BConf – Workshops You Would Like to See?
The call for proposals to the Blender Conference is here and people are getting hectic about it. Are you excited? If you are, now is the time to give your contribute, just continue reading.
As a guy who did a workshop at last year Conference and as someone who is connected to the Education Board I feel very pleased to see that people really like this kind of things.
So, as an incentive to make workshops more aimed to what people really want to see, I would like to know what kind of workshops would you like to see at the Blender Conference and which ones should recorded.
I can’t really promisse anything, but I will make sure to try and get people to submit proposals that come to meet these expectations while at the sametime try to coordinate things for the proper recording of these sessions at the Conference.
Since the deadline for proposals submission is August 7th, I will take into account all entries posted here till July 15th. This will give enough time to submit decent proposals for later appreciation by Angela, Ton and all other people coordinating the Blender Conference.
Hopefuly “our” workshops will get selected :) .
I would love to a workshop on head modelling, and maybe a workshop on the fluid / physics simulation.
I’d really like to see a workshop about advanced rigging, including IPO drivers and everything else you could add to it.
i would like to see a compostite workshop (nodes, renderlayers, mattepaintings…)
I would like a workshop on modeling, LSCM unwrapping, nodes, nla animation, scene management, compositing and most importantly.. to be held in Sydney – Australia :D
Regards,
Broken_Sword
I would like to see something that is uniq for example like in 2005 conference Special FX in film making… i mean everything that is exceptional, uniq and undocumented like different but true use of blender
Regerds,
3ck
broken_sword: i’ll second that.
Also another workshope that would be good is lighting. I would love to see one of the project orange guys present this one, some of the stuff from elephants dream just blew me away.
I would like to see a new Blender promo (something like http://www.nonakassenaar.nl/video/player.php?file=nan_investor )
I would like to see basic modelling techniqes for easy mechanical devices (PDA, modem, watch, pc case,…) that combine easy forms(boxes) and curves.
(I wrote this to the blenderart mag, too so it might be that they deal with that)
The new features(may be since the printed manual release 2.35 ;) are very interesting because they aren’t well known for “sparetime” users :-)
A “how was it done in Elephant’s dream’ part might be nice, too.
Something really cool would be a workshop about
– modeling and modeling technics, like model a simple character and a face.
– shader workshop, have an idea for a shader and actually get it as you want. First in material windows and final in using nodes
– animation workshop, using drivers, new armatures and so on.
It would be even more cooler that if some people are working on those workshops, that they actually incorporate and make one big workshop of it that takes 4 hours each day and at the end you came up with a character which is nicely modeled, nice shaders and a simple animation. And at the end have a voting who won the BConf Workshop character design contest. That would be cool. The only problem you’ll have is that there is a limited amount of laptops on BConf, so you can do it so. First 10 people who subscribe and actually are there all 3 workshops, will have a laptop for sure, the rest brings it, and another part just watches :D
Last year I enjoyed the conference, but what I was missing were some good organised cool workshops. Rcas did a good job on the head modeling, and the Orange team fast showoff of new features was just awesome. And as eveyone really enjoyed it, it would be cool to have those showoffs again but then in some sort of workshop.
I know quite a bit about blender, but since all those new features came I got behind and don’t know how to use all those cool features properly, else I would have tried to organise such a workshop, unless I can get private lessons of some Orange team member ;)
Hi,
what I really, really would like to see is a workshop about the node shaders. I am currently trying to autodidact me into materials in general and into nodeshaders in special. What bugs me most is the question how to design textures using the node system. And how to apply the textures to the material without adding it to one of the eight texture channels.
So, nodesnodesnodes!
Yt,
Gunnar
Compositing (Cf. renderpipeline in action), UV unwrapping, Nodes, texture painting (GIMP related), incorporating animation/interaction into the game engine, animation workflow in Blender (Interaction between IPO editing, NLA and action editors) and sets in scenes.
Yes, I also think that workshops about new features are most important : compositing, nodes, renderlayers…
And if they can be recorded it is wonderfull for people like me who will not be at the conference!
¨
Philippe.
I’d like to see about illumination. The majority of the users, i believe, would also like.
Light and camerawork – multiple cameras, switching between cameras, while covered if you look really hard isn’t given a rock solid tutorial. nor are lights, and they’re even more complex.
A class that is an overview of the features of Blender –> like a rundown of the features/highlights, perhaps with slides or a presentation format. Sometimes I don’t even have a clue what I should be looking for and the terminology used isn’t familiar. So this would be the “table of contents” of the current version of blender — so much is happening so fast.
