Doc talk:2.4/Tutorials

these are not the final categories (I just changed what was already there into a better layout), perhaps make categories corrensponding with the manual part titles? --Ewout 17:32, 5 November 2005 (CET)

I think what you have proposed (using categories corresponding with the manual part titles) will be the best option. So newbees will find a direct relationship between the Tutorials and the Manual itself. I think that could be useful having a "full manual tutorial", I'll try to explain it better: Each chapter of the Manual with an 'exercise', and when you finish all the 'exercises' they will be a "big project" using all characteristics of Blender. I think this will be fantastic. This suggestion could be as an 'official tutorial'. -- franzrogar 19:24 5 November 2005 (CET)

(Roger)

Thanks for starting this as the central collection site, since there are so many good ones 'out there'. imho, tutorials are more like the application of blender tasks to a particular use, and will necessarily span multiple topics and areas of blender. Therefore, each tut should reference back to the main manual for specific instructions on how to perform a task. For example, a tut on modeling a bird might cover meshing, materials, textures, armatures (bones and skinning), mocap (motion capture), ipos and actions. The organization of the tuts then would follow the kinds of things Blender can be applied to. Of course, with hyperlinks we can organize the tuts however we want and have multiple organization and access methods, with each method linking to the core tut. Also, a tut I just read on merging real shots with Blender is a Technique that can be used across multiple applications (architecture, movie making, advertising). SOOOOO, I would recommend a header set of links by Tasks, Applications, and Techniques. Task tuts are like "Mesh Modeling a Fork", "Animating an Object across frames" and "Vertex Painting". These the newbies would flock to. Applications have multiple tasks, like Modeling a Bird, Modeling a Building, and Techniques are like Motion Capture, Sound Design, Python Scripting. (Roger)

TODO list

Small collection of tutorials that would be good to include into the wiki. Please only list tutorials that you are going to include yourself and put your username --~~~~ next to it.

Sephia composition nodes --Hoehrer 16:04, 19 November 2006 (CET)

Done

Videotutorial: Mixing Textures Through Painting - I will not do this with painted mix-values, but with gradients to keep it simple. --Hoehrer 20:36, 17 November 2006 (CET)

Links to External Sites

We currently have http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Tutorials/Links page for external links. In my opinion we should use that.

One interesting possibility would be to refactor the Links page to be more like this in sense of categorization. We could have links between Links page and this page as between this page and the manual. Then the users could easily check internal\external tutorials.

--BeBraw 10:53, 28 November 2006 (CET)

Excellect idea. The only (small) problem i see is that the categories aill not apply 1:1 for tutorials, because they often fall into multiple ones. --Hoehrer 12:27, 28 November 2006 (CET)

We could move the fitting tutorials to the categories and then have second page of external tutorials that contains mixed ones. Note that some of the tutorials are quite specific. Specific Object Modeling would fit the second page.

Structure: manual <-> Tutorials(internal) <-> Tutorials(external) <-> Specific tutorials (invent better name for this!)

Tutorials(internal) and Tutorials(external) would share the same structure. Specific tutorials would have its own structure.

Also there could be links so that you could move from each tutorial page to each tutorial page. Or we could have index page as in the FAQ.

One thing that we have to keep in mind is the relevance of the tutorials. In my opinion we should not offer links to outdated pages unless they offer something especially exceptional. --BeBraw 12:57, 28 November 2006 (CET)

Also i had the idea to list all the relevant Blender Art Magazine issues there as well (since they are very often howtos and tutorials) .. what do you think? ->

Blender Art Magazine #7 (PDF) featuring:
- Artistic Glow Using Blender’s Compositor Nodes
- DOF Using Blender’s Compositor Nodes
- Creating a Realistic Environment for BGE
- Blender and Displacement Mapping
- Blender and Vector Blur

--Hoehrer 12:27, 28 November 2006 (CET)

I don't see why we should not offer a Blenderart page. It's a good idea in my opinion.

--BeBraw 12:57, 28 November 2006 (CET)

Where to host video tutorials .avi's?

I have created a video tutorial, but want to have it hosted by the wiki with the file owned by the wiki, so that in two years when my personal site goes away the tutorial survives. I cannot seem to upload Media:MyVideoTut.avi - help? Am I doing something wrong on the upload? is there a size limit? --Roger 13:51, 9 February 2007 (CET)

Linking to BSoD documentation?

Would it be a good idea to add links that lead straight to the BSoD tutorials (http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Blender_Summer_of_Documentation) here? Suitable tutorials can be found at least in modelling, lighting and physical simulation parts.

I believe this arrangement could make the manual a bit easier to navigate in. I am looking forward on hearing your opinions on this.

--BeBraw 20:26, 11 February 2007 (CET)

I'm going to do it. Presently, Manual and Tutorials are linked, and these most excellent BSODs are overlooked or forgotten.--Roger 22:19, 3 February 2008 (CET)

Bricks without a Plug-in

I've managed to create a nice procedural texture for bricks with alternating mortar lines that doesn't require a plug-in. Here's an article outline:

How to Create Bricks with Procedural Textures
Abstract with illustration
Brick Color and Texture
Introduction about what the bricks themselves look like
1. Clouds 1 - Rough Surface
  Settings
2. Clouds 2 - Specks and Lumps
  Settings
3. Voronoi - Surface Bubbles
  Settings
Drawing the Mortar
Introduction about what mortar looks like
1. Geometry
  Explanation of the peculiar magic numbers used in the next few layers
2. Wood yz - The Front Plane
  Settings and explanation that these mortar lines will be broken up with another layer
3. Wood xz - Extra Layers (Optional)
  Settings and explanation that this is only necessary for multi-layer brick walls
4. Wood xy - The Horizontal Plane
  Settings
Removing Alternating Mortar Columns
Explanation of how the mortar lines in the front plane are interrupted for alternating courses of brick
Holes in the Top
"This requires individually modeling holes in the bricks, so it's beyond the scope of this article."
Scaling and Positioning the Mortar
Explanation of the master Empty that controls scaling and positioning
Modifying the Results
Wrap-up with comments on specific limitations

I'd be happy to fill in the details of that article if the editorial board approves adding the page. I propose adding it after the Wood tutorial (Tutorials/Textures/Wood), with file name Tutorials/Textures/Bricks and the summary title "Procedural Bricks and Mortar" on this page. Here's how my texture looks (cropped from a 50% HD screen capture):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/Steve98052/temp/Brick_preview.png

-- Steve98052 03:22, 1 May 2007 (CEST)

Hey Steve. That looks like a fine plan to me. Your article is welcome to Blenderwiki.

--BeBraw 11:07, 1 May 2007 (CEST)

Cool. I'll write it up properly in the next few days.

-- Steve98052 12:56, 1 May 2007 (CEST)