Sep 282013
 

NEXT SESSION: TBD – (GMT-5) – RSVP

BlenderTutoringGooglePlusHangout

BLENDER G+ HANGOUT ON AIR:

I’m hosting Blender tutoring / instruction sessions on G+ Hangouts On Air for anyone who would like to attend.

The purpose of these sessions is just to provide some real-time assistance for people who would like to improve their Blender skills. For the time being these aren’t really planned lessons so much as just ‘some guy that might be able to show you how to do stuff in Blender’.

The format will just be me hanging out online and answering questions that pop up in the chat window (as much as I can anyway).

I can be of most assistance to those in the beginner to intermediate range. I have strengths and weaknesses in various areas so I may not be able to answer every question right off the bat, but even if I don’t know something specific, I might be able to point you in the right direction.

If you’re just getting started with Blender, you should probably start with some basic tutorials first, then if you run into some hurdles, I can probably help you over them.

These sessions are and will remain free, but if you really appreciate them, then I’ve put a Paypal link at the bottom of this page and it would super cool if you wanted to donate a little to defraying the cost of my internet connection and keeping me fed and the lights on and whatnot.

ABOUT ME:

I’ve been a regular Blender user for over 5 years and I’ve hosted classroom lessons and ‘labs’ for Blender users in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area. I’ve helped a few people get from newbie to intermediate user and I really enjoy teaching Blender.

My portfolio is available on this site so you can see a little bit of what I’ve with Blender up to this point. I’m by no means the most qualified or advanced Blender user on the planet, but I’m a reasonably knowledgeable ‘generalist’. I’m very enthusiastic about Blender, and open-source, so I hope that hosting these sessions will be useful.

DONATION LINK:

If I’ve helped you a lot and you have a little to spare, please consider donating a little ‘fundage’ to the cause.
[paypal-donation reference=”Blender Tutoring”]

PRIVATE / GROUP SESSIONS:

If you would like to schedule a private tutoring session or a group lesson I would be perfectly happy to accommodate. I will have to ask for fee for these classes and ask that we schedule them at least a week in advance to ensure availability. I will ask for $15/hr for private sessions and $25/hr for group sessions.

These sessions can be on topics that you would like covered, assuming these are within my skill-set.

If you like, I can provide an introduction to Blender using a 6 part ‘Survey’ course (approx 2-hours each) that I developed for classroom instruction. Here is the outline for the sessions:

Session-1 – Introduction to Blender UI
Session-2 – Basic 3D Modeling in Blender
Session-3 – Materials, Textures, and Lighting
Session-4 – Animation and Basic Rigging
Session-5 – Blender Internal Rendering, Compositing, VSE
Session-6 – Physics: Particles, Cloth, Soft Bodies, Rigid Body Dynamics

I’ll also add the caveat that I consider myself more technician than artist. I can teach how to use Blender as a tool to use in the creative process, but I cannot teach artistic style. Let’s just say that if you saw what I can do with just a pencil and paper, you probably would not be impressed.

PREVIOUS SESSIONS:

Nov 10, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE2CsFUhb8g&feature=share

Nov 03, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ16ZuLjwhs&feature=share

Oct 23, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0YW6iETUhY&feature=share

Oct 20, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDVz41OuceE&feature=share

Oct 16, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c6JYrh7H00&feature=share

Oct 13, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpQVP8prFlU&feature=share

Oct 09, 2013 –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXwcpTHgYaE&feature=share

Oct 06, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa-OW3kqWCU&feature=share

Oct 02, 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-vSEALysaI

Sep 212013
 

[EDIT] Please check out the newest version of the FX Code (v0.51) with Android Bluetooth Control App and Chrome Control Extension.

[EDIT] Revised once again, and made a python GUI. See this new post.

This is a revision of the original FastSPI LED Effects Examples I wrote awhile back.

LED_POST

I’ve gotten some very positive responses for these examples so I figured I should update them to be a little less clunky (the operative term here being ‘less’, they’re still quite clunky) This revision will work with RC3 of the FastSPI2 Library.

http://youtu.be/5c6vYoZInjw

These are little LED displays I made, one is a circular back-light and the other a wave shape with a little diffusion in front. Both are Arduino powered of course. I just ran the ‘demo mode’ on both and tried to start at the same time so they’re not in sync or anything. Just thought I’d show them on a couple of different configurations for the heck of it.

If you have any issues getting this to work please check through the comments on the original post page first. A lot of people have posted very helpful comments about their experience using the code that might help you on your way. And of course feel free to post your issue if you can’t find a solution- I’ll do what I can to help.

Most significantly I’ve removed the need for the SerialCommand library and the really hacky HSV->RGB conversion function in favor of the native FastSPI2 conversion which is much faster and cleaner and supports ‘rainbow’ and ‘spectrum’ modes (though for these examples I just stuck to ‘rainbow’.)

