RAT bProficiency
Michaelangelo Manrique tells us about his project “bProficiency series”. The first part of it “RAT” is what he made for Blender Foundation’s Certified Trainers (BFCT) program. With educational purpose, he’s open sourcing his production files and its detailed PDF documentations under his program “Platform Michelangelo™“.
http://vimeo.com/14522711
Michaelangelo writes:
RAT bProficiency is the result of the work I am doing to submit to the BFCT. I decided to use it as open source and will release all production files plus a detailed pdf with documentation as open source.
This is the main target of bProficiency series. This one (RAT) is the first, covering general areas to encourage people to develop their own projects and enjoy the User-Blender experience.
This is not an official Blender Foundation workshop but material I released under Platform Michelangelo™. It is open source and free and will be used as my own thesis to obtain the Blender Foundation Certified Training.
RAT bProficiency is just -a non story movie of- five shots and thirty seconds animation that will show new Blender users how to work with mesh, rig, lights, nodes and more and put all together in the final animation, just all new people need to learn about how to develop their own project with Blender. So basically, it IS NOT a short movie but teaches newbies about how to do it.
Tutorials are being recorded and will put all together the pdf book in a week or so… meantime production files are available in the link below.All production files are available for download freely from the link below. They are finally into a .iso image (654.5 Mb). This project is also the example about the blender course i am offering called bProficiency I where students are able to develop their own quality movie shorts even they are new in Blender.
I remember community that smooth animation was not the purpose of this course but key-framing one. Students are pushed to develop a more professional animation in the bProficiency II course.
Areas this project covers are: modeling, shading and textures, rigging, key-framing animation, lighting, compositing and nodes, particles and rendering.
Target: Beginners, new Blender users, kids or young artists!
Content: .blend files, video tutorials, pdf documentation, etc… all a new Blender user needs together.
Links:
- Platform Michelangelo™
- All production files, abstract and book example (654.5 MB ISO image)
This looks like a fine training initiative. Congratulations. And thank you for sharing your work with the Blender community.
Thank you!!!!
Thanks, Michaelangelo!
Seriously, this is the thing I love in Blender community. Everybody shares their experiences, .blend files, mostly for free! Very rare thing nowadays!
Unfortunatelly I can play only a few clips; all .blend files are recognized as non-blender files. Does anybody experience the same problems?
hey mookie, it’s odd. Currently they open well with 2.54 Beta release. Can you tell me the version bringing you the issue, please?
Cheers!
This is great and all, but could you at least have come up with an original character?
sure pop850! due it is educational content for beginners just thought that a familiar *but non copy* character works better for student’s learning curve, at least for those who never created an original one and they are currently starting in this kind of 3D projects. Thanks for your comments and support! :)
Thank you Michaelangelo! that is really cool thing to share your work can’t wait to get the documentation.
Does this use bmesh and the new tools? or is that unfinished?
@kABHIr, yeah mate! in the ISO there is a preview of the book and how content will be managed… as soon as I complete it will post the link (PDF format and free downloadable). ;)
@bob2, nop sorry. it was done with 2.52 Alpha and 2.53 Beta so I didn’t use bmesh, anyway for further details about the bmesh state, visit http://bmeshblender.wordpress.com/
Magicland,
Cheers!
Michelangelo – everything works fine now. I uploaded the .iso once again and it seems like it helped. Cheers!
This looks likes lots of fun, thank you!
Really nice. However, I think learning how to animate a human character (even just a cartoon) is a more important skill for new users since most stories, movies and other media deal with bipedal creatures (including orcs and talking potato heads)!
That mouse looks so cute :)
Thanks so much Michelangelo, this is very generous of you.
Best of luck in the Blender Foundation’s Certified Trainers (BFCT) program.
Take Care and Happy Blending
Am I the only one who sees this as a Pixar ripoff?
I think its ace for you to share and to use creative commons but at the end of the day, if the IP is not yours to give away then you cant! “familiar *but non copy*” I think this is open to debate, I would see it as a clear copy!
Pixar is pritty lax when it comes to derivatives, they dont go round ripping up kidds drawrings stuck to the fridge, but this is more complex. someone could animate a scene using this rig and upload it as Ratatouille 2 to youtube and damage there reputation.
I just dont want to see this go down the same road as the Azary Rig and Animation Mentor, the rig and character were banned from 11 secound club and often anyone who uses it in there reels gets looked down on. I can see the same happening with this rig.
Just thought I would add this to the disscussion I’m not flamming, I think anyone can see were I’m comming from.
@wookie, of course. Getting basics of animation everything is possible. Here it was not possible due some reasons. Schedule and most important, students’ learning curve. You can’t ask students to develop sky building at the beginnings. There is a common error with animation (3D general) about this point. People want to learn to animate fast to create masterpieces in two months… i respect that but i don’t teach that. Btw, I will cover human character animation in the second bProficiency ;)
but i am agree with you about most common animation is related to biped characters.
