Modelling, Materials and Lights

As you have seen in the Quick Start chapter in Part I, “Introduction to Blender”, the creation of a 3D scene needs at least three key things: Models, Materials and Lights. In this Part we will delve deeper into each of these.

Once you are finished with this Part, you can either go to Part IV, “Rendering” if you want to get the most out of Blender's rendering engines for still images, or read Part III, “Animation” to learn all about Blender's animation capabilities. Part V, “Advanced Tools” on the other hand gives you more information about advanced modelling tools.

Table of Contents

5. ObjectMode
Selecting objects
Moving (translating) objects
Rotating objects
Scaling/mirroring objects
Transform Properties Panel
Duplicate
Parenting (Grouping)
Tracking
Other Actions
Boolean operations
6. Basic Mesh Modelling
Basic Objects
EditMode
Structures: Vertices, Edges and Faces
Vertex, Edge and Face Modes
Basic Editing
Mesh Undo
Smoothing
Extrude
The Blade
The Handle
The Hilt
Spin and SpinDup
Spin
SpinDup
Screw
Warp Tool
Object Hooks
Adding hooks
Using hooks
EditMode options
Hooks panel
7. Advanced Mesh Modelling
Catmull-Clark Subdivision Surfaces
Weighted creases for subdivision surfaces
Edge Tools
Edge/Face select
Face Loop Splitting
Knife Tool
Special Edge Tools
Bevelling Tools
Symmetrical Modelling
Proportional Editing Tool
Noise
Decimator Tool
8. Meta Objects
9. Curves and Surfaces
Curves
Béziers
NURBS
Working example
Surfaces
Text
Special Characters
Extrude Along Path
Curve Taper
Curve Deform
Introduction
Interface
Example
Skinning
10. Materials and Textures
Diffusion
Specular Reflection
Materials in practice
Material Colors
The Shaders
Tweaking Materials
Ramp Shaders
Introduction
Interface
Example
Raytracing Reflections (-)
Raytraced Transparencies (-)
Multiple Materials
Special Materials
Halo Materials
Lens Flares
11. Textures
Textures
Textures from the Material Point of View
Textures themselves
ImageTexture
Environment Maps
Displacement Maps
Displacement Maps on Objects
Interface
Displacement Map usage
Example
Solid and Hollow Glass
Solid Glass
Hollow Glass
UV Editor and FaceSelect
Introduction
The UV Editor
Unwrapping tools
Editing UV coordinates
LSCM Unwrap
Texture Paint
Rendering and UV coordinates
Unwrapping Suzanne
Easy as it "seams"
Unwrapping the mesh
Stitching the Map
Again, please ;-)
Finishing it up
What now ?
Texture Plugins
12. Lighting
Introduction
Lamp Types (-)
Sun Light
Hemi Light
Lamp Light
Spot Light
Ray Shadows
Buffer Shadows
Volumetric Light
Tweaking Light
Three point light
Three point light - Outdoor
Area Light
Global Illumination (and Global Shadowing)
13. The World and The Universe
The World Background
Exposure (-)
Mist
Stars
Ambient Occlusion