Hey everyone!
I’m not sure if I’m even allowed to post something like this here, but like many of you, I occasionally drop by BlenderArtist and really enjoy the vibe. To be honest, I haven’t been very active lately for reasons I’ll get into, and I’ve been feeling a bit down, so I thought I’d come and have a little chat with friends here.
My biggest concern these days is AI. Ever since image generators got powerful and then started making videos too, I’ve had this nagging fear that as a 3D motion graphics artist, I might slowly be forced to put Blender aside and switch to prompt-writing, something that honestly disgusts me. Even if one day I have to do it just to sell to clients, it would still make my stomach turn. Many of us are like carpenters who take pleasure in delicately carving wood to craft a beautiful table or chair. Similarly, when we arrange objects, set up lighting, design scenes, and tweak all the different bits of Blender to get the result we want, we truly enjoy every single moment of the creation process. But sadly, clients care more and more about the final output, not about the passion and joy we pour into making it.
And right in the middle of all this, war broke out. I live in Iran, and suddenly terrifying days began (the 12-day war). During that time, the internet was completely cut off, and on top of that, I was so mentally consumed that I just spent my days glued to the news. International internet blackouts made it impossible to work, and for weeks I basically did nothing. After the ceasefire, when things calmed down a bit, the country was hit by civil unrest and an even longer, larger internet shutdown. I was jobless for weeks, without internet, I literally couldn’t do anything.
A few weeks later, when the net finally came back, we barely had time to breathe before the next war started, this time with over three months of no internet. Long story short, half of that year went by without work, and I missed two major Blender updates in the process!
I still remember how passionately I fell in love with Blender when I first learned it. But this chaotic year has brought me to a point where I sometimes miss those fiery, enthusiastic days. Not that I’ve stopped using Blender entirely, but that initial spark just isn’t there anymore.
I also spent quite a while working on a new add-on (which I personally thought was pretty cool!), but with all those events and, more importantly, the constant fear about the future of AI, I never managed to finish it, it’s still sitting there half-done.
I don’t know, I just felt like sharing all this because I needed to get it off my chest somewhere cozy. I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts and experiences too.
