Announcement #6: Final Presentation Premiere!
Announcement #5: Conceptualizing the Final Animation
Announcement #4: Closing Post
Announcement #3: Blog, Syncing Saga & More
Announcement #2: Updates & Loose Ends!
Announcement #1: Collab2021 has officially begun!
#Collab2021 is focused on stylized, low-poly, fantasy environment creation! Specifically this gorgeous illustration by Vadim Zaitsev:
You can find more from Vadim on artstation.
Through April we will be creating a comprehensive 3D version of this environment and we need a committed team to make it a reality! If you’re not sure what this Collab format is all about, check out the blog article first. If you know what you’re getting into, continue reading about how to register and what the schedule will look like.
Collabs are open to all Citizen members (membership is required to participate). You need to be subscribed by April 5th and remain subscribed through May 4. You're welcome to subscribe earlier so you can access the recommended courses listed below. This option could be helpful for focusing on learning from content before the collab begins at which point you can focus primarily on applying what you've learned.
Collabs don’t have an official web page or system built into our site. Instead it’s facilitated through the Forum, Live Streams, and Google Docs. Fill out this form to register for the Collab. This will give us insight into how many people are interested, the skill levels involved, and some other info that’s helpful before we get underway.
The last day for registration is April 5th. After April 5th the team will be closed! [evil laughs]
As with any production, one can only plan so much before unanticpated things come up. That’s to say we will be at the mercy of the project and the content could change as needed. Schedule should remain the same though.
Goal: Since we’re working within a low-poly, stylized (simplified) genre I think we could finish all the modeling in the first week. For most assets in the scene the modeling is straight forward. For trees and bushes it’s a little different. I highly recommend using the Sapling Addon included with Blender) as taught in the stylized forest course. Similarly clouds will be a unique asset to tackle; something we will need to brainstorm as a team.
Stream 1: April 6th @ 1pm US central time
Helpful Content:
Week 1 Homework Due: April 11th by midnight
Goal: It’s possible that sculpting will be the next step for some assets (ex: rocks) and not for others (ex: trees). If your asset doesn’t need sculpting then your task this week is UV layout and texture painting a color map. If your asset needs sculpted detail, you can do that in addition to the UV layout and texture painting. By the end of the week we all should have our completed model painted with a color map and sculpting done if applicable.
Stream 2: April 13 @ 1pm US central time
Helpful Content:
Week 2 Homework Due: April 18th by midnight
Goal: This should be an easier week than the first two. Since the style is simplistic, the material can also be simplistic. It can also be more complex if one is so inclined. Things like procedural texture accents, procedural water, randomization of the same material across multiple objects, etc. Additionally we will dip our toes into lighting. At the very least we need to implement lighting in a way that informs our material qualities. At the most I want us to light our asset in a standalone presentation, as if you were presenting it to a supervisor for approval.
Stream 3: April 20 @ 1pm US central time
Helpful Content:
Week 3 Homework Due: April 25th by midnight
Goal: As with most productions, the last stretch is the most unpredictable and often results in a lot of problem solving. I expect this week to be a smorgasbord of tasks from catching up / putting final touches on assets, assembling the final environment together, polishing lighting and atmosphere, and who knows what else.
Stream 4: April 27 @ 1pm US central time
Helpful Content:
Week 4 Homework Due: May 2nd by midnight
With the project officially complete, this stream is meant to be a celebratory bookend. We will revel in our hard work and discuss a post-mortem: What worked well, what could be improved next time.
Of course communication is key for effective teamwork. To facilitate this we will utilize a network of forum threads.
Discord: Our resourceful Team Leads have setup a discord server for us! The server features channels for each team including audio + video capability.
Discord is best for LOW LEVEL communication since it’s the easiest, quickest way to communicate. By “low level” I mean casual, small-consequence discussion. The main negative of persistent chat is its brief nature; comments appear and then immediately get buried. This is fine for the majority of our discussions (let’s say 75%) but we want to avoid important info getting buried.
HIGH LEVEL communication is the important stuff that shouldn’t get lost in a persistent chat. Please keep high level discussion like protocols, announcements, lengthy troubleshooting and idea pitches on the forum threads listed below.
HQ Forum Thread: This thread is the foundation of our communication structure as denoted with "HQ" in the title. Discussion here should be broader in context; having to do with the project as a whole. It's the place I will be posting important announcements for everyone involved. It's also ideal for general questions about the project and light-hearted "water-cooler talk" for the team. Things like encouragement, inspirational info / artwork, relevant memes. I love memes.
