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Hi everybody and welcome to the AgenZasBrothers studio!
My name is Zacharias Reinhardt
and this is the second video about the Blender Conference 2013 in Amsterdam.
In this video you will see a few faces well-known to the Blender community
like Jonathan Williamson, Andrew Price,
Sebastian König,
the guys from BlenderDiplom and so on...
My last video was a small travelogue about the Blender Conference 2013 -
if you haven't seen it yet, you can catch up on that by clicking here -
and if you would like to check out the interview
with Ton Roosendaal, the creator of Blender, click here.
And now have fun with the interviews!
Who are you and what is it that you're doing?
My name is Sebastian König.
I've been working with Blender for the last nine to ten years,
I work as a freelancer
and trainer.
Hi erverybody. I'm Thomas Dinges,
22 years of age,
I study Media and Computing
and have been a Blender developer for four years now.
I started out with the Blender 2.5 interface,
then begann to help implementing the interface for the Blender 2.5 project
and by now focus mainly on Cycles.
So, while I'm studying, I work on Blender Cycles in my spare time.
Hi. I'm Gottfried Hofmann from blenderdiplom.com,
which is a Blender tutorial website
providing instructions, interviews
and much more -
in German and in English.
We mainly offer material for advanced Blender users, no basics,
but stuff for people who already know how to use Blender.
Additionally, I write articles for magazines
like c't,
Digital Production and a few others.
I also write private trainings.
I'm Frederik Steinmetz,
I joined BlenderDiplom about one and a half years ago.
Gottfried built everything up and I joined him later.
I studied biology until 2008
and graduated.
But since I was little, I wanted to be a producer of wildlife films,
but later I realized that a whole range of special equipment is needed
to make German animals look interesting
and I couldn't afford to fly to Africa all of the time.
Then I realized that one can recreate the beasts in Blender,
which I did and continue to do.
By now I have a small zoo.
and do, of course, not only model animals,
but other stuff, too:
I have learned how to use python scripting
and when I get an interesting idea,
I enjoy sharing it with the rest of the Blender community.
I am Lino Lafett, 22 years of age,
and work as professional 3D graphic designer for ?
Do you use Blender commercially?
No, I don't use it commercially,
but for smaller hobby projects,
to add visual effects to movies.
In this way I make use of Blender, but wouldn't call myself an "artist".
I used to work as a freelancer
and contributed to projects that made it to MTV,
but for a long time now I haven't accepted any such orders,
but passed them on,
since I am kept very busy with my main job on the one hand
- I only work part time in the Blender area -
and regarding Blender I am kept busy with trainings and writing for other people.
In this sense, one could say that I am commercially active with Blender,
but I don't work as freelancer any more.
Yes, this year I did several jobs with Blender that were paid.
The years before were kind of a phase where I got started.
With python people started to set more trust in my work,
because they see that it is yet on another level
and that I can do things that others are clicking their fingers sore for.
You can write a script that does the work for you.
The years before that
I used Blender commercially in the sense that I cretaed tutorials for Cgtuts
that were more or less paid well.
Do you use Blender as 3D software in the company you are working for?
Precisely! That is nearly in accordance with the workflow.
in the end we export via 3ds Max
but other than that... yeah wicked...
other than that I mostly use Blender, which works out fine
applying textures,
unwrapping etc. works just fine.
Any advice for people who wish to use Blender commercially?
First of all, learn how to use Blender
and become really good at it.
Get an excellent portfolio and website,
make yourself known on the internet
via YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook,
forums.
I think, it is very important that you have a nice online presence
and know how to present yourself well.
I started out in a non-commercial way
doing it as a hobby
and at some point people came to me and offered money for my work
so I thought to myself, okay, I will simply continue.
Actually, I studied something different: computer science,
but my hobby was fun and since there was a certain demand, I went along with it.
So I can't give any advice other than
produce amateur films, be committed
and do what you like to do.
At some point someone, who learned about your work, will get in touch with you
and request your service.
Watch out for good offers
and have a good portfolio.
It takes good connections
otherwise you're doomed.
I had luck, luck, lots of luck.
Which version of Blender did you use in the beginning?
and why did you start working with Blender?
2.3.7, I just wanted to try out 3D
At the university I met people who were into working with 3D
which fascinated me
so I did some research about available 3D products
and came across Blender.
I played around with it
and started using it in the course of my art studies.
Back then we had to create a PowerPoint presentation
and I thought, nice, I can spice it up a little with 3D
I have to admit, that the presentation was very poor.
