What are you doing right now?

**snoop** · 06-03-2018 06:41 AM

Originally Posted by lucidbunnie

I'm doing a course on Autodesk 3DS Max, Maya, and Mudbox. Other than that fighting this cold and fever.

Oh cool. It's good you're learning Maya at the same time as 3ds max really. Learning one and then the other later isn't the easiest of transitions to make. Based on my own experience and testimony from others I've spoken to, it's easier to go from 3ds max to Maya than the other way around, provided you don't just learn them at the same time. The concept of smoothing groups seemed totally alien to my friends who were used to smoothing hardness/softness, and at least at the time, 3ds max's UVing tools were fairly inferior to maya's and not all that intuitive to get a hang of.

Personally I would recommend ZBrush over Mudbox if you're capable of obtaining it and using it instead. The pros of using Mudbox are that it's a bit more user friendly (at a bit of a cost) and the camera movement and manipulation controls are the same as Max since it's an Autodesk program... ZBrush also tends to be utterly confusing at first (at least IME), but if you just learn the basics, everything else pretty much follows from there. The versatility is outstanding and achieving lots of things is remarkably smooth and easy (not to mention quicker). I guess really it's down to personal preference, but as somebody who learned Mudbox first and liked it better for the longest time, I think my bias here is at a relative minimum.

In any case, good luck with any of the projects you work on!

What I am doing:

Writing up my "nightmare" experience from a day ago, trying but likely failing at describing it in enough quality to effectively communicate just what exactly happened at the end of it in a way I'll be satisfied with. For some reason the experience seemed to be a lot more than it actually was at face value while experiencing it... that is to say, I feel like once I get it all out in writing that it'll sound rather... well, lacking the same profundity it seemed to affect me with when I woke up. It was one of those kinds of experiences that you wind up not being able to immediately react to emotionally or physically... kind of like witnessing a great and terrible natural disaster that so utterly obliterates and destroys everything out of nowhere leaves you awe struck and so taken aback and drawn inward from the dissociation resulting from the shock that when you finally form thoughts again, you're left questioning just how it is you are supposed to be feeling at that moment given the situation (and why you aren't already feeling the way you should expect to be feeling).

I mean, it really shouldn't be all that significant i guess as an experience, but for some reason it had me temporarily break role as a character in the play of everyday life--giving me a peak behind the curtains that veil the hidden, incomprehensible machinations that pull the strings that animate the characters forward on the stage of the world. Not that I could understand any of what I saw there, though. It just generated a slew of questions about reality that I haven't seriously asked or entertained (at least not coming from a perspective with absolutely zero assumptions made about its nature before hand, as if a child) in a very long time.

**lucidbunnie** · 06-03-2018 07:18 AM

I went to the hospital for a check up, it was an emergency because I gone deaf with pain in ear as a result of cold and swelling. First time I lost my hearing when have a cold. I'm sort of worried if I'll actually go fully deaf. My doctor says I'll get my hearing back once swelling lessens. Anyway, now returned home and catching up on my dream journal. ^^

snoop, I tried zbrush trial but I just can't get comfortable with it's interface and it's expensive too. I do realize I may have to transition to it when working on a serious project later on, but until then hopefully mudbox will do the trick.

**snoop** · 06-03-2018 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by lucidbunnie

snoop, I tried zbrush trial but I just can't get comfortable with it's interface

Lol, funny you should say that. That's the exact reason I kept trying to learn ZBrush on and off so many times and giving up almost immediately because I didn't want to actually figure it out because of how alien and strange it always was to me. Once I finally bit the bullet, I found out it was simply a case where its interface and the controls really only appeared to be daunting, but were actually quite easy to learn to navigate my way around once I gathered the resolve to commit to learning it.

It's kind of like looking at a machine or something with several unfamiliar looking parts and a different structure and system than you're used to that you find too intimidating to even attempt learning, but once you actually read a manual or receive some kind of instruction or lesson on how all the parts fit together and it all actually works, you realize that the system and parts that scared you off actually make a lot of sense and aren't scary or hard to understand at all. I definitely feel you on the price though :S

The only thing that really makes it worth it is that with enough practice and know-how, it's versatile enough that it's capable of replacing virtually all the other programs and tools you might otherwise use in your workflow, streamlining the whole process and reducing potential future costs that come up because the need for another tool. Of course, then again, it's been since 2007 since i last used Mudbox, so I'm sure it's also acquired some of that same versatility. Otherwise I guess it wouldn't really be still be around--at least not for any significant sum of cash.

Out of curiosity, have you ever looked into SculpTris for exposure to other sculpting mediums and ways that you can achieve the same effective results but in potentially quicker or easier ways? Pixologic picked up from the people developing it on the Polycount forums (iirc), but it's still free to download on Pixologic's website. It's camera controls, iirc, are the same as 3ds max's and mudbox's (if not, the way they work is so similar that it's just a matter of breaking the habit of pressing the keys you're already used to in those programs), and it's very easy to jump right into without really any sculpting experience at all whatsoever and make things that are actually pretty decent. It's kind of like an easy to use play-sandbox that you can familiarize yourself with the workflow and common tools used for sculpting in. It's also great for quickly producing 3D "concepts" and "sketches" that you can retopologize later in max or use as a platform to spring off of in creating polished 2D concept art by taking screenshots of it and editing that in something like photoshop or gimp, even being able to provide you with rudimentary shading and otherwise rather tedious special effects you might want to add during the polish that only takes seconds to render in some 3D package.