It's NOT ideal for *specific* things like questions pertaining to a certain part of the environment, WIP of individual parts, or person-to-person discourse.
Team Threads: If more than 30 members register for this project we will divide into sub-teams. Each sub-team will collectively tackle a group of related assets and will be lead by a member (most likely contributors from #collab2020). Each team will have a dedicated forum thread for specific discourse pertaining to their parts. Same guidelines as the Central Thread but with a specified topic.
Individual Homework Threads: Each contributor is required to create a thread for themselves for posting homework confirmation at minimum. This is also where any discourse about your specific part happens. You're encouraged to treat it as a work-in-progress (WIP) thread, posting updates about your work as you go.
Direct Contact: Tagging is ideal for directly contacting me or anyone involved with the project. Tag me (@theluthier) with questions or advice in any of these threads. I guarantee I will be checking my notifications regularly every Monday-Thursday throughout the duration of the project.
Of course the more people that register the less accessible I will become for direct / lengthy conversation. This is where sub-team leaders will be invaluable. If we break into sub-teams please contact your leader first, then me second.
Livestream Chat: The realtime interactivity of streams is another great way to communicate. Taggin works there as well along with an additional tool: Typing "[Q]" in the chat adds a blue "question" label to your post. This makes it easier for me to spot direct questions for me to answer while streaming.
DISCLAIMER: These guidelines are only intended to streamline the challenging task of communicating globally across the internet. They're not meant to create a tense atmosphere of rules! We're a relaxed, reasonable bunch of Blender heads. If you don't know where you're supposed to ask a question, go ahead an ask somewhere and you'll be answered or kindly directed to the right place if applicable.
Everyone working from the same project directory is important for a production like this. From linking models back and forth to sharing texture maps, it's a must for a smooth working experience. Further protocol like file naming conventions and saving files in the right place is necessary to avoid a confusing mess.
The following instructions are depending on you syncing the project's Google Drive folder to your local computer. If you haven't done that yet, please check the Announcement 2 post for instructions.
For this project I want to make the process as simple as possible for participants. To achieve this I've come up with a "plug-n-play" system. Basically I will save a placeholder .blend file in both the WIP and MODELS folder for each participant by including their username in the filename. Once the placeholder is present, each participant saves their work into the MASTER collection within the scene and that's it! I take it from there.
I covered this concept in the Week 2 stream but here's a set up step-by-step instructions as well:
How much time am I expected to commit to this project?
We stress commitment because it's the best to ensure A) the project succeeds and B) lasting skills are learned. We only expect you to commit as much time as you can. DO NOT commit full-time hours to this project (8 hrs a day). As the instructor, I should be the only one doing this.
Everyone else (sub-team leads and contributors) shouldn't need to apply more than 2 hrs per day to the project. It's all relative depending on your availability and skill level. If you can't afford 2 hrs per day you can pick a simpler asset. If you have more time to contribute then perhaps choose a more complex asset. It's up to your discretion.
If you only have 2 weeks available in April, that's OK! Just let me or your sub-team lead know and it's all good.
How do I tag someone?
Like twitter and instagram you simple type "@username" to tag someone. Tagging fires a notification to this person. Everyone's username is either A) in parentheses beside their display name or B) substituted if they don't specify a display name:
What service do we use for syncing files as a team?
We used Google Drive last year and it worked pretty well. Syncing our files to the cloud proved to be a crucial way for everyone to stay up-to-date conveniently. Since we lean heavily on library linking, it's imperative that we all be up-to-date. Google Drive is very accessible too; most people have an account anyway.
If you don't have one, sign up to get 15GB of storage for free. That should be plenty of storage for our project.
I know people are hesitant to sign up with Google but a burner account just for this project isn't too invasive, right? Otherwise Mega drive could be a good alternative since it offers 50 GB for free.
What if I'm not available at the time livestreams are broadcast?
Unfortunately the stream time can't be ideal for everyone. If you're not able to watch the stream live, I will post the recording within 24 hours of broadcast.
When is homework due exactly?
Homework is due every Sunday @ midnight each week. This means whenver your midnight is; relative to your timezone. This gives me each Monday to review homework internally before streaming on Tuesday. Please adhere to this deadline as late submissions can really stunt the flow of the schedule.
Can multiple people volunteer for and build the same part?
