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Bits of Blender has reached 1006 subscribers! We are also approaching 100,000 views for the series. My co-host Richard and I have not released an episode since February (#38), but we are ramping up for some new Bits for the new year. Blender is on the verge of a huge change from version 2.49b to 2.5. It is a major overhaul on the user-interface. As we learn more of the new Blender, we'll pass it along (as time allows).

I'm also doing some reading on compositing in Blender. This aspect of Blender I've been light on, and many folks are not even aware of Blender's ability to do video editing and compositing. The best source I've found on the subject is Roger D. Wickes exhaustive Foundation Blender Compositing. It's got a nice layout, full-color, and Roger it very thorough in his coverage and also very honest in how he covers it (not to mention occasionally funny).

Bits of Blender #38 - Blender Versions

Richard and I did another episode of Bits of Blender tonight. We show how and where to get earlier versions of Blender and talk about why you might want to do so. :-)

The Glass Studio

One of the best feelings I have as a teacher is hearing that I helped. A cool thing about Blender is we get an international audience. Richard and I received a great letter the other day regarding our Bits of Blender YouTube series. I asked the artist if I could post it and a sample of his work, the above is his work and below is his kind note. Richard said it best when as he watched it "Cool! Awesome! Cool!"

Thanks for your video tutorials!

Hello Greetings from France !

I am a British artist (painter). I am currently working on 3d animation and today I put on line (on YouTube) a my first Blender animation. The video is called: The Glass Studio.

I have learnt a great deal from your videos. I believe that I would have given up on the program had it not been for the excellent tutorials that you published. Of course there are many video tutorials about Blender on YouTube, but I found myself constantly referring to your tutorials. The way you focus on teaching very specific things in Blender was very useful to me. You have succeeded in opening up this daunting program to me and I am sure, to many other Blender newbies!

I still have a great deal to learn for example, I have not yet succeeded in creating bones that work properly. The figure in the animation has no bones! I hope that you enjoy my simple animation!

I wish you continued success with all your creative work.
Best wishes from Ian Marke

Bits of Blender #35-37

After a long absence... On Sunday, Richard and I released 3 new episodes of Bits of Blender (yes, I'm slow on the blogging).

Bits of Blender #35 - Appending and Linking
Ever wonder how to get a model (or other data) from one .blend file to another?




Bits of Blender #36 - Rendering an Image in the Background
If you want an image to replace the background color, how would you do it?




Bits of Blender #37 - Text in Blender
Need 3d text?

Array Functions in AS3

AS3 Array class has some really handy functions that I never noticed before. They will be very useful (how did I ever NOT notice them?):

every(callback:Function, thisObject:* = null):Boolean
Executes a test function on each item in the array until an item is reached that returns false for the specified function.

filter(callback:Function, thisObject:* = null):Array
Executes a test function on each item in the array and constructs a new array for all items that return true for the specified function.

forEach(callback:Function, thisObject:* = null):void
Executes a function on each item in the array.

map(callback:Function, thisObject:* = null):Array
Executes a function on each item in an array, and constructs a new array of items corresponding to the results of the function on each item in the original array.

some(callback:Function, thisObject:* = null):Boolean
Executes a test function on each item in the array until an item is reached that returns true.

The Blender Basics Mouse???

I got the most unusual version of the Blender Basics mouse yet! Since he is not a newcomer to 3d, when designer/illustrator Mitch Lopata decided to go through my Blender Basics lesson, he decided to deviate a little... Well more than a little. He did his own sketch of a character ("Liz") and implemented it while following along with my sketch and implementation of the mouse. Nice job!

Logic Bricks

My latest CartoonSmart.com lesson was just released today, it is called Logic Bricks. In it I cover the fundamentals of doing interactive 3d in Blender. No programming is required! Learn about Blender's visual programming using Logic Bricks. Quickly create complex interactions. Detect keyboard input, changes scenes, move objects, use the physics engine for gravity and collisions, use properties, sound, animate in real-time using IPOs and Actions, also learn about linking files (as opposed to appending) and the Discombobulator script. And the Blender Basics mouse makes a return (but this time in real-time)!

Prerequisite knowledge
Having worked through the Blender Basics Package or equivalent experience.

Version
I got a question from one of my students regarding versions of Blender. The Logic Bricks lesson was created using version 2.46. Version 2.47 of Blender was just released as well, should you upgrade? With a lesson, I think it is always best to work in the same version. I just got a look at version 2.47 and it looks like they added functionality to the Logic Bricks. To avoid confusion, it would be best to stick with 2.46 for the lesson.

Thanks
Thanks to Mitch Lopata for letting me use his space ship to illustrate linking (and having a cool example).