December 2019 - Blender 3D, Graphics and Hobby Home Page
Having been laid up for a few days with a bad back and unable to sit at my graphics computer, I decided to use the time updating the layout of this site using my laptop. The old layout was becoming a little dated and was based on html tables. The new layout hopefully looks a little more up to date and as it is based on CSS, new pages will be easier to view on phones and tablets. That doesn't mean I will be reformatting existing older pages though as that is far too much work, but I will import the tables from them into the new layout over the coming year.
Blender 2.80 Book
Last month I mentioned a few changes were needed in the book and a new version RB-MMPP-001c was made available and added to Gumroad on 15th December.
The previous update of blender 2.81 didn't impact on the content of the book, but it is looking like the next update to Blender 2.82 will, so I am planning to release a further update shortly after the release of Blender 2.82 adding the planned changes to Blenders Bevel functionality and Modifier into the relevant reference sections.
Thanks to everyone that has sent in feedback on their progress with the book. It is really appreciated that I can hear about areas of the book readers may be having difficulty with as it will allow me to improve future versions of the book and help others.
Classic Mini Rebuild
I had put the Austin Mini rebuild on hold over the summer as most of my time was taken travelling and doing artwork for others. Now in the winter months, it's not that pleasant sleeping overnight in an unheated camper van, so its a good time to get started on the mini rebuild again. When I left the mini I had just finished constructing the rotating jig and mounted the stripped down mini body on it to prove it turnes over okay.
This month I decided to start the body strip down. Initially when I looked at the underside it was looking like it just needed new sills and a front floor repair panel. However removing the previous undercoat exposed some pretty dubious repairs, so off came the off side wing, A-panel and outer cover sill. I am certainly not going to get away with just sills and a few repair panels. As a start the body will need complete new floor pans, together with extensive repairs to the inner wings and new hinge posts. A lot more work than initially thought, but it still looks at this stage like the body can be saved.
The next stage is to order the body panels for the floor , inner wings and door support before I cutaway all the rotten areas that will need replacing.
Robert Burke - Portraits & Art
I have been practising more with soft pastels and pastel pencils working out what the limitations of this media are. The limitations I have found are more around the minimum size of image you can create and still maintain quality of detail. Pastels lose their edge almost immediately so on a small portrait you are constantly having to sharpen your working edge.
Another recent commission was Mini a little Jack Russell.
November 2019
Blender 2.81 Released
On 21st November the Blender Foundation released the first update of the Blender 2.8 series bringing a range of changes and improvements to the program. Much of this update concentrated on improvements to Blenders Sculpting Tools, new Retopology Tools, Improvements to the Render Engines and usibality improvements to the File Manager and Outliner.
- New Ways to remesh - OpenVDB Voxel, QuadriFlow.
- Poly Build Improvements - Automatic Quad Creation, Smart Pre-selection.
- Nvidia RTX Support - Experimental support for rendering on RTX graphics cards.
- Intel® Open Image Denoise - New Denoise node to denoise renders using OpenImageDenoise.
- Preview Passes - Pick which pass to see in the viewport while in Rendered shading mode.
- Improvements to Shader Nodes - Volume Info, Vertex Colour, Map Range, White Noise, Clamp, Math & Vector, Mapping, Voroni, Musgrave & Noise.
- New Brushes: - Airbrush, Ink Pen, Ink Pen Rough, Marker Bold, Marker Chisel, Pen, Pencil, Pencil Soft.
- Other Changes: - Convert curves to Grease Pencil, Disable the stencil effect on strokes, Isometric grid option for lines specified by angle.
- Improvements to: - Soft Shadows, Volumetrics, Bump mapping, Contact shadows, Transparency.
- Improvements: - Now opens as floating window with more standard layout.
- Usability Improvements: - Selection is now synced with the viewport, Box select with click and drag, eyedropper now works in the outliner.
Blender 2.80 Book
Even though the release of Blender 2.81 has brought a massive list of changes to the program, none of them directly impact the functionality of the book 3D Computer Graphics Using Blender 2.80 - Modelling Methods, Principles & Practice.
From a little bit of feedback from one reader, it was noticed thet in a couple of places I had accidentally used the Shift-E shortcut when mentioning the Edge Special menu. The shortcut should have been Ctrl-E the RMB in Edge Select mode was mentioned alongside the error so hopefully it hasn't caused too many issues for readers. Also I hadn't added a link to the Curves.png reference image.
These minor changes will be made to the book and an update issued mid December.