Game engin…need i say more?
i would like to see a workshop about object interacions in animation.
i mean things like a character interacting whit an object, picking it up without trappassing it, throwing it away, etc
or stuffs like walk on a flor whit no stride, tentacles sqeezing things whit deformation, 2 or more character intercting (shaking hands, etc) and so on.
it would be usefull
I always enjoy seeing professionals at work, no matter what they do. If someone can make shoes or cheese with his own hands, I’m a sucker for it and I can watch it for an hour.
In the case of the Blender Conference, I would like nothing more than to see a talented Blender artist at work, creating something new and explaining his thoughts and actions in the mean time. It doesn’t have to be a pre-made workshop. In fact, I also enjoy seeing people make mistakes or running into a dead-end and then seeing how they go about solving it.
Come to think of it, I want BOB ROSS FOR BLENDER! :-)
I agree with Bart —
I found spaghettiman’s character creation videos very helpful because Johnathan (Spaghettiman) was always running into problems and pitfalls, correcting for them, and making suggestions about better ways to go about it.
I also like the “over the shoulder” Greybeard videos.
I would like to watch people do camerawork and lighting for real scenes, modeling character interactions with models and each other (something someone else mentioned), etc. for real scenes, with their stream-of-consciousness babble going on at the same time. It doesn’t have to be formal. Also, I might find those helpful regardless of the language they were in — if the person starts from a recognizable starting point, and goes through all the moves to a recognizable ending point.
Oh, and how about when people do post-render work and put a 2D background behind 3D characters/models? What open-source tool(s) do they use, especially with regard to movies/animations?
Well, with just a few comments there is already a top 3 list:
1. Compositing with Nodes
2. Materials, Shading and Nodes
3. Lighting
But keep them coming, more people should comment on this so we can get an accurate idea on what the Community wants to see there ….
Hopefuly I can convince some of the Orange Team guys to propose something on this, hehe … what you guys say Matt, Basse, Andy, Lee, Bassam, Toni …. Ton ….
Lighting, most definitely. Lighting -completely- can make or break your render; I would love to see a workshop on it.
Also, I agree with bullx, object interaction would be really neat.
Too bad I can’t be there, but I’ll be thinking of y’all over in Amsterdam!
Like Alabandit already have said:
Game engin…need i say more?
I would also like to know more about the game engine. Can’t find good tutorials (any suggestions?) maybe I didn’t search good enough…
Also Fluid simulation and the new Render Layers; how to use them.
A workshop about the making of the Elephant’s Dream would also be great.
And maybe a workshop to help me handle my Blender-addiction?
Looking forward to the conference!
NB
It would also be nice if there would be some way for the visitors to show their work (on a big wall or something) so the people can see what kind of art the others make and maybe find friends to work with.
I’m planning to go (lest anything get in my way) and would be more than happy to do a workshop on compositing or lighting or materials. The most difficult part is finding out just what it is that people want to see. eg. a simple overview of the tools? or completing a task, or a break-down dissection of something that’s already been done?
Hi Matt,
I’ll e-mail you with some ideas, I was already thinking of you for Compositing and Shaders…
Great
I would really like so see anything nodes and materials
Although any workshop covering the tips, tricks and techniques of the trade or trades (whatever the case may be) in Film/Animation, Visual Effects using Blender 3D in the production workflow would be exceptionally useful. However, my primary interest in using Blender 3D is in Game Development, so I would like to see more workshops focused more towards this area.
The [Game] Workshops could focus on modeling (high-polygon character to low-polygon), textures etc. sprinkled with animation as it applies to game development for the 2D/3D Artist (rather than programming, and I think level design, too as they are entirely different *ballparks* altogether and somewhere the two meet). Each workshop, using Blender 3D of course, would be structured sequentially from novice to pro, the previous workshop acting as a *jumping board* to the next.)
Albeit, these workshops would not be in replace of full education on the subject but would a nice fundamental introduction using Blender 3D as the primary 3D creation application as well as other applications (e.g. Orge or Crystal Space and Gimp) relevant to game development process.
As a reference; I have found these websites, among other websites, inspirational if not entirely useful:
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com
http://www.gamasutra.com
(Note: for those interested, you will need to join to access the articles. The membership is free. In the Join Gamasutra sign-up sheet under the Demographic Information section I leave to your own conscience on how to answer those questions, as I [sniff] made mine up at the time, I found the *Other* quite useful
OK this last one may not sound like I am purist in regards to animation, but; I would like to know more about utilizing Mocap (Motion Capture) in Blender 3D. As I’m sure no one really has a Mocap set-up in a spare room somewhere and I really don’t consider the mirror in my bathroom qualifies as a state-of-the-art equipment, but none the less I would like know how Mocap integration is, or can be done in Blender 3D.
