VFX and Motion Graphics

Texturing with Substance Painter

Scopique March 30, 2020

Here’s the “final” version of the TARDIS, designed in Blender. It’s made more or less from a single, lowly cube, with some additional geometry added on for the vertical door jamb, the handles and key hole, the lamp, and the four random-ass…

No, It’s The Same Size On The Inside

Scopique March 26, 2020

I had completed a Blender model of my own design, and it was painful. I think it was a bit too complex for my current skills, as there were a few liberties taken that probably weren’t “best practice”, which is always a…

There’s Got To Be A Better Way

Scopique March 25, 2020

So, I got this cylinder, right? This is the top view, by the way. Here, on this top face, I want to carve a rectangle. Nothing fancy. Just a rectangle. How do I do this? As cool as online tutorial videos are…

The Cycle Continues: 3D Modeling Edition

Scopique March 24, 2020

So, I’m back to 3D modeling. Being house-bound and working from home, I was perusing my recommended videos on YouTube during a lunch break and found one from a series on Blender I had watched in the past, but updated for the…

Kitbash3D for Cool Cinematographic and Video Game Models

Scopique March 6, 2020

Mindstrike put me on to a site called Kitbash3d. Kitbashing is the practice of taking parts from those old-school models (kits) from companies like Revell and using them to build (bash together) a totally different model. See here, taken from my recent…

Exploding Windows Revisited

Scopique January 30, 2020

I don’t normally re-do my video projects, usually because I’m lazy and often times because my first pass is about as far as my resources can take me. Since I subscribed to ProductionCrate.com and now have access to not only more video…

Exploding Windows

Scopique January 28, 2020

Explosions are impractical effects for small movie makers and hobbyists like me who need to learn critical VFX skills. I can’t just go someplace a “blow something up” because just writing that on my blog is going to get me on a…

Element 3D for After Effects

Scopique December 31, 2019

Rounding out 2019 I spent some collected money on one of my long-term wishlist items, Element 3D from VideoCopilot.net. E3D isn’t a 3D modeling program. You can import 3D models in OBJ format, can lay down some primitives like cubes and cylinders,…

Streaming Alerts for the Holidays

Scopique November 21, 2019

I’m still plugging away at a use for Trapcode Particular, and seeing as how we’re sliding into winter weather like a front-wheel drive sedan with bald tires, I figured that making snow wasn’t just for ski resorts. This is the motif I’d…

Web Animations with Lottie, Bodymovin, and After Effects

Scopique November 14, 2019

If there is one boat I miss not having sailed upon, it’s the Adobe (né, Macromedia) Flash period of the web. During its peak adoption, I was working for a small web development company and was personally responsible for a lot of…