@Max Hammon, i understand your point of view, really, but i am not totally agree for several reasons. It is true that it could remember the character that i don’t want to name -see my intention here about copying anything ;)- but you should ask yourself first what a copy is. You say you see clearly a copy… I suggest you to put two images together and play at the differences game… one thing is to use something that reminds you to other and other thing is to use exactly the same character. It reminds you the famous character because at the beginning the project was to demonstrate blender is able to create those important projects but at the end i had to cut it off due my schedule. Btw I hardly could compare with pixar, really… and i think they are really intelligent to do not worry about this character if they even know about it! :P
I am graduate in Arts and i could say to you some statements that masters like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti or Raphael di Sanzio wrote about to become a great artist: 1) copy your master, 2) copy nature and 3) invent. We all should get rid of topics about versioning *but not copying* things. ;)
finally, this is the clear copy you see…
http://www.platformmichelangelo.com/Untitled.png
…image shows clearly mine is more crappy!!
;P
Cheers!
Mich
nice project dude. thank you for sharing!
uploading new ISO with CC license where I explicitly say “You can’t fake copyrighted pieces or movies with this character, props or environment”. Hope this help :)
@Max Hammond
Relax. Does Pixar have a trademark/patent/copyright on rats or mice with human-like qualities? Whenever somebody says that someone’s else work is a ripoff, I can only shake my head and remember Isaac Newton’s famous saying: If I have seen further, it’s because I’ve stood on the shoulder of giants.
@Max Hammond,
I wasn’t aware that Pixar was the first Animation Studio to animate a rat?
I also was not aware that Pixar had, in fact, bought the rights to the rat?
Please don’t come here any belittle the great effort and enormous generosity that Michelangelo has displayed here by making such childish and pathetic comments about Pixar have any sort of ownership to a being of nature?
I am amazed everyday by the human race, and, not in a good way!
I Ideologically agree with you, but sadly the law does not. I would like to state again that I respect your descision to release your hard work to the community and am not attacking that.
@Michelangelo: “You can’t fake copyrighted pieces or movies with this character, props or environment” This statement in its self is an admition that the character could be mistaken for the real charachter and that there is the possibility for it to be used inappropriately.
@donutello: Isaac newton was a scientist and he was talking about scientific knowledge rather than Intellectual Property, Had some of his books been been copied and redistributed for free It would be a diffrent storie.
@Nathan Cunningham: I’m not saying that Pixar own the image of a rat, Im saying that they own the IP of a rat that looks like the ones in ratatouille. I’m not trying to belittle him or his generosity as i clearly said above. what I am trying to point out is that he is realeasing under creative commons something he does not own.
The issue is that you are releasing it under CC so it could be used by anyone any where, Someone could use it to make a film, tv show or advert. Do you think Pixar would be happy with that?
I think in a perfect world there is no problem here, but its not a perfect world companys protect there IP and I am in no dought that if this character were to be used on the 11 secound club or animation festivel that this same discussion would occour.
@Max, at the end it is just matter of use people do about things. We can’t stop open source projects because people could use them in the bad way. It is like getting Sintel files, getting rid of Sintel character and adding a girl with two guns… I could say I developed Tom Raider The Revenge of Blender! naah really the Sintel team can’t do much about this… same here… to fake ratatouille here (with current state of files) people need to modify model, change textures, change props and environment and everything… because it is really different and purpose of this project is not that but learning blender. Really, watch it from the other points of view because you are really close looking it as a fake and this is really the wrong way… just because there is no intention of that… If you do you will see by yourself what i mean mate… ;)
anyway… we all should respect all comments… so thanks anyway to let us known about your point of view mate.
Enhorabuena Michelangelo, cada vez que lo veo mas me gusta, un gran trabajo, ¿para cuando tu proyecto MyDearLittleBear? he visto el teaser en tu vimeo y es muy interesante. Un saludo.
Nice one Pop850, you win this threads award for most useless post. You managed to win aforementioned award on several counts which was at the descretion of the judge (me) namely;
Award, given for
1) most useless waste of black/white space in trying to formulate a point (forgotten what your point was)
2) most arrogant post showing little evidence that user understands constructive critism.
3) most ignorant post which would lead other users to surmise ones own portfolio is repleat with 3d models of such awesomeness that your position on the next Blender project (Mango) is most assured.
there were another 14 items that the judge was going to incorporate into the list, but I had to go and visit Mr Crapper. I do hope you post soon
regards to everyone else
TFS
Sorry forgot..
Michelangelo……awesome work and thanks for sharing, so maybe people like Pooper850 can learn something about life.
regards
TFS
Michelangelo you are doing a good job and you deserve that BFCT. Don’t worry about the pixar talk, if pixar wants to sue anybody then it has to be the entire world of CG because it will become “one rat too many”. I am from nigeria and am planing on making an animated movie based on an african story, and i will like you to help me. If you are intrested send me an email at [email protected]