Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Simple Vehicle: Some Assembly Required
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Contents |
[edit] Techniques
You should know how to:
- Do everything discussed in previous tutorials
This section will recap and introduce:
- Append a file
- Duplicate an object
[edit] Overview
The objects for the simple vehicle have been made if you have followed all the previous Simple Vehicle tutorials. Putting it all together will come very easy now.
[edit] Appending the File
If you have the jeep body file open, keep it open. Otherwise, open the file for the jeep body. In Object Mode, go up to File > Append (about 3/4 of the way down the menu). The find file window will appear. Go to the location where the jeep seat was saved. When the .blend file is clicked, you'll go into it as if it is a directory.
Here we have the categories of Camera, Lamp, Material, Mesh, Object, Scene, Text, and World. We are interested in the seat object, so click on Object. Now there are three items: Camera, Lamp, and Seat. That is, it will say Seat if you named your object Seat. This is why it is useful to rename your objects, materials, etc. If you forgot to rename the object, it will be called Cube (default for our starting mesh).
What should happen after selecting Seat and the button 'Load Library' is the seat will pop into our file where the 3D cursor was. It will definitely need to be scaled, rotated, and/or moved to the right position. In my example, I rotated the seat about the Z axis -90 degrees by pressing RKEY ZKEY NUM9 NUM0 NUM-.
(Noob Comment: When I tried this, I was unable to move my seat at all. Said that I could not edit the object.) (This noob either (A) linked the seat instead of appending it. when selecting the file, look at the bottom for the append/link options and make "Append" selected. (B) selected "Append or Link (Image Browser)" instead of the option above it in the File menu. (C) tried to enter edit mode without making a new instance of the mesh. In F9(Editing Panel) -> Link and Materials You will see at the top the mesh name "ME: seat" or whatever you called it. To the right there may be a button that makes the mesh data local. Click that if you want to make a copy of the mesh data.)
After placing the seat in the jeep body, let's make another so we have a seat for the driver and passenger. Still in Object Mode with the seat selected, duplicate it (SHIFT DKEY) and slide it over. After duplicating it, it will automatically go into grab mode. If you RMB or ESC, it will still be duplicated - just sitting on top of the original.
(user comment: When you move the body, the seat will stay in his place. To prevent this you must make the body parent of the other parts. For example the seat: first select the seat, then select the body.(so you have them both selected) Now press (CTRL PKEY) and select make parent. If you move the body, the seat will move with it. if you move the seat, the body won't move.)
[edit] Rinse and Repeat
Append the file again to place the wheel object and rocket launcher in the file. Scale, rotate, move, and duplicate each object accordingly. Depending on the position of your camera, you may or may not have to make all four tires. Remember that the only important parts to draw are those that will be seen!
Noob:I may have done something wrong in the Rocket Launcher tutorial, but when I link to the .blend file each object (launcher, mount, and ball bearing) is listed separately and have to be reassembled in the new file. Any suggestions??
Set the ball over the tripod. The fun part is rotating the rocket launcher since the center of it has been moved to the ball joint.
The last thing is to apply materials to your objects if you haven't already. I'll point you to the materials section for information on that. I would suggest that the window be assigned a transparent material by making the Render Pipeline wire for example.
User request:explain in more depth how to make the windshield transparent
User reply: if you quit out of this tutorial while staying in that section of the book, there is a section called "every material known to man" (its near the bottom of the tutorial list) and there are several kinds of glass there.
Noob:how do you get just the windshield made out of glass?
User Reply: select the faces you want, press f7, (note: it's f9 for me [2.47])then click add under links and materials. Press f5 then add your glass material
Noob:I have 2.4.6, and I don't know how to make just the windshield transparent, everytime I try the whole thing is transparent.
Another Noob:You have to create a new material and assign it to the appropriate faces. In edit mode, select the faces you want (make sure you select both sides of the windshield including: front face, back face, and top face). On the Editing section (F9 in 2.4.7), under Links and Materials, click the 'New' button under Materials then click the 'Assign' button. This assigns the new material to the selected faces. You can then go into the Shading section (F5 in 2.4.7) and adjust the material to be glass. Make sure you are editing the correct material (if you have just the one texture on the jeep, the default name for the new material should be something like "2 Mat 2").
Yet Another Noob:When I append the files, they lose their materials. When I link the files, I can't move or resize them.
Yet Another Noob (the same one as just above):I just figured out that my file is glitching. Append should make it possible to move and resize AND it should keep the material.
The final result of a simple jeep:
[edit] Additional Tutorials
Append and Link Video Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ZBlDrOlIY
