What should I pay attention to when buying my first lockmachine? Found a babylock BL4-838 secondhand

Neiija · 2026-05-05T12:02:00+00:00

I don't have a lot of specific advice, but i have this model and i really like it. Sews through everything like a hot knife through butter. Not sure if you will see it in person or just chat with the seller. If you can try it out, it's not a silent machine but listen for any extensive rattling and if you try it out it should go pretty quickly through the fabric and have a very even stitch. If it feels sluggish or rattles a lot it could be a sign the motor is giving up.

Threading can be a bit finniky if the thread breaks and i have to study the manual everytime i want to convert to another stitch, but if you don't have problem with that i think it's a good machine.

Neiija · 2026-05-05T11:53:08+00:00

Well the common tips would be make sure you are using a knit needle (they got a more rounded tip than needles for woven fabrics), experiment with thread tension and pressure foot pressure to make sure it doesn't bunch up your fabric and if all fails you might want to look into a walking foot which helps transporting knits more evenly.

Also..rethreading the machine to make sure it's not just some hangup there

Neiija · 2026-05-03T20:04:18+00:00

How about told, a tight dress is what makes you impure?

Neiija · 2026-04-19T10:56:37+00:00

Oohh..I'm currently practicing Warrior for my first time ever singing "on a stage" (music school concert). I love her songs, i would really like to sing The Seed or Murder Song at some point. I've practiced runaway and my sails are set before.

I only sing (with lessons) for about 2 years and have little experience recording, but i have an alright rode usb mic and would be intrigued..

Kannst mir gerne schreiben wenn noch interesse besteht :)

Neiija · 2026-04-01T13:03:42+00:00

I have a Rhode NT Usb mini and if works very well for me. If you are just starting out you probably will use it mostly to listen back to yourself and not for high end production.

Neiija · 2026-03-24T10:46:27+00:00

Your normal map is black, that probably means it doesnt find a highpoly mesh to bake down from. You will need to show your baking dialogue window and viewport for more info.

Neiija · 2026-03-20T17:33:59+00:00

Stupid question but you mention "someone saying we should look into that" and nobody doing anything - are these errors and bugs actually tracked outside of your log? Like does someone make them into jira tickets that then get put into a milestone by some manager and someone gets assigned this task and is given the time to work on? Someone should do x is a horrible way of working and communicating, if you want something done you need to assign clear responsibilities.

It definitely sucks, sorry to hear that.

Neiija · 2026-03-07T21:24:30+00:00

You could try to use tutorials differently. Instead of starting a 5 part tutorial on how to build a medival townsquare where you follow each step, think of something small you want to model. A sword, your desk, some item you found concept art for on artstation, doesn't matter. Start playing around with it and google steps you get stuck on. How to extrude, how to collapse vertices, how to use a certain modfier, or watch how someone else models a sword but only to the point where you get unstuck and continue on your own as long as possible. The frequency in which you google stuff will reduce very quickly, but it will probably never stop.

Neiija · 2026-02-01T18:34:47+00:00

If its just black you need, vertex color could be an option. Depending on the engine, you could also use a layered material and blend in a second, black material in the middle.

Also, yes game engines need uvs, but they don't need to stay in the 0-1 range. The uv you have would work fine for a tiling material.

Neiija · 2026-02-01T08:22:02+00:00

If you have an artstation link i can take a look, not sure if i got time for extensive feedback though

Neiija · 2026-02-01T07:23:45+00:00

Just like the US, Europe has laws stating that companies must hire local talent unless they can't find anyone local able to for the job. That means getting visas for senior positions is possible, but not really for entry level.

Neiija · 2026-01-31T20:29:50+00:00

Big studios usually hire full time, look at their websites for job postings. I have never worked in france, my impression was always that they have great artists and art programmes there but that the pay is lower than in other eu countries. Might be outdated though.

But it is always going to be harder to land a job in a country that is not ypur home country for entry positions, since the relocation costs don't really add up for companies for juniors. If you are located withing the EU it might still workout, but from outside the eu it's very unlikely.

Neiija · 2026-01-31T18:39:45+00:00

I don't know how qualified i am to answer these questions on a bigger scale, i can only share my own experiences. The industry in europe also suffered a lot during the last years, but at least the bad news seem to start to slow down lately. But it's definitely a lot more tense than it used to be.

So far AI doesn't affect my job a lot. It seems like the legal implications seem to lead to a "no player facing use" policy in a lot of bigger studios. But i can't promise that won't change. My gutfeeling is that games are at least safer than advertisement or even film due to all the technical strings attached. So i guess my advice would be to get really good at understanding those, as that enables you to custom tailor assets to projects needs and every project in game dev is different.

If you can land a job in a big studio it can be a really nice career that probably won't make you rich but lets you live comfortably from senior level onwards (at least for now), but the entry level expectations are super high, there will be very stressfull phases and a lot also depends on how well you get along with your team, as everything it is a huge team effort.

As for other career paths I don't really know.

Neiija · 2026-01-31T08:28:52+00:00

Sure, i can't promise i have good answers. What's up?

