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    COLLAB.01 | The Dog 434E

    ‹ Collabs

    Collab 01: The Dog 434E

    • 2020
    • 13 collaborators
    • exhaustively detailed & accurate
    • Made with Blender
    The happy accident that gave birth to the Collab format. What began as a solo streaming project evolved into the most complex, thoroughly detailed model any of us had ever built.

    Worth a Try

    The original idea was for Kent to model heavy equipment vehicle by himself slowly and methodically in real time on the CG Cookie Livestream. Concerned such a project might take a year or more - too long to maintain interest - Kent recalled a suggestion from a member almost a year prior: What if students teamed up with the instructor to build something together?

    Sure why not give it a try? If it fails, no big deal. But if it succeeds...how cool would that be?

    From 3D model to animated short film

    Together we set out to build a thoroughly detailed, accurate model of a Caterpillar 434E backhoe. After dividing the model among the contributors, progress was made pretty quickly. Contributors worked in their spare time while Kent modeled his part of the backhoe on stream.

    Given the experimental nature of the team project, there was no deadline and development could go as fast or as slow as it needed. It didn't take long before the WIP model showed signs of what it would become: insanely comprehensive down to the nuts, bolts, and hydraulic lines.

    "These projects really help me in unique ways because they keep my focus and drive to complete projects! I'm hungry and looking forward to more!"

    Shawn BlanchLifetime Member, Three-Time Collaborator, Two-Time Collab Supervisor

    "I have grown more than I would have expected. This was an amazing collaborative project! Thank you Kent and contributors for this amazing opportunity!"

    Martin BergwerfLifetime Member, Three-Time Collaborator, Two-Time Collab Supervisor

    A Worthy Presentation

    When the model was finished, the excitement was palpable. Thanks to a website that documented blueprints for virtually every individual component on the backhoe, our model was exceedingly accurate and thorough.

    So what now? Do we just...render a turntable? No way. We needed to present this in a way that did our hard work justice; somehow we needed to showcase what's under the hood as much as outside it.


    Enter the Assembly Animation

    We decided that an assembly animation would give us reason to showcase every nut and bolt while also being far more interesting to watch than a turntable. This is where the project became an animated short.

    Every part was animated by hand, no geometry node magic. Back in 2020 geometry nodes was experimental and not officially released yet. Besides, by hand worked just fine.

    The assembly animation worked so well that we returned to it for Collab.03 with a new spin.

    ★★★★★

    "We should all be proud of what has been achieved. Not only for what people can learn and be apart of at CG Cookie, but what can be accomplished with Blender."

    Adrian Bellworthy Three-Time Collaborator, Two-Time Collab Supervisor

    Watch the Collab.01 Livestreams

    Experience the collab atmostphere and learn from our process

    View Playlist

    Download the Project Files

    We made the entire project directory available for download. It includes all assets from models, textures, as well as all .blends.


    NOTE: This project has a lot of moving parts and it's recommended that you open with the version of Blender it was created with: 2.90

    Download the Project

    Contributors

    • abm3010
    • Adrian Bellworthy
    • artifact
    • Bhavesh Patel
    • Greg McKim
    • Ingmar Franz
    • Jake Korosi
    • Karen Trevino
    • Kent Trammell
    • Martin Bergwerf
    • Omar Domench
    • Parker Bourassa
    • Shawn Blanch

    More links

    Original HQ thread