Hey Reader,

Zach here,

With a collection of inspirations and resources from the 3D world.

Today I have a free Dynamic Paint tutorial, a great-looking upcoming sci-fi short film using Blender, a medieval castle siege animation, and a UV unwrapping tutorial by Jim Morren with a reminder about our latest 3D Characters Course update.

Let’s dive in.

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​How to use Dynamic Paint in Blender​

I’ll kick off with this great tutorial from the CG Cookie guys, explaining how to use the Dynamic Paint effect in Blender.

This is a handy tool to achieve things like footprints or waves made by a boat, and similar effects when one object dynamically affects another. This also includes brushes, spray cans painting on a canvas, or droplets leaving traces on a windowpane.

Kenny Phases (the tutor) not only explains the basics of the tool but also guides you through 3 small projects applying different use cases of this tool.

​"Project Ijo" - VFX Breakdown for an upcoming Sci-fi Short Film​

I’m always watching out for cool movies done with Blender, and I came across this impressive VFX breakdown by Joshua de Boer.

It shows some great-looking shots reminiscent of Blade Runner or the Dynamo Dream project by Ian Hubert. The video shows how 3D models are blended with some video footage and some post-processing effects are composited on top, to achieve a final polished look.

You can learn how to do similar stuff from our compositing wizard Daniel Nees in his Master 3D Compositing in Blender course.

​"Rise and Fall" - Medieval Castle Siege in Blender​

I’m a sucker for watching epic environment shots and medieval battles. If this also touches a sensitive string in your heart’s lute, you’ll love this animation by Maarten Nauta.

Showing the mountains and castle besieged by an enemy fleet from the river at different times of day and various phases of the battle makes for a simple but effective story.

​UVs are Weird and Fun + "Master 3D Characters in Blender" Course Update​

If you somehow missed it, we have just launched the second part of Jim Morren’s "Master 3D Characters in Blender" course (70 new lessons!). This includes the retopology and UV unwrapping of the character, the clothes, and the props.

If you are not (yet) convinced that Jim’s course is good for you, you can get a taste of Jim’s great teaching style in this fun introduction to UV unwrapping. Jim explains UVs inside-out and shows some cool unwrapping techniques.

The video is an hour long - but trust me - there is even more in-depth information inside the course.

Jim is already working on the next chapters about texturing/shading, which we plan to release in a couple of months.
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⏳ Don’t miss the 20% Early Bird Discount!

Now is the perfect time to Master 3D Characters in Blender, with this massive update and the 20% Early Bird Discount.

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Use the coupon code EARLYBIRD20 at checkout to save 20%.

Expires March 26th, 2025 - 23:59 CET.

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If you already own the course, this update is free for you.

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That’s all from me today, have a great weekend and till next time.

~Zach