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maandag 31 januari 2022

Interesting stuff #2

Here's my second rundown of interesting stuff I found over the last few weeks! Let's start with a few completely unrelated YouTube videos!

  • Shave your prints with a card scraper; Looks like a great alternative for sanding! If you have ever sanded a 3D print, you probably know what a pain in the ass it can be. Apparently, a card scraper is an excellent alternative!
  • Robert's Fogger; If you're into Halloween, there's a good chance you own a fog machine. For creating low hanging fog, the most common technique is chilling it with ice, but this guy takes a different approach, and it seems to work really well!
  • Realistic eyeball sculpt; Looks realistic and disturbing indeed!
  • Simple motorized Halloween props; I've been wanting to get started in animatronics for ages, and this is a good place to start. 
Next up, there's a series on Adam Savage's website Tested.com, featuring Harrison Krix from Volpin Props. In the series, he builds a replica of the Needler gun from Halo. It's a very in-depth series, and nothing is 3D printed!
That's it for today, I'm working on a few projects and hope to have at least one build log this month!


vrijdag 14 januari 2022

Interesting stuff #1

Hey everyone, so here's my first overview of interesting stuff I found! I hope to post an overview like this every two weeks or so. Let's get started! For this post, it's all YouTube channels or playlists.

Blender tutorials

Like I said in my previous post, I finally want to learn Blender properly this year. Version 3.0 has just been released, but luckily, there are already a few excellent up-to-date beginner tutorial series up on YouTube. It's important to use recent tutorials, because over the last few releases, the UI and certain menu items have been changed, so if you use older tutorials, it might get confusing and frustrating!

The first one is a 24-video series by CG Cookie. It covers the basics, starting with installation and navigation, all the way up to sculpting and animation. 

Blender 3.0 Basic Course - CG Cookie

The second one is a bit shorter, and only covers basic modeling, materials and lighting, but you make a complete scene during this tutorial. It's an updated version of an older tutorial series, and it really does a good job explaining all the basics.

Blender 3 for Complete Beginners

The creator of this series, Grant Abbitt, has lots and lots of other tutorials on his channel, mainly aimed at game development and game assets.

These tutorials are only the tip of the iceberg, and I got lots and lots more in my "Watch later" list.

Woodworking

I've been dabbling in woodworking for quite a while, although I don't have much finished projects to show off yet. My goal is to build a complete gaming/dining table one day. I'm working on a coffee table as a practice project, but it's been sitting in my workshop half-finished (actually way less than half) for months now.

Of course, basic woodworking skills always come in handy for prop building. For example, I recently built a full size replica of the Giant Key from the Locke & Key comics, and it's mostly made from wood. It required some accurate cutting, glueing up panels, and the most difficult of all, cutting out a large circle.

So, here are a few good woodworking channels to check out:

Makers to follow
And to finish my first list of interesting things, here are a few makers that I follow!

To start, there's Nerdforge. A couple from Norway, they make all sorts of usually fantasy-themed projects. Diorama's, costumes, paintings, ... Especially their most recent projects are quite spectacular!

Next up, Hacksmith Industries. They build real-life versions of fictional items from movies, tv and video games. Their builds are quite spectacular. To name one, they have built an actual, working power loader from "Aliens"! Not entirely the same as in the movie, it runs on tracks instead of walking, but besides that, it's an actual, working power loader! Needless to say, these are not hobby level prop builders, these guys are pros with every tool imaginable at their disposal and the skills to use them.

And to finish, there's Colin Furze. If I was a kid today, this would be the person I wanted to be when grown up. His projects are far from boring! To name a few: a screw tank, a Star Wars AT-AT playhouse, a turbojet powered scooter, and his most recent project, a secret tunnel to connect his underground bunker to his house. 

maandag 3 januari 2022

Happy new year!

To anyone who is still following this blog, happy new year! I know, I'm not really that active here anymore. I'm more active on my Facebook and Instagram pages, so to follow in detail what I'm up to and what I'm working on, head over there! The reason I'm not writing that much tutorials and build logs anymore is simply because I barely have time anymore, but I hope to be a bit more active this year (and yes, I know I say that every year).

Now, I highly doubt that I'll be able to do a tutorial every week, or even every month. I have a three year old daughter, and more than enough stuff to do in and around the house, so I need to manage my time carefully. So, here's something I would like to try out starting this year. I run into all sorts of cool YouTube videos, blog posts, or other social media content related to prop building and 3D printing, and I'd like to try writing an overview of interesting stuff I found every two weeks or so.

Another thing I'd like to do this year is learning Blender 3D. I have started following basic tutorials dozens of times, only to ignore it again later, so I basically have to start from scratch every time. This year, I want to follow through and actually learn it in depth! 

And then there's my store, wich is overdue for a major update! I have tons of cool ideas for new stuff to make, and I hope to find the time to actually build these things. More ideas for sketchbooks, but mostly Dungeons & Dragons stuff and game room decorations! So keep an eye on this blog and my social media channels!