If you have ever done any amount of UV unwrapping, you will inevitably come across objects that just don’t seem to unwrap cleanly. Round objects like a cylinder or torus can easily cause you trouble.
Learn MoreWhether it’s an early morning mist or a creepy nighttime haze, adding atmospheric fog can be a quick and easy way to add a little extra character to a scene. Basic Fog Setup Start by opening up a scene.
Learn MoreThere are several ways to add a cartoon-style outline to objects in Blender. One method for real-time outlines is the “inverted hull” method, which involves some simple trickery with the Solidify modifier.
Learn MoreWhat do you mean, “Toon Shader”? A toon shader is a shader that is often more “flat” and does not have the same physical characteristics of a PBR material.
Learn MoreWhat is the Origin? An object’s “origin” is the exact point in 3D space where that object sits.
Learn MoreWhat is Node Wrangler? If you have spent any amount of time learning texturing in Blender, you’ve undoubtedly heard “Node Wrangler” mentioned.
Learn MoreShapeways has been my go-to 3D printing service for a long time. I have created and printed several objects through them and the experience has always been great.
Learn MoreWhen using repeatable image textures, sometimes it is necessary to adjust the position, rotation, or scale of the texture. This is simple to do with a combination of the Texture Coordinate node and the Mapping node.
Learn MoreVoxel art is a popular 3D art style that has a very pixellated or blocky look to it. Minecraft is a great example of this art style.
Learn MoreThe Displace modifier is a great way to add a lot of details to a simple object without having to do a ton of modeling. Set up the Object In order for a Displace modifier to work, the object with the Displace modifier needs to have plenty of vertices.
Learn MoreUsing Normal Maps in your 3D materials is a vital step toward adding realism without sacrificing render times. Normal Maps are a way of faking intricate details and shadows on objects without having to actually model all of those details.
Learn MoreTexturing objects in Blender is an extremely important step towards achieving the desired look for your scene. As important as this is, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t tedious at times.
Learn More3D scenes can get very large and complex, which can slow down render times. Using an HDRI environment image is a great way to add lighting to your scene without having to model an entire environment.
Learn MoreWhen animating a scene, it can be difficult to animate the camera while keeping it focused on the focal point of the shot. This is where a simple Track To constraint will help you out.
Learn MoreFrequently 3D modeling requires the object to be symmetrical, or at least in the block-out phase it is symmetrical. For example, a face or head may start out with the rough shapes being symmetrical, but the fine details may be asymmetrical.
Learn MoreWhen modeling, there are times when it can be easier to use curves rather than the standard mesh modeling and extrusion. For example, when modeling stylized hair strands, it is easier to use curves as they are more easily manipulated and changed slightly than trying to do the same method with traditional geometry.
Learn MoreAdding an eye-catching material and texture to a 3D object is arguably the most important part of the 3D process. A well-made texture helps to sell the realism of an object in a photorealistic scene or helps to create a specific feeling or visual theme if the setting is more stylized.
Learn MoreIt can be difficult to take an existing object and bend it to shape things like pipes or sink faucets. There are multiple ways to bend an object in Blender, such as the Lattice Modifier, but sometimes a quick keyboard shortcut is the fastest approach.
Learn MoreIn a 3D workflow, creating a UV map of a mesh is a critical step before texturing. A UV map is a flattened version of a mesh used for “painting” the mesh in two-dimensional space.
Learn MoreDepth of Field is a useful technique to include in a render to add a camera focus effect. This is an easy way to draw more attention to a specific point of focus in your scene, rather than have everything in your scene be in perfect focus.
Learn MoreThe Build modifier is a simple modifier used to add a “dissolve-in” or “dissolve-out” effect to an object. Simply click the desired object, then select the Modifier tab on the right panel, click the Add Modifier dropdown and select “Build”.
Learn MoreAny 3D workflow benefits from time-saving shortcuts that automate tedious repetitive tasks, such as remodeling identical objects, or copy-pasting dozens (or even hundreds) of duplicates of an object. The Array modifier makes replicating an object easy.
Learn MoreSometimes through the course of 3D modeling, an object can get quite complex. These complex shapes can be difficult to work with if they need to be warped or shaped to fit a certain space.
Learn MoreThere are a variety of ways to add backgrounds to your scene, like using reference images and image planes. Unlike those background images, changing the Background Environment is an effective way of adding ambient light to a scene as well.
Learn MoreThe Bevel tool is a great way to add extra detail to the edges of a model – especially hard surface models. In the real world, there are virtually no perfectly hard edges.
Learn MoreThe boolean is an extremely useful tool when modeling complex objects. There are a few options for what a Boolean can do to two objects: it can either show the difference of two overlapping objects, the intersection of two overlapping objects or join two objects together into one mesh.
Learn MoreThe crease tool comes in handy when working on objects that need both hard edges as well as Subdivision Surface modifiers. Take a simple cube for instance.
Learn MoreLoop cuts are extremely useful for adding extra geometry to your object. Select your object and enter Edit Mode.
Learn MoreThe Knife tool is useful for rerouting geometry to clean up the overall mesh topology. When active, a series of vertices can be “drawn” along multiple faces around your object at will.
Learn MoreA typical modeling workflow starts with rough shapes to “sketch out” the general layout and feel of your model, then more details get layered on little by little. One of the most widely used modifiers to help smooth out a detailed model is the Subdivision Surface modifier.
Learn MoreSeparate a Part of the Model There are times when it is beneficial to break an object into multiple objects to simply your workflow or simply give a part of your model the attention it deserves. To separate a piece into its own object, left-click on the object to select it, then enter Edit modeRead More
Learn MoreWhile the regular “out-of-the-box” download from Blender.org is powerful enough for all your 3D modeling, rendering and animation needs, there are plenty of tools and plugins out there to help speed up your workflow.
Learn MoreSometimes it is helpful to import images into a scene to be used as a part of your scene, rather than just background reference images. The easiest way to do this is to install an add-on to your version of Blender.
Learn MoreIt is often helpful to have reference images like sketches or photos to use when starting to model an object. To add a reference image, hit Shift + A to bring up your Add menu.
Learn MoreTo the first-time user, one of the most daunting aspects of Blender is the user interface. Every part of the Blender workspace is broken down into “panels”.
Learn MoreUsing Blender’s Save Startup functionality makes it easy to set up your Blender environment just how you want it. Along the top of the Blender window, there are a series of tabs showing the pre-built layouts.
Learn MoreImporting and Exporting Importing and exporting in Blender is very straightforward. Under the File dropdown, there are menu options for Import and Export, which have fly-out menus showing a variety of 3D file types.
Learn MoreBy default, Blender will start up by loading its factory default .blend file, creatively called startup.
Learn MoreWhen you fire up a new version of Blender, the factory settings come pre-installed regardless of any previous version of Blender that might be on your machine. Transferring settings to a new install of Blender is easy once you know where to look.
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