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Modeling with Blender

The goal of today's class is to become comfortable using Blender as a Modeling tool. You will be expected to use Blender to create digital scenes throughout this course. You will need to practice these skills to become proficient and to remain proficient.

This information is covered extremely well in Video #3 on this website: http://cgcookie.com/blender/cgc-courses/blender-basics-introduction-for-beginners/

• Direct link: Modeling

Modes in 3D View window

The 3D View has three modes that you need to know for modeling:

• Object Mode - RST (Rotate/Scale/Translate) actions affect entire objects, e,g, 'Sphere', 'Cube', or 'Suzanne'.
• Edit Mode - RST actions affect only the selected Vertices, Edges, or Faces of the polygons that make up an object. This gives you complete control over every point on an object.
• Sculpt Mode - Provides a brush tool for adding to or subtracting from an object. This is much more of an artist's tool than direct manipulation in Edit Mode.

Select the mode with this dropdown at the bottom of the 3D View:

Skills to know: Object Mode

• 'Ctrl-z' is undo
• Creating objects
  • Add objects with 'Add' menu
    • Add->Mesh->Sphere
  • Add objects with 'Shift-a'
    • Add->Mesh->Cylinder
    • Change number of vertices on bottom of Tool Shelf after creating the sphere. (NOTE - the bottom of the Tool Shelf has an 'Operator' area. This lets you make changes to the last operation you performed. There are some changes that you can only make immediately, like changing the number of vertices in a new cylinder.)
  • Add objects by searching for commands
    • Press space. Type 'sphere'. Scroll down to 'Add UV Sphere'
    • Change number of segments and rings on the tool shelf. Translate the new sphere and notice how the tool shelf has now changed - you cannot edit these values any more.
  • Add a 'monkey' using any of the above 3 methods. 'Suzanne' is a demo object.
  • New objects appear at the '3D cursor'
  • Press 'Alt-g' to move an object to the origin
• Deleting objects
  • Delete key
  • X key
  • Delete button in Tool Shelf
  • RMB on object name in Outliner
• Transforming objects (RST)
  • Manipulator buttons on Tool Shelf (LMB to confirm, Esc or RMB to cancel)
    
    • Translate
    • Rotate
    • Scale
    • LMB or Enter to confirm, RMB or Esc to cancel
    • 'x', 'y', or 'z' locks to Global (x/y/z) axis
    • 'xx', 'yy', or 'zz' locks to Local (x/y/z) axis
  • Manipulator controls via hot keys
    • Translate == 'g' (grab)
    • Rotate == 'r'
    • Scale == 's'
    • Same confirm/cancel options as above
    • Same Lock to Axis options as above
  • Manipulator controls on bottom of 3D View
    • Translate manipulators
    • Rotate manipulators
    • Scale manipulators
    • Shift-click these buttons to enable multiple manipulators
    • RGB == XYZ
    • Global vs. Local
  • Set transform on Properties bar (right side of 3D View)
    
    • Enter absolute values for location/rotation/scale
    • Drag values left and right in location/rotation/scale widgets
    • Lock axis
• Combine multiple objects with 'Ctrl-j' (Join)
• 3D Cursor
  • "Action button" - LMB
  • The 3D cursor is where new objects are added

Skills to know: Edit Mode

Allows editing of an object's vertices and faces. When selected, the Tool Shelf and Properties tab change to show edit tools.

• RMB to select vertex, edge, or face
• Use 'Selection Control' buttons at bottom of 3D View to choose what type RMB selects:
  • Shift-RMB to select multiple elements (e.g. faces and edges)
• Ctrl-LMB to 'lasso-select' multiple elements (This is buggy)
• Ctrl-Shift-LMB to 'lasso-deselect'
• Vertices/edges/faces can be rotated/translated/scaled
• 'Limit selection to visible' - only selects front of model
• 'Proportional Editing' - moving one face distorts secondary neighbors, or just immediate neighbors
  • 'Proportional Editing Falloff' - controls how distortion works
• 'Snap During Transform' - Useful for alignment; generally leave it off for soft models
• Adding a new object while in Edit Mode automatically Joins it to the current selection, like Ctrl-j in Object Mode
• Tool Shelf controls for Editing:
  • Extrude Region - Translate selected elements as a group along their average normal
  • Extrude Individual - Translate selected elements along their own normals
  • Subdivide - Turn the selected face into four faces
  • Loop Cut and Slide - Cut a group of faces in half
• Combining faces:
  • Tool Shelf: merge
  • Select edge(or two faces), Delete->Dissolve
  • Select edge(or two faces), Delete->Edge Collapse

Deleting faces:

• Tool Shelf: merge
• Select face, Delete->Faces
• Select face, Delete->Only Edges and Faces
• Select face, Delete->Vertices

Skills to know: Sculpt Mode

Creates a brush that adds or subtracts from an object. The most important controls are on the Tool shelf.

• Click on the brushe's picture to select a different brush
• Radius - Sets size of brush. Visible as circle in 3DView
• Strength - 0.0-1.0. Determines how much brush deforms the mesh
• Add/Subtract buttons - Determine whether brush adds or removes from the surface
• The sculpt tool moves polygons, it cannot bend them. It will work on n object with lots of polygons, but not a plane or cube. Use this setting to add new polygons as needed to make the tool work:
  • Tool Shelf->Topology->Enable Dynamic