Pirate Coins [3D Printing]

In this video, we will be creating Pirate Coins. 

They are fairly simple to create and it took hardly any time at all to print.

Using a reference image, I create the Skull shape and refine it with a Subsurf Modifier. 

You can use any image you want or you can model from memory, and if you do create something cool be sure to post a comment below. 

Once we have our two objects we can simply join them using a Boolean Modifier. 

Once we are happy with it, we need to make sure we set the correct Unit scale otherwise we will have some trouble when it comes to the printing. 

After I exported it as an STL (which you can download here). I then sliced and printed it. After printing, I first coated the coins in a Primer/filler and then painted on some gold leaf (or you can use gold spray paint).

I wanted them to look old and worn so I painted them with some Acrylic paint to try and "age" them. 

Hopefully you enjoyed this video! and as always, thanks for reading!.

Taipei Towers [VFX]

In this video we will be turning the Taipei 101 into a Sci-fi Energy Tower. 

Check out the Preview. 

We will duplicate the Taipei tower a couple of times (though this can be done in any photo editing software, I prefer to use blender incase there is any change in lighting from the camera, it would look odd if it was a single image) and then using the Animation Nodes Addon (link below) we can create an awesome stylized Energy Beam. 

Taipei Towers Tutorial. 

Now I should note, this is the first time I have used the Animation Nodes Addon and I am still learning how to use it. Since there are tons more nodes to use we can create a whole load of different effects. 

Now some of you may already use Animation Nodes and if you do, then you will already know how to create this Energy Beam effect. I followed along a tutorial by Chris Prenninger, so you guys should certainly check it out the tutorial here.

As I said, I am very new to this addon and would liked to have duplicated the effect two times, and I am sure any seasoned user of Animation nodes would know how to do this very easily. 

If you guys have any comments of suggestions are greatly welcome!.

So yeah, I really like Animation Nodes and will have to set some time aside to learn more about it!. 

Since I couldn't duplicate the effect as I hoped, and I did not find much information that would help, so I decided to render out the effect, then re position the Energy beam in the 3D view, then I rendered it, then re-positioned it a third time and rendered that. 
Then I rendered out the Background video and added the Energy beam in Post. 

As I said, there would certainly be a way to just duplicate the effect rather than having to do it the way I did. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this Video and if you do start using Animation Nodes, let us know what you think of it in the comments below!. 

As always, Thanks for reading!. 


You can download -

Animation Nodes by Jacques Lucke, here.  
Taipei Tower Video, here.

Monthly Subscription Box Review: Gadget Discovery Club

This week we will be reviewing the Monthly Subscription Box by the Gadget Discovery Club. (Thanks to the guys at the Gadget Discovery Club for sending us this box to review!)

Monthly subscription boxes are certainly fun but there are so many out there it becomes hard to choose just one. (I will be reviewing more Subscription boxes in the future so be sure to comment with your suggestions!). 

One of the Subscription services that caught my eye was the Gadget Discovery Club. 

A Monthly subscription to the Gadget Discovery Club will cost £24.99/Month (including shipping). You can pick up your first box now for 50% off!. 

Six business days later you will receive your new Gadget. 

You will receive a new Gadget each Month worth between £35 - £50. You can see some of the examples of previous Months Boxes (pictured above). 

Don't like your Gadget? or Already have one?. 

If you send the Gadget back, they will give you a full refund. You can also cancel your subscription at anytime.

With over, 93,000 Members and lot's of positive reviews I was excited to give it a try!. 

You can watch the Video here. 

In the Box I received was the "MiniBoom" Wireless Speaker by RISE, which is valued at £44.99. You can check out the Product here. 

Simply connect the device to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth, then you are good to go. 

The speaker is really small and also really loud! (should you need it). 




It's well built and has a decent weight to it. It can be used as a Camera Button to help with taking Snapshots or be used to answer your calls as a Loudspeaker. 

I was pleasantly surprised with this little gadget and I might have never bought one before. 




I am glad I got to try a new gadget and I find myself using it more than I thought I would. I like the mystery of having a new gadget arrive every month, that won't break the bank. Also the fact that should you not like the gadget you can always send it back!. 

There was only one thing I think is missing from the Gadget Discovery Club, and that's ability to send a Box as a Gift, though they are working on it (maybe something to look forward to). 

If you want to try the Gadget Discovery Club, check out their website and try your first box for Half Price!.

You can also visit their Facebook Page and ask any questions you might have. 

If you try the Gadget Discovery Club, be sure to let us know what you thought in the comments below. Also let us know what your favorite Subscription boxes are!. 

I hope you found this review helpful, and as always thanks for reading!.


(Note, I am not being paid for this review, nor is this an affiliate link. These are just my thoughts and opinions). 

How to Turn People into Ghosts

In this week's Tutorial we will be turning someone into a Ghostly Companion in "How to turn people into ghosts" using Blender 2.8 (this effect can also be done in Blender 2.79). 

Check out the Preview here, 

or

You can watch the Tutorial here. 

First we will create a Mask around the person we wish to turn into a Ghost. I recommend taking more time with the masking then I did, your shots look much cleaner with better Masks. 

Then in the compositing, we can save time by Appending a "Super Node" that we created previously. 

Though if you have not created a Super Node you can either check out our previous blog post here, or follow along in the Video where we create a quick Super Node to add a fake background (in place of the ghost). 

Then with the help of a couple of mix nodes we can add our Ghostly Companion. 

When downloading clips like this, it's often hard to get something perfect. 

Download the Video here. 

For example, we could also replicate the missing part of the man (that being, part of his right shoulder, his neck and some parts of his ears). 
If I was creating this shot for myself and had direction over the scene. I would prefer to shoot the man on the bench, alone. Then shoot the woman in front of a Green screen. 

This would ensure that we see all of the man through the ghost. 

We could recreate most of the man in the Node Editor, and a couple of masks. We would need to add a fake body, neck and ears, before the Ghost effect. From the tests I tried, they looked okay but I hope you guys get the idea and are able to find use for this effect. 

If you do create something be sure to post a link in our Facebook group!. 

Thanks for watching!. 

How to Remove People from Video [Blender 2.8]

In this video we will be revisiting a former Tutorial, "How to remove people / objects from video", only this time in 2.8. There are some differences between version 2.79 and 2.8, along with some improvements to our workflow. 

Watch the Tutorial here.

In this example video we have a few more things we need to remove and I think we did a pretty good job. Of course  if you spend more time on your project you can make it look even better. 

The video quality was not the best and then with Compression it looks even worse, so be sure to use high quality Background Videos when you are working on your own projects. 

Since we have a few  people we want to remove from our video, we will be creating "Super Nodes" or Mega/Uber Nodes to help speed up our workflow. Once we have created a new Node Group (Which I decided to call it the Patch Node..) we can bring that node into future projects and save even more time. 

I hope this technique helps you in your future projects! if you found this helpful be sure to hit that subscribe button for more.. 

As always, thanks for watching!. 

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