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“Great art picks up where nature ends.” Marc Chagall
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BLOGS / NEWS & SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
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The post R21-announcement depression
C4DS,
460 views 6 comments
Well OK, the title of this blog entry might be way over the line, somewhat too dramatic, but still ... Background: As a hobby user since R9 I was quite happy with the XL bundle, back in those days. When the modules were retracted my only option was to go with the Studio version, and since then paid the annual MSA to stay up to date. Some years ago, while working on a personal project in Cinema 4D for quite a while, I got side-tracked and started writing some plugins to automate and enhance why own workflow. This side-tracking grew somewhat out of proportions, as I began spending most of my free time working on plugins, instead of creating models and animations. I then took the opportunity to start up a small business selling these plugins. Obviously I wasn't looking into making a lot of money out of it, but was merely hoping the income from selling plugins would allow to pay for the annual MSA. The 30 July announcement was a bitter pill to swallow. For whatever reason I was raised with the idea that, when ever possible, you don't buy on credit, you don't rent. If you want something you cannot afford, you save up for it ... or you just don't buy it, until you can afford it. I have turned down software subscriptions before., for this same reason. And then this announcement ... For sure, I wasn't losing sleep over it. Or did I? Day after day my mind kept wandering, traveling the different paths of possible solutions. I didn't think straight and most of all, felt (and was) unproductive. Then finally, I made up my mind. For me personally no subscription, nor the "perpetual" (gimme a break) R21 license. Decided to keep using my R20 license, not upgrade to R21. By not having an R21 license it wouldn't make sense to keep providing plugins. As such I am stepping down as a plugin developer. Since software development is another hobby of mine, I know upfront that it will definitely itch. As such, I will probably (need to) keep writing plugins. But probably for my own.
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MAXON Announcement + Live Chat
Beefdoctor,
230 views 0 comments
This live stream was an opportunity to watch the MAXON announcement at Siggraph 2019 with my viewers. We also talked about the announcement together via the live chat. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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DIGITAL MEAT: Q3 2019 Livestream
Beefdoctor,
63 views 0 comments
This Livestream is an update about changes to the website, mailing lists and an opportunity to ask my audience about the direction of some of the changes I’m planning to make. I’m also asking my users for feedback in regards to funding regarding Patreon. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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RF For C4D: Blending Fluids With Vertex
Beefdoctor,
168 views 0 comments
In this RealFlow for Cinema 4D, tutorial we take a look at using Vertex Maps to Blend Fluid colours. We Use these Vertex weights in the Vertex Map Shader and also use a work around to get the desired result. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Website: Digitalmeat.uk Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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RF For C4D: Blending Fluids With Vertex
Beefdoctor,
103 views 0 comments
In this RealFlow for Cinema 4D, tutorial we take a look at using Vertex Maps to Blend Fluid colours. We Use these Vertex weights in the Vertex Map Shader and also use a work around to get the desired result. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Website: Digitalmeat.uk Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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How to get jobs as a Freelancer ( 3D artist)
Vozzz,
343 views 4 comments
For those who don’t know, this is how the process of hiring a freelancer goes. What follows is just my meandering experience and observation, your mileage may vary. Pretend you have a project. Lets say you need someone to design a Dinosaur character. First you will think if you know anyone. If you do, you will reach out to them. Then you will ask your friends, or freelancers that work for you if they know anyone. Then you’ll go to art station or some other portfolio site, or maybe straight to google and type in “Dinosaur character designer”, you will reach out to some of the people that you like, ask them their rates, and then if they are all too expensive you will go to fiver or upwork or freelancer.com or whatever other freelancing website exists. Nobody goes straight to a freelancing website, it’s usually a last resort. And it’s a last resort for people with small budgets. Because with the internet the way it is you can always find someone who does whatever it is you need to be done. Try it, try to hire someone who does what you do. I remember when i was just starting out there was this guy at a studio i worked at who kept giving me After effects jobs. I could do them, i had the skills, but it wasn’t really my specialty, i was always a 3D guy. That’s what i did well, thats why i charged more. In