Giving Blender and Grease Pencil another try

I tried remaking my channel intro using free software such as Blender.
My first Blender + Grease Pencil impressions:
• So I finally tried Ble...
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Main Website: www.tonikopantoja.com/
Twitter: / tonikopantoja
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Equipment I use:
Drawing Tablet: Wacom Cintiq 22HD: www.wacom.com/en/products/pen...
Software I use:
Animation - TVPAINT
Animation - Adobe Flash/Animate CC, ToonBoom
Compositing - After Effects
Painting and Illustration - Photoshop
Video Editing - Premiere
3D - BLENDER

[@AmyMist]

It’s funny, the progress of the intros almost feel a little bit like growth of the character as well. Like he’s gained more and more confidence as time goes on.

[@littlecurrybread]

I love that

[@WilczycaCzarownica]

Yeah. I thinked the same when I looked at those intros.

[@toastedprocastinator]

aw

[@tryarie1970]

And the artworks on the board are improved too, such precious little details~

[@healthybutgotOBCD]

Its like a reflection of the artist itself its very cuteee

[@E.M.A]

Blenders grease pencil is still relatively new, the thing is blender is first a 3d program but has many different parts of editing programs that are getting better with updates. I did notice you were using a slightly older version of blender, and while I understand the need to stay in a version to help flow... but there have been quite a few updates since 2.9 But yeah there are definitely some quality of life issues still present with feeling a bit wonky at times.... just updates are something to keep up on

[@E.M.A]

Oooh also some you may like to know the composistor will update in real time with the upcoming 3.3 update

[@E.M.A]

And cycles x in the newer version of blender will speed up your render time in the cycles render engine if you have a compatible gpu but that is a setting you have to fiddle with

[@jowiemonster]

If you check the freestyle setting in blender you can give the 3d objects a 2d outline and there's is also a very simple toon shader.

[@E.M.A]

@@jowiemonster yeah though to be honest with how those look I feel he'd get better results just by drawing in grease pencil what he wants it to look like

[@Tutorial7a]

@@E.M.A I didn’t think that was going to be in 3.3. There’s already feature-lock, so probably not until the next one if I’m not mistaken.

[@BagelCollector]

Quick tip: you can fill in multiple frames at once if you select them and then bucket

[@MrCassidyArt]

You serious? I gotta try this. Thanks for the tip! :o

[@BBWahoo]

We need more quick tips like this

[@dennisbuyse258]

​@@BBWahoo If you are interested in blender quick tips in general then the "Blender Secrets" channel is a rich source

[@NeroMai]

That alone might make me hop over to Blender entirely

[@nou8474]

WHa WHA???

[@saniancreations]

I like this version better than the previous one, but the one thing that bugs me a little is the window. You can see that it's just a thin surface rather than a wall with actual thickness. Other than that, this is an improvement.

[@FractalParadox]

Add modifier > solidify

[@Pa_amb_tomaquet]

The lines were transparent-ish in 12:58 because the strength (the opacity of the line) should be set to 1 in order to be fully black. For some reason it is set on 0.6 by default every time you open a project, which you can solve by sliding the “strength” bar all the way to the right (the blue in the top center, next to “size” and to the pressure activator).

[@derposaurus_art]

you can also save a blend file as a startfile, so you set up everything and never have to do it again!

[@Dantti]

Grease Pencil can be intimidating at first, but it is a really great tool once you learn and understand all the possibilities it offers for absolutely free! Mixing 2D with 3D is the dream 🥰

[@A_Raptr]

the grease guru himself makes an appearance

[@esteban-iriarte-animation]

All versions are cool in their own way. But personally, I like this version the most. Mostly because I like the updated look of Bon Bon, but the 3D background and camera work is also quite charming. Love it! Thanks for sharing the process and your thoughts man.

[@harvochive]

I remember you drawing this live and I was shocked by your ability to draw and speak to us at the same time.

[@rockon8174]

See Aaron Blaise.

[@harvochive]

@@rockon8174 been to his stream, too. Very educational; especially on animals and nature.

