CG Cookie Sneak Peek: November Edition

Curious what's going on under the CG Cookie hood? Rest assured the trainer gang is constantly busy with new Blender videos for you. 

What Blender Videos are we Working on?

Just like dry-aged bacon and the fourth season of Ricky and Morty, some things are worth waiting for. 

Blender tutorials, too, are not made overnight!  There's a lot of work that goes into making our videos.

So if you're thinking of renewing your membership or just want an early peek...grab some popcorn and let's dive in! 🍿

Animating First Person Weapons: Get Ready for Some of the Best Weapon Animations in Blender You've Seen

Expected Release: Winter 2019

Jonathan Lampel has been researching, testing, and iterating Blender weapons animations. 

The result: a full-length Blender tutorial course to teach you everything about creating an insanely realistic FPS experience.

Jonathan has gone to great length with testing, getting feedback from Kent Trammell, Jonathan Williamson and Wayne Dixon along the way.

BEFORE: early weapon animation test

AFTER: weapon animation with fixed hand clipping, gun rotation, adjusted posing, improved thumb sliding, and secondary motion added

Naturally, Jonathan got a few killer robots to assist him in the process. What could go wrong?

Where are we at with this course?

We’re getting pretty darn close to having this in our Citizen’s hands. Jonathan is putting some final touches on the video trailer, closed captions are being completed and last-minute video edits made. 

You can follow Jonathan's updates @jonlampel.

By the way, the weapon animation trailer is going to be one of the most goosebump-inducing ones we've made yet!

Fundamentals of Animation: Everything You Need to Make Things Move in Blender

Expected release: early 2020

Wayne Dixon is in the early stages of the brand new Blender 2.8 Animation Fundamentals!

This video course will teach you everything you need to make a short movie, from setting keyframes, learning the graph editor, having fun with a few rigs. 

"Many animators learn bad habits early on, so it's crucial that you start animating correctly right from the beginning," says Wayne. 

The new Fundamentals of Animation will be your go-to course for getting started and learning industry practices to build on.

Ecorche Bust: Master Facial Anatomy With an Interactive 3D Model 

Expected Release on Blender Market: Winter 2019

"Has Kent Trammell gone into hibernation?"

Far from it. He's been researching and creating an epic 3D asset for you as the best way for mastering facial anatomy (besides performing an actual autopsy).

So what will the final product look like? The bust is an interactive .blend file including an addon for easy navigation of anatomical layers and labels.

Says Kent Trammell: "I made the ecorche to be the go-to anatomical face reference for Blender artists and beyond. Basically, it's a digital upgrade to popular physical ecorches and will be a lot more affordable."

The asset will drop on Blender Market soon! But is it part of a larger adventure Kent is on? 🤔

There's more that we're working on...

• Our animator-in-chief Wayne Dixon is ramping up for an interview with the brilliant animator Luciano Munoz.
• The crew is preparing an animated holiday short to jingle your bells. 🎄
• Animation livestream: Wayne sure has been busy! Soon, he is rolling out a new livestream full of his top rigging tricks.
• Blender 2.81 livestream: Jonathan Lampel will take you through all the latest 2.81 changes and features (airs November 5)
• Blender Modeling livestream: join Kent Trammell on this seasonal livestream and model an autumn lantern (airs November 12)

Are Monthly Sneak Peeks a new Thing?

Yes! This is a raw glimpse at what the Cookie crew is working on. Keeping in mind things will change, evolve or even get shelved...to keep on top of what's being worked on, follow ccgcookie for the latest news.