About this new gaming computer!

I have finally gotten that computer that I've been blabbing about!

It's so exciting to actually be building up this PC to be exactly what I want for Steam games and 2D art/minor 3D setups! I'm pretty certain that it should let me record all of that with OBS Studio without an issue and this computer is doing excellent in showing the game graphics. (This time I have an HDMI/DVI wire connection? The difference in what the monitor is showing is amazing.)

I can use Blender with very little lag and was able to set this tabletop and wall without issue:

I will probably change the wall later, but just that I could do it at all!

(Edit: Tutor was recently able to check out my file to see what's causing that black circle around the cup. We'll be working on that fairly soon!)

So far, I've only played a little Darksiders, and King's Bounty: The Legend, Gems of War, and Two Point Hospital, but every single one of those is not lagging at all like the previous PC. The previous computer was amazing but this one really shows the difference between a gaming pc and the basic one I had before.
...I did not realize the last computer was lagging on Darksiders and Two Point Hospital. It's such a difference!

Have to give a mention about Cobratype Computers, at this point.
They shipped a large box with a smaller one in the center, surrounded by all the packing peanuts necessary to make sure that the center box (with the computer, mouse, and keyboard) was steady the whole trip. And I had a minor issue with getting my monitor to work but a very quick contact with customer service solved everything in record time.

So if y'all are interested in a new PC for whatever reason, check them out. This one was so worth saving for!

Do not paint kettles with cups

First came the water with a tiny cup handle:

Then came the painting incident:

My characters must be safe; no one drank from this glass, as far as I could tell

.

Finally, the cup was cleaned and the kettle remains it's lovely dark color, helping the sprinkles show:

With some luck, I'll be able to follow Blender Guru's Condensation video some time or another. UV Unwrapping is ridiculously hard for me, for whatever reason, I can't tell you how many times I've replayed this one.
...of course, it would be the one I'll actually need to use if I want to go deeper into 3D, wouldn't it? Wish me luck! 

SUDDEN REPORT!

Small mercies are always so very kind. I do not have to continue to fuss with UV Unwrapping. I can't explain how relieved I am. My tutor explained why I was having so much trouble like I was (my UV Unwrapping wasn't working like it should have and he gave me examples why) and he told me that it's nothing that I'm going to do with 2D art. 

I am free from UV Unwrapping!

The next update will be following the Composition video. See you there!

3D scene update!

This one has no doubt been seen by everyone that is watching me on deviantArt. The pot is the famous Utah teapot and I'm so glad Blender has a version. Can you imagine trying to create that one from the cylinder that Blender gives you to work with? No idea how the original person to create the teapot did it!

Metal teapot and glass cup! I was so thrilled when both of these worked out. ^_^ And can you believe that one of my oh so cruel friends challenged me for what to put elsewhere in the scene? If I weren't following my tutor's instructions and  BlenderGuru's videos on youtube and that I get to work on my own slow speed? I still wouldn't be playing with 3D at all. So this challenge was oh so terribly mean.

He challenged me to create a donut box to lay in the upper right that will have my full-color signature acting as if it's from the bakery.

Do you know how awful that is right now? How little I know about creating such things? Why would he do such a thing to me? ...blast it, he knows too dang well that I'm going to have to make this donut box. All because he planted that seed in my mind and now it's going to grow and grow! 

I shake all the fishes at you for this awful, terrible, totally mean idea that is going to actually happen sooner or later!

Donut and Coffee cup!

March 31st

This is clearly the Approach of Snacktime. Can't you just see it sneaking up to the viewer at this moment? XD

Since I don't remember how to move the camera anymore, I think I'm going to put a saucer underneath the donut (to keep it good to eat of course). It will be so fun to place something in the background in the upper right. Maybe I can figure out how to set up a tray and a little food and blur it a little?

Just cause it's funny; have a chonky handled cup. XD

Completed donut! And some excitement to share!

