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Wucas' Modeling Thread
A Text and Video Tutorial Series by Lucas Warren
Videos In The Process of Being Made, Check Back For Updates: 1/10 Completed
*Note: This thread is still being worked on, I cannot guarantee everything I say to be 100% correct. I am human too, if you find a mistake just let me know!A Text and Video Tutorial Series by Lucas Warren
Videos In The Process of Being Made, Check Back For Updates: 1/10 Completed
Table of Contents:
I. Table of Contents
II. Introduction
III. Blender Controls
X. Downloads
II. Introduction
III. Blender Controls
a. Basic Controls
b. Advanced Controls
c. User Preferences
IV. Basic Modeling Infob. Advanced Controls
c. User Preferences
a. Terminology
b. Topology
V. Modelingb. Topology
a. Modeling via Background
b. Modeling via Spline
VI. Post – Modelingb. Modeling via Spline
a. Touchups
b. Sculpting
c. UV Mapping
VII. Texturingb. Sculpting
c. UV Mapping
a. Types of Images
b. Creating Normal Maps
c. Painting
d. Assigning Materials
VIII. Post – Productionb. Creating Normal Maps
c. Painting
d. Assigning Materials
a. Naming Your Pieces
b. Exporting
IX. Frequently Asked Questionsb. Exporting
X. Downloads
Welcome! Since I see you have come to this thread, I can assume you are interested in modeling, and you started in the right place. This guide will take you not only through the basics of modeling, but also into the next stage, hopefully creating character models and other pieces along the way.
Although not the tool of choice by many studios, today we will be working in "Blender 3D" due to the aspect that it is free and is fairly lightweight when speaking in terms of base hardware.
I am personally fond of teaching in a very open approach, so this will not be step by step. Skip around through the tabs if you like, it is completely up to you.
If any questions or comments arise while going through these pages, first look in the "Frequently Asked Questions" tab and see if your answer is found there. If it is not there, just leave me a message in the thread below and you will be helped. Thanks for viewing my thread and I wish you the best of luck.
Although not the tool of choice by many studios, today we will be working in "Blender 3D" due to the aspect that it is free and is fairly lightweight when speaking in terms of base hardware.
I am personally fond of teaching in a very open approach, so this will not be step by step. Skip around through the tabs if you like, it is completely up to you.
If any questions or comments arise while going through these pages, first look in the "Frequently Asked Questions" tab and see if your answer is found there. If it is not there, just leave me a message in the thread below and you will be helped. Thanks for viewing my thread and I wish you the best of luck.
The first step in learning anything is knowing your controls. This is not exception then when learning Blender.
For a full list view this
For a full list view this
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Basic Controls
Advanced Controls
User Preferences
A Select/ Deselect All
B Box Select
E Extrude
F Create Face/ Edge
G Grab (Move)
H Hide
I Keyframe Insert
L Linked Material Select
P Separate Selection
R Rotate
S Scale
W Special Menu
U UV Map Menu
Z Toggle Between Wireframe/ Solid Modes
Number Pad Toggle Camera Position
Shift *HOLD* Select multiples
Space Type a command
Tab Toggle Between Object/ Edit Modes
LMB Move 2D/ 3D Cursor
RMB Select
MMB Rotate Camera View
Scroll Wheel Zoom In/Out
F12 Render Frame
(Alt) H Unhide All
(Ctrl) MMB Zoom In/Out
(Shft) D Duplicate
(Shift) MMB Move Camera View
B Box Select
E Extrude
F Create Face/ Edge
G Grab (Move)
H Hide
I Keyframe Insert
L Linked Material Select
P Separate Selection
R Rotate
S Scale
W Special Menu
U UV Map Menu
Z Toggle Between Wireframe/ Solid Modes
Number Pad Toggle Camera Position
Shift *HOLD* Select multiples
Space Type a command
Tab Toggle Between Object/ Edit Modes
LMB Move 2D/ 3D Cursor
RMB Select
MMB Rotate Camera View
Scroll Wheel Zoom In/Out
F12 Render Frame
(Alt) H Unhide All
(Ctrl) MMB Zoom In/Out
(Shft) D Duplicate
(Shift) MMB Move Camera View
(Alt) RMB Select Vertex Loop
(Ctrl) R Cut New Vertex Loop
(Ctrl) F Faces Menu
(Ctrl) V Vertices Menu
(Ctrl) I Select Inverse
(Shft) C Move 3D cursor to Origin
(Ctrl) R Cut New Vertex Loop
(Ctrl) F Faces Menu
(Ctrl) V Vertices Menu
(Ctrl) I Select Inverse
(Shft) C Move 3D cursor to Origin
A nice thing about Blender is its ability to be completely customized to fit you, the end user. In the "User preferences, found in the File menu, you can change the look of the interface, how things are edited, control settings, add or disable plugins, and much more.
