Thomas Kobelsky's Blog

May 10, 2010

It's been a while since my last entry, mostly because my life's been un-eventful yet way too busy at the same time.

Since my last update, I started a new Blog called "Nerd in the Kitchen" which is basically going to me talking about crazy things to do there. But that's not what we're here to talk about.

Blender.

What a strange tool.
I was approached by Nick Dodd (Founder of Tensioncore and Tensioncore Design Studios) who asked me to join him in developing a undisclosed project. This project is called "The Dog Food Project" and is/will be done entirely in the Blender application.
This has prompted me to learn an entirely new toolset, as well as jump feet first into Python 3.1. I first started by downloading the 2.4.9 release and was playing around in it for a bit, trying to learn all the new hotkeys and methodologies of how to model in it. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff waiting to take the plunge, but there was a fence in my way holding me back.
Then just last night Nick messages me telling me to anticipate the 2.5 release (which is currently in Alpha 2 phase) and that I would have to re-learn everything when it's fully released. So I downloaded the Alpha 2 release and now I feel like I'm standing on the same cliff, with the fence removed, but the cliff itself is still under construction.
The learning curve of Blender is unlike anything I've experienced before. There's some things which are super easy to get the hang of, but some other simple procedures that are a no-brainer in 3ds Max still seem to elude me in Blender. Then again, the majority of Blender is based on hotkeys which (until 2.5) haven't been able to be customized. This means that simple things I would use most often are scattered all over the keyboard (drag-select = "b", merge selected vertices/edges = "alt-m", select/deselect all = "a", switch between Edit Vertex/Edge/Face mode = "ctrl+Tab", etc).
However, once you do become familiar with it, you're able to create pieces really quickly. More on the history of the engine later, though.

I'm really excited to get this ball rolling. Not only am I learning two new skill sets with this project (and probably a few more as we get further into development), but it'll also challenge me in more ways than I can even think of at the moment.

-tk

Share |