The Colleagues from Lvl80 collected some of the most horrendous interfaces for Blender – thanks for the nightmares, friends! And you should have a look at them, just to balance the family feud the last few days :) (In case you fixed the printer early).

https://80.lv/articles/warning-these-ugly-blender-themes-might-burn-your-eyes

https://extensions.blender.org/themes/genuinely-disgusting/
(Our favorite and MAYBE I downloaded it. Not admitting, just …)

The post The nightmare before Christmas: Horrendous Blender Interfaces first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The post Blender in a Blender with a blending in Blender first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The “Quad Maker” add-on is designed to optimise the retopology process in Blender. It offers functions that enable more efficient modelling. The main features are the automatic recognition and adaptation of topology patterns and the simplification of complex meshes. This promises to improve the way VFX artists, game designers and other users work.

The Quad Maker integrates seamlessly into Blender’s existing user interface and complements it with new tools for the creation of topology quads. Using the add-on saves time and effort by automating repetitive retopology tasks. Another feature is the option to analyse and improve existing topologies. This can be particularly useful for optimising existing models for animations or game engines by removing unnecessary polygons and making mesh structures more efficient.

The tool offers various presets that can be customised depending on the application. Users can define specific topology presets to maintain precise control over the final result. These presets are helpful when different requirements are placed on models, such as organic shapes or technical models. In addition, Quad Maker can be integrated into existing Python-based scripts, which increases the level of automation.

Another highlight is the add-on’s ability to retain the original shape of the model while adapting the topology. This ensures that the artistic expression of the original is retained in the retopology. The automatic recognition of edge loops and polygon areas helps to further reduce working time. The tool makes it possible to focus on the creative aspects of modelling instead of wasting time on technical details.

Before using Quad Maker in ongoing projects, each function should be thoroughly tested to ensure that it fulfils the requirements and does not cause any unexpected problems. The results of the add-on are based on algorithms and techniques that, although advertised as efficient by the developers, may not be optimised for every possible requirement.

Licence model and pricing

Quad Maker is available as a paid add-on. Licensing terms and pricing vary, with both single user and team licences available. Details on prices and licence models can be found on the manufacturer’s website.

More information about the Quad Maker add-on.

The post Blender add-on “Quad Maker” for more efficient retopology first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

In nuce: The YouTube channel Adam Savage Tested has published a video lasting just under half an hour in which the eponymous Adam Savage heads to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. to get up close and personal with a grande dame of science fiction history: the original U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 from the Star Trek Original Series from the 1960s.

In toto: Mainly made of wood and with more surface details than the smooth spaceship surface would suggest, the starship delights fanboy slash modelling expert Adam Savage. He is assisted by Margaret A. Weitekamp, curator and author of the non-fiction book Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight and astronaut Cady Coleman. In the course of the conversation, viewers learn why Lucille Ball’s production company Desilu Productions was primarily responsible for creating The Original Series. Lucille Ball is still known today for the sitcom I Love Lucy.

Click further: The full-length video with Mythbusters legend Adam Savage is linked below.

The Original Star Trek USS Enterprise Filming Model!

The post Adam Savage visits the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: Microsoft is making the source code for its 3D Movie Maker freely available. You read that right: The animation software from 1995, tailored to the target group of children, is thus being made accessible to users in 2022. To this day, 3D Movie Maker enjoys considerable popularity – especially within bustling internet communities that are focussed on the anachronistic tool. The publication of the source code was announced by Scott Hanselman via Twitter. Scott is a partner programme manager at Microsoft.

https://twitter.com/shanselman/status/1521698902579159040?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1521698902579159040|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-3d-movie-maker-open-source/

What’s included in the download: 3D Movie Maker contains ready-made 3D character models, pre-rendered backgrounds, background music and voice recordings – enabling users to create their own (short) films. If you want to customise your audio, you have the option of creating or importing your own audio recordings.

Click further: The source code has been published on Github .

The post Microsoft 3D Movie Maker now open source! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: Because we’re also in the mood for jokes on 1 April, but would like to refrain from phone pranks, ringing pranks or other childish things, we’re sending you this amusing video in which the cast of the animated feature film fun “The Bad Guys” from DreamWorks – including podcast pioneer Marc Maron and enfant terrible Chris Rockwell – attempt to recreate the hairy protagonist Mr Wolf.

