Is Blender Good Enough for VFX Projects

[@LightArchitect]

I could watch these breakdowns all day! :D

[@InspirationTuts]

Thanks a lot Brad! Guys if you want to learn VFX in Blender then LighArchitect youtube Channel is the Best place to start.

[@FilmSpook]

Thanks guys, I'm subbed to you both, and I love your content!! Wishing you all a Great 2023. 🙏🏾

[@InspirationTuts]

Thanks Bro, I appreciate it!

[@LightArchitect]

@@InspirationTuts Thanks so much! :)

[@RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]

guy in the thumbnail fr just attained heaven 😭

[@mr_sheen6942]

that was my first thought "omg i can attain heaven in blender"

[@iiCounted-op5jx]

LOL

[@osky1729]

I work in a vfx studio as a compositor, the 3D guys use blender all the time and so do we

[@videostarts]

Small studio?

[@lewessays]

Probably but small to mid size studios use blender due to the price of houdini...imagine paying for houdini and also maya..price can be insane. Blender eases that....

[@videostarts]

@@lewessays when I started I was at three really small studios and they could still afford the licenses. the only place i've seen blender used is on Previs

[@osky1729]

@@lewessays no the cg team use houdini and Maya too, Blender is just another program that is part of their toolset

[@VFXforfilm]

I do Netflix and HBOMax shows. Blender once and a while comes around and it’s ok. Doesn’t g is proper AOV passes. Most are still using Maya/Houdini. Any honest compositor working in high end projects (not small studios) will tell you it’s not ready yet. Small projects yes.

[@47._.Ronin._.47]

Okay, can I saye one think, no one is using one software to do all vfx. First of all you can do physics in Houdini import it to Blender and then composite everything in DaVinci Resolve. Although with planed advancements in Geometry notes you probably would not even need to use Houdini. Second option is doing your models and environment in blender importing it to Unreal Engine 5 and then compositing in DaVinci Resolve. So to answer the question yes Blender is definitely ready.

[@ahmedehab4937]

why importing models and environment to unreal engine and then to davinci instead of importing from blender to davinci directly, iam new to the whole vfx and cgi scene so i might ask stupid questions : )

[@klatchabobby]

Lmao, I love that you listed Annabelle: Creation as using Blender because I had no idea what you were talking about at first until I remembered David F. Sandberg's KZbin series about making the movie.

[@macIain]

Blender is more than ready, only people complaining are the people who have invested so many years into licensed based software and I get it that's me also. The only reason Blender is not everywhere is because there's no money in it and contracts are being sold by the big companies like autodesk. I'm a Maya and Houdini user and im telling you, you'd have to be blind not to see how much Blender is advancing at the moment.

[@smashedlegends]

Blender is not ready. It a generalist. Its a mess. If you work in the industry you dont want a generalist.

[@liscarscott]

Blender will never replace the pro tools but it's not because the software is incapable; it's mostly to do with license support and liability should anything go wrong. The higher the investment into a project, the higher the risk, and the higher the need for liability protection. Couple that with the fact that it's usually not just one studio working on a project, and assets are usually shared across vendors, so the need for a unified pipeline with industry standard software is crucial.

[@hectorescobar9450]

This argument is actually quite flawed, a lot of studios do not have the time to reach Autodesk for technical difficulties. Looks like open source seems to be where things are going, eventually there will be ways around that. Is all about technology development and visual arts. Tradition is never sustainable in this field. Tech improves, people move on.. Specially in the games industry where the modelling tool is totally interchangeable.

[@liscarscott]

​@@hectorescobar9450 Autodesk technicians have saved our asses on more than a few projects I've worked on, but with blender, it's google and pray if anything goes wrong. That's too risky for any studio to put all their eggs in blenders basket. Blender has a place in our studio and we do use it, but everything ends up in Autodesk eventually.

