Blender Master Class by Simonds, Ben -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Blender Master Class: a hands-on guide to modeling, sculpting, materials, and rendering Dedication Acknowledgments About the Author About the Technical Reviewer Introduction

Topics Covered What Isn’t Covered Requirements The Projects

The Bat Creature The Spider Bot The Jungle Temple How to Follow the Projects

Resources Accompanying This Book Let’s Begin

1. Introduction to Blender

About Blender The Blender User Interface

Layout and UI Terminology Switching Editors and Customizing the UI Multiple Layouts

Editor Types

The 3D Viewport

Navigating the 3D Viewport Coordinates in 3D and the Grid Floor

The Properties Editor The Info Editor The Node Editor The UV Image Editor Other Editors

Using Blender

Scenes The Default .blend File Adding Objects The 3D Cursor Selecting Objects Manipulating Objects Other Coordinate Systems Operators Datablocks Naming Datablocks Modes Saving and Loading Appending and Linking

In Review

2. Introduction to GIMP

About GIMP Why GIMP? The GIMP User Interface

The Toolbox The Canvas Dialogs

Using GIMP

Creating an Image Painting and Drawing Brushes and Brush Dynamics Filters Layers Selections Saving and Exporting

In Review

3. Preparation

Concept Art and References

Creating, Finding, and Using References What to Look for in Reference Material

Composition

The Rule of Thirds Silhouettes and Negative Space Simplicity and Focus Visual Path

Testing Compositions in Blender Preparing References in GIMP

Creating a Reference Sheet Aligning Orthographic References

Using Concepts and Reference Images in Blender

UV Image Editor Background Images Image Empties

In Review

4. Blocking In

Basic Modeling Terms Edit Mode Other Ways to Model: Curves Modifiers Blocking in the Jungle Temple Snapping Base Meshes Building the Bat Creature Base Mesh

Loop Cuts and Face and Edge Loops Poses for Modeling Characters Modeling the Hands and Feet Modeling the Head Tweaking the Model with Proportional Editing Creating the Wings Applying Transforms

Shading Modes Creating the Spider Bot In Review

5. Modeling the Details

Topology

What Is Good Topology? Dealing with Difficult Topology

Modeling the Details of the Jungle Temple

Walls Statues Stone Carvings

Tagging Edges Sharp Edges and Subdivision

Plants IvyGen Ground/Soil

Modeling the Details of the Spider Bot

Joints Wires Coupling Other Parts

Modeling the Details of the Bat Creature

Eyes Teeth and Nails

In Review

6. Sculpting

Sculpt Mode

Brush Options Brush Types

Creating Custom Brushes

Clay Tubes Rake Scrape Flat Crease Lazy Drag Alpha Making Brushes Available by Default

Improving Your Sculpting Experience

Optimizing Sculpting Performance Customizing the 3D Viewport MatCap Materials

Creating a MatCap Material Finding MatCap Images

Tweaking OpenGL Shading The Multires Modifier

Vertex Order Subdivision and Polycounts

Sculpting Concepts Sculpting the Bat Creature

Volumes Planes Coarse Anatomy Sculpting Hard-to-Reach Areas Using Shape Keys Hiding Parts of the Mesh Sculpting the Wings Basic Details Sculpting Around the Eyes Time to Retopologize Transferring Sculpted Detail to a New Mesh with a Displacement Map

About Displacement Maps Applying Displacement to the Sculpt Controlling Displacement with a Vertex Group

Detailing

Procedural Details Breaking Symmetry

Posing Expression

Sculpting the Spider Bot

Body Head Legs

Jungle Temple: Creating Incidental Details Sculpting Natural-Looking Faces In Review

7. Retopology

The Basics

Using Snapping to Retopologize Alternative Methods for Retopology

Retopologizing the Jungle Temple Trees Retopologizing the Bat Creature

Decimation Retopologizing the Body

Retopologizing the Spider Bot

Duplicating Groups of Objects

Tips for Retopologizing Head Topology

Eyes Mouth Nose/Nasolabial Fold Ears

In Review

8. UV Unwrapping

Other Kinds of Texture Coordinates Editing UV Coordinates

The UV Grid Unwrapping Tools Seams Pinning Vertices Packing Assigning UV Textures Testing Your UV Coordinates

Unwrapping the Bat Creature Unwrapping the Jungle Temple

Stone Blocks Trees Multiple UV Maps Sharing UV Space Between Objects Leaves and Grass Statue The Rest of the Elements

Unwrapping the Spider Bot

Applying Modifiers and Duplicates Sharing UV Space Efficiently

In Review

9. Hair and Particle Systems

Particles for Hair

Choosing an Object to Add Hair To

Creating a Scalp

Vertex Groups for Hair Weight Painting

Hair Density Hair Length

Adding a Particle System

Particle System Properties Emission Panel Velocity Panel Rotation Render Display Children Vertex Groups Particle Mode Shaping Your Hair Styling Tips Child Particles Peach Fuzz

