Santa

TEST - Blender to 3DXchange to iClone

This is just a test to see how easy it is to export a stylised character from Blender, then import to 3DXchange and send to iClone. This is the first try for me to basically figure out how to do it, and where problems are going to occur. Here, it is obviously with the mesh, so it unfortunately back to Blender to sort that out.

Udemy, Skillshare and other Online Learning Communities.

Youtube and similar sites are excellent community-driven video sites which contains a plethora of learning resources on just about any subject. However, sometimes learning this way can seem disjointed and sometimes it is worth considering paying to learn.

Both Udemy and Skillshare are online learning communities and contain valuable courses for learning just about anything. This quick comparison is based on what I want to learn, in this case, it's mainly Art, Animation, both 2D and 3D, and that is currently about it.

Both Udemy and Skillshare cater to my needs, and both have pros and cons to consider.

Udemy charges per course. So, each course you want to learn you have to buy. However, this really isn't as bad as it seems as you never need pay more than about $12 for a course, just search for udemy voucher on Google. Once purchased you have lifetime access to that course for as long as it exists. There are also a number of free courses available.

Skillshare, on the other hand, charges via a membership charge, and you have access to ALL courses on Skillshare for the period of your membership. However, you lose access to the courses if your membership runs out. Skillshare also seems to mainly cater for creative and curious people, on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more.

Both sites do have some of the same courses, as I have found. Having invested in a number of courses on Udemy, and then joined Skillshare, I realise I could have saved myself the cost of the Udemy courses. But, on the positive side, I will always have access to the Udemy courses I've purchased.

Let's also not forget other sites which sell courses specific to certain learning areas. Sites I have personally used include:

• Bloop Animation

If you know of any courses worth users looking at, add them to the comments section below.

Let's Rumba! Looped animation

Quick and Dirty guide to how this animation was made.

Character created in Blender 3.0, following along to a Skillshare Course: Blender 3D | Full 3D Character | Easy Workflow, by Juandre Lab - https://skl.sh/31YAnJA

Character, without rig, exported as an FBX file, and then imported into Mixamo ( https://www.mixamo.com/ ) where it was auto-rigged and had pre-made animation added.

Exported from Mixamo in FBX format, and dragged and dropped into iClone. Music added from Youtube Audio Library, and background imported onto a plane from Freepik.com

Voila!

As I mentioned at the beginning, this is a very quick and dirty animation in that the character is quite basic and could do with a lot more work, and there is no real camera work here. However, after creating the camera, the rest took less than half an hour.

Dog Walks into a Bar

Keeping my hand in with Cartoon Animator 4.

Gold Loop Animation - 1st try with Blender 3.0

I started learning Blender in version 2.79, but moved over to MOHO Pro instead. With the release of Blender 3.0, however, I thought I'd come back and give it a go. The below video was my first try of Blender 3.0 and for it I followed a course on Skill share: Blender 3.0: Your First Looping Animation

How to create arm and leg rigs using pin bones.

A very useful MOHO tutorial by Poptoogi.

MAAAARRHH by breebird33

 I came across this short animation by breebird33 on Youtube. Short, sweet, and brought a big smile to my face. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. This proves that sometimes it is the idea and the performance that makes a good animation rather than the package or graphics you are using.

Overcooked - by Tuxedo Cat Cartoons

 Created by Tuxedo Cat Cartoons in MOHO Pro 12

The Sperm Bank

Created in Cartoon Animator 4, sometimes the old jokes remain funny even if they are simple, crude, and rude.

FREE Moho Characters

 

Sometimes you find some really useful stuff searching about on Google. Today I came across these free characters for use in MOHO. You can get 3 characters for 3, or get the complete pack from Patreon, which I haven't done yet. I want to check out the freebies first!