I personally suggest adding the bSurface addon found here
To see everything that can be changed, visit the official Preferences Manual here.
I personally suggest adding the bSurface addon found here
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, we will use it later in the tutorial.To see everything that can be changed, visit the official Preferences Manual here.
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If this is your first time 3D modeling you may or may not understand some of the fundamental keys behind it, that is what this section is for. Here we will discuss the terminology along with topology which is the area of geometry dealing with layout, which is all too important in 3D design.
For a full list of terminology, please visit the official Glossary.
For a full list of terminology, please visit the official Glossary.
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Terminology
Topology
Alpha Channel Additional channel in 2D image (RBGA) for transparency.
Animation The moving of objects or pieces of mesh to replicate movement.
Bevel Used to smooth corners of a mesh.
Bounding Box Imaginary box that surrounds all meshes, used to find geometric centers and axis for all the objects included.
Bump Mapping A method of using a texture map to change the shadows on an object, used in low polygonal meshes to give more detail.
Depth Of Field The distance behind an object that is viewable.
Edge The line between to vertices.
Export The ability to create new files of varying types out of mesh, different file types have different uses.
Extrude A commonly used tool in modeling used to greater more geometry from a mesh. Basis of most 3D design.
Face A plane that is connected by 3 or 4 vertices.
Flipping Normals The toggling of which side of a face a texture is drawn too.
Import The ability to create new meshes of varying types out of files.
Key The location, rotation, and scale of meshes and objects for usage in animation, used with frames to create semi-fluent movement.
Lamp Light source.
Loop The row of vertices/ edges/ faces. Important to topology.
Luminosity The amount of light given off.
Map A 2D interpretation of a 3D surface or object.
Merge The combining of two or more items into one.
Mesh A series of edges, faces, and vertices all used to create a 3D object.
Mirror A tool used to copy and flip a mesh, usually across an axis.
Normal The 2D interpretation of a 3D mesh compared perpendicular to the surface.
Object A group of meshes.
Poly A plane with at least three edges, see "face."
Quad A face connected by four vertices.
Render The 2D interpretation of a 3D mesh.
Sculpt A tool used to change the location, size, and shape of polygons.
Scene A group of meshes, lamps, cameras, etc. A whole development file.
Softbody The non-rigid form of objects.
Texture A 2D image used to "paint" a mesh.
Tri A face connected by three vertices.
UV Map A tool used to allocate textures from a 2D image onto a 3D mesh
Vertex A point
Animation The moving of objects or pieces of mesh to replicate movement.
Bevel Used to smooth corners of a mesh.
Bounding Box Imaginary box that surrounds all meshes, used to find geometric centers and axis for all the objects included.
Bump Mapping A method of using a texture map to change the shadows on an object, used in low polygonal meshes to give more detail.
Depth Of Field The distance behind an object that is viewable.
Edge The line between to vertices.
Export The ability to create new files of varying types out of mesh, different file types have different uses.
Extrude A commonly used tool in modeling used to greater more geometry from a mesh. Basis of most 3D design.
Face A plane that is connected by 3 or 4 vertices.
Flipping Normals The toggling of which side of a face a texture is drawn too.
Import The ability to create new meshes of varying types out of files.
Key The location, rotation, and scale of meshes and objects for usage in animation, used with frames to create semi-fluent movement.
Lamp Light source.
Loop The row of vertices/ edges/ faces. Important to topology.
Luminosity The amount of light given off.
Map A 2D interpretation of a 3D surface or object.
Merge The combining of two or more items into one.
Mesh A series of edges, faces, and vertices all used to create a 3D object.
Mirror A tool used to copy and flip a mesh, usually across an axis.
Normal The 2D interpretation of a 3D mesh compared perpendicular to the surface.
Object A group of meshes.
Poly A plane with at least three edges, see "face."
Quad A face connected by four vertices.
Render The 2D interpretation of a 3D mesh.
Sculpt A tool used to change the location, size, and shape of polygons.
Scene A group of meshes, lamps, cameras, etc. A whole development file.
Softbody The non-rigid form of objects.
Texture A 2D image used to "paint" a mesh.
Tri A face connected by three vertices.
UV Map A tool used to allocate textures from a 2D image onto a 3D mesh
Vertex A point
To understand topology is to realize the flow of models. When creating meshes we must always remember that even though the creation of *almost* anything is possible, the uses of meshes are dependent on how well they are made. Based not only on the amount of polygons used, but the efficiency on the placement of those polygons, visual and overall performance will vary greatly. Animations, renders, and modifiers all use very complex algorithms to achieve their ultimate goal, but if the topology is very weak or just not there, not only will the end result be below average, but memory and CPU usage will also be wasted.
Look at this image
Look at this image
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. It does not take much to see how problems could arise during animation and texturing by seeing the non fluent flow of meshes. Curves have become pointed, areas that shouldn't be flat are, but more important then even that, the size of the faces vary immensely. Look at it from this perspective, if the mesh was a company, and the faces people, you would not give 10 of people 3 times the amount of workload compared to the other workers. It is the same with CG, by putting more data (points and faces) in one area, the workload cannot be spread equally across the whole mesh, creating a mess of points. To create a mesh with correct topology, we would make sure that the loops (lines of faces and edges) move fluently and are fairly close to the same size throughout the mesh. When coming to a more detailed area (such as the hand) we make sure that the polygons decrease in size in a very fluent way, rather then rapidly. An example of good topology can be found here
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.Yes we are finally to the juicy stuff, the body of this whole tutorial. Today we will be using three different methods of modeling, starting with probably the most used method, modeling via background, then moving from there. Before we start I would like to ask you on behalf of other developers to not steal models or use renders as textures. Not only does this disgrace the original creator, it makes you look incompetent. Using another persons idea or model as a concept is perfectly fine, but as soon as a texture or mesh is stolen you have crossed a line that should be followed by artist everywhere.
Note*: See downloads section for development files.
Modeling via Background
Modeling via Backgroun (Advanced) Coming Soon!
Modeling via Spline
Note*: See downloads section for development files.
Modeling via Background
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Modeling via Backgroun (Advanced) Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
Now that we have a base mesh finished, its time for the fun part, Post – Modeling. During this step we will take a mesh we worked with prior and simply make it better, after that we will fine tune the mesh with sculpting, and finish by UV Mapping, getting ready for the next step of texturing.
Note*: See downloads section for development files.
Touchups
Sculpting
UV Mapping
Note*: See downloads section for development files.
Touchups
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
Now its time to give our mesh a skin. Since Photoshop is commonly used on this forum to begin with, it will be our tool of choice.
Note*: See downloads section for development files.
Types of Images
Creating Normal Maps
Painting
Assigning Materials
Note*: See downloads section for development files.
Types of Images
Picking the format of image is an important part of the texturing process. Each image type is different depending on the application they were designed for. You will soon see why DDS is the most commonly used image types in 3D design.
JPG is a widely used image format when dealing with photographs and webdata. JPG removes colors not visible to the human eye as well as compressing it in a fairly small size compared to other formats. Advantages: Very Small size, Removes un-needed colors from photos Disadvantages: Loses data, No alpha channel, Compressed
PNG is a widely used image format for webdata. PNG is the open-source successor to GIF, supporting True Color (16 million colors) and has a lossless compression, meaning that it is used often in the editing process. Advantages: Moderately small size, Alpha channel, True color, Open source Disadvantages: Compressed
GIF is a widely used image format for webdate. GIF is limited to 256 colors, meaning it is ideal for logos, diagram, and cartoonish images. GIF format supports animation, and although other image types may do the same, GIF is the most used one. Advantages: Meditatively small size, Alpha channel, Animations Disadvantages: Small amount of usable color, Compressed
BMP is widely used by Windows Programs. BMP files are uncompressed and simple, which is why they are used. Advantages: Uncompressed, Not limited Disadvantages: Massive size, No alpha channel
DDS is a texture file, not an image. This means DDS can hold other information, such as MIP Maps, Cube Maps, and Volume Textures, as well as supporting other color formats instead of the basic RGB/RGBA. Also DDS is the native type of file the GPU reads, meaning that while other types of images need converted after being loaded, DDS can be read directly by the GPU. Advantages: Holds other data, Read Directly by the GPU, Can be compressed in multiple ways, Alpha channel Disadvantages: Fairly Large File Size
JPG is a widely used image format when dealing with photographs and webdata. JPG removes colors not visible to the human eye as well as compressing it in a fairly small size compared to other formats. Advantages: Very Small size, Removes un-needed colors from photos Disadvantages: Loses data, No alpha channel, Compressed
PNG is a widely used image format for webdata. PNG is the open-source successor to GIF, supporting True Color (16 million colors) and has a lossless compression, meaning that it is used often in the editing process. Advantages: Moderately small size, Alpha channel, True color, Open source Disadvantages: Compressed
GIF is a widely used image format for webdate. GIF is limited to 256 colors, meaning it is ideal for logos, diagram, and cartoonish images. GIF format supports animation, and although other image types may do the same, GIF is the most used one. Advantages: Meditatively small size, Alpha channel, Animations Disadvantages: Small amount of usable color, Compressed
BMP is widely used by Windows Programs. BMP files are uncompressed and simple, which is why they are used. Advantages: Uncompressed, Not limited Disadvantages: Massive size, No alpha channel
DDS is a texture file, not an image. This means DDS can hold other information, such as MIP Maps, Cube Maps, and Volume Textures, as well as supporting other color formats instead of the basic RGB/RGBA. Also DDS is the native type of file the GPU reads, meaning that while other types of images need converted after being loaded, DDS can be read directly by the GPU. Advantages: Holds other data, Read Directly by the GPU, Can be compressed in multiple ways, Alpha channel Disadvantages: Fairly Large File Size
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
We have finally reached the end of the journey and it is time to show some common applications of the mesh you have created. Before that, however, we must name our pieces.
Naming Your Pieces
Exporting
Naming Your Pieces
Naming your meshes is definitely an important part to any 3D project. Not only does naming your objects give a sense of organization, but in some cases naming conventions are necessary for correct rendering. For example, in "GunZ the Duel" naming conventions in maps are used to create the collisions, different objects, and even which areas are loaded. There are, however, some basic points to follow when naming meshes.
Don't Use Spaces Spaces simply mess things up, so it is best to either use hyphens (base-mesh) or underscores (base_mesh) or just leave it out completely (basemesh)
Use Lowercase It is a just a rule of thumb to keep everything lowercase. Not only does it help other developers work with your creation, having a mesh named like tHiS just is not professional.
Keep It Short Why waste memory on something simple? Simply make the name as short as possible without giving up valid information.
Name It Correctly When working with games or other outside renders, mesh names will actually be loaded separately in many case, meaning that the mesh name needs to describe the mesh correctly so other developers are not confused.
Don't Use Spaces Spaces simply mess things up, so it is best to either use hyphens (base-mesh) or underscores (base_mesh) or just leave it out completely (basemesh)
Use Lowercase It is a just a rule of thumb to keep everything lowercase. Not only does it help other developers work with your creation, having a mesh named like tHiS just is not professional.
Keep It Short Why waste memory on something simple? Simply make the name as short as possible without giving up valid information.
Name It Correctly When working with games or other outside renders, mesh names will actually be loaded separately in many case, meaning that the mesh name needs to describe the mesh correctly so other developers are not confused.
Exporting is a necessary part to almost any usage of your mesh. Some exporters, such as the OBJ and FBX, are regularly used, hince the options are fairly easy to understand and no problems should arise. Other exporters, such as private mesh exporters for games are more complex seeing they are specialized for that company in particular.
Coming Soon, How To Export Series!
Coming Soon, How To Export Series!
What is an acceptable amount of polygons? This is completely dependent on the usage. If working solely for renders, having 3,000,000 + faces is not abnormal, while in some games, if meshes reach over 800 faces the game will lag due to the engine. My suggestion is to look at the original creators work (if applicable) and use that as a refrence.
I have created meshes in another program, is there any way for me to import it into Blender? Of course! If the program you are using can export OBJ meshes (which is the most widely used mesh filetype), then you can import it directly in Blender.
Where is the best place to start 3D modeling? Right where you are now! Find a usage for your model to keep yourself interested, such as a game or a project, and start creating.
My texture is on the wrong side of the face. What did I do wrong? Nothing was done wrong, sometimes during the editing process normals (see terminology) is placed on the wrong side. Simply select the bad faces and hit *Flip Normals*. Another useful tool is "Recalculate Normals" which guesses the most likely side for the texture to be drawn on, and flips the normal to that side.
I have created meshes in another program, is there any way for me to import it into Blender? Of course! If the program you are using can export OBJ meshes (which is the most widely used mesh filetype), then you can import it directly in Blender.
Where is the best place to start 3D modeling? Right where you are now! Find a usage for your model to keep yourself interested, such as a game or a project, and start creating.
My texture is on the wrong side of the face. What did I do wrong? Nothing was done wrong, sometimes during the editing process normals (see terminology) is placed on the wrong side. Simply select the bad faces and hit *Flip Normals*. Another useful tool is "Recalculate Normals" which guesses the most likely side for the texture to be drawn on, and flips the normal to that side.
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Last edited:
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