[@hectorescobar9450]

@@liscarscott I have actually had more help from the Blender community than I ever did with Autodesk. Truth is that Maya gave us that many fatal errors that we just learned to accept it.. I’m more looking forward as I realised that there is so much Autodesk can do with Maya or Max to help people in situations like this.. is all to do with its old and buggy infrastructure.. is really hard to work around it. That’s why I think everyone is quickly passing them and eventually studios will too. Game studios don’t rely too much on the modelling package as do vfx studios as most things are put together in the engine so at leas in this area Blender is already getting so much traction

[@potato686]

since blender is open source , would studio start having a team to work on their own version of blender and modified it to what they need ? i asked this because SPA studio have their own version of blender for animating stuff

[@liscarscott]

@@potato686 yes and no. It largely depends on how much of a project a studio gets. For big stuff like Marvel, there are usually a lot of different studios involved and it's not uncommon for one vendor to send their assets to another, which would include things like rigged digi-doubles. It could be very important that work be easily transferable, so the safe-bet is to stick with industry-standard software. But if the studio is doing ALL of the work for a project, then sure, use whatever tools will get the job done.

[@joegaffney8006]

Blender is on par with allot of the base features of most paid software particularly cycles is very strong. (Houdini and Nuke being the main exceptions of having more advanced base functionality) We need big VFX studios to take blender on as a primary VFX software and develop tooling and pipelines around it to really showcase what could be done in Blender. There is also the issue of trying to convince riggers and animators to try it out more as that is still predominantly done in Maya.

[@inzane456]

Everybody in the industry has heard of and tried Blender at this point. It isn't that riggers, animators or anyone in the pipeline hasn't tried Blender, it's that the unfortunate reality is that Blender has more or less been deemed across the board to just not be good enough compared to the specialized software that continues to be used by the industry. The nice gimmicks offered by the amazing addons and being absolutely free are not strong enough selling points for a full pipeline overhaul, especially when you consider that Blender has so many awkward functions that make it very difficult to integrate into the pipeline, like the way the outliner system works, which that by itself makes it next to incompatible with the pipeline, let alone the scaling translation issues. I could go on all day about how Blender's shortcomings are the reason why it hasn't broken into VFX houses AND video game production, but as it stands it's only really good enough for concept art, which you will find many professionals already use it for.

[@joegaffney8006]

@@inzane456 hey are you talking more about interoperability with the scaling and transforms? I'm not sure the outliner is a blocker as such although it does behave differently than say Maya. Would be interested if there was node based lighting context that could possibly help.

[@inzane456]

@@joegaffney8006 Regarding the scaling, yes. Blender for some reason does not translate scaling uniformly like other 3D packages. The outliner issue is the same, this is a significant issue, as pipelines involve the use of multiple softwares that do work together. Blender currently uses a grouping system that no other software recognizes, so if you were to port your output from Blender to another software, you'll find that your hierarchy is non-existent upon import. If Blender makes it difficult to setup projects that involve the use of multiple softwares, then it's better to use the software that doesn't make it difficult, and in the case of the industry at large this will be either Maya or 3DS, at least currently. There are quite abit of interoperability issues like this that Blender needs to solve before it's even taken seriously for production, UI and cost issues are barely the surface of why it's largely unadopted.

[@caylya7869]

@@inzane456 You do realize Netflix has made animated projects fully in blender… right?

[@inzane456]

@@caylya7869 Is Netflix the entire industry?

[@educate3d]

It’s not what blender CANT do. It’s what artists pack in technical knowledge to build the tools they need. Blender gives you bare bones and the option to do what you want with it.

[@jonathansgarden9128]

Agreed but Blender has so many plugins/addons that you can optimize it for VFX too

[@AdrianoGazza]

Great and inspiring overview of Blender's VFX tools, thanks!

[@k-d11]

Friend! With videos your voice is also inspirational.🗣️ Also you explain things in a great way. Keep it up as always❤️

[@InspirationTuts]

Thank you so much!!

[@sushantmehra696]

i guess u have heard a movie recently called RRR it got so many global award and nominated for OSCARS most of its work done in blender ......

[@InspirationTuts]

We've actually mentioned it before in one of our 'Amazing Project' videos!

[@Ayogenius67]

Wtf

[@terryblend]

This is crazy cool!

[@ragzzytv]

Great as usual. I have learned a lot from following your addon/tutorial list videos alone. One suggestion I would like to give is, in Addons list videos, It would be great if you add the price of the addon. It will be useful for the viewers like me.

[@jamalalwlaqie8940]

I hope that the mixer will develop in visual effects

[@laxmanrawat748]

If anyone here have watched RRR i want to say is that it's VFX and CGI was done in blender.

[@JDGuio]

Really? That's awesome

[@TimurSokol]

What's RRR?