Yes! Early volunteers will have the best chance at picking a unique part but eventually parts will be assigned to multiple people. Of course we can't feature multiple of the same part for the final scene so the best execution of each part will end up in the final.
Are we bound to also 1 asset or if there is spare time can we even go for a second or third piece?
You're not limited to 1 asset. I'd love to see contributors challenge themselves with multiple assets, as several did last year. This gives contributors the ability to define their own scope of participation: If someone is newer to Blender they can choose one asset. If someone is more experienced they can choose multiple assets.
Who “owns” the final project?
Technically CG Cookie owns the project but the final project will be released freely as Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0).
Can I feature my work from Collab2021 in my online portfolio and / or demo reel?
100% yes! Contributors are welcome to use/share visuals from the project to social media accounts, online galleries / portfolios, and featured in demo reels.
wow over 66 already :o
probably will increase but in the end maybe a few will fall of .
imagine we get over 100 people to join in :D
@theluthier I didn't understand how Geometry Nodes works for a long time, but I more or less get it now. My main problem was, that I didn't know what Attributes are. Apart from its current limitations GN is way faster and more powerful than the Particle (Hair) System.
Of course I'll be happy to share my (limited) knowledge ;)
Hi,
I signed up this, sounds like fun. What version of blender are we going to use? I put in a vote for an animation next time, what about if the water wheel and water are animated. this time, then the whale could swim down the river? Thanks for doing this.
Okay so I actually wonder @theluthier if there is a unique way to push the veterans while also catering to the new students. Maybe the second live sessions could actually cover advanced assignments? Just thinking out loud. I feel like there is a win win and all people could really shine here.
Maybe geometry nodes and udims have a spot here but perhaps being boundaried on the who,what,where for advanced topics. I guess it may just need to see where this goes. You are our fearless leader and we will follow you into the wild spiced up lo poly world.
I feel like there potential to do basic and advanced stuff. Or maybe we just keep it basic and stick to the main plan.
So, while I agree it is fun to jest and play off of one another, you bring up a great point Omar.
With 66-100 people everyone pitching these fun comments is awesome for the creativity side but we do need to stay grounded somehow.
What I loved about the last project is how we made it our own......BUT while also being extremely tied to the reference. Once we nailed the reference we let our creativity fly high.
i think that same spirit will do us wonders here. Who knows maybe the whale could be a statue/fountain in the back unseen parts of the artwork. Maybe you just make the whale icon somewhere. Or maybe the whale ends up turning out to be nothing more than a fun comment in the forum to spark creative thinking.
One lesson Kent has taught me over the year and Omar has shined in is the ability to be both boundaried and creative at the same time.
there is so much to work with in this scene that I could see some really cool easter eggs (and literally maybe we need actual Easter eggs with it being April, and possibly a bunny) but make them blend well with the scene.
eye candy keeps you looking from place to place and getting rewarded each time,
what’s funny about Omar’s comments is they magically start fresh ideas. You said something totally off topic about and whale but now have nature/animals in the scene could bring some potential. Kinda like the live stream where there were two love birds in the tree at the end.
We should follow Kent’s and our team leaders suggestions but there is plenty of creativity opportunity in this scene to make it true to the art while also just a touch of our own flavor to it.
Already 6️⃣6️⃣ people registered and page 2️⃣ in the forum 🥈 with 8️⃣8️⃣ replies and still 1️⃣ month left until the official start, I'm sure this will become an awesome collab 💪👍!
Sorry if you all missed me. I haven't been in the conversation much, I have been concentrating on brushing up on my Python. I haven't done any coding for so long.
Which gives me a thought..........
dostovel mentioned a whale in the river, I'm thinking a python in the grass. Maybe someone could do a mountain lion in the background, and monkeys in the trees. 
splat21 I think mentioned a herb garden, we are going to need some worms and maybe butterflies. And duerer maybe a Piero or 6 perched on the roof. Maybe a mouse running round the water wheel and a cat ready to pounce.....
what have I missed ???
A plane in the sky or a night scene with stars, and satellites and a space station......
How long is this collab? are we gonna make it last as long as the Backhoe?? and then we get to the animation....
Someone said to me coding is like riding a bike, trouble is I learnt to code a long time ago on a tricycle, if you stop peddling the bike stops, then the pedals moved to a cog attached to the rear wheel with a chain, now I find the bike has 26 gears and 4 pedals.
