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Thursday, February 01, 2007

Update: New Developments

I just thought I would let you know what's going on behind the scenes. I've recently done some more upgrading (new monitor = massive piggy bank raid!) and I'm just having to get things re-calibrated. I'm hoping that these investments will help make things faster and easier for me.

If you're curious, the new monitor is a 22" widescreen. I simply cannot believe the difference in brightness and clarity. I was using two 17" CRTs. I'm still using one of them along with the new LCD. I maxed out the brightness on the 17" and it doesn't even come close in brightness and sharpness. I can never go back to that kind of monitor, now. Using Blender with this much screen space is more than a thrill. The interface and workflow design make even more sense to me, now (Thanks Ton!).



I would highly recommend, if you've thought about it, making it a goal to save up and get the largest LCD possible. The prices are just ridiculously low since the last time I even considered an LCD. If you set a goal, you'll eventually get there. I'm not, by any reasonable definition, wealthy. In fact, in the U.S., I'm currently below the middle-class demographic! So, if I can do it...

Anyway, it's the really tough time of the month at my job so, I just didn't have any time (or real energy) to finish up the next part in the tutorial series (sorry). I'll be back on it tomorrow evening. I'll try to pick up the pace, too, so I can get the entire series finished. After this series, I've got some shorter tutorial ideas lined up that cover more topics that I haven't seen anywhere else. I try to do things that aren't duplicates of the works created by others.

See ya!


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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kernon,

BlenderNewbies "Headquarters" haha :-) that looks really cool, like a small professional studio and the new LCD also looks great!! I am happy for You. Anyway I have a 19" LCD Samsung and have been thinking about buying a 22" widescreen. I totally agree with You, if you spend much time in front of a monitor you should save some money
and definitely buy the largest LCD possible. It is not only pleasant
to work with, but it will also save your eyes. Also I am just a student, don't have a job and here in Croatia (it's a small country
near Italy) my family and I belong to a middle-class demographic too.

So people lets go and save up some money so we can enjoy this great tutorials on a big screen!!

Ps. Sorry for my english

Anonymous said...

What's your rig for the catmtasia recording... especially the mic setup?

Kernon Dillon said...

Thanks. I took the photo in the dark in order to hide the mess. ;)

My current setup for Camtasia is very basic. I record at 1024x768 and render the output scaled down to 640x480. I use the monitor on the left for the recording controls, references, notes, etc. The actual recording takes place on the right-side monitor. I'm using a separate video card for each monitor to help control the workload, depending on the situation. The microphone is a basic consumer-level model made by Audio-Technica. The mic boom stand is a creation comprised of parts from a cymbal stand, snare drum stand, tom mount, and a couple of accessory clamps. Throw in some tie-wraps and felt washers and Bam!...custom ghetto mic stand.

Now I need to get a windscreen/de-esser. I think I'll have to buy one because I can't bring myself to purchasing pantyhose..."Oh, it's for a windscreen I'm making, really."

Anonymous said...

Hi again,

Sorry for bothering You, but I have a question and it's been on my
mind for a while. I've read many times that a lot of Blender users
want to have N-gons in Blender(don't know what these really are,
something to do with modeling?). Is it necessary to have them and
is this a big Blender drawback? I know this site is maybe not the right place to ask this question and I should probably go to the blenderatrist.org, but I've seen so many discussions on this subject
that I am really confused and sometimes I think I should maybe switch to another app.

I really want Your opinion on this subject and would it be better to maybe use Wings3d for modeling and Blender for other stuff?. Hope You understand the question.

Kernon Dillon said...

Basically, N-gons are mesh faces with more than 4 sides (quads). They're called N-gons, instead of polygons, because the number of sides is not fixed. The "N" (in the name N-gons) is meant to represent an undefined number.

Blender is limited to quads but, there is the ability to create F-gons. They're called F-gons because they are "fake" N-gons. Blender's F-gons simply provide the appearance of N-gons while the underlying topology is comprised of trianges.

N-gons are popular because they can make the creation of certain types of mesh topologies a lot easier to achieve. They're also good for fixing errors or reworking a mesh's topology.

IMO, N-gons are not an absolutely necessary thing. For example, look at all of the great works that have been created using Blender...without N-gons. Most people that crave N-gons are those used to using N-gons in other applications.

There is no magic in N-gons. It's usage still requires skill and I believe that the path to those skills is to learn to actually create good mesh topologies without a tool like N-gons. That way, when you wield a tool such as N-gons, you actually have some real skill and understanding to put into the usage of the tool.

Anonymous said...

Thank You very much!!!

Unknown said...

hey think that your videos are great.... would you mind them being linked on from blender.org? please email me ibkanat at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Hi Kernon,

Thanks for the information on the monitor, I've been thinking going to a 19" but your advice sounds solid. While on the topic of advice, I don't know about anyone else but whatever you would have to say about the hardware side of Blending I for one would love to hear what you think would be one of the best configurations possible for running a great Blender machine. Please forgive me for I know this is truly would be a subjective conclusion but good trees give good fruits. Your tutorials are some of the best to be had for Blender so your opinion on hardware should fall very close to the tree.

Anonymous said...

hmmmmmm 22" Monitor. really cool. as far as the country pathway series' progress is concerned then i am patient enough.relax ..take ur time.

regrads
-pranay

Anonymous said...

Just a word on N-gons. While mostly you are correct, the biggest issue with lack of N-gon support in Blender is in solid modeling or architectural modeling where the use of N-gons is essential to efficient modeling.

But I do agree that N-gons are not a necessity. Until rather recently few programs actually supported rendering an N-gon. N-gons had to be converted to tris or quads at rendertime via one method or another.

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