Back then I thought it was cool and exciting
but looking back, I have to admit it was rubbish...
but everyone starts small.
I downloaded Blender for the first time in 2007
Blender 2.5.5
with the user interface of 2.4
Blender came quite easy to me, I watched some tutorials
There was this gingerbread men in the German wiki version.
I think, many users started out with that.
So by and by I got into Blender.
Back then I was fascinated by Elephants Dream,
because it was a free movie, created with free software,
but also because I liked the technical side of it.
Well, I think in 2006, 2007 HD was quite new
and I thought, wow, a free movie has been released in HD,
it looks really nice
and it has been created with free software.
That is a somewhat strange story!
Originally, I was into After Effects and
I had been commissioned with a project, which contained destroying scyscrapers,
then setting them ablaze and make clouds of smoke appear.
I tried to implement that using particle systems on After Effects,
the outcom of which wasn't much liked by the commissioner.
Then I relized that I had to learn simulation.
Fume FX and 3ds Max were already familiar to me,
but since I had only four months to finish the commission, I was somewhat hesitant
to start learning how to use 3ds Max and then Fume FX.
I knew that I would never learn how to use the software properly within four months, even it is a rather long period of time
At that time I discovered that Blender 2.5.0 Alpha 0 contained a smoke simulation
and I honestly thought that getting used to the Blender program wouldn't take as much time
as learning how to use Max and Fume FX.
Eventually, it took time to learn Blender, as well,
but I used the smoke simulator from the very start
which helped to produce a very nice result
with wich the commissioner was satisfied.
While working with Blender I discovered the compositor,
which is similar to Affter Effects, but cooler, since it is genuine 3d
and then I continued to work with Blender.
As already mentioned, I studied biology until 2008
after that I tried to gain some experience in filming,
but it is rather difficult to film animals with an equipment of under 50.000 €.
So I realized that I had to at least learn some basics
and offered to assist several new companies in developing their business
but all of them failed in one form or another.
During that time I was introduced to Blender.
One of those guys told me to have a look at Blender,
showed me the 2.4.6 version of Elephants Dream.
I opened the program and spotted a pink square on a grey background
down below the "add new" button - that was all that I saw.
I clicked around a bit, nothing happened, so I closed the program.
Then I went to blender.org and had a look at the gallery
and thought to myself: 'What they can do, I can do, as well!'
After that I had a closer look at Blender, watched some tutorials
and after a while I understood what Blender was all about.
In the meantime I have at least basic knowledge in every area.
Everyone knows the discrepancy between the Blender version first downloaded and first used.
The first version of Blender that I downloaded was 2.4.3,
I opened it and deleted it, because I considered it to be strange.
I actively started using Blender versions 2.4.6, 2.4.7
in October 2008
and have never stoped since.
Good question.
I wanted to create spraylogos for a popular Ego Shooter
and I was lacking a tool to create 3D fonts
Then I searched for a program with which to puff up 3D fonts
and came across Blender.
What was your first Blender project?
I started out with small projects, made some tutorials.
Then I modelled small spaceships.
Unfortunately, I discovered very quickly that I don't have a creative vein.
After finishing a project I was often quite frustrated,
because it didn't turn out like I hoped it would.
That is the reason, why I turned to the technical side of Blender.
or no it was a spacecraft -
a blue and ugly thing, it was a spaceship.
What do you like about Blender and what don't you like?
First of all I like the community,
that it is open source,
that you have access to the developers,
all of the Blender tools,
workflow, interface, everything!
Most things about Blender are superb!
.What I especially like is that with Blender you have one pipeline in one program
You don't have to import or export, you can just start working.
There are a few workflows that are stupid,
that make life hard,
but by and large it is great!
What I like about Blender is the community
- we have very large and friendly community -
and although every single one of us has the same goal,
which is to help Blender to advance,
to improve Blender,
to find out which tools can be added,
is everything totally relaxed
and you have your own space for experimenting.
What I don't like so much are long and heated debates in the forums.
Since everything is quite open,
you quickly learn about new developments of the software
which are criticized in the early stages.
Then I ask myself, whether that is the right way to deal with things.
One should keep in mind that there are people behind everything that is going on on the internet
and one should always act politely.
What I totally love about Blender is that you get everything in one package,
meaning that everything can be done with just one software.
It is also brilliant that you can simply download it
without having to install anything,
that there is a portable version,
that it runs on any current operating system,
that the software doesn't need much storage space,
that the program loads data more quickly than for example 3ds Studio Max.
I also like the interface.
