2018 passed pretty quickly. It amazes me how fast time goes. The passage of time has its advantages and disadvantages. One of its advantages is it motivates people to accomplish goals. If I had all the time in the world to get something done, it's likely I won't get it done with any urgency. But I know my time is always running out. A fact which motivates me to work and get things done.
Putting philosophy aside, I think this week has been somewhat beneficial. I worked through the story with Nicole a bit more. I think we're working through the plot holes. I've also figured out something new about the ManuelBastioni Lab. It has a very extensive set of shape keys, which in theory should be a replacement for a facial rig. You know what that means, I'm using it in my proof of concept short. It's superior to Makehuman. The control it gives you over modifying the character is better, the skin shader is better, the weight painting is a lot better, the muscle system and rig are awesome. Only disadvantage is it can't be used to create small children, so I'll need to use Makehuman for that.
The next step is to fit the ManuelBastioni character with some clothes, then we're set to start building the location and moving forward with the 1 minute short. I'm excited. Hopefully, I'll have something completed in the first month of 2019.
I'm disappointed Manuel Bastioni has decided to stop supporting the lab. I understand where he's coming from. No one has showed him any support and it does take a lot of time to get this lab working properly.
I put some time into porting it to 2.80. I have taken some clothing assets from Makehuman, and I'm planning to make them available for the ManuelBastioni Lab. Maybe that'll encourage others to contribute assets, which will be all around useful.
I do think having a facial rig is useful, but I hate weight painting. I need someone to help out with that. Hopefully, we'll be able to get that project completed in 2019.
YAAM seems to be gaining some traction. I put a post on blendernation: https://www.blendernation.com/2018/12/28/free-download-asset-manager-add-on/ Got 45 shares... which ain't bad. And another dev is also working on it, so I think it could get some cool features implemented in 2019, which will make it even more useful.
I also made some small contribution to the Blender add-on code base, mainly around porting add-ons from 2.79 to 2.80. Not too shabby. Looking forward to contributing in more significant ways in the future, if I get an opportunity.
Well, signing off 2018. Happy New Year to all. And hope you accomplish your dreams in 2019.