[@laxmanrawat748]

@@TimurSokol it's a Indian movie which was very much in the news recently and very popular in the US

[@TimurSokol]

@@laxmanrawat748 Oh that makes sense, I believe that blender is pretty popular in India

[@laxmanrawat748]

@@TimurSokol yeah it is but this was the first time it was used for a movie blenderorg even made a video on that i think it was on twitter

[@hotsauce7124]

Question, do you have any recommendations for learning Blender modeling, rigging and animation?

[@Ayogenius67]

KZbin university is the way

[@smashedlegends]

Blender: Modelling - 6/10 Rotoscope - 2/10 Chroma key - 3/10 Simulation - 4/10 Rigging - 5/10 Animation - 6/10 Camera tracking - 6/10 Compositing - 3/10 Its not bad for a free too...but its not ready for professional work. It a generalist. Its a mess. Professionals want a dedicated program for each step of the pipeline. Blender does not offer that. BUT it offers the first look in what 3d is.

[@VFXforfilm]

Where’s the deep renders for compositing. This author didn’t mention it.

[@mind_of_a_darkhorse]

For free, Blender does a great job!

[@roofoofighter]

Blender is free, most of the add-ons in the video are not.

[@mind_of_a_darkhorse]

@@roofoofighter The add-ons are not necessary and should only be added in after you learn at least the basics. Blender comes with prebuilt add-ons like loop tools, extra objects & curves, rigify, and other things.

[@CptJhonprice]

There are very basic things blender missing for a vfx production , light linking , multi light control , shader override, light override,multi layer rendering, proper usd pipline like solaris or maya bifrost, in vfx you have to render 5-10 layers minimum to pass it to next department....blender has everything but not complete in anything...

[@Arjjacks]

Most of that list isn't true at all. Light linking I'll grant is missing, but controlling multiple lights, material override, light groups for overriding lights, view layers for rendering to different layers, and USD import and export are all things Blender's had more or less for a while now.

[@CptJhonprice]

@@Arjjacks please point towords a tutorial or documents and usd mtlx is not just import and export...for me i tried overriding material its not possible mesh wise and blender has no render layers or takes i am not sure what is it you saying i have 2 characters and a bg i need separate aovs for three of them also i need to render them all in one go... These things i need for my production if you can provide a link to a tutorial or documents explening these that ll be awosme

[@CptJhonprice]

I really want blender to get there so i can ditch these expensive programs iam using but in real production with lots of departments especially in vfx without a support of tech team its not possible...:(

[@Arjjacks]

@@CptJhonprice If you want change the settings of multiple lights at once, you need to select all the lights you want to change, hold down alt, and click and drag on any of the values. Alternatively you can type values in the fields and hold alt before tapping enter. This works with any objects of any type as well. You can also instance lights with alt-D or bind them to one another with ctrl-L. I'd also recommend turning on the Amaranth addon in the preferences in order to access the lighter's corner menu in the scene properties tab (cone and bubbles icon). It'll track all your lights and their settings for you. Material override can be found in the view layer properties tab (icon is a bunch of stacked images, underneath the printer icon), down the bottom under Overrride. Any material you plug in there will override all the materials in your scene. Shader AOV lists and and light groups are also found in this tab. Up the very top right above the outliner is your current ViewLayer. Up there you can rename it, access others (to the left), or make a new layer (to the right). When you render, Blender will render each layer one at time automatically and store them for you. You can then access them in the compositor via the RenderLayers node. Duplicate the node and pick your layers from the dropdown in order to composite and/or export them how you wish. Far as I'm aware, MaterialX support is underway but not there yet. USD as a whole is largely working and receiving regular updates. Best place to find more information is start with the Blender manual itself for how to use anything you're unsure of (just Google shader AOV's or something plus "Blender Manual"). Otherwise they'll be a bunch of KZbin videos on how to use any of this stuff.

[@CptJhonprice]

@@Arjjacks thnx mate,custom aov,cast shadow only on collection, attribute override on different view layers or scenes are missing they are very small things but make a huge impact on production , if you are a lone wolf blender might work but in a group of artist with jack ass clients always change there ideas and frequent updates on everything you need these small features..for environment artists blender is good but for vfx production need more control..

[@AndJobs]

Cult of the Blender... We salute the GOD and G.O.A.T, Blender!!!