I also added one example of a ‘native’ FastSPI effect; the fill_rainbow function (new_rainbow_loop – mode 88). This is similar to the ‘rainbow_loop’ function except that is fades the colors into one another much better. I’ll add more ‘native’ effects functions like fades to the code later because they are much faster and have nicer aesthetic qualities than mine.

Change modes the same way as in the previous code, enter ‘m’ and then an integer for the mode number (listed in code). Also make sure you send a NEWLINE character. Mode 888 is ‘demo mode’ which cycles through all the modes, but this tends to block the next serial command.

Also you can change the maximum brightness with ‘b’ and then an integer from 0-255. By default it’s set to 64, about 1/4 brightness.

Here is the code.

[EDIT] I recently fixed a few issues where I messed up the HSV conversion and I utilized a few more of the FastSPI2 functions. Also finally started giving the code a version number. This one’s v0.3, I’ll do better with that in the future.

Most notably I added the ability to adjust parameters of many of the effects via serial commands. The following commands are now accepted:

(d)elay 0-INF | d50 | Adjusts the delay value, effects run faster or slower.

(s)tep 0-INF | s5 | Adjusts the steps between colors, mostly for rainbow effects.

(h)hue 0-255 | h180 | Adjusts the hue of effect, mostly for one and two color effects.

sa(t)uration 0-255 | s50 | Adjusts the saturation of effect, mostly for one and two color effects.

Here is the code. (v0.3)

If you have any requests feel free to ask, I’ll see what I can do! I’m more-or-less open for business if you have anything in particular you need tackled. And if you find these very useful, please consider donating a little via. paypal, I’d really appreciate it 🙂

[paypal-donation reference=”FastSPI2 LED FX Code”]

I’m also grateful for bitcoin donations to: 1K5Yy77ejes2FZrHBG5fns3QAicnwZcduq

Sep 202013
 

If you need a band name, pick one and send me $5.00.

If your band is already named one of these- give me 30% of your gross earnings or I’ll club a baby seal!

Aerosmith
Baby Seal Club
Baby Seals Revenge
$5 Band Name
Made with Real Cheese
Edible Death Trap
Origin L
Gross Earnings
Hippocratic Oats
Custard and Fishsticks
The Frontmen
Vacation Layaway Hangover
Size Matters
I am not an Animal
Dr. Mustard and Gas Masks
These are the Voyages
Copycat Rematch
Inside-Outsiders
Hamfisticuffs
Breath Damn You, Breath!
The Fundamentals
Night Dream Day Mare
Are You My Mummy?
Ed Scissorhands’ Funeral
Passionate Regressive
Fruit Is Not a Verb
Take Two and Call Me in the Morning
Hammer Fist Shakedown
Oil Shake
Parking is never Free
The Lawyers of Destiny
Mistaken for Kindness
Redeem This!
Kung-Fu Checkers
Book Exchange Enforcement Officers
Bandcamp Shortbus
Books on Tape
Haircut Malfunction
Reused Coffee Grounds
Handshake Grudgematch
Psycopath Collection Agency
Token
Eat or Die
Escape Velocity
Photobombardiers
Shark Ninety-Nine
Georgia Gemstones
Stellar Cartography Overhaul
SPQR
Incogneto Browser
Entropy
North Korean Space Agency
Choose Your Own Adventure
Baritone Eunuch Choir
AskReddit
Peroxide Faceplant
Regolith
Sound for Sale
Think
Chest Monkey

[paypal-donation reference=”Band Names”]

I’ll also gratefully accept bitcoins sent to: 1K5Yy77ejes2FZrHBG5fns3QAicnwZcduq

Sep 152013
 

funkboxing-the t-shirt, funkboxing-the coloring book, funkboxing-the lunch box, funkboxing- the breakfast cereal, funkboxing- the flame thrower (the kids love this one).

Now instead of just reading, listening, and looking at things on funkboxing, you can also have some funkboxing stuff of your very own. Here’s a bunch of stuff available at the funkboxing Zazzle Store. CafePress Store coming soon.



Sep 142013
 

Aim the camera at the floor, set for a long-exposure, turn off the lights and shine some lasers through textured glass…

Sep 072013
 

[EDIT] Thanks so much to AndrewT81 from Reddit for his reply:

“Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto. The clip is from the end of the cadenza in the first movement.”

I went youtube and found it right away… WOW!!!

[ORIGINAL POST] Can someone please help me identify this very beautiful composition?

UnknownComposition

 

I heard it on the radio one night awhile back and recorded this little chunk on a little voice-recorder. Shazam and all the other online music finders I’ve tried have failed and I’d really like to hear the whole piece again. It’s very familiar but I just can’t figure it out for anything. Any help would be appreciated!