On Facebook, some new Parler users are expressing concern about Parler’s verification system, which requires users to su

I’m a sucker for shiny things — if you’ve ever collected trading cards, you’d understand the rush of dopamine from getting a holographic card. So when I first saw this iridescent effect being used in a K/DA music video, I knew I had to try and recreate it.,I had the freedom to create anything I wanted. So, looking around, I chose to create things I’m interested in. Being interested in what I’m creating, means I’m more likely to stay invested and not abandon the project.,For the iridescent effect, I followed the concept behind the shader tutorial and tinkered with the node values until I got a colour palette that I was visually pleased with.,Nodes allow you to make changes to the appearance of materials applied on a mesh. Using a string of nodes can help you achieve more complex materials. For example, some people get really creative and make materials like this.,Learning new design software can sometimes be overwhelming, especially when there are so many tools and buttons present on the interface. It’s one of the reasons why I was hesitant to learn at first. But this tutorial made me realize I don’t need to know everything — just the tools, that I’ll use the most.,With every new skill, you learn to walk before you can run (generally). To start, many Blender artists recommended the popular donut tutorial from Andrew Price, the Blender Guru. So, for the first couple days, I learned how to make a donut.,This tutorial helped establish a solid foundation of techniques and core concepts. Mainly; creating and applying materials; an introduction to sculpting; applying the subsurface division modifier (makes things smooth).,This tutorial shows you how to create a shader to simulate the way light disperses through glass (think Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon). The concept is to separate the red, green, and blue (RGB) channels; shifting them slightly, so that light passing through the glass is spread into RGB colours.,I studied the rationale behind every step, memorizing the result of each tool or technique used. To create my own future projects, I would most likely need to refer back to these concepts.,Luckily, the StatusBar module from React Native also exports imperative means of setting this config. So what if we could write a hook that makes these imperative calls when a screen focuses, so that we always have the right config? This is a hook I wrote for a project that does just so:,To get started, I learned how to create “fabric” from this tutorial. Applying a displace modifier to a plane and changing the texture type to marble, results in smooth cloth-like folds.,This render consists of two planes — by modifying the texture’s X and Y coordinates you can simulate movement in the water (top plane) and reflections of light on the ocean floor (bottom plane).,It’s unclear whether Parler can sustain the explosive growth it saw in early November. Even its most visible champions, far-right commentators such as Dan Bongino and Mark Levin, can’t seem to forego Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, where millions of their followers remain, the Washington Post reported. Parler’s monthly views are still a mere fraction of Facebook’s, the Post noted, and it’s unclear where the site would be without a vocal minority of influencers urging their audience to join the platform.,Animating in Blender felt similar to animating with prototyping tools. Instead of artboards or frames, Blender uses keyframes (applied to properties) to define each transition. Transitions are automatically filled in between each keyframe, behaving just like Figma’s Smart Animate feature.,I want to share my design process; what I’ve learned along the way, and how I might apply these skills to make them relevant — hopefully I can inspire others in some capacity.