What I don't like so much is that in my opinion some features of Blender need developing:
particles for instance,
other simulation tools,
but rumor has it that these things are about to be improved!
I totally like the interface!
I even published a video on how little I like the interface of Photoshop.
Some peolple replied that it couldn't be done any better way
and I just wrote to them: have a look at Blender - it can be done in a better way!
I like that they dare to make things operate using shortkeys
which aren't always easy to trace,
but what is Google there for?
Of course, this is a bit hard for beginners.
What I don't like is that it often acts unpredictable with more complex procedures.
Particle systems for instance sometimes work one day, but don't the following day.
What I like is the broad range of tools -
nearly everything you need is available,
you have one pipeline from the first model to the final animated movie.
What I don't like is that it is not that widely spread in the industry...
Well, I don't know...
there are small things that are annoying, like tools that are missing,
but I like the way things are going with Blender
and don't want to paint anything black.
I generally have a lopsided view of Blender: I like it!
How do you like the Blender Conference?
Great! I'd come back any time!
Nice to meet all the people
like Sergey and Keir over there, who probably secretly talk about what will be implemented into Blender in the future.
It is always exciting,
many features are implemented based on discussions during the conference,
because users, artists and developers get together
and that is simply wonderful!
So far I like it very much,
once again one can meet very friendly people.
Unfortunately, it is a bit crowded - I think we are about 260 people.
One can't help but notice that the place is packed up
especially, when everybody wants to attend the same presentation
but other than that, it is great fun!
Over the year you're in contact with everyone via
mail or chat, but you never see them face to face
so meeting them for real once a year is the highlight of the conference.
I am here for the second time and I like it!
The only thing I don't like is that they reached their limit this year.
All of the tickets were sold out, so other people weren't able to participate,
but maybe this will change in the future.
Apparently, not everyone could participate in the evening dinner -
only 165 seats are available, but 260 people participate in the Blender Conference,
but Ton said that it is difficult to get bigger event locations in Amsterdam.
I like that you can meet people face to face that your usually only know by voice or picture
and that one gets in touch with people who have similar interests or need your services -
networking works out well here.
I am here for the first time
I live relatively close by - only three hours away.
It's totally cool to meet all the people that one already knows somehow,
that people can approach each other and
give the developers a kick and tell them 'I need this or that tool' -
it's nice and open.
Do you know AgenZasBrothers and if yes, how?
I was searching for Blender tutorials in German on YouTube
then I somehow came across these 'AgenZasBrothers'
and thought 'Who's that?'
Later I found a video on BlenderNation
and yeah, it is nice that there are people in Germany who are that committed to Blender, who make Blender tutorials and create DVDs.
I noticed you for the first time when you posted something in our forum "blendpolis",
then I came across your tutorials for beginners
and I think It is cool, that you founded your own company back then.
This is of course courageous and venturous,
but I think you manage well!
Someone asked about Blender tutorials for beginners in German and
there were two websites.
I recommended the site of the AgenZasBrothers,
since I had already had a look at some of the tutorials,
which looked practical and contained many basics.
If you're looking for Blender tutorials on the internet, sooner or later you come across AgenZasBrothers -
at least it was like that for me.
I probably saw one of your tutorials on YouTube.
I make tutorials myself.
So one knows, who does similar things.
You simply know the Blender community and who is who.
You as well.
Do you wish to say a few words to the German Blender community?
Just hang in there!
My advice for desperate Blender users:
It is difficult,
but you have to hang in there!
Blender will be rewarding, because it will help you to bring all of your own ideas to life.
We have a very large community in Germany.
When Ton asked in the beginning, how many of the visitors were from Germany,
many hands were raised.
To my mind we have a lot of potential in the German-speaking regions,
which includes Austria and Switzerland, as well.
At the moment I'm the chairman of the Blender association.
Among other things we organize the forum blendpolis.de,
but also the annual German Blender Day in Stuttgart.
If you are interested, you are welcome to get in touch with us and participate,
exchange ideas and thoughts and simply have fun with Blender!
Come to Blender Day and not only to the Blender Conference!
The German Blender Day in Stuttgart is very nice,
nice youth hostel and enough space available.
Where can you get more infos on the event?
Check out "blenderday.de"!
"Blenderday.de" - go to the website, if you're interested!
One of the reasons why we are running BlenderDiplom
is for people to deal with Blender professionally
and not just try a bit and hope that some result will come out in the end
Keep it up!
Thanks for the interview!
Any time!
Good luck to you both!
created by Zacharias Reinhardt
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