Part 4, level 2 of our lovely donut has been completed, and so has this donut entirely! I can't be any happier about that. ^^

Part 1, Level 3; creating reference for coffee cup

In other news, I am only two months out to be able to buy my new computer. I can hardly wait since this one won't even let me record a timelapse of a picture. ...yes, I should be thrilled, who cares if I can't render a video or an mp3, this computer is really tolerating the 3D stuff.
But I'm happy to be getting a new computer. It should be able to tolerate the 3D work and time-lapses, which I'll really need if I plan to ever get my Youtube page actually running. And when that ever happens, I'll be more than sure to set up a videos page on this site so they can get seen. ^^

And I just recently found a microphone that's meant to be some good for a VR chat. But...if I can buy that sometime (however slow it will be, what and coronavirus) it'll have to be much easier to do a quick voiceover on those timelapse recordings I plan to eventually do.

Did I ever mention that I have way too many ideas? Because that was two lovely examples of it. XD But, even if it takes me years to get things set up, I'll eventually get all of this to work in one form or fashion!

The Donut is finally cooked!

Part 3, Level 2 of Blender Guru's tutorial!

. . . This took way too much time with how hard I made it. Teach me to be playing with 3D programs at 5:00am. But yay for getting a texture of sorts on here! And I'm very sure that this donut fried upside down. Look at where the lighter part is.
But at least it made it through the fryer!

And now, I move onto Part 4, Level 2!

Oh. ...Oh, dear.

So, after a long day at the spa and getting to speak to a therapist, our lovely donut is pretty happy again. And so am I, what and getting some kind of texture to this donut. (Without making it look like a hedgehog or the kind.) It looks like how a donut actually would, flakey and just ready to eat!

One more video and we're almost to level 3! I'll not make you follow along with the next video and will hopefully have level 3 completed before the next post.

Even more Donuts!

Some may have seen where I posted this to my dA account.

I no longer have that version because I seem to have forgotten to save properly. *cough* Then Blender crashed and took the .blend version with it. So! Let's start from the beginning here and see what we come up with, hm?

Version 1: Everything looks like clay at the second but it isn't going to be so bad to start with! Rendering time wasn't too bad, considering this had no amount of color to it. Oh, but it will. And rendering times will get slower and slower from that point onward. At this second, though, I think it's more that it has so much space to cover!

A few steps later brings us here:

Adding in the color definitely made rendering a bit slower. As if this computer isn't bad enough on its own. XD Still, I'm thrilled it's happening at all right now. Can't wait to see how the full image will turn out. ...though I expect it to take a whole night now, when there are plates and a wall added in. @@

I think I shall be leaving this alone for a little while. Fun as it was to play with it I'm wanting to do something else for now. Hopefully, there will not be another big oops that causes me to lose my position again! And I will gladly take my place at the alley of insane artists. I want to play with Blender again rather soon! @@

This donut will take over the world!

Kneel down and worship the Donut that will crush unbelievers and feed humans for centuries:

How do I know that my donut is too big? It has something to do with how large it is on the plane that it's sitting on. Have Blender Guru's example: 

No, it is not a trick of the light that he has shining on the donut nor is his plane any larger than the one my Blender put down. He was working a lot smaller than I was and I didn't realize it until he showed this version right here. 

...Blender should have a scale option, somewhere, so I can make mine smaller. (Thank goodness!) But now I'm wondering if there's even enough room for the cup of coffee that he'll lead us to create rather soon? XD

For something unrelated to the donut, take a look at my buttons to the side of this post. Yes, I've created a small Discord chat. It'd be great to talk with y'all if you feel like checking it out. 

See you there! ^^

The Donut is Back!

And I finally got the color to change and everything like on BlenderGuru's video! Isn't it amazing how well one does when they realize that they weren't following the tutorial exact?
Yes, indeed! The second post of last week wasn't together purely because I couldn't find out what I was doing wrong there.


Isn't it great that I had to play through the whole way again just to get it to this point? XD That's what I get for not playing with the program at least once a week.

Next Thursday, I'll try to show another "story" similar to how the first bit of donut was done! That was fun and it'll be great to play around again. Wish me luck please! I'll need it. >>;

How they're made: Donuts

No superheated oils necessary for this tasty treat! Just a great video series, a program to play with, and the madness to watch and rewatch the same section in that series a million times over.

