This week we began to learn how to use blender. I have used blender previously and even included past projects in my portfolio but by no means did I have a knack for the software.
Our prompt was to create and animate a snowman but before that, just to get used to the software we were all to create a table and chairs. At first, the controls were a bit difficult, I was very rusty from my last blender attempt but once I got the hang of it, it became somewhat of a friendly competition to see who could create the best-looking table and chairs.
It was a lot of fun creating a set from simple shapes and very rewarding to see how quickly it could be done. I added a monkey to my centerpiece as a laugh and tried learning how to add color and lights. This is where I ran into some problems. Coloring the furniture was difficult and took me a while to figure out, slowly I added color to the cushions and the rug but didn’t get much further. My next challenge was figuring out the lighting. I had created a lampshade and wanted it to illuminate from there but I couldn’t quite figure this one out.
I eventually added the light to where I wanted it to go but it seemed to darken the rest of the room. Lighting so far in blender along with rendering has been the most challenging part to learn, I can not seem to remember what it is I need to do. Writing notes helps with this, but I find myself looking it up on youtube to make sure it is correct.
Next, we had to follow a tutorial on the snowman which was our homework for the week. I learned early on that the more effort that you put in the better grade you can receive, for example, you go the extra mile. The build started off simple enough with simple spheres and cone shapes.
I enjoyed this process and looked forward to animating the character so that he could come to life. The animation process was simpler than I imagined but that doesn’t mean I didn’t run into any problems. I couldn’t figure out how the professor had gotten the snowman to move so smoothly but with a bit of help, I got to where I needed.
The snowman and animation were all we had to complete but I wanted to take it a step further. My classmates are extremely talented and often this scared and intimidated me but as long as I pushed myself and tried to go the extra mile that’s what mattered.
I began to build a set, around my snowman is an igloo, a cabin, and some snow-covered trees, adding color brightened this animation up so much and brought me huge satisfaction with my work.
I positioned lights and cameras so that I could achieve good rendering. As I’ve mentioned before, my rendering skills lack immensely and I couldn’t quiet figure out the proper lighting, I tried adding a sun and extra lights but for some reason, it still seemed incredibly dark. Instead, a grabbed a screen recording instead and will wait to ask for advice on how to render correctly.
All in all, I am very proud of my first animation on blender and loved the process of bringing my own character to life. I look forward to getting to bettering my skills in the future and hopefully create something a lot more impressive but for now, I am very happy.