What is “The Bad Guys” about? The plot of the animated film revolves around the five anthropomorphic friends Mr Wolf (the pickpocket), Mr Snake (the burglary specialist), Mr Shark (the disguise artist), Mr Piranha (the muscleman with breathing problems) and Ms Taranha (the team’s IT specialist). The film’s plot begins at the point when the notorious criminal team is caught and they are all threatened with imprisonment – until Mr Wolf senses a plan that could save the five-man gang from jail..

Click to continue: If you want to get a further impression of whether “The Bad Guys” is worth a visit to the cinema, we recommend that you also click on the featurette, which we have also linked below.

Draw Mr Wolf with the Cast Director | The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys – A Look Inside Featurette

The post “The Bad Guys”: celebrities as amateur artists? first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: 3D generalist and character artist Hirokazu Yokohara shares his deep-fake demonstration on Twitter, in which Tom Cruise pulls a face, grimaces cheerfully and otherwise puts the corners of his mouth to the utmost.

Check out this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hirokazu Yokohara (@hirokazu_yokohara)

How does it work? According to Yokohara, DeepFace Live and Autodesk Maya were used for his demonstration. Yokohara was inspired by software developer (specialising in augmented & virtual reality) Brielle Garcia, who herself works with deepfakes.

What is DeepFace Live? The software allows you to replace your face with that of other people – for example Hollywood beau Cruise or other people from film history. This is a great way to get up to mischief at your next video conference, as DeepFace Live is explicitly designed for streaming and video conferencing.

Click on: If you want to keep an eye on Hirokazu Yokohara’s creative work, it may be worth following the 3D generalist and character artist on Twitter, Instagram, Artstation or 3Dtotal . Also pay a visit to AR/VR developer Brielle Garcia, on whose work Yokohara’s Deepfakes are based, on Twitter or tacolamp.com . Finally, if you want to make sure that the computing machine does the learning for you, then head over to github.com to try out DeepFace Live.

We hope you enjoy your next video call (with the AI-edited faces of your film and series stars)!

The post Deepfake with Autodesk Maya! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: The user Enbiggen, who describes himself as a “maker of silly things”, has now created a 3D device that lives up to his nickname – and will make fans of Disney-Pixar’s animated feature film pearl “Above” particularly happy.

What does Enbiggen’s video show? The almost ten-minute video shows the flying house from the film “Upstairs”, but this time it is made of Lego bricks. On its ascent, the house triggers several Lego cogwheels, which then touch sound bars, which in turn play the music track “Married Life” by Michael Giacchino from the well-known animated film. The flight of the Lego house is peppered with insiders, allusions and references to the animated feature film from 2009.

How did the project come about? According to Embiggens, the project was created entirely digitally using Cinema 4D and Octane Render.

Click further: If you want to continue immersing yourself in the fantastically stupid things Enbiggens does, click on his Twitter, Instagram or YouTube page– and you’ll find similar videos there, sometimes with musical themes from Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and co. We hope you enjoy this wonderfully silly exploration tour!

UP – Married Life

The post Rediscover the Disney-Pixar classic “Upstairs” now! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: Quinton Qu, Technical Artist at Chinese computer game developer miHoYo, has managed to do what leading Substance 3D designers previously thought impossible: to cram a playable platformer featuring plumber Mario into Adobe’s 3D tool.

Insanity Awards: Quinton Que’s work has paid off, as his Mario port for Substance 3D Designer has been honoured with this year’s Insanity Awards. The Insanity Award is presented by Adobe and is aimed at projects that push the technical limitations of Substance 3D Designer to their limits.

The winners: In addition to the first place winner Quinton Que, Cino Lai took second place with his creative project “Stylised Parametric Building”, and Pauline Boiteux was able to secure second place with “Thistle”.

Click further: All the winners and their creative projects – whether with Mario Madness or without Classic Gaming – can be found on Adobe’s corresponding blog entry. Mario fanboy Quinton Qu is looking forward to your visit on his Artstation profile. Also get to know Qu’s employer, the Chinese computer game developer miHoYo .

The post Super Mario – now finally available for Substance 3D Designer? first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

Mini-City

3D artist and animator Byron Slaybaugh shared his whimsical project. The colourful artwork, which resembles a Lego city, was created using Houdini and Redshift.

3D stuff with Lego

If you can’t get enough of 3D stuff with a Lego look, it’s also worth checking out Pascal Beeckman’s Procedural Legolizer in Houdini and Paul Hatton’s Blender tutorial Iron Man made from Lego. Happy creating!

The post Mini-City | Artwork first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.