thanks utrix! Glad you enjoyed the megastructure work!

I'll post when I figure it out, right now it seems a lot of texture related things prefer multiple objects to be joined into a single mesh instead of being separate.

@@ArtOfSoulburn Yes, I agree, I did it by accident, and I received the same texel, but I would like to regulate this somehow, perhaps this is already a question for the developers, or I need to look for buttons, thanks for the answer.

Thanks, glad you liked the video. So while there is probably specialized software out there for creating moodboards, I just use photoshop, it's just so versatile so I can go beyond just collecting images and add notes, arrows, and even quick paintovers of things if necessary,

@@ArtOfSoulburn gotcha, so if you were moodboarding and then started painting characters, would you just open the moodboard as an image on another monitor or do you normally character design in the same document?

@@inconspicuousboar3177 So, I'd keep the moodboard open on my second monitor and then paint on a blank cancas on my first monitor (which is a cintiq). What I meant was when making the moodboard I might want to make a couple of edits to the reference in photoshop, which is why I would also make the moodboard in photoshop, but when actually making the concept I'd do that in a new document.

Haha. While there are a few scientific truths in here, certainly the link between art and science is a murky one :)

@@ArtOfSoulburn guess what rectangle we think is the most beautiful? It's not the golden rectangle. So what is the point now then?

Thanks you so much, glad you've enjoyed them!

So industry standard is a loaded term, it depends which industry you're talking about. In film VFX, Maya is the standard. But for animated features most of those companies have their own proprietary software. For games, 3dsmax is still the most used piece of software. In fact I'd suspect Houdini is used more often in games than maya. The big issue is that all of entertainment is getting really expensive, and so companies are going to look for ways to spend less money. Now that 3dsmax and maya are both rental, you have to pay monthly, which gets really expensive really fast. So I suspect more companies, especially new ones, will look into free alternatives like Blender now that they are starting to get 80-90% as good as the older 3d apps. So I think learning Blender is not a bad idea at all.

Thanks, glad it helped explain a few things you've wondered about.

Cool, ya, those books are certainly a product of their time, but there are some good ideas in there, glad you liked my modern spin on the material!

Thanks Sophie!

No problem, looking forward to making more as I run into stuff I feel may be helpful.

Thanks dude. Ya, I found the node wrangler after I recorded the video, so using it now, thanks for the note. And yes, I've mostly focused on the materials part for now, but will delve more into modeling soon, blender does seem to have a lot of nice modeling addons :)

Thanks Rune, glad to know you've made the switch too!

Ya discovered it after I recorded the video, will def be using it in the future :)

Thanks, a number of people have mentioned the bevel node, I will check it out

I've tended to find AO in other apps not as good at capturing the edges of things (but great for rust placement in the occluded parts), but didn't realize you could also use the bevel node, I'll check that one out, thanks!

@@ArtOfSoulburn I think I found the original video on how to do it on CGVirus channel. I think you can find it in blender secrets too.

Interesting, I've found it pretty straight forward, any insights on why you think you've ran into trouble? Maybe our jobs just focus on different elements of the software?

@@ArtOfSoulburn I just felt, overall, disoriented and that many simple things are difficult. I will probably end up giving it another go sometime.

@@stevejjdI wrote extensive cheatsheets to remind myself where all the new buttons are, but after a few weeks I was able to navigate around pretty well. Probably worth a second go, but keep copious notes, that certainly helped me. And the donut tutorial of course :)

@@ArtOfSoulburn Okay great. I already use Notion to create manuals for myself, like installing Linux, Renderman and houdini. Thanks for reminding me to keep notes on the process of learning. Ill definitely give it another go :)

Ya, I like vray's offline renderer, but never found their interactive one very reliable. This one seems far more solid.

Thanks, and yes, I've figured out how to do this technique in so many different pieces of software, glad to add blender to the list :)

Ya, was happy to see it worked AND was even better due to the interactive rendering. Finding the exact combo of patterns to get the best result was always trial and error, now I can do it super quick!

Hey Ethan. Actually, I'm using unreal as well in some instances :) For renders I still don't feel it beats the ease of use and quality of an offline renderer like vray or Blender's Cycles, but for interactive stuff unreal is great. Will be posting a game demo experiment in a few weeks showing my unreal work.

Thanks! I suspect I'll be hybrid for quite some time, but from what I've observed, if my copy of max dies, I think a successful migration to blender will be possible, and that makes me happy :)

@@ArtOfSoulburn Good luck my friend!