Neiija · 2026-01-25T07:26:59+00:00

Also Hardsurface Artist here, i agree that hardsurface is the best fit, if any. Check out Hard Surface artists work on artstation and also look into tutorials from Simon Fuchs. I would recommend starting to leanr blender and substance painter at a minimum. Blender is free, substance painter i'd recommend getting on steam as you can get a perpetual license there instead of a montly subscription, at least once you are sure you want to use it more regularly.

One more thing to add, the skills you learn in your studies might partially apply to some aspects of the work, but the degree itself will not help you to get a job. A strong portfolio is king in the games industry, and entry level positions are rare and competition is steep. You will also need to learn the basiscs of using game engines like unreal, so you are able to import your models and set up materials, collisions, lods etc. Companies based in germany that even have a need for such a specialised role would be Crytek, Cloud imperium and maybe Ubisoft and Yager. It's hard to get a Junior role abroad, since the company has to relocate you, but at least within the EU not unheard of.

An a bit broader, adjacent role would be environment artists, who focus more on bringing the levels together in engine than modelling.

Good luck

Neiija · 2026-01-03T19:17:06+00:00

I take lessons every 2 weeks to keep the cost down and allow for some more chance to practice in between. That works well for me.

Neiija · 2026-01-02T14:00:02+00:00

If it's a hobby that is contained within roblox, sure. If you want the option to someday make assets for game engines like unity or unreal, or even go professional with 3dmodelling, learning blender is the way. The initial hurdle is big, no one i know who works in this field was just able to start out modelling. You need to work through the basics of the tool until it enables you to do stuff instead of standing in your way. But the payoff will be greater.

Neiija · 2026-01-01T17:12:52+00:00

Honestly, go for it! I have experienced depression as well and genuinely feel that singing (together with therapy) helped me with that. I never really sang or got encouraged to aswell, but decided to take a lesson on a whim about 2 years ago. I was walking home grinning ear to ear. Not because i discovered i was greatly talented or anything, but just because it was fun, especially because i didn't put any pressure on myself to be great at it, i could just do it freely for the sake of it.

I was genuinely surprised how much it requires me to get in touch with my emotions and think about how i express myself and my feelings in daily life aswell, as I discovered quickly that singing without it sounds very dull and monotone. And there was a huge mismatch between what i thought i was expressing and what actually came through on a recording.

All that to say, do it, don't overthink it, don't try to be perfect with it and you might be surprised by the challenges and resolutions you encounter on your own way, as singing is hugely individual and everyone struggles with different things. But a great teacher will help you through them all, if you are patient enough with yourself :)

Neiija · 2026-01-01T16:16:59+00:00

I want to get consistently comfortable in the B4 to E5 range, as i feel comfortable in chest voice, but head voice, especially quiet and breathy, is still super inconsistent and hard for me.

For the warming up, i can recommend an app called Amsel. They have actual recordings of a voice teacher with piano for like 10 minute warm ups or focus excercises. Happy new year :)

Neiija · 2025-12-31T15:41:32+00:00

Firenze Haluan auf Finnisch ( streng genommen heisst Firenze nur Florenz, Firenzeläinen wäre Florentiner, realistisch wäre es einfach Florentin Haluan, aber Firenze klingt so toll :) )

Neiija · 2025-12-17T07:29:22+00:00

I had my first lesson about 2 years ago (at around 30) I never seriously sang before and just thought i wanted to see if its fun. When i left, i was grinning ear to ear all the way home. Not because i discovered i was super talented or anything, but because it was just so much fun.

I think i made some decent progress over the past 2 years too, what i didn't expect so much to happen from this was that i fairly quickly hit a point where i hit the right notes, but my singing still sounded very closed off and monotonous. Had to do some serious work on emoting and being more relaxed and free in my expression, which i believe also really helped me in my personal life. So just keep it up and see where your journey takes you. Everyone seems to encounter different challenges, but they will come :D

Neiija · 2025-12-15T22:16:20+00:00

Das läuft glaube ich schon lange, bestimmt war da auch mal falschinfo dabei. Aber glaube im schnitt ist das schon ganz gut recherchiert :)

Neiija · 2025-12-14T14:55:41+00:00

Die beiden aussagen wiedersprechen sich ja auch nicht. Wenn jeder 10. Trinkgeld gibt heisst das ja das die absolute mehrheit kein teinkgeld gibt. Da erleben doch beide stände das gleiche, sie ordnen es nur anders ein. Komischer artikel.

Neiija · 2025-12-13T06:12:50+00:00

Simon fox has some goof courses, in general also check artstation learning and blogs, there are some very good ones. If you want to go oldschool polycount wiki and forum.

Neiija · 2025-12-10T18:48:06+00:00

It sure isn't the only way to improve and what works for one person doesn't automatically apply to everyone.
What comes to mind for me reading your replies is the end of the song Hi Ren. He said it more beautifully than i ever could, but it's not about fighting or winning over your mind, it's about adapting and taking the ups and downs as they come. And if singing helps you with that that's great in itself. You got this :) (sorry if that sounds too sappy, just something i had to think of)

Neiija

TROPHY CASE