Coloso.

01. Orientation + Technical Prep- Meet your instructor and learn about the overview of this class. - Overview of Blender (showcasing what is possible with Blender) - Examining your own workstation (CPU, GPU, OS, etc.) and understanding it - Downloading, installing, and configurating Blender to your workstation - Choosing the right render engine for your workstation and your project

02. Tastemaker's Tastemaker- The importance of reference - Media consumption as a form of creation - Ideas & references can come from anything - Tracing the DNA of the things you love

03. Lights, Camera, and Lenses- Understanding photography basics - Understanding lights - Understanding camera and lenses - Understanding basic photography flow

04. Collecting References & Putting It Together- Exploring the internet and dismantling yourself from "the algorithm" - Using software to help manage ideas - Seeing it all at once from bird's eye view - Compiling your idea into a single cohesive piece

05. Research- Researching the things that will be in your scene

06. Sourcing Materials- Scouring the internet for materials and data that you can use in your scene

07. Rough Modeling- If need be, when in doubt, sometimes you just have to get your hands a little dirty

08. Introduction to Set Dressing- The importance of using real-world scale - Scales: big, medium, small - Chaos: our world is never perfect

09. Rough Layout- Layouting the scene based on references collected in section two - Use of materials collected on section three

10. Camera and Lights Layout- Composition (photography basics) - Camera theory (sensor/film size, lenses, common cinema camera settings) - Lights theory (Type of lights, real-world film lights, light cutting tools)

11. Refined Layout- Finalizing the layout - Clay render in Cycles or Eevee to feel the composition - This will be the base of our scene and will be detailed as we go

12. Computer Science Basics- Computer science basic: understanding data and information - Computer science basic: relevant concepts (instancing, recursion, processing) - Understanding relevant data types and compsci concepts used in Blender

13. Geometry Nodes- Overview of Geometry Nodes in Blender - Procedural, non-destructive method of geometry manipulation - Manipulating geometry using Geometry Nodes

14. Using Geometry Nodes to Scatter Large Amounts of Objects in the Scene- Scattering a collection of asset in the scene in an optimized manner

15. FX Development Prep Work- Researching & understanding the FX we want to create based on real-world references - Using a fresh, empty Blender save file to develop the FX

16. FX Development in Geometry Nodes- Generating particles in a volume - Manipulating particle behavior over time using deterministic noise generator - Manipulating particle behavior over time using Simulation Zone

17. Preparing FX for the Pipeline- Exporting attributes to be used in material shader nodes - Previewing the FX in Cycles or Eevee - Reaching minimum viable state and moving on

18. Using Pre-Made Animation Data- Browsing Mixamo for animation data - Downloading and using animation data - Using actions in Blender to organize animation data

19. Subtle Details from Photography- Understanding even deeper concept of realistic details found in real photography - Textures - Volumetric lights

20. Adding Details in Materials- Material shader node basics in Blender - How textures add dimensions and depth to an image

21. Lights to Improve Composition- Using additional hidden lights to really polish the image - Using volumetric lights to shape the composition - How to make lightweight volumetric light effects

22. Linking vs. Appending- Understanding different methods of "importing" another blend file - The benefit and disadvantages of linking - Using node groups

23. Implementing the FX- Implementing the procedural FX into the scene - Adjusting FX parameters

24. Wrapping Up the Scene with FX- Wrapping up all aspects of the scene: animation, camera works, lights, FX, composition - Tuning and pushing the scene a little further with basic composition concepts

25. Playblast Intro + Setup in Blender- Introduction to playblast - Understanding why playblast is necessary during production - Using dublast and DIY setup to create playblast - Understanding important data to be burned into the playblast image

26. Creating Playblasts and Reviewing Them- Creating playblast using one of the method in previous chapter - What to look for when reviewing a playblast

27. Production-Ready Render Method- Understanding every parameters in render settings and what it does to the image - Optimizing render settings - Render layers - Additional data

28. Rendering and Reviewing Still Images- What to look for in a rendered image - How to see additional render layers - The improvement loop: render, preview, fix, and repeat

29. Using Compositor to Extract Different Data from an Image- Understanding Blender compositor and how it'd help us after rendering - Denoising concept in compositor - Understanding the difference between different file formats - Preparing the blend file and workstation for final render

30. Rendering Tips: What I Wish I Knew Before My First Render- Additional tips related to computer software and hardware during render - Memory management, VRAM, out-of-core, etc.

31. Compositing Basics & Color Grading Theory- Understanding compositing a raw rendered image - Compositing concepts in different software - Understanding color grading process - Implementing basic color theory in color grading

32. Importing and Using Render Layers- Importing the image sequence into DaVinci Resolve - Extracting render layers within Fusion in DaVinci Resolve - Re-encoding the render layers to optimize post-production processes

33. Compositing and Color Grading Your Scene- Using render layers to finalize the look of the image - Color grading in DaVinci Resolve - Selective color grading - Achieving realistic look during compositing and color grading

34. My Journey as an Artist- Story time! How i started as an artist, my journey, taking calculated risks, the "everything is a remix" mindset, and learning to love computers