Materials?

[Christopher Stevens]

Not only is blender 3.2 completely broken and crashes any time I do anything with it there also seems to be nothing regarding materials. You show us a basic mat setup but the assets have a much more complex setup. Why is this missed out of the course? I’ve read you comments regarding using different blender versions for different needs but 3.2 is ancient really. This course needs a serious update

[Kent Trammell]

Hi Chris – I’m sorry for the frustration you’re experiencing. I want to commend you using the Blender version recorded in this course!

First of all, no parts of this project’s creation is missing from the course…later in the course I add material components for all materials, including this tree. Is this where you’re confusion lies?

You mention Blender 3.2 being ancient and…I have to give some tough love to this point. This claim is bananas. If you continue to hold the belief that a 3-yr-old version of Blender is too old and outdated, you’ve severely handicapped your Blender journey before it’s even beginning.

Blender updates fast and that’s a great thing! But don’t make the mistake of thinking that “updates” mean paradigm-shifting evolution to the nature of creating with computer graphics. Polygons, sculpting, UVs, textures, materials, rigs, animation keyframes, physics simulations, lighting, rendering — they were pillars of CG 20 years ago, and they’re still pillars today. CG does not actually change much or that fast. I know Blender YT influences like to hype up every change made to Blender. Remember that hype rarely equals reality.

As your experience develops, you will understand this. Learning CG / Blender is frustrating, especially for newer artists. It’s natural – everyone deals with it. I have a personal story from my early years about being so frustrated that I wept. Wept!

You’re in good company and we’re here to help! But try and keep a cool head and avoid crazy talk / beliefs. Stay the course, work hard and you’ll succeed!

[Christopher Stevens]

I’m sorry… but first let me correct you on something. I’m not a newbie. And there is absolutely no need to be rude about my opinions and apparent. “Crazy talk” please don’t address me like that. Anyway with that out of the way……. Blender 3.2 DOESNT WORK!!!! Which was my initial comment. I’ve tried to use it to follow the course as per your instructions because my customer setup is actually in 4.4 I’m not pigheaded to believe that only 4.4 is worthy. 

[Martin Bergwerf]

Also, 

If you keep having crashes with 3.2, than that might have something to do with your Hardware. 

Do these happen with simple setups (like just a default cube), or only when loading the entire BCity scene?

[Christopher Stevens]

To clarify……3.2…… crashes when importing any mesh. Crashes when opening anything from another file. Crashes when trying to open up a default startup. And the list goes on 

[Christopher Stevens]

I knew you would mention hardware. My hardware is more than sufficient GTX4070i 32gb 

[Martin Bergwerf]

Well, Blender 3.2 works perfectly fine for me, so I’m very much inclined to think it is something on your side.

Maybe you are trying to Link/Append something from a modern Blender Version in 3.2?

I don’t know; you don’t give us much to work with, to be honest.

[Omar Domenech]

Hello Christopher. This is one of the things when communicating over the internet, the way you read something is interpreted by how it sounds in you head. I can assure you Kent is not being disrespectful, if he said the same thing in a video form, with you hearing his voice and seeing him directly, you would experience it as he intended, which is calm and respectful and just making the point he always does and having the best intentions for CG Cookie subscribers. 

This happens from time to time, the misunderstanding texted base communications brings. Again, CG Cookie is full of awesome people, specially teachers. 

[Omar Domenech]

Well, I don’t know why the word presumptuous makes me hungry, and specially hungry for pancakes for some reason, but we apologize for how it all unfolded. I bet in an alternate universe it’s all good, hopefully we can make this universe that universe. I’m not sure though why being a Blender newbie is a bad thing, I consider myself barely an intermediate. Do you have an Artstation or Instagram or any place you keep your work?

[Omar Domenech]

Hey why did your post get deleted? 

[Tom Fransson]

Over a Blender version, Seriously? Wow

[Christopher Stevens]

Tom… my original post was regarding the difficulties facing 3.2. I was met with a rather condescending response which was disappointing. So no this isn’t over a blender version, it’s simply expecting to be spoken  to respectfully. Thanks

[Tom Fransson]

Christopher, why are you stuck on the 3.2 version? You say it is ancient. I’m using 2.79 from time to time, so I must be a cave troll then. No one is forcing you to use 3.2 for that course, it is just a recommendation. You say you have a working 4.4 version and you seem to have a good computer. So, I’m sure there are a another version you can try to be able to follow along that course if you don’t want to use 4.4 and translate it to that. I understand your frustration and we are all here to embrace eachother. But we are all responsible for our own learnings. That means it is up to you to be curious what Blender has to offer no matter what version. Good luck Christopher, we are all into this together

[Kent Trammell]

@Sausau83 My response was a whole-hearted effort to be empathetic and constructively corrective. I’ve had ample opportunity over the years to hone my response because we get very similarly frustrated complaints a lot. They’re a frequent topic of convo between myself, Omar, and Martin.

I’m sorry that you interpreted my words condescending and disrespectful. That is polar opposite of my intention. I even asked Martin to check it for me and he affirmed that my response was neither of those.

I’ve never been more certain of your frustration, Christopher. The way you’ve responded to genuinely helpful feedback is evidence. Every word you’ve posted is dripping with it. Please take 48 hours to step away from this thread to cool off and choose to believe that we’re here to help. If you choose to believe that, come back to this thread and adjust your tone. If you continue to engage the way you have, we’ll have to offer a refund and part ways.

[Christopher Stevens]

Kent, Firstly thank you for responding and I appreciate your apology. 

Unfortunately as Omar mentioned, sometimes it has hard to convey the truth of what we mean in words. I saw your choice of words as condescending but I accept that you didn’t intend it to be so. 

I can assure you I’m a decent guy that is hyper sensitive but I believe you when you say you didn’t mean it in any other way but to help. Further to that I would like to offer my apologies for my tone in this thread but it was natural and habitual response to being ( what I perceived as ) criticised. On reflection I shouldn’t have been so quick to assume any negativity directed on your part.

Ive been using blender for quite a few years now. I have a young child who relies on me and sometimes when I feel I’m going nowhere I get myself in a mental rut so my sincere apologies for building a negative portrait of myself. I can assure you it’s not reflective of who I truly am. Going forward I think the lesson learned is that words can be quite powerful and how they are implemented and thus interpreted can often portray the speaker in the wrong light. 

I would like to think we can move forward from this in a more positive way.

Chris 

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