I saw people talking about AvaStar 2RC8 (2.0-46) in group chat. I can’t find any announcement of it being released. There is update information in the release notes: Fixed in Avastar 2.0-46 (Avastar-2-RC8).
There are about a dozen and half fixes.
Become Undone
There is also information about: Limited Bind Pose Support for Blender 2.79.
For those that do not know, the AvaStar people do provide code to update Blender. The Bind Pose stuff has value for non-AvaStar users.
Adding more detail and making a texture look real takes some effort. The know-how is in a tutorial in this series: Creating a Realistic Head in Blender – part 08 – Clothing Textures. In the 8th of the series, CG Cookie Blender is working on the clothes. So, don’t let the title put you off.
You’ll notice Cycles and the Node Editor are not used in the early creation part. So, it is mostly an older workflow. Still, I found the video helpful on a number of levels.
I’m not that great at texture painting in 3D. I am trying to get better. So, when this video caught my eye, I checked it out. Blender Character Texture Painting (Play List).
Darrin Lile made the videos. I think he did a good job. There are six in the set, each about 15 minutes long. I found them clear and well explained.
I want to put way more detail in some of the stuff I am doing. But, this is a good basic ‘how to’ tutorial. The last video on baking and converting to Cycles is nice and clear.
Well done. Thanks Darrin.
I like Slink and I’m playing with making clothes for my Slink Body, attached mesh and applier type clothes. So, I’ve been hoping this update would provide a bit better help for the applier clothes. Nope.
Slink Blender File May 2017
This kit is for those making mesh clothes.
I received an email letting me know: Continue reading
For some of the stuff I make, I need to do a lower poly final version for use in Second Life. Rico Cilliers has a demo of doing retopology on YouTube. See Manual Retopology in Blender- Tips and Tricks.
I saw several tricks that are new to me.
For Second Life, I do a high poly first design. Not as dense as his dragon head. But, I don’t do a load of sculpting. But, for my starting work, I am concentrating on appearance and fit. Then I do a retopo for my SL high poly where I concentrate on reducing poly count. I use this for the first two and sometimes three SL LoD models. Then do another retopo for the 3rd or 4th SL LoD model. So, these tricks will be way handy for me.
The last time I published anything on Blender Retopo was 2012-13.
I think being able to do a good retopo is key to making great looking low ACI clothing.
We are still on version avastar-2RC7_blender-2-77.
There is a new video out (5/8) showing how to handle Bind Poses wjen working with the Classic avatar and Fitted Mesh clothes.
There is a slightly older video showing how to use the new Bento capable AvaStar to create Tinys and Giants.
The release of the next version of Blender is getting close. The video below is a look at one of the new features, being able to work in the render-viewport. Nice. I’m not sure it is useful yet…
You can get nightly builds of 2.78d (in beta) and 2.8 here: Blender Builder.
Medhue streamed a tutorial this weekend. He was showing how to switch between IK and FK animating. In September 2014 I was facing that problem and posted a tutorial titled: Blender-AvaStar Animation IK/FK Tip because I couldn’t find any tutorials saying how to change between the two animating styles.
I think the video is a way better tutorial on switching between the two styles than my old ‘text’ tutorial.