Introduction to Blender 3D (Preview)

I am writing a detailed introduction to modeling with Blender 3D.  Since it’s taking longer than I expected, I thought I’d post a preview. This is by no means complete. In fact, many paragraphs have not been written yet. You can view the preview here:

Introduction to Blender 3D (Preview)

And here is an excerpt from the introduction to viewport navigation:

“Navigation is done by clicking and dragging the middle mouse button in th 3D view port. A mere click without any keys pressed allows you to rotate the view. Press the SHIFT key and the middle mouse button to move the view, CTRL and the middle mouse button to zoom in and out.”

Blending Life Contest – Final Entry

Below is my final entry for the Blending Life Contest. Unfortunately, I did not make it into the first 7

Anyway, it was good for practice and I learned a lot.

My 3D Model Sara For CG Competition

I decided to compete in the Blender 3D computer graphics competition ‘Blending Life’. The model below – Sara – is likeley the to become the work I am going to submit for the competition.

I think I am gonna dress her up like a pirate bride or a medieval character.

3D Model Of A P88

Last night I created a 3D model of a pistol that resembles a P88 pistol. As you can see, bump mapping proved very helpful in getting the fine serrated structure on the handle.

WIP: Female Character Natalie – Full Body Preview (Nude)

Here is an update of my current work in progress. I rebuilt the hand and breasts and changed her overall proportions to make her look more mature. Except for the hair and face, I did not bother to create textures for this preview, but just applied a flesh color to the material. I also extended the hair.

The lighting doesn’t seem quite right in the 3/4 profile and back view. Maybe I should learn some about that, too.

UT3 Level Design with UnrealEd

Last weekend I went through the Getting Started chapter of the tutorial videos that come with the Unreal Tournament 3 collectors edition. The videos are pretty well made. First, you build two rooms connected by a small hallway. Then you start populating the level with some interious detai such as cross beams, statues and lamps. After that, the basics of lighting are tought. That kind of wraps up subchapters 1-5. Subchapters 6-10 go review topics that have been touched while the introductory level was build, and go into some more detail about brushes, building, actors, widgets and snapping.

Below is a screenshot of the level that you build:

WIP: Female Character Natalie – Foot Geometry

Just finished the geometry of the foot that is gonna be part of the model. Below is a preview that has been textured using Pixelvore’s multi-layered procedural skin shader.

Here is another picture with sandals that could be considered a concept drawing for a character. That’s right, I use the 3D base model to draw some detail onto it in 2D, which is then going to be my concept sketch for the next, refined 3D model.

WIP: Female Character Natalie – Head Retextured after Topology Change

As I wrote in the last post, I changed the topology of the head a bit to support the hair and eyebrows by the geometry, so I had to re-texture the model. I think the hair looks much better now. Here’s a new screenshot:

WIP: Female Character Natalie – Textured Head Finished

I started a new female character model and just finished the first version of the head last weekend, including texturing. Though I am a big fan of Blender’s particle hair simulation, I decided to just stick to polygon hair for now. The hair is not supported by the geometry yet, but it’s a start.

After some feedback from guys from the BlenderArtist forums, I applied some modifications to the model. The eyes have been moved a bit upward. The lips got an extra edgeloop, and the crease flowing down from the nostrils is now flowing a bit further down.

In addition, I decided to incorporate hairs and eyebrows into the geometry, but haven’t re-textured the model yet.

Although I didn’t change them, I decided to record the settings for the eyeballs. The eyeballs consist of a transparent outer sphere, and an inner sphere to hold the actual eye textures.

Textured Spitfire Model

I just modeled an old Spitfire plane for fun and decided this time I was trying to find good uses for bump maps. As it turned out, bump maps are not unly useful for rivets on the fuselage. In this particular model, they also help to give some detail to the rudder, see image below.