3D Art in Blender, Touch Designer, Mandelbulb3D w/ Adistu

Check out the free tutorial from Aditsu "Create your own Psychedelic Visuals: Software and Tricks (overview)" in the order to prepare for the course.

An introduction to 3D digital art production (for illustration, animation and video-mapping) by Adistu, comparing three types of free-to-use visual software: Blender (classical general 3D), Touch Designer (procedural real-time) & Mandelbulb 3D (fractal geometry).

The students will be provided with an introductory understanding of the differences between the three software, with a presentation of the main features of each software. You will learn the basics and will be accompanied in the making of your first simple ‘trippy’ visual.

As a bonus, we will quickly compose (what does he mean?) to make a vj-set from created visuals the students’ creations using Resolume, in order to prepare them for video-mapping and/or VJing. Finally, you will be shown how to prepare your work for 360 videos on Youtube/Facebook or directly in your VR headsets.

The course includes a Q&A session and the students will be explained some more software to suit best your aesthetic needs, guiding you in jumpstarting your new style.

Course Program

• Lesson 1. Introduction lesson
  03 November Tuesday 18:00-20:00 CET
  We are going to help you decide what type of 3D software is made for you by doing comparisons between many of them, from the classic general ones to the procedural real-time ones and their add-ons. We will talk about the concept of render engines, auxiliary pipelines with video editing and VFX tools and how you can create your own personal workflow. We will discuss open source vs freeware vs paid software and add-ons approach.
• Lesson 2. Blender (classical general 3D)
  05 November Thursday 18:00-21:00 CET
  We will learn the vast range of tools you have in Blender (sculpting, compositing, character animation, 2D artwork) and skim through the massive potential of each one. We will then proceed to learn how to operate online libraries and download a free animated model, style it and make it trippy to create the first part of our VJing act - the main character.
• Lesson 3. Touch Designer (procedural real-time)
  09 November Monday 18:00-21:00 CET
  Diving right into node-based visual programming, we will explore the realm of Touch Designer. Touch is a very powerful tool since it has a real-time engine, so we will try to keep it simple and just scratch the surface with some abstract sound-reactive generative art created out of noise, and heightmaps to put as a ‘’floor’’ for our VJing scene.
• Lesson 4. Mandelbulb 3D (fractal geometry)
  12 November Thursday 18:00-21:00 CET
  After the hard work of our first three lessons, a well-deserved relaxation time with a much more intuitive tool that’s extremely easy to use, to create a beautifully complex mathematical journey with just a little effort. In MB3D, we will mix fractal formulas and play with both symmetry and chaos. There are so many to choose from, you will easily create something nice as a beginner, while understanding what you will need to learn in order to become a pro. At the end of this lesson, we will have a background fractal animation for our VJing composition.
• Lesson 5. Compositing in Resolume and 360 implementation
  16 November Monday 18:00-20:00 CET
  Although this course is mainly focused on video production, as a bonus round, you will get some knowledge of the basics of compositing and VJing, multiple screen set-up and 360 video exports. Adistu will explain personal workflow until delivery. As we understand that Resolume is only a partially free software and its trial version has very annoying commercials, we have kept a focus on the free software. However, Resolume is at the top of the video-mapping and VJing scene, so it will be good to talk about "the elephant in the room". Of course, we will discuss more alternatives to compose in Touch Designer and Blender and draw parallels with Adobe and other competitors.

What you need

• — Laptop
• — Internet connection

Adistu (Tripoteca Project)

Mixing fractal geometry with procedural organic patterns, Adistu delivers experimental video installations that push the limit of imagination with elegant and at the same time playful, surreal universes. His video-mapping installations include several large palaces, a church, medieval towers, 360 dome projection, and even an ambulance and a motorcycle.

Adistu's style is recognizable in the unique blend of very different techniques and software in each of his enterprises: architectural mapping, live performances, interactive installations, animated music videos, VR, holographic installations, films and digital painting for large canvas prints.

He has performed a few solo shows, worked across Europe and US, was featured at large events like Berlin Festival of Lights, Boom Portugal or Anim'Est. Aditsu organizes animation workshops for both adults and youth and is the director of the itinerant film & art festival Tripoteca, that reached 14 countries and over 25 locations.

• Adistu web-site
• Adistu Facebook
• Tripoteca