Update: A change of pace
Added 2021-06-13 20:16:21 +0000 UTCHeya everyone, Hope you're all doing well! I'm putting on this update just to keep everyone posted on some recent changes I've decided to go forwards with. That being to make the switch to Blender for animations immediately. This has come about for a number of reasons but the biggest is my growing frustrations with using Source filmmaker and the complications and limitations that come with that program. Least of all that it is an old, slow, buggy mess of a program.
Starting tomorrow I will be working to set up an IK rig for the models I currently use in SFM but ported to Blender. This is a temporary solution for the time being to make the transfer a little easier on myself. However, I will be aiming to create my own set of Anthro models and characters by the end of the year. However, for the short term, I will continue to use the ReVamped models I have been using before.
Previous animations that have not been completed in SFM have been put on hold. Potentially permanently (Besides outlying commissions which will be seen through to completion). I may or may not return to those videos at a later date but it's unclear if I'll do so yet. I have done this because SFM has been causing me a lot of frustration as of late, so much so that it's affecting my will to work on animations at all. So I decided to cut my losses and make the switch to Blender.
I'll be aiming to keep the weekly WIPS going in the same manner as I had been with SFM but with blender WIPS. I'm going to do my best to keep you all posted and to have some small Blender animations out within a week or two.
I'd like to thank everyone who has and continues to support my work, This move to Blender for animation is a huge jump up for me and will hopefully be worth the effort when I am able to start outputting Blender animations. (hopefully soon).
If anyone has questions feel free to PM me.
Comments
Heya, it's all a little up in the air right now on what I produce going forwards. I may continue doing feral pony animations but I may not. Too soon to say I'm afraid ><
Seb111114
2021-07-16 22:04:31 +0000 UTCWhen you say you want to create your own set of Anthro models and characters. Will you also make (or use) models for regular non-anthro ponies? And continue to make animations with regular fim ponies? I really adore your past pony animations, and have a huge preference for non-anthro regular ponies. The switch to blender sounds like a good decision too.
Flutterbattty
2021-07-13 10:06:38 +0000 UTCWell, it really gets broken down into two routes. The first is the sole animator, these are the skills that are involved with animation as a whole. How to set up your keyframes as well as studying the 12 principles of animation. This blog goes over the 12 principles: https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/understanding-12-principles-animation Then there are your technical skills, the software-specific stuff that enables you to produce what you want in something like Maya, Blender, or SFM. this is gained through just looking into the program and experimenting, finding youtube videos and tutorials will get you very far. A lot of these programs have cross-over in their skill sets and how they work. But where SFM falls short is in the capabilities of the program, most notable it's a 32bit program. Which heavily limits what you can have on-screen at any time. in addition to this, you cannot create, edit or adjust any of the models inside of SFM it is purely animation-focused and not a full 3D suite. If you're wanting to take animation a step further you'll want to look into 3D modeling skills which can be used to give you a greater deal of freedom in your animations. It means you can make almost anything happen. In addition, these skills are useful for enabling you to edit and modify models to tailor them to whatever you need them to do. This can be done in SFM too but not directly. you have to use Blender to create the edits and then export them into SFM. Which also has far greater limitations on polycount and flex counts. So, with that being said, SFM is a really good tool for studying animation but only animation. Like a sandbox really. It's a good program for getting the basics and you can learn it quite easily just by going in and fiddling around. There's a huge number of tutorials on youtube on how to get started with SFM and how to improve but if you want to improve your animation skills itself, you should look into applying the 12 principles of animation as well as watching tutorials on "block animation" as well as finding some good examples of animation and trying to recreate it. Typically you can simply play and pause a clip and use those positions to act as your initial keyframes. Learning block animation will be one of the most useful skills you can gain early on.
Seb111114
2021-06-17 22:47:20 +0000 UTCBeyond helpful!!! O_O I'm very much beyond grateful!!! Felt a little bit of the fear of blender chip away. Everyone always said learning curve this and take classes that, i thought blender would be beyond me! Or I'd have to college again but for animation this time. I feel a little more at ease. Little shocked thought with the statement about blender being less demanding. Thought it AND the renderer were just as taxing. So what kind of technical know-how would you say i should learn? Can i get it as i practice with SFM?
Hi-Brew
2021-06-17 08:02:26 +0000 UTCSFM is a really nice place to start out if you're wanting to get into 3D animation but like a lot of animators have found. It's rather limited. While blender is harder to learn and get familiar with it does have a lot of transferable skills so it's not too dissimilar to SFM in terms of animation. The main difference is that blender can allow you to make your own models and edit models on the fly to make it much more versatile when it comes to doing a specific thing in the program. Where SFM just simply can't do it. But it needs a lot more technical know-how in 3D modeling rigging and texturing. Blender is overall less demanding to use on your PC. But rendering is more demanding (Depending on what renderer you use. EVEE might even be less demanding than SFM's old clunky renderer). One of the nicer things about Blender is that it has SFM model support. so you can port models over to Blender quite easily. Which is what I'm working on doing currently. Although I do intend to make my own models eventually from scratch. Also, Blender has a HUGE library of assets and models available for free if you look around. they're not as easy and in your face, as SFM's are but they are out there. Long story short though: SFM is good for getting into 3D animation and making some nice-looking stuff, but it's incredibly limited in what can be done. Blender is if you want to take it more seriously. It requires more time and effort to learn and master. But it's almost limitless in terms of what can be done. Hope that's helpful ^^
Seb111114
2021-06-17 00:03:01 +0000 UTCBut you've cranked out so many great vids with sfm! You make it look like its nothing, and your stuff's improved greatly!! I wanna get into sfm cuz ive seen that its easier to make vore vids, models are free to use and blender looks like a jump from normal mode to nightnare mode @_@ And dont you have to make your own models and rigs for blender and have a better computer? Sorry it sounds like im asking a lot.
Hi-Brew
2021-06-16 22:35:52 +0000 UTCYes, SFM for me atleast is more trouble than it's typically worth. Blender has a steeper learning curve but it's something I've been poking at for a while now.
Seb111114
2021-06-16 22:05:11 +0000 UTCGotta say, hearing a lot about sfm being bad. Is it really bugging like that? And isnt blender harder? And what about mmd?
Hi-Brew
2021-06-14 17:21:14 +0000 UTCI'll look forward to seeing what the blender animations will be like when you get there, until then, I can patiently look forward to what the future holds.
RhinoSCE
2021-06-13 22:37:25 +0000 UTCAlways hard to make that kind of a platform change, especially if you've got to build stuff from scratch, but it's probably a wise decision.
HumbugtheRat
2021-06-13 20:44:44 +0000 UTCThey'll likely be in my own style. But still quite cartoonistic. for the short term though they'll be exactly the same as the models I was using in SFM.
Seb111114
2021-06-13 20:35:31 +0000 UTCHope so, I've used blender a fair bit already and I already prefer it over SFM
Seb111114
2021-06-13 20:34:15 +0000 UTCIf your going to make your own models. Will they be similar to ones we’ve gotten use to or be completely different from the mlp style?
Blade Tech
2021-06-13 20:24:54 +0000 UTCHey man, when the transfer is complete. Your animating frustrations may dissipate completely. Something to look forward to.
ZabithWolf
2021-06-13 20:21:13 +0000 UTC
