What I did:

So today I started the Udemy course I mentioned in my last post – what a huge let down! The course description had promised character creation and modelling, but it wasn’t at all what it was billed to be. Instead, it largely used an extension in Blender to generate semi-realistic human models automatically.

Don’t get me wrong, the system (Human Generator, I think it was called) is probably great, but it’s totally wrong for this project. I need to try and create my stylised 1970s character based on my dad, not a generic ‘realistic’ human that the extension spits out – very misleading.

So, back to square one. I cut my losses, I can’t afford to be wasting time on the wrong course, so I went in search again on Udemy and found what looks like a much better fit, I hope: Blender 3D – From Zero to Your First Character! by Gustavo Rosa.

This one covers polygonal modelling from scratch. It goes through character modelling techniques, creating materials, and crucially for me, using Rigify for the body rig and Shape Keys with Drivers for facial expressions.

Today’s progress:

I’ve already worked through around a third of the new course! I started from scratch with the Blender basics – navigation, shortcuts, interface – and even though I knew 95% of this already, I picked up some good tips and shortcuts that I’d not come across before (or had forgotten). Maybe going back to basics wasn’t such a waste of time after all.

The instructor, Gustavo Rosa, has been teaching for over 15 years. He has a clear teaching style and he’s methodical. I’m quietly confident that this course will give me the knowledge I need.

What I learned:

Sometimes things don’t go quite to plan – the first course looked perfect in principle but was completely wrong for what I needed. Rather than flogging a dead horse, it was better to cut my losses.

I’m buzzing that I’ve learned so much today, with some cool time-saving shortcuts. I actually built a robot from scratch and animated it – albeit a little rough in terms of animation, but a clean character model.

Next:

Hopefully tomorrow, I may start modelling my first John character (the late-30s version), using the steps in this new course to guide me. You’re taken through modelling each part of the body from scratch, which is exactly what I need.

Fingers crossed this one lives up to its promise!