@adrian2301 I find Python coding, especially in the context of Blender, very fascinating. Data visualization like for example creating a star field from real astronomical data is one of my special interests. I hope that there will be some courses teaching Python in Blender on the basis of Blender 2.9 since, as far as I know, the Blender Python commands have changed significantly so that many older addons don't work anymore.
I would like to see a full course on CGCookie about Python coding in Blender, creating a basic add-on. I have seen the YouTube video recently by 
cbaileyfilm and now need more. There are others on YouTube using Python in Blender, but it's like there holding back a secret, I want to see the complete process. We need a fundamentals course and a more advanced course for creating an add-on in Blender. Not a full course on Python, there's loads on YouTube but Blender specific Python. sssssss
Guys I have an idea, now hear me out:
This is above top secret, Kent specially cannot find out about this. If you read this you'll probably be committing the highest of treason, so I understand if you want to stop reading right now. Bear in mind, if you continue reading, you do so at your own risk.
It felt good to see such a positive reaction from the internet of the DOG animation, didn't it? One of the things I've seen is how people while seeing the video think it can't possibly go on further, only for it to keep going on and on, more and more detail keeps pouring in, then when the outside is almost assembled people think that's it, it's over, it cannot go to the insid..... oh my god it does even go to the inside of the tractor! this is crazy! even the inside!
Now, we have been instructed to stick to the artwork, it is intended to function as our client and our job is to capture the essence the concept art transmits. There are veterans here from the First Great Collab, it was a brutal seven months endeavor, not for the faint of heart, and the FGC culminated in the greatest of victories, mainly because the soldiers that participated in it were selfless and noble warriors that went beyond the call of duty. So I say, is it too much to ask to go beyond it once more?
Is it too much to ask more than a still image render that mirrors the artwork? Don't you want an animation that takes you around the house, it's lush beauty, the boat on the river with its whale captain, the rocks, the trees.... but then the door opens up, and there's a whole interior that feels alive as well; Tables, chairs, books, kitchen, bedroom, beds, desks, couch, lamps, bottles, paintings, rugs, etc; you get the feeling that someone lives here by a radiant rich atmosphere. Is it too much to ask to go beyond what the DOG accomplished? If this Second Great Collab is to be a great victory, it can't be less than the first.
Kent's hands are tied up, he has too much on his plate, he has to manage a crowd too big, like a sheep herder where every sheep wants to go it's own way and it's his job to keep the herd united. He has to stick to the rules. There are people from beginners to veterans, it's too broad and the goal is to help beginners mostly.
All I'm saying is, it is the job of us veterans to make this Collab greater than the last one. If we start TODAY making all kinds of assets for the interior we gain an extra month where this thing can be alive as alive can get. It can't be left for after the Collab is over, morale always goes down after the job is considered done, no, we have to start now. We are disobeying a direct order here, overstepping our duty and our General. It's like George Lucas making A New Hope and then some of his team branching off without his permission to make The Phantom Menace in parallel, it's not a pretty picture, I never said this was a charming task.
The interior of the house can be a gold mine of detail. It's not an easy job, but neither was the DOG. We could use the old DOG headquarters outpost on Google Drive to store our top secret files, it's been abandoned for decades now, no one will be looking for us there. And this time we can't let good old boy Adrian here be the sole over-accomplisher, he has competition this time around.
Make no mistake, this is an operation well outside the boundaries of what is permitted. Don't expect medals or a ticker tape parade, if we get caught our governments will deny any knowledge, our lives will be ruined. We will be doing this at our own expense. Talk to your families, say your goodbyes, you won't be seeing them for a while and they won't understand your sacrifice. If Kent happens to stop by your work station, just tell him you are "oh just working on my warm ups daily practices'', repeat that over and over, that is to be your mantra. I know it is hard to lie to our commanding officer, but it's for the greater good.
So, is anyone in?
I would be in for this. I would like to see the scene change from day to night, water move, clouds move, etc. The problem I see with furnishing the inside is that needs to be a floor plan and idea of basic furniture style. Coming up with the furnishing would be good modeling practice. Glad to see you dream big.
It's dangerous...but I like a bit of danger...and of course, should I get caught, I will not reveal any other names, no matter how much they torture me...
I just started modeling random assets. I'm just winging it, as long we have a large collection of assets we'll figure out the interior design as a jigsaw puzzle later, just like playing The Sims. I'm taking the hints from art works such as this:
