Blender 3D: Noob to Pro

About this book

Front Cover

This Wikibook is brought to you by many Team members as well as anonymous editors.

Introduction

This book is a series of tutorials to help new users learn Blender. The tutorials increase in difficulty, and later tutorials are built on the previous ones. Therefore, Blender beginners should follow the tutorials in sequence. Intermediate users can skip to a tutorial of suitable difficulty. Efforts have been made to accommodate everyone.

The latest version of Blender can be downloaded from here.

This is one of the Blender-related Wikibooks. Have a look at the complementary ones. For a Wiki with more technical information on Blender, please see The Blender Wiki.

The major divisions in the book

• Beginner Tutorials focus on learning how to use the tools, hotkeys available in the blender. this is mostly technical documentation

• Intermediate Tutorials focus on the artistic use of the tools learned in the beginner tutorials.

• Advanced Tutorials focus on the advanced functions of the Blender, such as python scripting for advanced animation, advanced modeling, etc.

Contributing to this book

If you would like to contribute to this book, you are strongly encouraged (read as begged) to do so! There are several things you may wish to do, listed below, before the Table of Contents.

Editing a page

Simply click on the edit this page link at the top of whichever page you would like to edit! Your contribution will be reviewed before it is officially published. You can also ask questions and make comments about each page by clicking the discussion tab at the top of the page.

Adding a page

If you would like to add a page to the book, such as a new tutorial page or a reference page, create a link to it under the Contents section on this very page. Once the link is created, click it to be taken to the new page where you will be able to add content. If you're creating a tutorial and you don't know where it belongs, put it in the Miscellaneous section for now and we will put it in the right spot.

To maintain ease of navigation throughout the book, please be sure to create links to the pages before and after your new page, using the template shown here. Also be sure to update the page before and after your new page with links to your new page. You can skip this step if you think the page you are putting in will likely be moved from where you put it, but in this case you should also ask for an opinion via the discussion tab.

Adding Images

In Blender tutorials, images are vital. They clarify your point, provide a point of reference, and improve the teaching process. However, if the image's copyright is not attributed correctly, we must remove it. This can make a once-great tutorial useless. Even if you believe that you know what copyright to use, please check the proper Blender images copyright page to see how and where you should add copyright information. Please make sure that every image you use is not copyrighted or that you have permission to use it.

Guidelines for including images

• Check Wikimedia Commons to see if the image you want to use already exists, as uploading the same image twice is wasteful.
• Make sure to check our image portfolio if you're about to upload a general image (such as icons or buttons) or if you want to use someone else's image as an example. Remember to attribute, if necessary. If you upload an image to the Commons and use it in this Wikibook, please be sure to use one of categories shown in the templates on proper Blender images copyright to have it visible from the category links in the image portfolio

What you shouldn't add to pages

• Comments or questions regarding the text. (That's what the discussion pages are for!)
• External links that are not directly related to the page.

Become a member of the team!

If you want to join and work with the team, read our team page for information and advice.

Index

Blender Help

• Blender FAQ
• Hotkeys
• Output Formats
• Image Portfolio
• Blender Wiki PDF Manual (1,426 pages)

Glossaries

• Glossary of Blender Terms
• Materials Directory: Every Material Known To Man

Unit 1: Knowing Blender

Know What You're Doing

• Introduction
• Tutorial Overview
• Cheat the 3D
• Performance vs. Quality

Thinking in 3D

• 3D Coordinates
• Orthographic Projections
• Isometric Projections
• Perspective Views
• Coordinate Spaces in Blender

Learning Graphic Interface

• Overview
• Tutorial Syntax
• Non-standard equipment
• Operating System specific notes
• Become Familiar with the Blender Interface
  • Learn the Blender Windowing System
  • The User Preferences Window
  • The Buttons Window
  • The 3D Viewport Window
  • Other Windows
• Navigation in 3D

Version Differences That will break older tutorials

• Newly created things have wrong orientation in 2.48+ (align to view issue)

Unit 2: Creation and Development

Modeling basics

• Mesh Basics
• Blender Views
• Beginning Tips
• Quickie Model
• Quickie Render

Modeling a Simple Person

• Building the Blocks
• Detailing Your Simple Person I
• Detailing Your Simple Person II
• Creating a Simple Hat
• Putting Hat on Person
• Using Bones

Beyond Basics

• Mountains Out Of Molehills
• Modeling a volcano
• Penguins from Spheres
• Die Easy 2 (Dice Modeling)
  • Die Another Way (Dice Modeling for versions under 2.44)
• Model a Silver Goblet
  • Model a Silver Goblet Another Way
  • Light a Silver Goblet ( Early look at lighting )
• Simple Vehicle
  • Simple Vehicle: Wheel
  • Simple Vehicle: Seat
  • Simple Vehicle: Rocket Launcher
  • Simple Vehicle: Body
  • Simple Vehicle: Some Assembly Required
• Modeling a 3D Parachute in Blender
• Model a Low Poly Head
• Building a House
• Pipe joints

Using a Reference Photo

• Creating Models With Photo Assistance
• 2D Image (logo) to a 3D Model
  • 2D Image (logo) to a 3D Model Part 2

Curve and Path Modeling

• overview
• Intro to Bezier Curves
• Curves in 3d
• Deforming Meshes using the Curve Modifier
• MetaObjects

Materials and Textures

• Overview
• Quickie Material
• Quickie Texture
• Halo Materials
• Procedural Textures
• Image Textures

Using Materials and Textures

• Using Textures
• Using a texture to make a material partially transparent
• Creating Basic Seawater
• Mountains Out Of Molehills 2
• Basic Carpet Texture
• The Rusty Ball
• Procedural Eyeball
• Creating Pixar-looking eyes

UV Maps

• UV Map Basics
• Realistic Eyes In Blender

Unit 3: Broadening Horizons

Lighting

• Beginning Lighting
• Understanding Real Lights
• Adding Lamps
• Faked Global Illumination with Blender internal

Rendering

• Render Settings
• Output Format Options
  • OSA
• Looking All Around - Panorama Settings
• Other Important Render Options
• Yafray Render Options
• Stamping
• 2D, Toon, & CAD Rendering

Basic Animation

• Overview
• Screen Layout
• Lattice Modifier
• Bouncing Ball with Lattice
• Creating Basic Water animation
• Flying Through A Canyon
• Using the sequencer to compile frames into an animation
  • External tutorial about regular 2D video editing, with lots of illustration. (keywords: sequencer, NLE)

Particle Systems

• Overview
• Fire
• Fur
• Fireworks
• Particles forming Shapes
• Billboard Animation

Soft Bodies

• Soft Body Animation
  • Simple Cloth Animation
• Soft Body with wind

Blender Game Engine

• Blender Game Engine Basics
• Platformer: Controls and Movement
• Maze: Force and Multiple Levels
• Platformer: Improving the Physics
• How to make an executable
• Build a skybox
• Basic mouse pointer
• Text in BGE
• Platformer: Creating the Engine with Python

Unit 4: Taking Off with Advanced Tutorials

Python Scripting

• Overview
• Introduction
• The Language
• Export scripts
• Import scripts
• Procedural object creation
• Scripts for modifying meshes
• Creating a GUI for your script

Advanced Modeling

• Overview
• High Dynamic Range imaging (HDRi)
  • Creating a Light Probe
• Landscape Modeling with Heightmaps
  • Landscape Modeling I: Basic Terrain
  • Landscape Modeling II: Texture Stenciling
  • Landscape Modeling III: Exporting as a Heightmap
• Realistic Water using Fluid Sim and Yafray

Advanced Materials and Textures

• Bump Mapping
• Normal Mapping
  • Texture Normals
  • Color Map Normals
• Nodes: An Introduction
  • Texture Nodes
  • Material Nodes
  • Compositing

Advanced Animation

• Overview
• Introduction
• Guided tour:
  • Armature Object
    • Armature Object in Object Mode
    • Armature Object in Edit Mode
    • Armature Object in Pose mode
  • Mesh Object
    • Connection between Armature and Mesh
    • Envelope
    • Vertex Groups & Weight Paint
    • Shape Keys
      • Lip-Sync with Shape Keys
  • Constraints
    • Copy Location
    • Copy Rotation
    • Track-To
    • Floor
    • Locked Track
    • Follow Path
    • Stretch-To
    • IK Solver
  • Timeline Window
  • IPO Window
    • Data Type
  • NLA Window
    • Introduction To NLA Editor
    • The Stride feature
• Relative Vertex Keys
• Working example: Bob
• Working example: Piston, Rod and Crank
• Working example: Cutting Through Steel

Advanced Game Engine

• Overview
• Advanced Game Engine Techniques (GUI)
  • Creating Pop-Up Menus
  • Creating Dropping Menus
  • The "5-Layer" Button
  • Creating Object Outlines
• Advanced Game Engine Techniques (Python)
• Intro to game Engine Source

Miscellaneous Tutorials

This is our attic, mostly tutorials that could be useful to some extent if they would be revamped completely, but are of little use at the moment. If you can contribute to some of them, go ahead and rewrite them to your liking!

• Modeling a Gingerbread Man
• Modeling a simple space-ship
• Modelling tips
• Modeling and Texturing a Bottle
• Creating Weapons based on 2D Images
• Match Moving
• Match Moving/Motion Tracking with Icarus and Blender
• Create a Clayman
• Organic Modeling
• Free Blender Samples
• Understanding the Fluid Simulator
• Creating a jewel in Blender
• General Advice on Modeling Realistically
• Modeling a picture
• Modeling with the Spin Tool
  • Spin Tool Introduction
  • Illustrative Example: Model a Wine Glass
  • Illustrative Example: Model a Mug
• Creating Ogg-Theora movies using Blender Should this page be moved here?
• Creating animated GIFs using Blender and Gimp Should this page be moved here?
• 3D Tiling Backgrounds For The Web Should this page be moved here?
• Cool Things That Aren't That Obvious in Blender Should this page be moved here?
• Troubleshooting Common Technical Issues and What to do About Them Should this page be moved here?
• Creating Blender Libraries Should this page be moved here?
• All Blender Tutorial Links – tutorials from all over the Web
• Add some depth with stereo
• Ways to create a "fluffy" effect (materials and lights)
• Human Body
• Rendering Informations
• Using Blender Libraries
• Beginning Modeling Final Project
• Using Inkscape to make advanced Bezier curves

• Modeling Textures
• Light Mapping
• Modeling techniques and Workflow (to be constructed)
  • Polygonal Modeling
    • Box Modeling
      • Illustrative example: Model a Chair (Swan Chair)
        • Model a Chair-Preparations
        • Model a Chair-The Seat
        • Model a Chair-The Feet
      • Illustrative Example: Modeling a Simple Human Character
        • Modeling a Human Character - Preparations
        • Modeling a Human Character - Modeling
      • Illustrative Example: Model a Car (Box)
      • Illustrative Example: Model a Dragon
    • Polygon by Polygon modeling
      • Illustrative Example: Model a Woman Face
      • Illustrative Example: Model a Car (Polygon-By-Polygon)
    • Blocking with Primitives

• Animation Notes and FAQ

Resource Directories

• All Blueprints Links – blueprints from all over the Web
• Sources of free 3D models - Sources of free 3D models for additional study