thing one day, though I'm only starting with 3D now.

Did you study 3D (exclusively) or?

>>560483

Using linux helped a lot actually, rendertimes for Cycles were always about 10% faster compared to the same hardware on Win7. I had XP the first month in and Blender kept crashing because the renders would always exceed the 2GB per-process limit for 32bit systems. At that point the choice was to either switch to 7 or go full /g/entooman.

>>560484

It took 3-4 years, i started in October 2012 and finished on January 2016. Honestly, if i had to do something like this again, i would definitely get more people to work on it. A major trap with one-person projects is that you learn a lot while working on it, so your standard for "acceptable quality level" goes up with your skills. That way you can easily easily get into a situation where you're constantly trying to make "look better" indefinitely, the deadlines drag on and the film never gets finished.

I did not study 3D exclusively, we had a few 3dsmax classes in my university, but that was pretty much "do this tutorial on modelling a chair" - stuff you already know to do from personal experience. Or at least should know, if you're serious about getting into the whole 3DCG thing. The only point of studying 3D in a college or university is for the degree. Everyone i know that does computer graphics learned most of it on their own.

it looks amazing. well done man.

>>560486
>3-4 years
Damn, so it really is like I always hear, even longer. Oh well.

So I guess I'm similar, I have and will have some 3D classes, but I'm not studying 3D exclusively.

>>560482
Not bad. The lighting in the space craft and the RCS thruster effects are both really bad. I think you could fix these things easily.

how much experience did you have before starting this project? just getting into 3d now and it's my dream to make cool shit like this by myself, well done man!

>>560482
I opened the link, fast forward to 30 seconds and saw a kickers monkey hauling on his cig. I like it already.

eh

>>560516
Small steps. Learn the basicsecrets of 3d modelling. Move on to messing with particles. Then play with lighting after getting to making funky interiors with super basic furniture models.
One setpoint at a time.

Not op btw

File: animatic.png (2MB, 960x540px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 960x540px

>>560516

I had never animated a character for one... I knew how to do modelling and rigging pretty well, but learning to animate in a way that doesn't look like total garbage took awhile. Rendering/lighting knowledge was basic, but sufficient. Cycles was still pretty new when i started so there were a lot of things missing that were added later, like hair and SSS. Pic related is from the animatic (or crappymatic) where i first animated the scenes with a dummy rig before starting the actual animation.

>>560510

Yeah, the thruster effects had to be done with the old Blender Internal renderer and composited onto the shot later. They look cheap, but at least you recognized that they're thrusters...

>>560522
i can help you with cycles if you want.
im didn't make any short films but i done some shader work on interior scenes

>>560482
I liked it, though your rendering is a little basic. For a one man project you did a good job. Thanks for sharing.

>>560482
Bretty good, you should pitch it to holywood, they'll maybe make it into a new planet of the apes sequel.

>>560482
Not bad man.
You pieced together a narrative and universe/world without saying anything. It came across as easy to understand, yet still left some questions open. Good job, even Hollywood has trouble with that sometimes.

I feel like a lot of times with projects that take this long, it's hard to keep up with changes in technology in a way that benefits your final vision. Did you have that problem? Difficulties switching to new features and the like? Did you render out scenes as you finished them, or wait until you were sure everything was perfect?

In any case, great work man, it takes dedication to stick to something this long. Especially without any real perceived gain (like being paid).

I feel bad for dissing your 4 year old baby, but it was fairly boring, the animation was janky and unrealistic. The composition was lackluster and the lighting was just boring to look at.

I can see the effort put in and where the time went but in the future i would suggest getting a friend or someone who is able to write the story, make a storyboard with transitions and camera angles and try again. You'd probably get a decent result next time

>>560482
Congrats on getting the thing out there. It's pretty good! Charming little twist at the end.

I'm sure there's so many things you'd go back in and change; as you mentioned, that trap of getting better as you go is real. The urge to go back and tinker will prevent you from ever finishing shit, so kudos.

animation isnt your strong suit. Neither is rendering.

You should work on teh fundamentals instead of making some "le edgy short films with le smoking monkeys". Hate to have to tell you that but its tru.

Awesome! keep up the good work!

>>560586

You can't really do much about rapidly changing technology - while this would've been considered visually amazing 15 years ago, now it's sort of average student film tier. I used mostly the basic features for everything, nothing fancy. Partially because i was still learning and partially because you can't really afford any of the "good stuff" if you expect to render all 5400 frames within this decade. I did the chimp's interior scenes first, then the space stuff and finally the parts with the gorilla at the hospital. Some scenes were rendered years apart, some had to be re-rendered multiple times...

>>560628

Some found it boring, others liked it, i can see valid reasons for both perspectives. It also depends a lot whether you're viewing it as an artist or an average-joe viewer. I would definitely not attempt to do something like this alone again...

>>560658

You can pretty much tell animation and rendering are the areas i lacked experience in the most. "Learning fundamentals first" is a pretty vague thing - it's impossible to know what problems you're going to face or how to fix them unless you actually get it done. This is why having a team is better - you're leaving some of those problems for other people to figure out.