[@SandunLabs]

Aaron Blais is a ledgend bro...

[@rob679]

To mitigate the '3d look' you could draw Grease Pencil outlines on the objects themselves, there is an option that places the stroke on top of the object surface

[@relicofcrows]

You can also change edges to "freestyle edges" under edge in edit mode. Then for the render check "freestyle". There are many settings for the contours it adds! I think grease pencil in blender is pretty cool, but I'm coming to explore 2D animation from being a 3D sculptor and using Zbrush all the time. GP may seem similar to f2f or tweened animation on the surface and kinda seems lacking as a "classic" animation tool but I think you begin to see it's also very different with different abilities when you knew the 3D features of Blender! Sort of like Cintiq : Paper. Feels similar, but is a very different tool

[@comajuice]

or if you do wanna make a shader, making a cartoon shader isnt too hard in blender, giving it outlines

[@Charely1925]

Fun fact. If you export your grease pencil animation as an image sequence, you can re-import it as an image sequence on a plane and then it will cast shadows. But I love seeing you experiment more with blender.

[@pennylavendar6362]

I hope they continue to improve the drawing tool, its the only thing holding the program back for me personally. A Fox In Space had a workaround where he made a script that turns his grease pencil objects into png planes so that they can cast shadows and receive lights if you look him up.

[@ZalvaTionZ]

Might be wrong, but the Eevee rewrite should have better support for grease pencil.

[@natburnett5561]

Woahh thats insanr

[@catke590]

"Now I want the outside to be a just a bit more interesting, maybe add a building there, so I just modelled a giant butt plug sitting by the mountains..." That's genius.

[@Namivi]

the 2022 version looks amazing!! just one thing... the window. PLEASE extrude the wall or give it a solidify modifier 😂 i really believe this would boost the look of the whole scene a lot, because right now you can see it's just a thin surface and it feels off. But besides that it's truly beautiful

[@maurits_valk]

You can always animate in any program you want. Export it as a PNG sequence with a transparent background. Then import it into Blender through an Images as Planes 'Animated Sequence'. This will give place your animation on a plane mesh you can move in your 3D scene. Also be sure to use the alpha versions of Blender which usually has GP updates that improve performances (ie 3.3 right now).

[@Yassir.A.P.]

He has exactly done that when he combined it with the photoscanned 3d objects with his phone. A video around September 2021

[@MrBongers]

22:16 _"... I was also learning more about TVPaint and I found some great features in that program that I'd never used before"_ I would like to hear more about your discoveries in TVPaint.

[@lokeyartist]

Mult select makes filling colors a lot faster

[@dugoo3405]

Aw I love the idea of adding more stuff to the room as memories later on. I love this version, never stop improving just because people miss the past. Nostalgia will do that to anyone.

[@DMitsukirules]

I like this! I think it looks great. I will say, to "finish it off" you could take a render of the 3d scene, paint over it, and project the textures you painted onto it (or add them "properly"). That and maybe reduce the strength of the lights a little. All and all it looks great. 3D illustrated style backgrounds in blender is something I've done personal research on, but I haven't started making KZbin videos or anything about it. Maybe I should.

[@thegeekclub8810]

I’d watch videos about 3D illustration style in Blender!

[@garbagedumpster8059]

welcome to the blender community we apricate your contributions to the program and the devs are great people, rest assured grease pencil will keep getting better and better

[@PeterSkye]

It's great you tried Graase Pencil. I personally couldn't recommend any better tool when it comes to merging hand-drawn animation and 3D. Of course it has its limitations, but also offers soo many advantages and shortcuts compared to classic non vector software.