I'm the same - about 4 months ago I spent a few months learning Blender (KZbin videos etc) and it has been one of the BIGGEST pieces of 3D enjoyment I've had in a LONG time. I got into 3DS Max back in 1995 and honestly, Blender has given me so much pleasure, it's relit my creativity, something which honestly I never felt with 3DS Max (meaning I would use 3DS Max as a tool, mechanically, not creatively). Blender, for me, *invites* you to be creative and some of the workflow is so delightful it's a pleasure to play. Simple stuff which I just simply would bother with in 3DS Max (like depth of field) is sooooo bloody easy and *dynamic* in Blender. Shame on Autodesk, unlike Neil, I have 3DS Max 2020 as perpetual, and paid for 3DS Max via their Indie program, but I really feel this year is my last year of paying for 3DS Max and I'll either uninstall it, or just leave it dormant (keeping 3DS Max 2020) and just use Blender from hereon. Also, as a sidenote, I have V-Ray and lots are asking for V-Ray for Blender. My take on it is NOT to give more money to V-Ray, Cycles is REALLY fun. Yes, right now it lacks things, but the REFRESHING feeling of learning something new, not be stuck with an old almost 'boring' V-Ray, to me, makes the learning curve all the more exciting. BTW, I'm 61 years old and have admired Neil since the 90's when I was following him regarding the Brazil renderer!

@@Jez2008UK Thanks Jez for the story (and I certainly remember your name from years ago). Ya, for some people learning new software is a chore, and there is something to be said for getting really good at one thing as opposed to jumping to new software on a yearly basis. But learning new things can indeed be quite creatively invigorating. As for vray for blender, they have announced a proper port, but I suspect it'll be a few years off, so that will give me more time to really understand if Cycles is up to providing what I need, and if the answer ends up being no, hopefully vray will come in and save the day. Of course, if the answer is yes, then great :)

@@Jez2008UK feel the same way, daily max user since 2007, started messing with blender recently. The viewport is modern, what I've always wanted in max. Crying shame.

Thanks Garry! (I recognize your name from years past). Ya, it's a shame about autodesk, but Blender has enough features that I feel I could successfully move if I had to. It doesn't have everything of course, but it's close :)

I'd rather make more 3dsmax tutorials as well, but afraid autodesk's choice has made that impossible. I wish them the best of luck.

@@ArtOfSoulburn You're a better man than me Neil, I definitely don't wish them the best of luck (what I do wish them will probably have you delete my comment!).

@@Jez2008UK Haha. Well, I still have many friends who still work at autodesk who are unable to do what they'd like to due because of company mandates, so my wishing best of luck is more for them and less for the CEO :)

​@@ArtOfSoulburn what choice? subscription model that lately everyone seems to be adopting? It is anoying for sure not having the option to buy and use as much as I want. Still 300$~ for an indie license is a megaprice for 3dsMax. Still, that doesn't fix the issue with only subscription plan.... yeah Marvelous designer, same, Zbrush same... Substance painter same...

@@chocopie099 Yes, the choice is they could have chosen to not go rental only. But the short term money was too good, so they made the choice to do it, but long term I think that choice is going to hurt them with more people moving to other software like blender.

Thanks for such kind words, glad you're enjoying the tutorials!

Mostly max 2022, which was the last max version I could buy. But I'm starting to experiment with blender, in fact have some videos on the subject coming out next week.

Thanks, glad you liked it!

Thanks siddd, glad you've enjoyed the video so much, and hope you enjoy the others in the series!

Ya, that’s more for final shots. Although if it’s likely you’ll need multiple angles, even in concept, you can always use mostly 3D with just minimal photo plus hand paint so it’s fast to do the multiple versions.

Ya, a real bummer. :(

So for 3d I actually wrote my own called SAL, it's part of the soulburnscripts package. www.neilblevins.com/art_assets/scripts/soulburnscripts_for_3dsmax.htm Although I stopped updating it when max went rental only. But I still use it fr all my current stuff. For images, I still just use ACDsee and a really well organized directory structure. I have librarian tendencies :)

Just saw :( I guess my search will continue

Thanks Emrah, glad you've enjoyed my videos!

Thanks so much Brian, ya, hopefully this will happen sooner than 3 :)

I'm having the same problem with Affinity Designer, which is great too, but colors are off in the same way.

Thanks for the support David! I appreciate it!

In my time using photoshop I've never had to really extend the software, but I 100% agree, having that capability would be fantastic!

Thanks alapidis!