harkyman.com

The book project that revolves around the production pipeline being put to use in The Beast has been picked up by Focal Press.

So, next year, “Animating with Blender - Producing a Short Animation from Start to Finish” will be available in your fine local bookstore, or over teh Interhnets for you crazy kids with computers. It will take you through the whole animation production pipeline: story -> storyboards -> story reel -> character/set design -> asset management -> animation -> rendering/compositing -> editing. Sound, too! Each chapter will have a primer for people who have no idea what they’re doing, but will focus on how you implement that particular part of the pipeline within Blender — what are the shortcuts, tips, tricks, things to avoid, etc. So, people or small studios who want to supplement their pipeline with Blender should be able to pick up what they need without going through the entire thing.

Main animation on The Beast is about 2/3 done, and I need to finish the last third by Christmas if I’m going to stay on track for the book. It’s certainly do-able, though the animation itself won’t be as polished as I’d like.

One of my conditions for the book is that the production files for The Beast will remain open — meaning that although they will be distributed with the book, they will still remain free and open for anyone to use and learn from. Of course, I hope you’ll buy the book, because, well, baby needs a new pair of shoes!