[@0ia]

I like the 2d animation of the latest most, and the 3d is nice though the plug outside the window grabs my attention with the warm/cool contrast and value more than I think it deserves. Volumetric fog would be cool

[@Pikero24]

The quality is definitely higher in some aspects but the composition is better in the existing one I think. especially with the postfx the window is taking more attention away than the animation work

[@AScribblingTurtle]

Got to say. This turned out super well. Love the Idea of the Room evolving over time. Don't worry to much about what people say. There will always be someone who will tell you that "This is garbage because it's not all hand drawn, bla, bla ...". I think it's cool and your 3D background is well made. The Blender compositor is super useful even if you just want to compose together different image sequences. (Just drag them from your file-explorer into the compositor view and set them from "Single Image" to "Image-Sequence") The best thing, most settings of almost every node in the compositor can also be animated with keyframes. That is powerful stuff. Got to stop myself or I'll keep rambling about how much fun this thing is.

[@khalidhamed2426]

13:48 in the outline window on the top right, you can click on the filter icon and toggle the camera looking thing. it'll appear next to the eye and will enable / disable the object from appearing in renders. a bit faster than digging through the object settings. 👍 great video btw

[@artsyomni]

Was looking for this comment. Glad it's been pointed out.

[@OnLowBattery]

So, for the rendering options. A much quicker way to do it is to go into the outliner (at the top right) and click the "Filter" button (looks like a funnel). There's an option for "Restriction Toggles". This allows you to have more options in the outliner other than the eyeball. If you click the camera that gives the ability to toggle rendering,

[@james8616]

All looks very good, maybe the wall around the window should be a little thicker, seeng the left side of the window from the inside makes it look paper thin (because it is). You also might need to move the walls out to the sides a little bit more, the end of the animation goes past the edge a little bit

[@Life_vines]

13:46 actually, you can go to your filter settings (the little funnel in the top right corner of the collections screen) and enable a little camera icon which allows your to turn the "veiw as render" on and off. When you activate it, you'll see little cameras next to the eyes in the collections window

[@unaninated]

I can totally relate to your feelings about drawing with grease pencil. I'm trying to use blender to make quick animations, by having modeled backgrounds take can be used at multiple angles. But once I get to drawing my characters the I struggle to get the line quality I'd normally get with other software. Still I do like the potential it offers for quick adjustments like you outlined. I hope they continue to improve the drawing tool as there is just so much potential with this software. Also, try look into texture painting, I think that helps with blending the 2D and 3D elements together

[@Gerz970]

I love the smile in the second one but the third is definitely overall the best imo.

[@WAFFURUOI]

I'm just glad your giving blender another chance!

[@KittAnimations]

i absolutely adore the new intro, ive recently watched your content about improving my animation, i never got used to the 2016 one, the 2022 one felt so alive and full of joy, also love the style it came out

[@Suketchi_S]

idk how could anyone _not_ like the new version, there's something about it that's just- 😩💞💞💞 and the character!! I love to see the improvement over the years, and tho even the first one was charming, the new version has so much expression and just overall a prettier style, I love it!!

[@a.j.outlaster1222]

I don't really know who you are, But your intros back to back warmed my heart...

[@Twiddle_things]

Definitely going to try this once I get my grubby artist hands on a better computer! I am an absolute sucker for mixed media, so the thought of being able to combine 2D and 3D brings me unexplainable excitement!

[@Hirotechnics]

My favorite part is honestly being able to see how your style has changed and matured over the years. It's fascinating.

[@iridescentlytey4933]

It’s so cool to see your growth! I love that

[@DiggoryJiggory]

I absolutely loved watching this and hearing you talk about your process, great video

[@Han_Moz]

this was super fun to watch tbh, and i learnt a lot! ive seen your work on twitter when it went viral, but i never seen your intros until now, i have to say that for me the newest one takes the cake! the animation is super smooth, it’s so fun and lively, and it’s just lovely to see how much you improved over the years, HUGE IMPROVEMENT

[@jayreedart]

I love the 2022 version with Blender. The Line Art modifier or the Freestyle on the 3D mesh in the scene would have made it even better!

[@BrinnTDSowo]

I REALLY LOVE YOUR ANIMATIONS So glad to see your improvement's

[@llynhunter]

So stoked you did this! I've just started learning Blender, and this is great encouragement!

