LibertyCon 2023

I am back from LibertyCon 2023 in Chattanooga TN. My mind is still going a mile-a-minute.

I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. I, actually, was considering seeing if I could beg to roll-over our membership one more time. But, decided to go.

What can I say? The con was supposed to start on Friday, but we arrived early on Wednesday. This was a good thing, as Thursday was rocking. We, also, scheduled to leave the day after, followed by some relax time. Again, good thing, as Friday was packed.

I’m trying to think of how to talk about everything, and my brain is still trying to contain it all. I’m afraid I might leave out something, and being private, I want to make sure I keep privacy of others, so AAR will come out tomorrow.

All, I can really say is, wow.

Creating 3D Art

This is info I gave out at a local convention. I use a lot of free software for creating art, and for the artist on a budget, it can be very useful.

Free 3D Digital Art Programs

Blender 

• Complete Suite: model, render, & animate
• Powerful

Hexagon

• Modeling only
• No need to set up lighting to view model
• Direct import/export into Daz3d Studio

DAZ3d

• All in one animation and rendering software
• Modeling is limited
• Comes with basic characters, clothes, and scenes
• Many hidden options in the softwareUses pup
• puppeteer and ani-blocks for animation

Mandelbulb

• Creates 3d fractals
• Stunning backgrounds and environments

Post-processing

GIMP

• Many of the same features as Photoshop
• Can import Photoshop ABR files (Brushes)
• Does not work with Photoshop ASL files (Layer Styles)

Inkscape

• Needs X11 for Mac
• No version for latest Mac OS

Resources

• DAZ3d – Use daz-deals web browser plug-in
• Renderosity – Now the home of Poser. Best site for animals
• NASA
• Deviant Art
• Hivewire
• TurboSquid

NASA Example

• Spirit – the object and animation in a Blender file
• Spirit Landing Site – STL 3d Printer file, can be imported into Blender
   

Paid Software

• Filter Forge Main site , also, brokered at Daz3d
• Marvelous Designer (Monthly, Yearly, Permanent)
• Poser (With the move from Smith Micro, licensing model maychange)
• Clip Studio (Manga Studio) Can import 3D models forcreating manga/comics
• Photoshop (Monthly License) Older versions of AdobePhotoshop Elements will work with ASL, but these are EOL for the latest Mac OS.)

Tutorials

• LittleWebHut (tutor4u on YouTube)
• Sickleyield
• Tested Pancake – automobile tutorials
• Dreamlight tutorials about lighting for sale at DAZ.
   

If you liked this presentation, please check out my  Deviantart page.

Life and Death

I went to a memorial service of a friend and publisher yesterday. He died with so many worlds and words still trapped inside him.

He was fearless in putting up his own stuff and trying. He was far more talented than I.

I need to be brave. As brave as he was.

Character Creation in DAZ

Back in the entry on strip panel, I had a character in there I call the Cal Cuthain. I’ve been working on getting a character mock up in DAZ3d. I’m still learning how to make my own materials, so I’m using specific DAZ assets.

This is my mock up for her. I hope you enjoy the image.

Comics

Psst! Does anyone know of a good comics theme that doesn’t have to be self-hosted? I’ve been trying to find one.

I’ve Still Been Thinking

Been playing with Daz3D. This was a light and model with a background I did in Gimp.

This has been interesting, that this took less time than some of the line work I’ve done, but people are more excited and impressed by it.

 

Approval

So much has happened!

First, thank you, We Love These Cats, for liking my sketch 5/5 of my Cavalier Kitty. That really made my day! You post some real cute kitties. Who doesn’t love kitties.

Second, I’m totally gob-smacked! Last spring, I entered a short story into the Writers of the Future contest.  I’ve entered before, but gotten nothing but flat rejections. (Though Joni Labaqui does send a nice little image for the web page.)

I was not expecting this in any way! I had to read the email three times. I had to check the website to make sure I wasn’t confused. But, yes, I won a Silver Honorable Mention! I got me a nice nifty frame for it. Sure, being a finalist or a semi-finalist would have been better, but this … this … well, it feels great!

I was wondering if I was having problems with my writing, or if it was my subject that was causing such rejection. That being said, I wrote this story specifically to be a straight for the market. And it worked!

I’m just in total shock. I, also, am wondering what to do with the little story. I still think it has potential. Quite a lot to think about.

 

C-CH-Changes

With the loss of David Bowie, I guess I’ll announce some changes happening to the blog. I’ve decided I really want to take this to ComicPress, a version of WordPress, to better show off the art. This means self-hosting.

So, I’ve been a bit hesitant to put up new bits when I’m going to have to port over and rearrange.

And as with so many, I miss the StarMan.

Quiet, shhh, I’m typing

I’m quiet, as I decided to do up Nano, that and the computer decided to go “toes up”. So my week was spent with long sessions of reformatting and reinstalling.

This Nano, I’m writing the second half of the first ASSET story. Yes, that up at the top of the page. That’s the storyline which pulls to me more than any magnetic force pulls to steel. (And I’m hearing a very bad 70’s song moaning in the background.)

I did the first part of it two Nano’s ago. This year, I thought it would be easy, because I was starting with a recast of a scene that is a major part of the story, which unlike other aspects, has not changed majorly. But no, it was as much pulling teeth as writing the other scenes.

But I powered through! And that is what Nano is all about.

I’ve, also, decided at the start of the new year to rehost this using my own wordpress site and then I can use comicpress, which is much better for art and story. And that’s what I do; art and story.

So Many Ideas

So many ideas to write about, but not the time to get them out. I have more illustrations to put up. Here, have a bit of fan art. This was done with pencil from a photograph. At the time, I considered this ‘cheating’. I felt a real artist didn’t need to have a reference to be able to draw ultra-realistically. Now I know this was a lie told to newbies. I don’t know if it was malicious or not, but it definitely held me back.

Edit: I went to attach the picture and it’s not there. So technical difficulties. I’ll get back to you with this.

Edit2: Here’s the pic from Doctor Who.