after effects i worked slower than most people and really wasn’t that good. But yet this guy just kept giving me after effects jobs. So one day i asked him: “why do you keep giving me these jobs? I’ m sure there is someone who does this better than me, and cheaper” and his answer really changed the way i think about everything, he said “Because i like drinking with you, and if you have more jobs, we can go drink together more”. At first i was like: “awesome”, but then it dawned on me, how many jobs do i miss out on, because someone likes to drink with someone else, or plays golf with them, or has kids go to the same school. It has so much less to do with how good i am at what i do than i thought. To me it was a revelation. So what do I do if I don’t know anyone who would hire me? You get to know them or you get known. My career was largely built on alcoholism. Especially when i was in New York. People all over the place drinking making friends socializing, exchanging business cards inviting each other to other events. And there is no faster way to get to know a person than drinking with them ( if you want a guide on how to properly drink leave a comment, it’s also a skill that takes time to develop). Alternatively go to events that either related to your industry, or if they don’t have them in your area, go to networking events for other industries, you might find clients there. I knew people who bought shares in mining companies ( just whatever the minimal was) and then turned up to share holding meetings and made friends and then got jobs out of that. Don’t like drinking? Get ready to do A LOT of work. Because building relationships with people is a very slow process if there is no alcohol involved, there are exceptional people which can make friends with anyone anywhere with everyone sober, but if you were one of those people you probably wouldn’t need help getting a job. So you have to start making a TONNE of work, and i mean a metric tonne. Start off with just volume, do a daily challenge. Post it on instagram, twitter, facebook, any platform that will let you. You have to get as many eyeballs on your work as possible. And it better be thematic, because people got to remember you for something specific. “oh i know a guy who makes dinosaurs” or “oh that guy who animates cars”. And you got to start posting it like CRAZY. For every 100 things you post, you might get one job out of it. This is not for the faint of heart. Which makes it even more important to pick a topic that you LOVE, because no matter what you pick, there will be people who LOVE doing that specific thing, and you will be competing with those people who will do it better and probably cheaper than you. Then go onto forums/facebook groups and start helping people, start answering questions, start figuring out problems other people are having, giving advice where people ask for it. Join the community. But don’t just post random comments actually participate, this is yet another way for people to get to know you. Also don’t forget to put together a proper website, you want a little piece of the Internet that is completely under you control. Go check out my article about small bussiness. It goes over how to set up a website rather quickly and what parts you need. Your website should convey to the visitor what you are good at and what kind of work you want to do as quickly as possible. Reels shouldn’t be longer than 1 minute, the shorter the better. Put your best work up top. Freelancing websites are really the last resort in most cases, they have the lowest paying clients and the jobs that no one else wants to take on. I know programmers seem to do okay on them. But creative tasks are just terrible. The most important thing to remember, that because this is hard to do, is the reason you will stand out. My favorite quote is “if it was easy everyone would do it”. I hope this was interesting, what should i write next? How to figure out how much to charge? Let me know in the comments and have a good one! The post How to get jobs as a Freelancer ( 3D artist) appeared first on Ace5studios. View the full article
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Cinema 4D: The Aim Constraint
Beefdoctor,
105 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D tutorial video we are going to create an actuator using the Constraint Tag in Aim mode, this will allow us to have two objects pointing at each others pivots. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Cinema 4D: The Aim Constraint
Beefdoctor,
122 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D tutorial video we are going to create an actuator using the Constraint Tag in Aim mode, this will allow us to have two objects pointing at each others pivots. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Nvidia GauGAN
Beefdoctor,
120 views 0 comments
GauGAN, named after post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, creates photorealistic images from segmentation maps, which are labeled sketches that depict the layout of a scene. Digitalmeat.uk If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Nvidia GauGAN
Beefdoctor,
153 views 0 comments
GauGAN, named after post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, creates photorealistic images from segmentation maps, which are labeled sketches that depict the layout of a scene. Digitalmeat.uk If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Should i work for free?