[@TheTimN8er]

I’m just learning blender and this video is very inspiring and the result is charming

[@TheZandrys]

I LOVE IT. The new intro is amazing 🔥

[@gauthierruberti8065]

The final result is amazing!

[@Ilikespace403]

I just stumbled on your channel and in both versions your intro is the cutest thing ever.

[@Thollis1987]

That's an adorable new into!

[@admeliora6226]

its very cute, love the idea of the room changing over time

[@PraxisVisuals]

Your animations look so solid! Love the art styles!

[@artisticdreamer2429]

It's cool watching the growing going on in each intro.

[@espinafreAzul]

You did a great work, nice to see how much you did in a different field.

[@heiski9052]

This was just amazing, its just represents how you have evolved as artist and its looking nice.

I thought is was nice to see all the different styles at the end and all three are good, it will be interesting to see the next update when you have even more experience and there will be new tools to use. Good job.

[@HalValla01]

"So I just modelled a giant buttplug" had me dyin' Say it like it is, mate!

[@purpleriver3199]

It looks amazing! Love your style

[@misterprickly]

I love how your style has evolved over the years!

[@trulyinfamous]

I love your animation style.

[@ryntrinity]

I Really love this new version, and the idea of adding new thins to the background as you acomplish things is Soo cool! Like the intro isn't like just a video, but a living breathing character changing and evolving with time, it's awesome! and the 2D+3D is a nice representation of the channel. I think the super shinyness of the tin-can was a bit much in some parts tho The little spin-junp is soo cute btw < 33

[@SpoonyBard88]

I just stumbled on this video from a mini painting tutorial, and I just wanted to leave a comment saying you seem incredibly talented and that intro is very sweet. Anyway, have a nice day.

[@sophia.z]

It's cool to see the differences between each animation! I really like the look of both 2d and 3d in the latest version

[@DanielRLucero]

The evolving blackboard/Pinboard idea is really cool!

[@ilavalolipop]

Amazing work 😄 Such a sweet and playful animation! It looks great.

[@CanalDojogames]

Very great! i think its very important the fact of pen pressure make an mess on grease pencil for an continuous work. Great to see every step you did here.

[@SenElric]

The transition of versions, you can see the lil’guy getting more happy 🥺

[@majakawalio2631]

I like the remake you did! I learned Blender a bit and would love to learn Grease Pencil, your video encourages me to try!

[@nahoj.2569]

it looks really pretty!

[@jumongandpudong]

I Like How The Newer Version Implements An Outside Area That Adds Depth Rather Than A Void

[@lilow6356]

This looks stunning! Beautiful intro

[@AnaEdigaryan]

Love all three versions.

[@MichaelHickman3D]

This looks so good!!!

[@cavanaghcreative_YT]

11:21 IIRC their should be a "Cast Shadows" option (possibly) in the Grease Pencil object settings. I have a vague memory of that being shown in another Blender user's video (Pepe's School Land perhaps?) Or it's a setting inside of the Scene Settings (Icon above the Red Globe, I think).

[@dinonguyen6199]

This is adorable! My heart just melted.... Awwww

[@suburbanhomestead]

This is the first time I see your channel, so I think I have not been influenced by being used to the previous animations. First of all thank you so much for doing this video showing what is possible with a free program. Your first intro had a special charm to it that made it great for me. The spare treatment of the background was awesome and even the shy movement of the character was endearing. Of course your new character animation is wonderful and much more fluid, so I think that was worth it. The 3d background I feel would benefit from a similar hand-drawn treatment to incorporate it more with the character. I also think the symmetrical modeling you had would benefit with the wonkiest you had previously. It just has more of your signature. Nonetheless phenomenal work, and thanks for all the tips.

[@mauriciogastonpirizgonzale5387]

2D and 3D give different finishes and different sensations, but it is noticeable that this new version has a better and more elaborate animation. Although I really like the detail of the previous version in which when he smiled he shows his huge dog teeth, very much in the Ghibli Studio style, in this new version you made his teeth small to enhance or maintain his adorableness or cuteness all the time... but the large teeth surprise, it is not what you expect, it gives more personality to the work, I don't know, it creates a fun contrast.

