The second week moved into materials territory. Some posts ran deeper than planned - here's what I took from it.
What I Covered
Week 2 spanned material creation, pixel coverage, the depth prepass, heat oxidation, photo reference, and building a material library. The range was wider than Week 1, which kept things interesting but also made it harder to keep posts tight.
A few of these were genuine refreshers - concepts I knew well enough to apply, but hadn't articulated clearly before. Writing forces a level of precision that just doing the work doesn't. Some topics also opened up into more scientific territory than expected - the heat oxidation post and the material library structure both turned into deeper explorations than originally scoped.
What Ran Long
Several posts ended up more technically in-depth than I anticipated. The heat oxidation post is the clearest example - what started as a quick breakdown turned into a proper research pass with a reference table and color values. That kind of scope creep is hard to predict upfront.
The payoff was real, though. Posts with visual examples - the heat discoloration gradient in particular - landed better than posts that were text-heavy.
The depth prepass also ran longer than expected - getting the diagram right to clearly show the pipeline order took more iteration than the writing itself.
What Writing at Pace Actually Feels Like
At some point it becomes easier, there's less overthinking, more just doing it. The more complex the topics get, the harder it is to do them justice without visual examples. Momentum is still important - one missed day and the whole system starts to slip. No pressure.
What's Next
Block 2 moves into rendering and lighting. After two weeks of pipelines and materials, shifting into how light interacts with the surfaces I've been building feels like a natural next step, the two are inseparable if you want convincing results.
© 2026 Stefan Groenewoud - All views are my own, not those of my employer.