Paolo Acampora is the author of Python Scripting in Blender; we got the chance to sit down and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Paolo: Python Scripting in Blender
Q: What are your specialist tech areas?
Paolo: I’m a software developer for Computer Graphics.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Paolo: I like sharing my knowledge and helping others acquire this wonderful, but sometimes hard-to-get, set of skills, so I applied to the Tech Pro System program for first-time authors.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Paolo: I spent much time devising realistic use cases from productions. Most come from my experience as a Pipeline TD, and I asked a few friends what was missing in their tools. I looked into Blender’s source code to fill a few gaps in the documentation. Some chapters were easy to write, others took weeks in planning.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Paolo: The animation chapters were difficult: there is so much to say that it’s easy to wander off-topic, or give incomplete explanations. The editors helped a lot with keeping the exposition fluent and satisfying.
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Paolo: AI is reshaping our industry and I see Blender, and especially Python, take an increasing role in that. It’s important to introduce many people to this language: together we can steer change in a positive direction.
Q: Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Paolo: Programming is a creative task with an aesthetic of its own. I want to convey how we don’t just work on useful tools: we produce beautiful, nice things.
Q: What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Paolo: Simple scripts can be very useful, and we can change the blender to make it our own.
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Paolo: Find something that can be improved: maybe repetitive actions in your workflow, or a brand new feature you would like to implement. Split your idea into steps, pick the easiest and make it a script, then move to the next. This script will be useful long before it is finished.
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Paolo: I have a youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@BallsAndNinjas, where I show my blender add-ons.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites, and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning? What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Paolo: I recommend Lidia Martinez Prado’s at http://blog.lidia-martinez.com. A talented engineer, she makes valid points on many aspects of our craft. Artist and “Shader Sorceress” Freya Holmer explains 3D concepts on her channels, found at https://acegikmo.com.
Q. How would you describe your author’s journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Paolo: By all means yes! It was a very enriching experience, the people I met are wonderful, competent, and helpful.
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Paolo: I’m part of the Blender animation module community, and I’m (kind of) active in my local circle of artists and animators.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Paolo: I check social media and the siggraph proceedings for news. Most big companies and universities in our field have research pages full of papers and insights.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Paolo: Working freelance, I usually could allocate about six hours per week to writing. When I couldn’t, I could still address editorial feedback.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Paolo: If you are stuck on a topic skip it, proceed to the next, and fill in the gaps later. If you don’t have editors, hire some and trust them: if they don’t get something, the text is wanting.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, please share.
Paolo: Find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/_BallsAndNinjas
You can find Paolo’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