My thoughts are now turning to a second volume for the book looking in detail at modelling with precision for product design and architectural illustrations. One idea for the architectural section came from a recent visit to Kings Cross Railway Station. As the stations construction contains both complex modern structures and old brick buildings it should cover a large aspect of architectural modelling methods. A first try at recreating a low-polly version of the complex roof has been easier than expected and will show how seemingly complex structures can be broken down into a few simple steps within Blender.
For anyone who has already purchased 3D Computer Graphics Using Blender 2.80 - Modelling Methods, Principles & Practice, it would be really helpful for me to hear any feedback on how you are progressing with the book, and I would welcome any messages or emails with your thoughts on any areas of the book that could be improved to help other readers.
Robert Burke - Portraits & Art
I have increased the amount of work I am doing in soft pastels, with a few more commissions for pets. The German Shepherd below is an example of my recent work that was commissioned for a wedding present.
Robert Burke - Illustration
My technical Illustration website has had a lot of attention over the past months. The menu has been reorganised, a new home page banner added and a page giving a breakdown of the chapters of my new Blender 2.80 modelling book. There is still a couple of empty pages to add information to regarding web based interactive images and architectural work that will be completed soon.
October 2019
Blender 2.80 Book
The Book has now been updated to include the section on efficient modelling with Modifiers which has increased the page count to 506 and contains 915 images. The process of modelling basic shapes to add to or subtract from the initial model can make the thought process of modelling much easier, however there are a number of things that can make the Boolean operation go wrong. The new section identifies these and and explains how to model so the problems don't occur.
For anyone who has already purchased the book, it would be really helpful for me to hear any feedback on how you are progressing with the book.
Robert Burke - Portraits & Art
The October Exhibition was really popular with over 40 pieces of art being displayed by members. There was some really talented artists who contributed and I am sure this will become a regular annual event for Tamworth Society of Artists.
I am now doing more work in soft pastels, but unfortunately most of what I am doing are for commissions that will be used a presents, so they can't be displayed at the moment.
If you would like to commission a portrait please visit my Robert Burke - Portraits and Art website for more details.
it would help me Immensely if you would like my "Robert Burke - Portraits and Art" Facebook page and share it with others. The further my websites are spread throughout the web the better the chance I will have of maintaining and continuing with future Blender and drawing tutorials.
Follow my Portraits and Art page on Facebook<
Robert Burke - Illustration
My technical Illustration website has had a lot of attention over the past month. The menu has been reorganised, a new home page banner added and a page giving a breakdown of the chapters of my new Blender 2.80 modelling book. There is still a couple of empty pages to add information to regarding web based interactive images and architectural work that will be completed soon.
The site showcases a little of what I can do towards the creation of the more technical type illustration or graphics.
If you are in need of technical or engineering type illustration for your technical manuals, training or sales literature please dont hesitate to contact me via the contact link on the illustration website www.robertburkeillustration.co.uk
Follow my Technical Illustration page on Facebook
September 2019
Having completed the Blender 2.80 modelling book and publishing it in August, it was noticed that a sentence hadn't been copied across on the practical section at the start of modelling the Spiral Staircase, instructing the user to set the Pivot Point to 3D Cursor. This simple sentence was fairly critical as without it the rest of the modelling exercise couldn't be completed. I immediately put out a revision and made sure that everyone that had already purchased the book were sent a link to download the updated version.
This got me thinking, as the book was designed to introduce a user to as many of Blenders Core Modelling Tools for mesh modelling as possible, it isn't the most efficient modelling process. It does however give the reader an understanding of many of the core tools that they will need to be able to use in order to construct, repair or modify models. To show how efficient modelling can be, I have decides to add another section to the book remaking the Riser model, but this time non-destructively using a stack of modifiers. It's looking like this will add around fifty more pages to the book and I am aiming to have it available when the Introductory period ends and the book goes to full price. Don't let this put you off buying the book before the update though, as everyone who has already purchased the book will get a free copy once the update becomes available.
Robert Burke - Portraits & Art
I have recently joined the committee at Tamworth Society of Artists and this month we have been preparing for the October Exhibition which is being displayed for the full month of October in Tamworth Library.
It is amazing to see just how much artistic talent is on display from society members. If you are in Tamworth Staffordshire, it is well worth taking a look.
If you would like to commission a portrait please visit my Robert Burke - Portraits and Art website for more details.
it would help me Immensely if you would like my "Robert Burke - Portraits and Art" Facebook page and share it with others. The further my websites are spread throughout the web the better the chance I will have of maintaining and continuing with future Blender and drawing tutorials.
