NFTs for Noobs, FBX Importer for DAZ Studio and Computer Trouble (Patreon)

Hey there folks, today I have an early access video for you that is an enhanced version of a Twitch stream Nate and I did last week. Nate knows so much more about NFTs than I do, and this is a chat in which we all learn from him. I've modified the audio levels a little bit in post production, doing a live mix in Premiere. Very fun and informative this was! 

It's going out as a YouTube Premiere tomorrow, complete with chapter points.

FBX Importer for DAZ Studio

One of my clients is a Computer Science professor who happens to be into DAZ Studio as well as Star Wars. He wanted to make an animation with various FBX assets that had issues on import, so he suggested to his students to build a new FBX importer as an end of term project. He invited me to listen in as his class presented what they've made.

Boy was I impressed! It was very informative and interesting to listen to the intricacies of how they dissected the process, from fault finding to creating a new and better approach so that things don't go wrong. The code will be released as Open Source, but they're not ready for an alpha version yet. I may well be the first tester when the time comes! Josh and Kristen from DAZ were there too, and we all enjoyed it. I hope it'll be available as a video one day so I can share it with you.

Right now the group are working on making sure materials are properly translated into Iray Shaders (FBX doesn't natively support PBR materials), and there are issues with the rigging, but I have no doubt they'll fix these things. I'll keep you posted!

Spontaneous Computer Issues

About an hour before the presentation began, I shutdown my main rig - or at least that was my plan. I had accidentally hovered 1 pixel above the Windows Shut Down button, and without prompt my machine went into Hibernation. Thank you Windows for endless "are you sure" prompts EXCEPT in this instance where it might have actually been useful.

My hardware doesn't support sleep or hibernation (being a server and all), so the system just went black and stayed on. There was nothing I could do other than press the big power button after 10 minutes. When I turned it back on, Windows didn't boot anymore.

I've been there countless times with various other systems, and thankfully never had this problem on my main rig until yesterday. Windows being the "temperamental artiste" it sometimes decides to be meant that none of the regular fault finding would let me get back into the operating system:

• Switching it on and off again (twice)
• Booting into Safe Mode
• Using the Command Prompt with bootrec fix commands
• Refreshing Windows (with or without deleting data)
• Re-installing Windows from Installation Media
• Boot Fix Repair CD (it "reparied", but didn't fix anything)

In the end I decided to let it be, order a new SSD from Best Buy and I'm due to pick it up in an hour. I'll just install a fresh version of Windows and rescue any files I may need from the old drive before finding other uses for it. To be honest a complete re-install has been on the cards for the last 12 months, and there just hasn't been a good time to do it. Well I guess now's the time!

Corel Painter and Paint Shop Pro offer

Before I let you go, there's a super sweet offer on Humble Bundle called Create with Visual Impact. You get the 2021 versions of Corel Painter, PaintShop Pro, Video Studio, Particle Shop (a Photoshop/PSP plugin) and a ton of cool brushes for $30. I bought it and I'm having a ton of fun with the visual effects you can make. 

Not only will these tools enhance your 3D renders and backgrounds, they bring out the inner child of artistic excitement. Hours of fun, and only available for another 24 hours. By buying via the above link I'll get a cut of your purchase too, and it supports charity so everybody wins 😍

Here are a couple of backgrounds I've made with Painter on my Mac yesterday. 

DAZ Videos

As soon as my main rig is fully functional again I'm planning to record the following DAZ videos:

• Making Billboards with Photoshop (or PaintShop Pro)
• Making Billboards with Billboard Builder
• Closer look at the Meta Mixer plugin
• Creating custom fit morphs for clothing

Have a wonderful week everyone 👋