Oh, and for those not able to attend the conference, please provide(?) video and or PDF’s of the workshops. OpenOffice or Scribus can do this.
Uh, Oh… late for work, got to go.
Personally, I’d like to see a U.S. Blender Conference.
harkyman, I’m with you all the way on that one…preferably in Ohio ;-)
I would love to see two tutorials. one on texturing and shading, and one on lighting and rendering.
CGuy
@harkyman: what’s stopping you? :)
Yes. I too would like a workshop on lights and camera. Also a demo of new features in Blender 3.42 would be great.
I’d like to see something on GLSL. That’s all. It’s really hard. I hate it until shown otherwise how to use it.
Second, you should see if someone will walk around with a second hand-cam to add some close-ups, and audience participation to the videos. It makes a world of difference.
Here is what I would like to see.
-Lighting (I really need more info on lighting)
-Advanced modeling
-Working with static particles techniques
-Nodes
-Complex Rigging
Yes yes. I forgot. GLSL also.
So enumerating:-
——————
-Lighting
-Handling camera
-GLSL (i have no idea of how to use it)
Would love to see someone deconstruct a relatively advanced game esp anything with the new 2.42 features. And wouldn’t a sneak preview of the OGRE implementation be tasty.
Would also love to see some advanced rigging…esp a detailed explaination/deconstruction of one of the Orange characters.
I would love to see any work done in Blender during the Conference presented as a screencast with audio. And then, maybe for the downloadable videos after the conference, some other live shots (audience members with questions, presenter) could be integrated with the screencast.
Topics:
– Tricks and shortcuts learned during the production of Elephants Dream
– Asset management for large projects (files, folders, UI settings, meshes, textures, etc.)
– How to start and actually finish a project (large or small) while avoiding common pitfalls.
can Mr. Bomb finish his character he started last conference? >_>
@ The_Works : Mr. Bomb ?
I attended the last 2 conferences and there was hardly antyhing about games and the game engine. Would be most useful to have a workshop on this subject.
Also, camera matching & compositing and any other toys for grown ups.
Cheers, big ears.
Is it an idea to put all the vids of the conference on a dvd and sell it via the blender shop?
I see so much requests for workshops and I think this would be a nice way of ‘funding’ :)
Let me know how you think about this!
I like the DVD, if the price is resonable.
I don’t have a high speed link, so being able to get my hands on a high quality copy of videos seldom happens and invols spend the cash to fund the intenet cafe :)
I’d really like to see a workshop on using python with Blender’s game engine.
Perhaps showing a systematic way of writing your own python script for a specific need.
Some people don’t even know where to begin when it comes to script writing.
Also answers to tough questions like:
-How can one create HUGE WORLDS in their game and still have a good frame rate?
Should the world be created in sections where only certain parts of it are active while the player is near? How can this be scripted? SHOULD it be scripted? Is there a better way?
I would like to see a workshop on the 3d game engine
I see a lot of game engine workshop requests. I’m not sure if someone is going to do a workshop about it, but I could try to do one. I had the idea to wait for next year to do a game engine workshop because of the planned Ogre plugin.
I can try to give an intro to python scripting in the game engine, but I’m not really familiar with the python game engine api. I know a quite bunch of normal python. Besides that my home pc can’t handle the new GLSL shader stuff, so I have no idea how that works.
If people really want to see a game engine workshop, I can try to do one. Also I should find some resources to learn myself quickly the GLSL stuff and try making a nice shader. Anyways, I’ll look at the the times when stuff have to be send in and try making some time for organising a game workshop, except when someone is already doing it. :)
a good and not-ready-made workshop is what i want to see unregardless the subject as though it is related to blender and animation also game-engine is a needed one, good luck JD-MULTI, if in some point another person submit for doing it you could do a partner or even a team work like this could be more of a game-engine workshop cause generally games are made in teams.
Has there been any consideration given to using Internet conferencing tools? This way anyone on the planet could present a “live” workshop right there at the Conference. This would open up the possibilities of workshop topics because it would eliminate the issue of the presenter having to travel.
Note: If this is considered, I hope that it won’t be dismissed because there may not be any Open Source conferencing tools available to handle the task. Eliminating travel expenses would offset the cost of using a commercial product.