[@sebbosebbo9794]

without evolving VSE feature set and incooperation of other feature s I would say its not a great option for B3d only Pipline... animation need physics , simulation options for Hair ,muscle. etc... VSE need after Fx scene real time compositing per scene track UI, Audio fx engine & controls and faster Master compositing ..and a a real time mode like amory game engine for movie real time visuals mixed with new tracking System. Editing , sculping , texture UV. , etc is another part thats need atention .. So the Swiss Armee knife dev. Crew have a lot to do....😁

[@mikekimaro7207]

This is absolutely great Info thank you! would love to see you put together a tutorial list on getting started with Blender VFX just to get a grasp on what it can do for now

[@shaikhakbar7023]

i want to learn VFX and animation so can i settle for Blender???

[@Ayogenius67]

Maybe it can be ur starting point

[@stevenchilders272]

The scorpion king is ready.

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

Been good enough for years.

[@Local_CC]

Lol yeah we already use it 👌🏻

[@Mr.Indiyaah]

They need to sit back check out which softwares are best in doing a thing and can we do better then them with added love.

[@IMMANUELFRANCY]

Blend of Belnder and Houdini will work.

[@DoryRail]

Real good

[@therealhecker]

if you want to watch how powerfull blender is just watch the movie rrr (indian film) which made collection 160m dollar worldwide ....the scenes in this movie is made with blender

[@macklykyn8967]

I use nuke for composite for vfx mostly houdini and id say blender is only good for modelling

[@PixelForgeLab]

Well, I remade and entire scene from Spiderman No Way Home , all in blender... on my channel... so yeah, it's VFX ready.

[@blenderblender792]

8:20 Casca-door NO. Casca-d'eur, eur rhymes with Europe. YES. Just helpful in case you want to pronounce it correctly. No offence, just want to be helpful.

[@WiseSageBum]

Look up videos by Peter France! He's a VFX artist at Corridor Digital, and he primarily uses Blender, to great effect, for his VFX!

[@vjbgood]

Blender marketing is awesome on internet but reality is not the same

[@mosog8829]

That's what they say; Jack of all trades, master of none.

[@LightArchitect]

The full phrase is “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” People forget that last part haha.

[@ProjectAtlasmodling]

@@LightArchitect I was about to say that

[@neodos]

@@LightArchitect Damn, I didn't know that, I like that better, thanks!

[@gordonbrinkmann]

@@LightArchitect Yeah, they forget that part or those who know leave it out intentionally to "prove" their point 😉

[@foyjustice7212]

Blender is capable of course.

[@LauraMiller-z4u]

Gonzalez Timothy Perez Ronald Lewis Carol

[@zeynepozkul]

🧡🧡🧡

[@RaffoVFX]

❤

[@peterblake988]

Useless video, always the same subjects that turn in loop, to sell our available brain time to advertisers. No doubt we are on the channel of an influencer Blender.

[@LaagVLOGniJohnny]

2nd btw I really appreciate blender now they really upgrade...really appreciate but for me i don't enough high end computer..I have to save money to buy that stand with new blender update.

[@OrbitalCookie]

So this is an ad for Render Pool, ok.

[@pacanelpocke7840]

nope........ SideFX Houdini

[@Oakbeast]

If the question has to be asked then it probably is.

[@kirederf7862]

Smh what?

[@neodos]

If you ask most big CGI/VFX studios they will probably tell you it's not good enough(yet), it's lacking in some areas, but it's being adopted more and more, so it'll get there.

[@Oakbeast]

@@neodos depends on the situation. in some instances it's more than ready. in others not so much (sim). for our studio we use whatever we need to get the shot done. sometimes it's Blender sometimes it's a sim in Houdini thats then put into Blender. The mocap re targeting and auto rig pro tools are incredibly solid and was the nail that got us working in blender more often. the character rig tools just work and they work fast. Maya feels slow in comparison to performance. We run I9 cores and dual A6000 video cards we should NEVER see a blue circle and yet Maya performance snags and bloats. Maya does still have it's place and some of our artist still use it but the transition has begun far as I'm concerned.

[@GaryParris]

not a good video

[@JaspreetSingh-xh6je]

Maya and 3ds max is industry standard thats means blender is useless To learn !

[@khalilicf]

first