New Car

I didn't get much Blender time over the weekend because Clara wanted help in getting a new car. This was the first time I had a significant part to play in the process. My first time dealing with car salesmen. Sheesh, their reputation appears to be well earned!! We chose a 3-year-old KIA Sportage, which we are picking up today.

Halo: Infinite terrain labours.

The director asked for an update. I find myself caught in a cycle of progress, only to fall short of the necessary level, forcing a restart. Gabe, the lead environmental artist, has been called in, but he's seemingly never actually used True Terrain, so he hasn't yet provided a winning insight into how to make progress. He likes Gaea. I like Gaea too, but I also recognise that just because Gaea has superior erosion systems doesn't automatically make it the better tool for the task.

Nonetheless, I really should do some more Gaea lessons, or I'm the stick-in-the-mud, here.

This week's tasks

Same as last week!

Get Scene 002 finished, which means:

1. More hills in the flat areas. 

2. Win at terrain materials.

3. Find a way to introduce foliage that doesn't crash my system...<hint> It will probably be done in the shader system rather than as discrete scatters. 

Blender School

Some serious lessons, even if it's refreshing my knowledge. I found myself doing Boolean modelling without touching Hard Ops. Insane, but that's what happens if you don't practice stuff: it gets dusty, then rusty, and then you lose it.

 

Material test at high altitude.