Simple Blender Tutorials

Download Blender 2.56a(Beta)

2011-01-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Heres the link to download the latest release of blender, this fixes some bugs that were in the previous releases.

Download

How to split and join windows in blender 2.5

2010-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

When using blender it is useful to split and join windows, it helps us feel comfortable with what we are working with. Blender 2.5 has a new interface therefore spiting and joining is slightly different.

How to split windows

In the top corner of any window you see a small shaded edge, when you hover over this you get a small cross, when this cross appears click and drag in the direction you want to split the window. Dragging down splits the window horizontal and dragging across splits it vertical.

Have a play around and you will get the hang of it.

How to join windows

Now that you have split some windows you will be wanting to join them at some point, this is pretty simple.

The example below shows a 3d window split in the middle, I am going to join this together. As the same as above, drag the edge of the window you want to join but drag it up into the window instead of away.

Thanks for reading, I hope you learnt something.

How to use background images in blender 2.5

2010-11-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

As in the previous versions of blender you could use background images as references when modelling, you can still do this in blender 2.5 but because of the new interface some many find it difficult to navigate. I will show you in this quick tutorial how to do this.

Open blender 2.5 to the default scene. Now select view then properties or press N, this will bring up a new menu.

In the new window, scroll down and you will see 'background images', select this to drop the menu down.

Now you have more options, tick the background images box, add an image then open yours.

I have used the blender logo image for an example as you can see below. I have gone into front view pressing number pad 1 and view orthographic pressing number pad 5.

That's it for the tutorial once you can do this you will be able to use the images as references when creating models, I will show you how to split and join the windows for an easy set up in a future tutorial.

Blender Flag Tutorial

2010-11-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

In this simple tutorial I will show you how to animate a flag using the cloth system in blender.

Start.

You will need the model file, you can download that here: .blend

Open the file, this will be the main scene.

Next select the plane which will be the flag then go into the object panel then into physics. This is where we will select the cloth.

Now that the cloth option is open we will set the values as shown below.

After that we will create a vertex group, go back into editing and select new vertex group.

Now that we have created a vertex group, we will paint the weight on. Go into weight paint mode. This will bring up a new menu. Deselect 'soft' in the menu and paint along the edge as shown.

That is the weight done, now back in object mode go back into the cloth settings and select pinning of cloth then select out vertex group we just created.

The cloth is now complete, but we are not finished yet! as you can see if you start the animation by pressing ALT + A nothing much happens. We will now add some wind. First of all add an empty.

This empty will be the wind, in the menu below, with the empty selected we will choose wind and then set the settings. After that you should rotate the empty in which direction you want the wind to blow, press R twice with it selected.

Finally make the flag mesh smooth as shown in the image.

Now press ALT + A and watch your flag fly! after you have done this you could add some materials to the flag like I have done.

Thanks for reading, I hope you learned something!

Blender knife modelling tutorial

2010-11-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a knife in blender, hopefully you will find it straight forward.

The final render, took about 10 minutes to model.

File download:

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/knife-model-file.html

Start

First open blender to the default set up. We will use the default cube to model from, open up a background image so we can work from.

Next when you have opened the image reference, make sure it is in the centre. Now use two views, one top and one side then go into edit mode.

Now make the cube into a rectangle following the reference image as seen below, also edit the mesh in the side view down to make it thinner.

We will now make more vertices by cutting into the mesh, this is done by pressing ctrl+R, you then choose the area. The area you will choose will be where the reference image changes shape. After this you will move the vertices around the image as shown below. use border select for this ( B )

Now select all the vertices on the side shown below on the top, we will move these down to create a blade effect.

That is the blade created. Now we are going to do the exact same method to create the handle, hopefully you are getting the hang of it. Follow the pictures below. Start by adding a new cube by pressing space and choosing.

That is the basic mesh finished. Now make the mesh smooth and add a subsurf modifier.

Materials

I will show you now how to add some basic materials, in the final render I used a UV image, you can do this also if you know how, I have a tutorial on that in my blog.

First add 3 new materials, these will be for the handle, the top of the handle and the blade.

Starting with the blade, select the faces on the model that are the blade. after this assign one of the materials to these faces.

Once you have assigned the material to the blades faces, do the same with the rest of the model for the top of the handle and the bottom.

Go into the materials now ( press F5) and choose the correct colours for each part.

And thats it, the model is complete. You can download the file here if you were having any problems. Thanks for reading.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Hair In Blender

2010-11-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today I was just playing around with particles trying to make some hair. It isn't perfect but I will try and improve.

Once I start making some decent looking hair I will create a tutorial.

You can download the files here if you want:

.blends

Simple Tennis ball tutorial

2010-11-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Here I will show you a simple tutorial on how to create a tennis ball in blender. I hope you find it useful.

