Early July FUNKe Update - Learning Blender

TLDR: Moving animation programs. I will still use SFM sometimes, but I want to eventually not need to. Next video will be another lower-animation one (like the last upload)- Plans for collaborative animation will be pushed back/downscaled while i'm still learning Blender first.

-----------------------------

Here's what's up. I'm currently learning blender, with an eventual goal of moving more of/most of my animation workflow to it. 

This involves having the BOMBi model re-suited/updated to be designed for blender use (since it's not exactly a drop and go transfer from SFM), getting used to Grease Pencil (which lets me draw in 2D over the image) and also actually getting used to the blender interface/workflow itself. 

This change will open a lot of new possibilities: 

- No more double rendering just for drawovers, 

- No more greenscreening from SFM, 

- More freedom with contorting models/composing scenes, 

- Way more assets/tools to work with, 

- A ridiculous amount of conveniences to save time animating, 

- Way less errors, crashes, bugs and other jank.

I could genuinely continue listing on but you get the point.

[How Will This Affect Videos?]

My videos will still remain largely the same- using character animation while the video themselves are about something specific i'm talking about/covering. Learning blender is just a more efficient way of producing that part of it.

Long term, though, this extends my options way further for other types of videos- like more original content and collaborative/outsourced animation.

SFM has a very small pool of potential to draw from, there are some astounding animators who overclock the program to their needs, but for what I want- to develop a more general 'artstyle', and experiment with complex shots/lighting/shading- i'll have to shift away from working in SFM.

[What's The /When's The Next Video?]

I previously said the next video would be a larger collaboratively animated video, but that was written assuming i'd still be limited to SFM, working with SFM animators. Working with blender changes those plans a bit.

Blender means way more potential people to work with, and way more flexibility in collaborating, but to do that effectively I need to understand how to work with my assets myself first before I can explain/give feedback to others later.

So, right now i'm planning to work on something scaled back- I haven't decided if that means a review, or just some simpler "talking about a thing" video. I have a few subjects in mind, which i'll whittle down within the next week before working on. (i'm spending this week experimenting with various small blender projects, see attached)

 Time wise, I dunno yet. My internal goal is always 1 month turnaround- release a video, then finish the next by the end of a month. 

However that regularly runs over into two months. The last video did that because I turned it from an actual small project into a big fat "let's learn adobe premiere!" video. This next one, I want to be an ACTUAL small project while I learn blender separately, for future videos. 

ATTACHED: 

1. Practicing choreographed dance animation & SFM Asset Porting

2. Practicing Grease Pencil Drawovers

3. Baby's First (2022) Blender Animation