[@LizardOfOz]

Your video has opened my eyes on how WELL a hand-drawn character can fit in a simplistic 3D environment. I was struggling with making good-looking simplistic 3D characters for my game (making the entire game hand-drawn is a behemoth task for a non-artist), but maybe hand-drawn characters in a 3D world is what I needed all along!

[@the-gas-station]

I'm so glad I found string bing again! It's been since old-old tumblr... I'm so happy to see you're still animating and drawing and having fun!

[@fairyflosslord7]

at the top of the object outliner there's an option to enable and disable "display in render" and a bunch of other visibility options, much quicker then going into the object properties hope this helps

[@ArtwithAmarBrisco]

I used this method of proxy modeling for animatics or roughing out animations for scripts. It is simple straight forward and very useful. What matters most is that you learn something and that you like it most more than anyone.

[@ChiupelAnimations]

2015: chillin 2016: happy as hell out of nowhere 2022: Perfect

[@decespugliatorenucleare3780]

it's gorgeous!

[@ZeBirdBrain]

Hey Toniko! about the thing you menton in Blender that is great about moving all your layers at once You can do it in Harmony (toon boom) by simply linking your layers together. (Right click: sync layer to x ) So you could have exactly the same thing as the summary key, I think! Hope this helps! :)

[@KZesty]

I have no idea how you're doing this stuff, I'm just having a good time watching how nice it looks!

[@TheHumanWolf0]

Your animations are beautiful.

[@Baka-rw1hj]

If I’m being completely honest I love the new one better it’s super cute and more vibrant

[@LoretoArtistry]

I like how the dog has gotten more hyped and character overtime, so cute.

[@ferzlt]

THANK YOU SIR, YOU ARE FANTASTIC!!

[@GraniteFaun]

17:56 - If you wanted to do this I think you'd need to use rendering Material nodes and Chain something together, like an emission node to cancel out shadows. The Amount of cancelling could be controlled by an alpha node in front of it. In Earlier versions of Blender you could just turn off an object getting shadows, with the current shader engine you need an emission node.

[@wendigo7056]

Really nice new intro !

[@Vall_Ey]

I like more the big smile and excitement on the middle one.

[@Nunican]

Love the character animation of the new one! Also inspiring me to learn more about blender even though the learning curve is steep for me

[@AeridisArt]

Take a shot every time he says 'Grease Pencil'. Jokes aside, I'm glad you gave Blender another chance. Though I don't use it for 2D animation, Blender has been my go-to app for modeling (I can't use anything else, as a person who started with 3Ds Max) so I want the app to keep improving. The more 2D animators that try Blender, the more feedback the team receive, thus making the app better for everyone. I'm hoping for the day where Blender gains the same respect as their larger, more expensive contemporaries.

[@Shenorai]

I do like the idea of an evolving intro. It's also a cute little way for folks to keep track of the chronological order of your video releases.

[@KeenanParry]

Hey man great video! I love that you're getting more into Blender. It's my favorite piece of software. I noticed that you had your Cycles engine set to CPU render- that is probably why it took so long to render! If you set your render to GPU instead of CPU it'll be much faster! Good luck!

[@inknpaintCW]

This is great! It shows how approachable Blender is. Cycles render settings can be optimized to give you much quicker (and better for your style) renders. Lots of positive stuff in here!

[@banana_walter_]

I LOVE HOW YOUR STYLE HAS EVOLVED

[@darkenblade986]

awesome stuff man. honestly the newest intro is my fav. the second one had an uncanny valley effect with the dog's face for me.

[@JonahHache]

your remote controller playback setup is rad!

[@ActuallyAFungus]

The new intro is definitely the best one yet!

[@nekodawn_]

I honestly haven’t watched you before but the one you made in this video is 100% my favourite, especially because I like more gold-ish types of colours to bright yellows haha-

[@KatoSano]

Looks very nice, I like the intro from 2016 a little bit more, but the new one is also amazing. :3

[@adozenfridays]

Love the new intro