Download the file if you are having any problems:

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/tennis-ball-file.html

Start

First open Blender to the default set up and delete the default cube.

Now we are going to add a Sphere, this will be the tennis ball. Press space>Add>Mesh>UVsphere then OK.

Next we shall edit the cube, go into edit mode (TAB) and into the top view (7 on the number pad)

Also work in wire view as this will make it easier for us to work with. (Z).

In this part we will delete half of the sphere, highlight half of it by pressing B, using border select.

Once you have all the correct vertices selected, press delete and click faces.

With the whole half selected we are going to duplicate it, before we do this make sure the rotation pivot is set on the 3D cursor and is in the centre as the picture below. Right now duplicate the other half (shift + D), instantly press R and type 180. Now the other half has rotated back into the whole sphere.

Now go into side view and rotate the new half 90 degrees (press R and type 90)

You now have rotate the other half, next we will join all the vertices, highlight everything and remove doubles

( press W then 6 ), that's the base model done.

Next we will assign the material colours to the model.

Material

Back in edit mode we will add two new materials to the object. Click New twice.

Now we will highlight the faces we want for the seam. Choose face select and the press B twice to make it easier to select, also do this in wire view.

Back in the material menu that we were just at, with material two ( 2 mat 2 ) we will click assign, this assigns that material to the current selected faces.

Now go into the material editing by pressing F5, we will start with the seam material (material 2) which will be white. After that, change to material 1 and select a green colour.

Finally set the model to smooth and add a subsurf.

Thats it! Hopefully you found this tutorial useful, next time I will create a tutorial on how to use particle to give the tennis ball a fluffy effect making it more realistic such as the picture below.

The source file can be found here

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/tennis-ball-file.html

How To Render An Image In Blender,The Basics

2010-11-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

This tutorial is basically going to show how to render a default image in blender. As like many other people, the first time I opened blender, I had no clue what I was doing. I just wanted to output something. So hopefully this will get you started.

Start: Open blender to the default screen as shown below.

Next we will change the view to the camera. Whatever the camera sees is what is going to rendered. This is done by pressing View then Camera

Now that we are in the camera view we can see what is going to be rendered in real time. Clicking the small image icon that is highlighted below will bring you into the scene options (press f10).

To render this current scene you should click render, at the top. Then current frame.

Thats it, the image has been rendered. This is just the basics, once you have learnt to navigate you will be able to do more advanced rendering ect..

Thanks for reading.

Basic UV Mapping Tutorial

2010-11-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

I have recently started to play with UV mapping so I decided to create a tutorial, I hope you find It useful.

Step 1: Open blender, delete the default cube and add a UV Sphere.

Step 2: Now that the model is there, you need to split the windows. This is done by right clicking the top of the 3D view and choosing split. In the other window we will want to choose UV/Image Editor.

Step 3: We will now unwrap the mesh onto the UV/Image Editor. Select the faces you want to apply the image to, then press U and click unwrap. The faces should show in the other window. After this select all the other faces of the mesh and unwrap, scale and move all these outside of the actual image.

With the faces selected, (the ones you want to apply the image to) scale these by pressing S when all highlighted and align to the image in the UV editor window, as shown below.
You will be able to see this in real time if you are in texture view.

Step 4: Next we will create the actual material, go into shading ( press f5 ) and add new. This will change the window, now press F6 this will go into texture mode. Add a new texture and choose image from the drop down menu then open our UV image we are using.

Step 5: Now go back into the material we created and go down to the end box, edit it as I have done in the picture. This will apply the image to UV. After that click map to and change the settings to multiply, this is just what I have chosen, feel free to play around.

And thats it just click the camera and render your UV map, remember if you want to change the colour of the model just do that in materials where the default colour was white.

Here is the UV map I used in case anyone wants to practice with it. Thanks for reading, any problems just comment.

Beginners Modelling Tutorial Part 3

2010-11-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Part 3: Modelling continued

Now that out model had been subdivided we shall select the top vertices. Hopefully you will be getting the hang of this now. Pressing B will bring up the border select, select the top vertices as shown in the picture below.

Next drag them up by left clicking and dragging the blue arrow, this is the Z axis.

That is our complete base model completed. Select the whole model (A), we will duplicate this model now, this is achieved by holding Shift and D, remember to do this in the front view on the left. After duplicating, press X, this will allow you to move the model sideways, use the image below for a reference.

Now we will repeat the same step as before, just selecting everything and duplicating it side ways spreading the models out.

For this part we will select just one of the single posts (A: unselect) (B: border select) and

duplicate it (Shift D) Once is duplicated just move it above the rest of the model.

With the single post still selected press R then type 90, this will rotate the vertices 90 degrees.