Follow my Portraits and Art page on Facebook
August 2019
Blender 2.80 Book
I managed to get the book finished and online midday on 24th August. Sales have been going okay and I have started to receive some great feedback from people that have purchased the book.
Marketing isn't something that I have any experience in, so getting the book noticed on the right websites to attract customers is quite a new experience to me and also extremely time consuming. I have decided to keep the price low, for a book of this size and content at $20.00 it is about half the cost of some others I have seen. It is priced in American Dollars because I am using the Gumroad sales platform which is based in America and a global customer base are used to using this currency. Now I am not in regular employment, any sales of the book will help me continue to create tutorials and fund this website.
I think the book will also be a great training resource for instructors, if anyone wants to sell on the book to their students or through their website I am happy to setup an Affiliate account. Contact me via my Illustration Website if this is something that is of interest to you.
Also if anyone that has bought the book and is able to forward over a testimonial or review of the book it would be very much appreciated. I would like to include a few for use both on my website and possibly on the back cover of a future revision of the book.
Video opens in YouTube
To see a chapter by chapter breakdown of the books contents click >> here <<
Austin Mini Rebuild Project
Since the previous post on my Austin Mini rebuild back in February, my main time has been spent writing the Blender 2.80 Modelling book, however I did make some time to drop the subframes and mount the shell on to the Rotisserie. The video below is the first time the mini was turned over. Towards the end of the video you can see the waterfall of rust particles falling from inside the body.
With the Book finished, I am now looking to source the replacement panels before starting the long job of a back to metal reconstruction of the body shell.
Video opens in YouTube
May, June & July 2019
Blender 2.80 Modelling Guide Book.
It's been a really busy four months for me, which is why I haven't published anything here for a while. I decided to get my head down and try and get the book I started in 2012 on Modelling Methods Principles and Practice, updated and finished to coincide with the release of Blender 2.80
This has turned out to be a much bigger challenge than I expected, but like previous work, I have learnt loads of new ways of using Blenders tools.
The intention of the book is to take a new or intermediate user and give them a reference that explains what Blenders tools do. Following the reference chapters are a range of simple to intermediate practical exercises explained in detail and illustrated with step by step images as the models progress. This isn't just a click this button to achieve this result, but explains both the design intent, and the reasoning behind why and how the chosen tools are used. The final aim of the book is to give the reader sufficient knowledge and experience to be confident in the construction of their own 3D models.
The Book contains:
- Pages: 454
- Images: 841
For more information and to get your copy of the book Click Here....
April 2019
608 Bearing Tutorial for Blender 2.80.
With the Beta version of Blender 2.80 getting closer to its final release I have worked through the the new tools and am pleased to say that all the tools needed to complete the bearing are in place.
The new ways of working give far more visual feedback over the modelling process.
The units of measurement has allowed me to model the bearing to scale. However at the moment there are a few visual glitches when displaying sub millimetre thicknesses where the back face vertices show through a solid view mesh.
However I have persevered and you should be able to complete the model following the updated tutorial.
Blender 2.80 Modelling Guide Book.
The 608 Bearing has eat in into a little bit of my available time, but I am still on track to have the book finished mid summer this year.
March 2019
Blender 2.80 Book
Whilst working on the Blender 2.80 book I received a messaged from a Blender user stating that the tools needed for the 608 Bearing tutorial first written 2007 were now working in Blender 2.80.
Having a quick look back over the tutorial the new workflow seems a lot more intuitive, so I think it is time for an update. My first results are in the image above, a slightly simpler construction, but the build process does ues a lot of Blenders modelling tools. A few refinements to do and the tutorial will hopefully be uploaded next month.
I am now about half way through the Blender 2.80 modelling guide book with most of the modelling reference done. The next stages will be lots of examples of how to use the tools.
January - February 2019:
Blender 2.80 Book
Work is progressing on the book quite quickly as I get deeper into the new way of working in Blender 2.80. Since starting writing the book just over three months ago, I have become very familiar selecting with the left mouse button and finding the new locations for tools and menus.
Containing an in depth reference and detailed demonstrations of how the various tools and options can be used to create 3D models, the book is growing at a pace. There is now over 200 pages written of what I expect to be around 500 pages primarily dedicated to the modelling process.
As with most of my projects I am concentrating my efforts on an open source pipeline, writing the book in Libreoffice and and using Blender and Gimp to create the many illustrations.
What's most pleasing is that Blender, even in this early stage of Beta development seems to be extremely stable regarding the modelling tools.
I will give a few more updates on the Blender 2.80 Guide as I progress over the next few months and hope to have the book available mid summer this year.