Vozzz,
140 views 1 comments
This is a question that comes up a lot, and recently came up on a FUTUR livestream with Gary Vee. As always the answer is: “it depends”. Some people think the answer should be a hard no. Others think it’s not such a bad thing. I think the answer to this is pretty simple. If you want to do free work to get your name out there, pick the client yourself. Offer your services to a charity or any nonprofit organization that you care about. Or even if it’s a for profit organization, do it for them as a gift, but pick the company yourself and make like an homage to them. If someone comes to you and asks for work in exchange for “Exposure” that should definitely be a hard NO! That job is going to be hell, and going to drag on forever, and you are not going to get any exposure for it. So if you do free work, make sure it’s on your terms and you’ve picked something that will give you exposure. Make sure they have a large following on social media, and a large following that’s relevant to your potential clients. If you do character rigging, 13-18 year old fans of knitting won’t really help you. The other option is if you are doing something you have never done before and it’s something you want to figure out. Then perhaps thats a good deal for the both of you. BUT you got to remember the wider picture. If you agree to do free work, that means that company is 100% not going to pay someone to do that work. So you’re potentially either taking money away from your fellow workers, and maybe helping a business that has no business doing what it does ( since it can’t secure funds to pay you for your services). There is also the option if you are working in an intern capacity, where you are not being paid, but you are actually learning valuable skills that you want to get. In these cases, remember you can always leave, don’t let them exploit you. Make sure you are still benefiting from this experience. If you’re just photo copying stuff and getting people coffee, you aren’t really learning. You might be building relationships for future work, but thats pretty hard to assess, so go with your gut. So to summarize: Make sure you are benefiting from this free work. If you believe in the cause thats also great. DO NOT work for “exposure”. Hope this was interesting for you. What do you think? Do you ever do free work? Cheers,Aleksey The post Should i work for free? appeared first on Ace5studios. View the full article
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Quick Tip 36: Colour Mapping
Beefdoctor,
112 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D Quick Tip we take a look at the Colour Mapping effect in the render settings. Colour Mapping allows us to balance a scene by controlling over exposed areas. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Quick Tip 36: Colour Mapping
Beefdoctor,
116 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D Quick Tip we take a look at the Colour Mapping effect in the render settings. Colour Mapping allows us to balance a scene by controlling over exposed areas. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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DIGITAL MEAT: Q2 2019 Livestream
Beefdoctor,
174 views 0 comments
This Livestream is an update about changes to the website and an opportunity to test out streaming in general. There will also be Live Chat so I can answer a few questions. The Stream starts on 05/05/19 at GMT+1: 10PM EDT: 5PM PDT: 2PM
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DIGITAL MEAT: Q2 2019 Livestream
Beefdoctor,
162 views 0 comments
This Livestream is an update about changes to the website and an opportunity to test out streaming in general. There will also be Live Chat so I can answer a few questions. The Stream starts on 05/05/19 at GMT+1: 10PM EDT: 5PM PDT: 2PM
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Starting out as a freelancer in the 3D/VFX industry
Vozzz,
501 views 1 comments
More and more people are going freelance? Why? Well the simple reason is that there are more and more people who want to do the work, but the amount of full time jobs isn’t growing as fast. Also with the amount of different skill sets available, most studio’s don’t need a lot of these people full time. For example I mostly do character rigging these days. Most studios don’t need a character rigger full time. They need one just a couple of times a year perhaps, or maybe even just once ever. So freelancing in general a better distribution of labor. There is a dark side to this trend though which everyone should be aware. A lot of studios hire freelancers because they know that most people are terrible at figuring out what they are worth and can be exploited. pressured and manipulated into doing waay more work for waay less money. Many studios will hire freelancers to avoid paying benefits or giving paid leave. This is my advice to every budding freelancer. Don’t do it unless you have no choice. Freelancing is hard. Finding clients is hard, standing out from every other freelancer is hard. There are 2 real reasons anyone should be a freelancer. The first category is people who can’t get stable employment and simply have no choice, and the second category is people who simply HAVE to be able to manage their own time, their money, their projects etc. Take me for example, I’m a freelancer because i simply have no choice in the matter. There is no way i can go into