Introduction to Blender

Blender is a popular free and open source 3D creation suite that has many uses, ranging from 3D modelling and animation, asset creation for games, motion graphics, video editing, 2D animation, and visual effects, and its uses can be extended through the use of plugins.

This four-part, online workshop series, led by Antonio Roberts, will introduce you to the software and its features, giving you the tools and confidence to make your own 3D animations. You will learn basic concepts of navigating and working in 3D space, eventually progressing to learning workflows for more advanced concepts and techniques including:

Lighting
Rendering
Texturing
UV mapping
Particles
Importing and exporting assets
Sculpting
Rigging
Compositing

If you’ve ever been interested in creating in 3D, this workshop is the perfect introduction!

EQUIPMENT

Blender can be downloaded for free from https://blender.org and works on Mac, Windows and Linux. It works best when using a dedicated GPU. You can read recommended hardware requirements and check whether your computer or laptop will be able to support it HERE

Although a trackpad can be used a three button mouse is more efficient and will be used throughout the workshop.

HOW TO APPLY AND ELIGIBILITY

This workshop is fully funded. To take part you must be an eligible SME – this means you must be registered as self-employed or have your own business based in England.

You must be able to attend all four sessions.

Spaces are very limited and we expect to be oversubscribed.

To apply to take part please email the following information to steamhouse@bcu.ac.uk by Monday 18 January. Please write “Blender Workshop” in the subject header.

1. A short expression of interest explaining why you want to take part in the workshop and how you think it will benefit your business. We are looking for participants who have a clear sense of how they might apply the knowledge they will gain to the development of new projects, products or services.

2. If you are not already a STEAMhouse member, please introduce yourself and let us know what you do. Please also let us know where you are based and confirm whether you are self-employed or have your own business.

ABOUT ANTONIO

Antonio Roberts is an Artist and Curator based in Birmingham, UK. He has been a Blender user for nearly 10 years and in that time has used the software to make work for places such as the Tate galleries, Barbican, Furtherfield gallery, MTV, Commonwealth Games, V&A, and at various exhibitions and events globally. See HERE to learn more about Antonio Roberts and see how he uses Blender in his work

Live Coding using Improviz

Tickets from £10
Improviz is an environment built by Guy John aka Rumblesan, which can be used for live coding visual performances. Its easy-to-learn language for creating visuals can be extended through the use of custom GL shaders and by using your own GIFs, 3D models and image textures.

This two-hour workshop, led by visual artist Antonio Roberts aka hellocatfood, will introduce you to the world of live coding, and guide you through the basics of using Improviz for live visuals. This workshop will also include a short look at how artists and musicians use code to make visuals and music in real time at Algoraves. If you’ve ever been curious about using code to make live visuals and have aspirations to perform at live coding events and Algoraves then this workshop is perfect for you.

No coding experience is necessary.
You will need:
– A Windows, Mac or Linux laptop that can connect to the internet
Google Chrome or Firefox
Improviz (desktop version)
Atom
Zoom

Ahead of the workshop please follow this guide to make sure you can locate and open Improviz using the terminal/command line on your computer.
Mac OS guide
Linux guide
Windows guide

Coder Beatz

Happy to be working with Birmingham Open Media to deliver Coder Beatz, a creative digital programme focusing on live coding for young black kids in the West Midlands.

Coder Beatz a new creative digital programme for young black kids aged between 11-15 years old.
We are running 4 monthly Coder Beatz workshops between November 2020 and February 2021. In each session we will be teaching kids how to create digital music and visuals using live coding and algorithms. The sessions will be delivered by Antonio Roberts who is a renowned digital artist and expert coder. Being a man of colour, Antonio is really passionate about inspiring young black kids to get skilled up on coding music and visuals.

Kids will not need any music or tech experience, and we will provide laptops and headphones for them at BOM’s art center.

Over four sessions I’ll be teaching how to use TidalCycles for making music and Improviz for making visuals. All of the details, including sign up details, can be found by contacting Birmingham Open Media.

On a personal level I’m really happy to be delivering this programme because during the six-ish years I’ve been live coding at Algoraves I’ve noticed that the scene is very good at addressing gender inequalities but, at least in the UK scene, it’s still very white (which could probably be said of electronic music more generally).

Through delivering the programme I hope to demonstrate the creative possibilities of programming and, while I don’t expect those who take part to become fully fledged Algoraves, I do hope it encourages them to explore ways of making digital music and art beyond the “standard” ways of using tools like Ableton and Adobe software.

I also recognise that there are other issues that need to be addressed to make live coding more diverse. For example, encouraging more black people to build live coding tools, recognising and celebrating the impact black culture has had on digital art/music… And I hope this is part of that process.

Please get in touch with BOM if you’re interested or know anyone who would be great for this!

Blender Animation Workshop – July 25th

On Saturday July 25th I’ll be delivering an online a Blender workshop for Access Space!

The three-hour workshop (13:00 – 16:00) will go through a few basics of using Blender but will mainly focus on making abstract glitchy looping gifs, like the ones that I made for Improviz.

Tickets are £15 and can be purchased directly from Access Space.

Design Yourself: Evasive Techniques

In the fourth workshop of our Life Rewired inspired Design Yourself project, the Young Creatives worked with Yoke Collective in a workshop focused on the implications of facial recognition technology.

The group used Yoke Collective’s method of harnessing make up and hair extensions to avoid detection from facial recognition technologies. Combined with the creation of digital masks via SPARK AR as the cornerstone for our video, they explored the dynamics of power and privacy in the digital age. As a response to the workshop, artists Pietro Bardini and Vangelis Trichias worked with Antonio Roberts to create Evasive Techniques.