>>560698
>while this would've been considered visually amazing 15 years ago, now it's sort of average student film tier. I used mostly the basic features for everything, nothing fancy. Partially because i was still learning and partially because you can't really afford any of the "good stuff" if you expect to render all 5400 frames within this decade.
mate, even realtime unreal engine looks 10x better than this.

>>560704

Pretty much this; he could have just put this into unreal (retopo + bake if he uses retarded subdiv models) and simply by placing a few lights this would've looked way better.

>>560704
for a 1 man job that is fairly impressive.
matter of fact i haven't seen a generalist this good unless he studied at france/ca/us top schools

>>560716
its not impressive at all thats the thing. Its just one man without any solid grasp on fundamentals doing masturbatory shit. It was literally painful to watch anything except the piss easy vehicle flight scenes

>>560717
the students that go through the 2 year program usually don't have this type of thing at their reel.

his lightning is weak but he used fur which most students tend to avoid like fire

>>560718
nobody gives a shit about what some students do or dont have in their reels. This looks like what i've been telling you - no fundamentals in multiple areas. I have to go now, but if this is the op, apply yourself next time

>>560719
>no fundamentals in multiple areas.
which areas? the best reels you will see are made by a trio of students and usually have either weak characters or weak animations. if OP's weak point is lightning then it doesn't matter. he is self taught ontop of that

File: killerbean.jpg (34KB, 500x358px) Image search: [Google]

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>>560717
>>560719

OP here, the level of quality for every aspect of a film (rendering, animation, modelling, music etc.) depends heavily on the artist and what they consider "passable". Sure i could spend another year or two improving the lighting, adding fancy SSS skin shaders and proper volumetric stuff, but this project had already passed the point of diminishing returns for me. There are better-looking shorts out there, like for example "The Passenger" by Chris Jones, except that one took 8 years to make. In other cases people have even tried doing feature-length films alone like Jeff Lew's "Killer Bean Forever" (pictured) where the rendering and character designs are pretty basic and the animation relies heavily on ragdoll physics.

Btw, what the hell is "masturbatory shit"?

>>560762
its just a way to call someone a nigger when it comes to 3D. he didn't even see your topology or shader setup or your UV texture space. he just screams fundamentals without giving a good description on what he actually means.

its safe to say he is fundamentally retarded

>>560719
This is why anons think the word fundamentals on here is a bad word. What is bad is that this retard never explained anything further as to why OPs "fundamentals" are lacking. You can't just pop buzz words, you need to add a bit more on what areas in OPs fundamentals are shite. This is why we get autistic sperging about this word whenever someone actually uses it correctly.

>>560762
the difference is Jeff Lew can actually animate and was the lead animator for the Matrix Reloaded and Transformers. He has fundamentals. You have jack shit.

>>560773
>>560792
fundamentals crit here is in the same vein as fundamental crit on /ic/. You have to grind exercises for years to git gud otherwise you end up with what OP created

>>560793
you still have to explain what those fundamentals are.
so you are basically saying that unless you practice for years to no end your work will always be subpar? you have high standards for someone who can't point out the fundamentals

>>560793
Just spouting the word fundamentals means nothing when not coupled with a more definitive explanation. This guy was just spouting that OP needs to focus on fundamentals, but there are a variety of "fundamentals" that OP could train in. Explain to OP instead of just screeching this one word. I use the word fundamentals in my training sessions all the time, but I explain what needs to be fixed, what they could improve, and etc. Just pooping out the word fundamentals does nothing but create a vague pointing to that OP did a "bad job" - but in what areas? Fundamentals is a good word, but when misused it just makes you seem like a pompous, know nothing moron who can't explain his views properly.

>>560794
you have to read books and watch tuts on various aspects of 3d to learn what the fundamentals are. Long story short, you dont have them.

>>560796
just admit that you are some bitter motherfucker that stopped by and saw something you could never make, and instead of empowering the person and pat him on the back you got sour as fuck instead.
you have to learn how to react in certain situations in life, this type of shit won't help you

>>560797
i'm years ahead of dude and i have a job so I have no need to be bitter. If he (and you) can't take a crit on this crap maybe 1) get your eyes checked 2) choose a different hobby

(OP here again)

I can take crit fine - that's why im posting it on 4chan, where people aren't afraid to say that it sucks and call me a nigger. However, i'm seeing the word "fundamentals" being tossed around here as a way to imply superiority. That is, "I am light years ahead and maybe if you hustle and read books, you will reach my skill level". Just say you hate it and move on, no need to make it about you.

>>560799
Why don't you simply specify some of those fundamentals he is missing? It could help me too, as a 1-month-in-3D noob.

>>560836
he is just role playing you idiots
its just a porky 12 year old mexican, everyone knows him

>>560482
It's pretty damn good for one person.

My main issue with it would be that the animation can look pretty poor wen you animated the bipedal armatures, it comes across a bit like one of those beginner sfm animations.