Now select the point of the top model as shown below, move these vertices to the left to create a rectangle.

We now have this rectangle at the top, select the whole rectangle using border select (B) and move it down to the other models below. Look at the picture.

Once the model has been moved, we will select the vertices at the end of the rectangle and stretch the towards the end, this is pretty simple. After this is done, just select all vertices in the middle rectangle, we are going to use the side view to move the model back.

Moving part of the model back is a simple process, basically the same as any other editing such as we have done in the other steps, we will just be using the other view. With all the vertices selected as shown, drag the Green arrow out.

Now we have the support of the model created. Now we shall duplicate this part which we just moved (shift D) then press Z to move it along the Z axis.

Finally just zoom in and move the vertices to line up with the other model so there are no gaps.

And boom there you have it, you have created a model, just change from wire view to 3D by pressing (Z) and get out of edit mode to object mode (Tab)

If you need any help, just post a comment.

FILE IS HERE:

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/modelling-tutorial-file.html

Hopefully you have found this tutorial easy to follow, please leave me feedback so I can improve or any requests, thanks!

Beginners Modelling Tutorial Part 2

2010-11-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

Part 2: Modelling

Now we are going to start editing the default cube, to do this we need go into edit mode, make sure the cube is selected by right clicking on it then choose edit mode from the selection.

When in edit mode we can select vertices from the model, make sure the draw type is in wire frame by pressing Z. Deselect all the vertices by pressing A, next we will select all the vertices on the right side of the model, press B once this will bring up the border select, left click and drag the mouse over the side of the cube. The dragging will be similar to choosing files in windows ect..

Once selected we can move them, we are going to make the cube narrow. Dragging the red arrow shown below will allow you to move the selected vertices along the X axis. Move this along so we get a rectangular shape.

Next we will repeat the previous step but on the other side of the cube and also in the side view on the right. Use the image below for a reference.

Now we have our base model. Select all the vertices, you should know how to do this now from the previous steps (press A). Once all selected we are going to subdivide the model, this will add more vertices to it allowing us to edit further. To subdivide press W, this will bring up the specials menu, choose subdivide.

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/modelling-tutorial-file.html

Click Here For Part 3

Beginners Modelling Tutorial Part 1

2010-11-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here I will show you step by step how to create a simple model in blender, I suggest this for beginners and I will try to make it as easy to follow as possible.

You can download the file here if you are having problems or just for use.

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/modelling-tutorial-file.html

Part 1: Setting up

Open Blender to the default scene.

We need to set up the view to make modelling more easier for us, click View then Front.

Next we need to Split the views into two, this will give us the ability to see two sides of the model at once. At the top of the 3D window, Right click to bring up the menu, then choose Split Area, Split it right down the middle.

After that all you need to do is set the right view to side, as with did before. Our scene will now be set for simple modelling. Zoom into the default cube by rolling the mouse wheel in each view.

Click Here For Part 2

Spongebob!

2008-08-29T13:12:00.001-07:00

Here I decided to create Spongebob in blender here is a few pics, I shall make a video soon.

Animating Grass Tutorial

2008-08-08T03:29:00.001-07:00

In this tutorial i will show you how to animate the grass.
Here is a source file of a grass animation if anyone needs it for help

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/animated-grass-file.html

Start.

1. start with the grass which has been made with all lights around it.(from the first tutorial)

2. Add a cube.

3.Animate the cube moving from one side of the grass to the other.

4. with the cube selected select the collision button.

5. next select the grass and make the particles a softbody and change the fields.

6. bake the animation then render.

Finish

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/p/animated-grass-file.html

Blender Grass Tutorial

2008-08-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

Download the source file here if you have problems.blend file

Start.

1. Add a plane mesh to a new scene. (space)

2. With the plane selected go into object mode and onto particles then add new.

3. Select hair from particle type then change the different fields as shown.

4. In children select faces then change the fields.

5. The mesh should now look like this.

top

front

camera- render

6. Add a green material to the mesh and change the strand setting.

7. The render should look like this.

8. Finally add some lights then render.

Finish

Finished file found here.

.blend file

A 3D tennis ball in blender

2008-06-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at creating a realistic tennis ball in blender.

here is the result:

Learn how to do this yourself by following the tutorial:

http://blenderworld3d.blogspot.com/2010/11/simple-tennis-ball-tutorial.html

Moving Grass

2008-06-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

Heres a grass animation i created, i used particles to create the grass and set them to softbody.
i animated the moving ball using the game engine.

I might do a tutorial on this. hope you like it.

Cloth Animation

2008-06-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is the cloth i rendered in blender.

Simple Cloth Tutorial

2008-06-17T02:46:00.000-07:00

In this video i am going to show you how to create cloth using blender.

I hope you find it useful.