Helios enables the distributed rendering of 3D models building on open source technologies that are all 100% pure Java. The rendering engine is Sunflow with the distributed computations managed by the JGrid service-oriented Grid system that uses the Jini technology as its base. This is what is written on the homepage of the project. Puzzled? This simply means that using this piece of software, you will be able to enslave numerous computers from your own private network into an efficient Render Farm.
Using boids, it is easy to set animations with some prey/predator-like behaviour to some extend. In these cases, using Spherical Fieds emitters with negative Strength (repulsive, predators) or positive Strength (attractive, preys) will be quite easy and effective. Moreover, using the Die on Hit option (in the Extras panel) would prove useful also, when a predator successfully reaches a particle.
This tutorial is designed for Blender 2.50 and supplements Blender 2.50's release Logs about Boids particles systems. You need a SVN version of Blender to use it! Special thanks go to Janne Karhu for all the cool tips he provided me, both for the documentation and this tutorial.
Peter Schlaile added scons support for the ffmpeg libraries bundled with Blender. This means that you no longer have to build the external lib ffmpeg using Make and then use Scons to build Blender, as previously pointed in the tutorial Compiling Blender for Kubuntu 6.06 LTS.
Normal maps have become very popular these last few years, shown as a large improvement in the Game Industry but also in more traditional CG Industry and in the movie Industry, even if less obviously. Nowadays, solutions to sculpt models to an incredible level of detailing exist (ZBrush, Mudbox but also our beloved Blender, with its now famous Sculpt mode) but building normal maps to enhance the surfaces of our Blender models is still somehow lacking. Blender now has the capability to bake Camera Space Normal Maps directly from a higher level of resolution and apply it to a lower level of resolution, thanks to UVmapping and the Multi-resolution meshes. But the very last step, the one which will bring Blender up to the standards is still missing) : Tangent Space Normal Maps. If Blender now supports these maps, it still doesn't know how to bake them.
By olivS,
Saturday 8 September 2007 at 16:00 ::Blender gallery
Wow! I accidentally ran across them, and I couldn't believe my eyes... I thought they were totally lost! Well, imagine how a good blenderhead you could have been something like... eight years ago?
Well, surely these pics are not worthing much, but they are for me! So now that they have been found again, I'll try to never lost them again, beause one's first render is something that should be considered as precious...
By olivS,
Friday 17 August 2007 at 23:45 ::Blender news
If animating has always been a challenge for you, then here is something that could help you achieve natural and relaxed poses and moves. Motion Capture technology is what is used in the Industry in order to reproduce "real" movements with 3D puppets/characters. Do you know that Blender can import easily .bvh files?
Example of Mocap in action: Motion Capture Data Tennis - Forehand Smash
The messages on Blender forums and boards are countless about smoothing problems. Most of the time, the users report black blotches on the surface of their models, while using the Set Smooth on them. This article is not a tutorial. It's more a discussion, a collection of observations and know-how. It is intended for beginners, but seasoned users could also find it valuable in their own attempts (as ressource or reference) to help beginners. Isn't the community about helping each other, after all?
Using boids, it is easy to set animations with some prey/predator-like behaviour to some extend. In these cases, using Spherical Fieds emitters with negative Strength (repulsive, predators) or positive Strength (attractive, preys) will be quite easy and effective. Moreover, using the Die on Hit option (in the Extras panel) would prove useful also, when a predator successfully reaches a particle.