an office every day. It’s simply not in my DNA. And i also love all the aspects around being a freelancer. As a kid i really enjoyed playing economic sim games, where you get to run your own business. Being a freelancer is pretty much just like that. Except you can’t always just pour more money into something, sometimes you just have to do the work. You have to build your brand, handle advertising and marketing, promote yourself, negotiate prices, manage expenses, plan for catastrophes and a whole bunch of other stuff. So if you are thinking about being a freelancer, think about if you enjoy all this. Or does it stress you the ^%@! out. Because to lots of people it does. And if you just want to make animations or design characters, perhaps you are better off looking for employment where other people who are good at things like marketing and negotiations will take care of those things for you. Because remember there are only so many hours in a day. And you will be competing with people who really love what they do. If you want to go freelance, i always recommend teaming up with someone who complements your skills. So you can pull each other up. Or reach out to someone who is already freelancing and let them know what your special skills are. This leads me to the next topic Special Skills you need to have something that sets you apart. Being a generalist is important and as a freelancer it really helps if you are aware of the entire pipeline around you. BUT when you email someone or talk to someone, you need a hook, you need to be remembered for something. Some little piece of info, so when they are thinking “Damn i need someone to do this” They will instantly think of you. This kind of niche specialization also helps with google searches when people are looking for someone who does what you do. How many people are you competing with in your primary category? Know your competition and pivot so at least somewhere you come up at the top of the list. The last part of this post i want to bring up something very important and that is: “Love what you do” . Because if you are doing something you are not passionate about you will lose. Why? Because you are competing with people who LOVE what they do. Especially in the creative industry. So always think long and hard about how you are presenting yourself and what kind of jobs you are attracting. If you enjoyed this article, make sure to follow me. I got a whole series lined up. Next i’m thinking of writing an article on how to set prices and charge for your work. What do you think? Cheers,Aleksey The post Starting out as a freelancer in the 3D/VFX industry appeared first on Ace5studios. View the full article
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Cinema 4D: A Simple Lighting Setup
Beefdoctor,
213 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D video tutorial we put together a simple lighting setup. I have used this kind of of lighting in a lot of my tutorials, and have assumed that most users are aware of how it's pieced together, for beginners it may not seem so obvious. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Cinema 4D: A Simple Lighting Setup
Beefdoctor,
169 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D video tutorial we put together a simple lighting setup. I have used this kind of of lighting in a lot of my tutorials, and have assumed that most users are aware of how it's pieced together, for beginners it may not seem so obvious. If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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R9.6 tutorial on modelling a building
contrafibbularities,
474 views 2 comments
This is a very old tutorial I recorded back in Cinema 4D Release 9.6 (it was entitled "Modelling Architecture in Cinema 4D"). I took it offline a long time ago as it was outdated and not very useful anymore. I still keep getting requests for it occasionally though, which is why I have decided to re-upload it again. Sending people video files or temporarily uploading them to some file hoster was a bit of a pain. Anyone who has lost their downloads from back then or wants to revisit the tutorial can do so now. You can find the videos on Vimeo and YouTube. Cheers, contrafibbularities
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Free C4D Plugins: Use Old Plugins R20
Beefdoctor,
1329 views 0 comments
In this Cinema 4D video we take a look at how we can use old plugins in Cinema 4D R20, this can be achieved by downloading the Insydium Bridge. Digitalmeat.uk If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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Free C4D Plugins: Use Old Plugins R20
Beefdoctor,
2546 views 5 comments
In this Cinema 4D video we take a look at how we can use old plugins in Cinema 4D R20, this can be achieved by downloading the Insydium Bridge. Digitalmeat.uk If you would like to support Digital Meat, or follow me on social media, see the below links. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalMeat3D Merchandise: https://redbubble.com/people/digital-meat Support: https://digitalmeat.uk/donate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalmeat3d/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/digitalmeat3D Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DIGITALMEA BEEF DOCTOR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC66f69qhgxy6YnZVMNaCtiA
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