With Internet conferencing tools, there could be live interaction with the worldwide Blender community. Questions, suggestions, a Blendering contest of some sort that spanned the length of the Conference, etc. Winners of any contests would submit their results at the end and a special award could be given to the winner (of course, the “live” Blender community would vote for the winner). There could be live interviews with members of on-going projects around the world, panel discussions…
Think of the possibilities…maybe it’s too late to put those types of things together but, there’s always next year…
If someone does do a GLSL workshop, I’d like there to be a short segment on how to convert something from Rendermonkey to Blender though I heard it was pretty easy to do, it just shouldn’t be left out.
I’m trying to get good material available for a decent recording of the workshops.
@ oslo : I think Ton talked about DVDs of the Conference last year, in the end they turn out to be available under bit-torrent. I think it might be too expensive to make and ship, this without having a huge cost per DVD.
@ JD-Multi : After the 15th I will e-mail you and a couple of more people, to make some nice proposals for workshops on the Blender Conference. I will help everyone as I can so we can make nice proposals and if accepted, to make the most out of it.
@ Kernon : Ton checks Blendernation too, so perhaps he can get these ideas and arrange something …
“Genesis to Revelation”
I’d like to call this theme “G2R”. I think part of Blender community like me, would like to have more full demos of Blender features from the beggining of work (Modeling) until the end of it (Render). Genesis (Modeling), Revelation (Render).
What I am trying to say : When I started to work with Blender last year I found an interesting and simple tutorial with a full work giving a global idea of Blender features in small words. You will remember the “Gingerbread Man – My first animation in 30 plus 30 minutes”. http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/PartI/Your_First_Animation_in_30_plus_30_Minutes_Part_I#Warming_up
Well, recently I found another one here in BlenderNation for more advanced users called “Create your own Racetrack”
http://www.blendernation.com/2006/06/30/create-your-own-racetrack/
I think we should have more and more works like these two to satisfy all the community. Its so frustrating for the begginers, reading thousands of Modeling tutos without have a quikly OVERVIEW of the power of Blender application.
When I completed step by step the Gingerbread Man Manual, I felt more motivated to continue studing Blender. Almost one year late I´ve followed the Racetrack manual and I noticed that I still have many things to learn. Both manuals were really important to improve my skills in Blender.
I would like to find more “G2R” manuals to explore all the Blender secrets in a short time.
What do you think about discuss a little bit about this point.
But to be a “G2R” manual, it must include at least some idea of Modeling, Texturing, Animating and Rendering. The most advanced ones can include interaction (games) and sound syncronization. And it should be a small and objective manual with no more than an hour to be followed. One more thing, each ,manual should enphasize one of the for main 3D process (Modeling,Texturing,Animating and Rendering).
Thanks everybody.
Tio Ilmo
Just to point it out again: Whatever I will see later on videos I would also like to hear! Please supply visitors who will asking presenters with a microphone!
what i would like is to see over the artist shoulder by means of recorded keystroke files a la zbrush no worry about movie quality and small files.
rcas: i’m also up for some evil deeds, so count me in! i can do modeling again, but also lighting and nodes if people are interested.. :)
.andy
@ @ndy: That is great :) . I will send some e-mails this weekend.
@ @ndy: cool! I love seeing you work even though I miss half of it because of the speed :)
@ rcas: I wonder if we could coordinate a few workshops so that they fit together in some kind of grand production? For example one workshop on modeling a character, another on rigging and animating it, another one on texturing it and then a few on rendering and postproduction? It would be a hell of a job to coordinate it (especially if each of them is done by another Blenderhead), but it might give a lot of consistency between the workshops and it might be interesting for the audience to see the *entire* process of creating a production. Just a thought..
@ bart: I would like to have a real production pipeline on workshops, but this has some problems, Matt pointed some out to me and I have also found others, like, I’m not the one that will approve the workshops being done at the Conference, nor am I the one coordinating the space / time of each workshop. Meaning that I don’t have a say on it, so I can’t really make this happen in such a way, all I can do is try to get people to submit proposals that meet user expectations and help in building the proposals.
Although I did talk to the people coordinating the Conference to make it as pleasant and productive as possible.
@bart:
That’s a great idea! That way, most of the requested workshop topics could be covered. As each workshop ends, the next one picks up with the same .blend file. That would also require less prep work on the part of the presenters because, for example, whoever covers lighting wouldn’t have to create a scene ahead of time or waste precious time creating one during the workshop.
I hope the powers-that-be are catching all of these great ideas. I’m sure they all can’t be integrated but, maybe they’ll be filed away for future conferences or workshops.