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Description
So I set aside Wednesday to learn piano. I have a Yamaha PSR-E423 61-key electronic keyboard that sat there for 5 years unused, and I turned it on once a month to hit a few keys, feel bad, and turn it off. I used it more as a table for mail and laundry, honestly.

Come Sunday, I cleaned it off. I bought a program that lets me hook the keyboard to my laptop by MIDI and run through exercises. I set it up, dusted, and cleaned it off. Why? Well, I started shopping for pianos I would love to have and never use, and I saw the Yamaha DGX-660. It is a nice one.

So...earn it. If it takes a year or two or three of practice on the old one...earn it.

So I started, and I am doing good. I will keep this up. But more importantly, I set aside all of Wednesday night to learn, and I got done my piano lessons, and was looking for other things to do. Do I log onto a game, or stick with the rule - Wednesdays are for learning only?

Substance Painter 2. Another program I have but never use. Let's learn that too. So I took one of my old sort of simple silly monster figures into the program and start going through the steps, just a simple Youtube video at first on the basics. I like the simple, single-UV map Poser 7 style models to play with because they give me a little freedom to create my own little ideas rather than a pro-job with everything done. if this was a modern model those claws I created would have already been modeled in and have a material zone assigned and I would be more painting by numbers than creating on a blank slate.

And this little guy with basic 2K textures comes out looking way more cool than he should. I got color, displacement, and bump textures rocking, a custom specular channel I setup, new dirty claws, alligator skin, and a bunch of layered effects on there. I spent late into the night playing, coming up with a custom export script, and setting this up and playing.

I broke through that initial hesitation and started learning, and I got excited by the possibilities. Wednesdays are for learning. No games. No movies. No distractions. Piano first then something in 3d that has been sitting on the shelf.

And I am having fun.

Description
So I set aside Wednesday to learn piano. I have a Yamaha PSR-E423 61-key electronic keyboard that sat there for 5 years unused, and I turned it on once a month to hit a few keys, feel bad, and turn it off. I used it more as a table for mail and laundry, honestly.

Come Sunday, I cleaned it off. I bought a program that lets me hook the keyboard to my laptop by MIDI and run through exercises. I set it up, dusted, and cleaned it off. Why? Well, I started shopping for pianos I would love to have and never use, and I saw the Yamaha DGX-660. It is a nice one.

So...earn it. If it takes a year or two or three of practice on the old one...earn it.

So I started, and I am doing good. I will keep this up. But more importantly, I set aside all of Wednesday night to learn, and I got done my piano lessons, and was looking for other things to do. Do I log onto a game, or stick with the rule - Wednesdays are for learning only?

Substance Painter 2. Another program I have but never use. Let's learn that too. So I took one of my old sort of simple silly monster figures into the program and start going through the steps, just a simple Youtube video at first on the basics. I like the simple, single-UV map Poser 7 style models to play with because they give me a little freedom to create my own little ideas rather than a pro-job with everything done. if this was a modern model those claws I created would have already been modeled in and have a material zone assigned and I would be more painting by numbers than creating on a blank slate.

And this little guy with basic 2K textures comes out looking way more cool than he should. I got color, displacement, and bump textures rocking, a custom specular channel I setup, new dirty claws, alligator skin, and a bunch of layered effects on there. I spent late into the night playing, coming up with a custom export script, and setting this up and playing.

I broke through that initial hesitation and started learning, and I got excited by the possibilities. Wednesdays are for learning. No games. No movies. No distractions. Piano first then something in 3d that has been sitting on the shelf.

And I am having fun.