I've only been playing with this program for a few days and it's already proven to be pretty dang powerful for just a little program...which is amazing, since my computer has a habit of refusing to behave if it thinks you look at it sideways.

Let's ignore that I can't png without a screenshot yet. ^^;

So! The donut is no longer 'two-weekends-to-eat' large. But as Blender Guru mentions in the video, donuts are not so perfect as to merely be robotic. They have their own standards of beauty, standards that a computer just cannot compare:

Everyone, please stand for the Miss Donut of 2020

Doesn't she just look magnificent? She is no longer locked to the computer's standard of grandiose, she has reached the real and true shape of the Greatest Donut to Ever Exist. All without the dangerous fryers in the kitchen or the need to get tons of flour and dough stuck to the cook!

If the videos from Blender Guru continue to be as short as this one was, I can really see my computer letting me get through to the end of the series! ...after all, it only crashed when I was done with everything this time. There may be some forcing this poor old thing to do what I like from it!

And I was worried about having nothing to post!

Tutor just told me that we'll start working with Blender--he tried it out and it loaded faster than Maya does for him. Isn't that amazing? I always thought that paid programs like that would be better in getting started up.
It's even more impressive that the program definitely works for me, too! It not only loaded, but I can move both the camera and the cube without my computer stuttering!

As much trouble as this computer had been before the Crash of 2019, it's so amazing to see this whole window opening so quickly and allowing me to move everything around. (I'm sorry for no video. No real idea how to make videos as of yet or I'd be happy to show that I can do those simple things.)
It'll be so nice to learn how to use this and see how to make it cooperate with Clip Studio.

Bet this is a super useful program to get background ideas and the like designed and modeled! I'm definitely looking forward to starting with it.

This is an interesting beginner's series to watch and play with! At least to learn some of the simple keyboard shortcuts for things.
I'm super excited to learn this program!

Now if I'll just get finished with my armature homework so I could move on to this! @@ Even got the go-ahead from my tutor to learn the basics from Blender Guru. (Can't wait to play with that donut and coffee cup in Blender Guru's tutorial videos. XD)

Blender oddity?

Blender's doing something a little odd and I can't find an answer to it. I can't edit anything to be any longer than a tiny section, even if the recording is around 45 minutes long.

 

It loops between these two spaces, no matter how long the video is supposed to be. I've not had a chance to edit anything because it catches nothing more than what is pointed out.

 It seems that I'm either forgetting a section to do or it's trying to say that the video isn't longer than this. 

OBS is behaving pretty well, at least! XD

If Blender was just that much easier...

I've been practicing with it! I can bring up the screens that I need and can just about get any recording into it. Going to have to watch the example my friend made to see how to get music and everything again, once I have the nerve to record more than a few seconds at a time.
OBS studio's been doing what it's supposed to as well. Have finally gotten it onto Picarto.tv for eventual livestreaming and have been dabbling in actual recording for that long unused Youtube account. I'll be sure to set something up to link here if a recording makes it there.

Tell you what. When OBS is active, it's like I've got a little more focus into what I'm trying to work on. There aren't so many of those wait times in deciding to do something and it's kinda nice--did the whole of the Tre grayscale with it up. It was the fastest thing I'd ever done! Usually, I'm much more specific on how and what to do; that it came out well was the most surprising thing.
Maybe painting it will be more of the same, once I've chosen the colors.

I've also decided that I'm not going to fully reline Find the Way. While I'd like to fix Jesse's pose and Valeon's face, I'm far too lazy for that. Especially when I'm already working on Tre! So I'm just going to grayscale and repaint FtW at some point. It's driving me crazy how flat everything is now that I've done better!

(...Here's hoping that these links won't break my site again. Last time I tried this, something didn't work at all and I never did figure out why. Had to remove the links to make the viewer end of this page come up right!)

Anyway! Plans are set and now I've said this for the public to see, it means that it should happen!