MACRO

Get Closer. Narrow your Focus.

Welcome toΒ Macro. The second course in the SESSIONS series. Continuing the theme of creating more with less, Macro explores the close-up aesthetic.

When a camera is close to an object, a beautiful artifact occurs: Depth of field and bokeh blurring. The result is a magical visual genre that emphasizes photorealism, high fidelity detail, and a strong sense of depth.

Each project is designed to be created within 2 hours or less, as is required by the SESSIONS format. The point is to create something every day in less time. Start your sessions routine, now!

Course Overview

Chapter 1

Dice Roll

A symbol of trying your luck; taking a risk. This project is a fun introduction to the macro aesthetic, where high fidelity detail is paramount and bokeh blur narrows viewer focus. Rigid body simulation also makes a cameo.


Chapter 2

Slow mOcean

Manifest the slow down, bright sunny vibes of summer. Learn to utilize Blender's ocean modifier to simulate body-of-water behavior. Then discover the trick to make that behavior loop seamlessly. And finally, capture mesmerizing bokeh shapes as they dance on the water's surface.


Chapter 3

Dew Droplet

Craft the peace and tranquility of early morning. This project draws your attention to the beautiful details of leafy organics. We will utilize micropolygon displacement for maximum geometric fidelity. Along with simple rigging and f-curve modifier power.


Chapter 4

Yin-Yang Pencils

Embrace complimentary contrast in this simple, satisfying animation. Unlike other macro projects, depth of field is not applicable here. Instead we will lean on micropolygon displacement to achieve a believable level of detail at such a close proximity.


Chapter 5

Piano

An elegant, timeless instrument with repetitive shape complexity - perfect for fast creation. The material plays a key role in tactile realism while the glowing orbs serve as unique flare and interesting bokeh fodder.


Chapter 6

Laptop

Blurring the lines between the macro and product rendering genres. Or should I say bokeh blurring the lines...

Student Gallery

Dive into the beautiful and mesmerizing world of minimalism in Blender

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Awarded upon completion:
100xp +
Course Curriculum
2 Reviews
  • β˜†β˜†β˜†β˜†β˜†
    Nathi Tappan(nathitappan) ·

    I saw the trailer for this course on YT and it brought CG Cookie to my radar. It looked like gorgeous results with the promise of quick executions, I was all like: sign me up!

    And that was the truth all around: I decided to learn Blender recently and these sessions were instrumental to keeping my motivation up. They are quick wins with gorgeous results, and chalk full of tips and techniques. Very cool to learn where we need to focus to get results, and where to focus to get them to look stunning even if there N-gons here and there.Β 

    I had a lot of fun with these and hope that Kent adds more Sessions later. Will definitely tackle the other Sessions course next.

  • β˜†β˜†β˜†β˜†β˜†
    comn ·

    These sessions projects are so helpful, honestly... I run into the "There's too much to learn, how is there ever going to be enough time for all this" depressive slump at least once every few weeks. And when I do, I remember that even if you only know so much you can still make cool things, and then I can go and make a piano about it or something.

    Rescuing our mental health and giving us hope with these very manageable projects, thank you Kent for putting good things into the world. Β 

In playlist: Blender Overall