I started to be interested in CGI animations very young. Of course, besides animations there was video games but I remember some TV moments where, I think it was on PBS, where there was once in a while a compilation of CGI animations with electronic music playing on the set and it got me very excited to the point where I was thinking of someday doing 3D stuff.

Time did get by and I ended up doing more Web development than 3D animations, but still, I once in a while put my hands at work on some 3D with the aid of online tutorials.

Of course 3D software can be very expensive. But where it all began for me in doing a lot of stuff on the computer is where Open Source starts and, as for 3D animations, it’s where Blender gets introduced.

Blender is a complete CGI software, although still in evolving state, it is a very solid 3D software where one can start modelling, rigging and render animations and do, along some advanced compositing, end up editing a movie or video in its internal movie editor and produce a full featured CGI animation that rivals other professional 3D/CGI software.

Of all the available online user projects and commercial uses of Blender, the latest production showing the real power of Blender is Cosmos Laundromat, a short movie made by the Blender Institute: a team of Blender animators and developers guided by the founder of Blender, Ton Roosendaal. They come sometimes to aid and support on other open projects, and produce some animations such as the following one:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-rmzh0PI3c]

Another short movie really interesting created with Blender is Glass Half, another creation of the Blender Institute:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqiN98z6Dak]

So all in all, I started last year with a small project for a splash intro for some buddy of mine. Nothing serious but enough to get my hands dirty with Blender. Along with some online tutorials and some royalty-free audio files, I ended up with the following scene:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MSrQ4w739w]

Not your professional grade kind of animation but still a début of some interesting hobby I kind of delve into once in a while.

I invite you to navigate through the Blender Website for all your answers regarding Blender’s capabilities, visit Blender Nation for updates on current user projects, and while you’re at it, take peek online at SketchFab for a really awesome database of user projects where you can view them in 3D live action, and why not, download and reuse the models. Oh, and also, search on YouTube for a great range of online tutorials; I starter there.

Blend On!