Complex Haircuts Controlling Particles with Textures Other Uses for Particle Systems

Grass for the Jungle Temple

Creating a Grass Particle System Object Rotation and Particle Systems

Hair and Fur Tips In Review

10. Texture Baking

Images and Textures

Assigning an Image Assigning Textures

Texture-Baking Controls Texture Map Types Baking Textures for the Bat Creature

Baking Displacement from Sculpt to Final Mesh Bit Depth and Textures Applying the Displacement Map Baking Normal Maps Baking Ambient Occlusion

Baking Textures for the Spider Bot

Baking Maps for Multiple Objects Baking Diffuse Colors and Textures

Material Utils Add-On Baking a Texture Map

Texturing the Jungle Temple General Tips for Baking Maps In Review

11. Texture Painting

Texturing in Blender

Project Paint Painting in the UV Image Editor

Texturing in GIMP

Creating Brushes for Texturing in GIMP Adding Variation to a Brush

Texturing the Bat Creature

Materials and UI Setup for Painting

Adding a Light Laying Out Basic Textures in Blender Switching to GIMP

Layer Modes and Opacity

Adjusting Colors Saving and Exporting Back to Blender Adding Details Nails and Teeth

Fixing Seams

Reconciling Fixed Seams and Layered Images

Layer Masks Creating Specular and Hardness Textures Layer Groups

Specular Map Hardness Map

Texturing the Eyes

Texturing the Jungle Temple

Hardness vs. Roughness Creating Seamless Textures with GIMP

Testing the Texture Creating Additional Textures

Texturing the Ground and Trees

Ground Texture Tree Textures

Texturing the Statue Texturing to Camera Texturing the Leaves

Collecting the Leaf Images Alpha Map Diffuse Map Specular Map Combining Leaves onto a Single Texture

Texturing the Spider Bot

Creating Three Textures Adding Decals

In Review

12. Materials

Render Engines: Blender Internal and Cycles Reflection Transmission and Refraction

Z Transparency

Blender Internal Materials Cycles Materials

Other Inputs in Cycles Texture Nodes Nodes in Blender Internal

Materials for the Bat Creature

Skin

Mapping Coordinates Influence Further Textures Adding a Normal Map Subsurface Scattering

Teeth, Nails, and Eyes Fur

Strand Coordinates Peach Fuzz

Materials for the Spider Bot

Editing Node Materials

The Cycles Render Preview Adding Textures

Socket Types

Roughness Map Adjusting Inputs

Other Materials

Materials for the Jungle Temple

Ground Stone Material

Displacement Statue

Leaves Foreground Rocks and Soil Puddles

General Tips for Creating Materials In Review

13. Lighting

Blender Internal vs. Cycles Lighting Lighting in Blender Internal Shadows in Blender Internal

Ray Tracing Shadow Buffers

Common Shadow Options Ray-Traced Shadow Options Shadow-Buffer Options

Lighting in Cycles

Lamp Objects in Cycles Mesh-Emitter Objects in Cycles

World Settings and Ambient Light and Occlusion

World Settings in Blender Internal World Settings in Cycles

Lighting the Bat Creature

Three-Point Lighting

The Key Light The Fill Light The Back Light Positioning the Lights

Clay Renders and Material Override Shadows and Fur Lighting the Eyes Floor Shadows World Settings for the Bat Creature

Lighting the Spider Bot Lighting the Jungle Temple

World Background Temple Entrance Lighting Fill Lighting Back Light A Note on Soft Shadows

General Lighting Tips In Review

14. Rendering and Compositing

The Render Tab

Rendering with Blender Internal

Render Panel Layers Panel Dimensions Anti-Aliasing and Motion Blur Shading Performance Post-Processing Stamp Output Bake

Rendering with Cycles

Sampling Light Paths Film Layers

Balancing Render Time and Quality The Compositor Rendering and Compositing the Bat Creature

Render Layers Compositing the Passes

Extra Ambient Occlusion Combining the Body and Fur Bloom Color Correction Adding a Vignette

Compositing Feedback and Viewer Nodes Organizing Node Trees with Frames and Node Groups Frame Nodes Node Groups Retouching in GIMP

Rendering and Compositing the Spider Bot

Depth of Field in Cycles Render Settings for the Spider Bot Compositing the Spider Bot

Rendering and Compositing the Jungle Temple

Background Required Painting the Sky in GIMP Compositing the Temple

Depth of Field Adding Bloom and Vignetting Color Grading

In Review

15. Going Further

Embellishments

Adding to the Jungle Temple

Creating the Branch Object Duplicating with Face Duplication Creating Pebbles

Adding to the Bat Creature

Creating the Rock Adding Clouds

Different Looks Rigging and Animation In Review

A. B. About the Project Files Index About the Author Copyright

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