Here's a link to it if you happened to be curious or interested in checking it out, if for no other reason than to broaden your horizons.

**snoop** · 06-03-2018 08:10 AM

D'oh, I got so sidetracked writing all that out that i forgot to say that I hope everything improves and turns out okay for you. Things ought to turn out fine. The only time I've ever gone deaf before was when I experienced what we called "battlefield deafness" when I was in the Army during one of the times I was at a range training on the two light machine guns we use. I was totally deaf for about 20 minutes, and I still couldn't hear right for another hour or so afterward. I had always imagined the experience of being deaf as total silence, but in this case it's like having a serious case of tinnitus on 20 different kinds of steroids at once. All there was to hear was deafening ringing the whole time.

**lucidbunnie** · 06-03-2018 11:28 AM

I'm drinking hot ginger-honey green tea hoping it will soothe my sore throat. I had to stop my studies for the time being because of the hearing problem. Subtitles are okay, but I like to hear stuff. I'll retain the information more that way than reading.

Originally Posted by snoop

Out of curiosity, have you ever looked into SculpTris for exposure to other sculpting mediums and ways that you can achieve the same effective results but in potentially quicker or easier ways?

Sculptris sounds interesting, I'll check it out. It's also good that it's free. ^^

**Durza** · 06-03-2018 03:13 PM

Thanks IndigoMoon, I will definitely read it!

**Lang** · 06-03-2018 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by IndigoMoon

Oh geez I'm so sorry, that's darn awful. Take care of you!

I remember seeing the car crash flip over in slow-motion like a movie and slide a little bit.

**IndigoMoon** · 06-03-2018 06:09 PM

It's a overcast day here, and I got the lazy energy, UGH.

Take care of yourselves, that's for body, mind and spirit. Be kind to yourself.

I'll read a bit more once I stuff my face with food, lol

Oh and some good news, I recorded my first dream in my dream journal, it's a good start.

**IndigoMoon** · 06-08-2018 05:55 AM

Well I found out that I had a low hemoglobin of 76, so I had to have my treatment moved up to Wednesday and Thursday this week. Plus they gave me an extra bag and I feel UGH, but that passes in 24 hours. I get regular transfusions cause of a rare blood disorder, that I was born with.

This coming weekend I'll get back into my book, and I'll focus on the book for the rest of June.

Take care

**IndigoMoon** · 06-09-2018 03:52 AM

I had another dream last night and it's in my dream journal. It's funny that I haven't dreamed in years and I become a member on here and BOOM!

It's all a good thing!

**Lang** · 06-10-2018 09:34 PM

Taking a break, Drinking tea and eating popcorn.

**IndigoMoon** · 06-10-2018 10:40 PM

I'm going to get a mug of tea soon as well. I was busy today going everywhere in Southern Ontario, but I had fun, lol.

I had two separate dreams last night again. Both were short and sweet.

**Durza** · 06-11-2018 12:49 AM

Eating a PBJ and being bored

**IndigoMoon** · 06-11-2018 02:40 AM

I had left over pizza for supper. For lunch today I tried a Turkish street food called Gözleme. Wiki described it as a traditional savory Turkish flatbread and pastry dish, made of hand-rolled leaves of yufka dough that are lightly brushed with butter and eggs, filled with various toppings, sealed, and cooked over a griddle. Mine was vegetarian with feta cheese and spinach.

**Zhaylin** · 06-14-2018 12:33 AM

I'm putting off taking a shower. I need one. My hair is gross. But I'm trying to tough it out until closer to bed time.
I want to go lay down and get on my iPad and DS... but I don't want to get into bed until I get a shower

So, I'm just wasting time, being bored, somewhat hungry and binge watching Code Black.

**IndigoMoon** · 06-14-2018 03:00 AM

I just finished another chapter in ETWOLD, I try to read at least a chapter a day.

**lucidbunnie** · 06-14-2018 03:05 AM

I just finished an hour long meditation. It was a healing meditation for mom who is in hospital right now. I feel like she'll be alright. ^^

**IndigoMoon** · 06-14-2018 03:12 AM

I meditate as well.

**Lang** · 06-14-2018 07:03 PM

Just got home from a walk.

**lucidbunnie** · 06-15-2018 07:07 AM

I saw a strange stone-plant creature in my dream, so I just finished making a 3D model and render of it for my dream journal. Of course, it was more organic, realistic, and less symmetrical in my dream.

front.jpg back_perspective.jpg

**Zhaylin** · 06-15-2018 03:43 PM

Very cool, Lucid!!

I'm about to head out for my allergy shots. Joy, joy :/

**Lang** · 06-15-2018 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by lucidbunnie

I saw a strange stone-plant creature in my dream, so I just finished making a 3D model and render of it for my dream journal. Of course, it was more organic, realistic, and less symmetrical in my dream.

front.jpg back_perspective.jpg

I wouldn't be surprised if I have a dream with that strange stone-plant creature in it...

What am I doing now? Cleaning.

**IndigoMoon** · 06-17-2018 04:21 AM

Well I've finished 8 chapters so far in ETWOLD. I'll start chapter 9 tomorrow. I find this book so interesting and motivating. I hope everyone is doing great! Happy Lucid Dreaming!