More information here: https://www.barbican.org.uk/read-watch-listen/design-yourself-evasive-techniques

Blender Animations Workshop with Antonio Roberts

1pm-4pm, £15

Blender is a popular free and open source 3D modelling program used by professionals and amateurs for 2D/3D animation, making assets for games, video editing, motion graphics, compositing and more.

This online workshop, led by Antonio Roberts, will introduce you to the software and its features. In this workshop you will learn basic concepts of animation and navigating 3D space, eventually progressing to more advanced concepts and techniques. By the end you will have the skills to create abstract and glitchy looping animations.

If you’ve ever been interested in creating in 3D, this workshop is the perfect introduction!

See here to learn more about the Antonio Roberts and see how he uses Blender in his own work https://hellocatfood.com

Examples of Antonio’s glitchy animations made with Blender can be seen here: https://www.hellocatfood.com/improviz-gifs/

The workshop will take place over Zoom from 13:00 – 16:00 BST with regular breaks. Please ensure you have Zoom and Blender installed on your system.

Blender works on Mac, Windows and Linux and works best when using a dedicated GPU. Please see this page for full recommended hardware requirements https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/

Book a place: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-animations-online-workshop-with-antonio-roberts-tickets-112219148494

Blender School, 12th – 29th May 2018

On 12th, 26th and 29th May I’m going to be running a three-part workshops series focusing on how to use Blender.

Blender is a popular free and open source 3D modeling program used by professionals and amateurs for 2D/3D animation, making assets for games, video editing, motion graphics, compositing and more.

Blender school will be a three-part workshop series that will act as an introduction to the software and its features. In these workshops you will be introduced to basic concepts of animation and navigating 3D space, eventually progressing to more advanced concepts and techniques such as particle generators, sculpting and compositing.

In the workshops we will cover:

  • Compositing
  • Interpolation
  • Video Editing
  • Sculpting
  • Modifiers
  • Particles – emitters and hair
  • Navigating Blender’s interface
  • Manipulating and editing objects
  • Using keyframes for animation

Participants will need the following for the workshops:

  • Blender, which can be downloaded here: https://www.blender.org/
  • A laptop. Blender is capable of running on almost all computers. However, as a 3D modeling program it requires more resources than most programs and, preferably, a dedicated graphics card. More details of laptop specification can be found here https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/
  • A three button mouse. Many of the commands in blender require the use of left, right and middle mouse buttons.

Tickets are £20 per workshop. Tickets for the workshops can be purchased here:
12th May, 13:00 – 17:00 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-school-1-tickets-45729838177
26th May, 13:00 – 17:00 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-school-2-tickets-45730042789
29th May, 18:00 – 21:00 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-school-3-tickets-45730155125

Blender School #3

Blender is a popular free and open source 3D modelling program used by professionals and amateurs for 2D/3D animation, making assets for games, video editing, motion graphics, compositing and more.

Blender school will be a three-part workshop series, led by Antonio Roberts, that will act as an introduction to the software and its features. In these workshops you will be introduced to basic concepts of animation and navigating 3D space, eventually progressing to more advanced concepts and techniques such as particle generators, sculpting and compositing.

In this workshop we will cover:

  • Compositing
  • Interpolation
  • Video Editing

Participants will need the following for the workshop:

  • Blender, which can be downloaded here: https://www.blender.org/
  • A laptop. Blender is capable of running on almost all computers. However, as a 3D modelling program it requires more resources than most programs and, preferably, a dedicated graphics card. More details of laptop specification can be found here https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/
  • A three button mouse. Many of the commands in blender require the use of left, right and middle mouse buttons.

Tickets are £20 per workshop. Tickets for this workshop can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-school-3-tickets-45730155125

Blender School #2

Blender is a popular free and open source 3D modelling program used by professionals and amateurs for 2D/3D animation, making assets for games, video editing, motion graphics, compositing and more.

Blender school will be a three-part workshop series, led by Antonio Roberts, that will act as an introduction to the software and its features. In these workshops you will be introduced to basic concepts of animation and navigating 3D space, eventually progressing to more advanced concepts and techniques such as particle generators, sculpting and compositing.

In this workshop we will cover:

  • Sculpting
  • Modifiers
  • Particles – emitters and hair

Participants will need the following for the workshop:

  • Blender, which can be downloaded here: https://www.blender.org/
  • A laptop. Blender is capable of running on almost all computers. However, as a 3D modelling program it requires more resources than most programs and, preferably, a dedicated graphics card. More details of laptop specification can be found here https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/
  • A three button mouse. Many of the commands in blender require the use of left, right and middle mouse buttons.

Tickets are £20 per workshop. Tickets for this workshop can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-school-2-tickets-45730042789

Blender School #1

Blender is a popular free and open source 3D modelling program used by professionals and amateurs for 2D/3D animation, making assets for games, video editing, motion graphics, compositing and more.

Blender school will be a three-part workshop series, led by Antonio Roberts, that will act as an introduction to the software and its features. In these workshops you will be introduced to basic concepts of animation and navigating 3D space, eventually progressing to more advanced concepts and techniques such as particle generators, sculpting and compositing.

In this workshop we will cover:

  • Navigating Blender’s interface
  • Manipulating and editing objects
  • Using keyframes for animation

Participants will need the following for the workshop:

  • Blender, which can be downloaded here: https://www.blender.org/
  • A laptop. Blender is capable of running on almost all computers. However, as a 3D modelling program it requires more resources than most programs and, preferably, a dedicated graphics card. More details of laptop specification can be found here https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/
  • A three button mouse. Many of the commands in blender require the use of left, right and middle mouse buttons.

Tickets are £20 per workshop. Tickets for this workshop can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blender-school-1-tickets-45729838177