Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Learning Blender Ancillaries
Part I The Basics of Blender
1 What You Need to Know about Blender
What Is Blender?
Commercial Software versus Open-Source Software
Commercial Software
Open-Source Software
The History of Blender
The Blender Foundation and the Blender Institute
The Blender Community
Summary
Exercises
2 Blender Basics: The User Interface
Downloading and Installing Blender
Blender User Interface
Understanding the 3D View
Navigating the 3D View
Managing Areas
Editor Types
Selecting Objects
Using the 3D Cursor
Blender User Preferences
Summary
Exercises
3 Your First Scene in Blender
Creating Objects
Moving, Rotating, and Scaling
Using Manipulators (Basic Mode)
Using Keyboard Shortcuts (Advanced Mode)
Arranging the Objects in Your Scene
Naming Objects and Datablocks
Renaming Objects
Managing Datablocks
Naming Your Scene’s Objects
Interaction Modes
Applying Flat or Smooth Surfaces
Modifiers
Adding Modifiers
Adding a Subdivision Surface Modifier to Your Scene
Blender Render and Cycles
Materials
Blender Render Materials
Cycles Materials
Adding Materials to Your Scene
Turning on the Lights
Light Options in Blender Render
Lights Options in Cycles
Adding Lights to Your Scene
Moving the Camera in Your Scene
Rendering
Rendering in Blender Render
Rendering in Cycles
Saving and Loading Your .blend File
Launching and Saving the Render
Summary
Exercises
Part II Beginning a Project
4 Project Overview
The Three Stages of a Project
Preproduction
Production
Postproduction
Defining the Stages
A Film without Visual Effects
A Visual Effects Film
An Animated Film
A Photograph
A Character-Creation Plan
Preproduction
Production
Postproduction
Summary
Exercises
5 Character Design
Character Description
Personality
Context
Style
Appearance
Designing the Character
Silhouettes
Base Design
Designing the Head
Adding Details
Refining the Design
Adding Color
Final Design
Character Reference Images
Other Design Methods
Summary
Exercises
Part III Modeling in Blender
6 Blender Modeling Tools
Working with Vertices, Edges, and Faces
Selecting Vertices, Edges, and Faces
Accessing Modeling Tools
Selections
Shortest Path
Proportional Editing
Linked Selection
Loops and Rings
Grow and Shrink Selection
Limit Selection to Visible
Other Selection Methods
Mesh Modeling Tools
Bevel
Bisect
Bridge Edge Loops
Connect
Delete and Dissolve
Duplicate
Extrude
Fill and Grid Fill
Inset
Join
Knife
Loop Cut and Slide
Make Edge/Face
Merge
Remove Doubles
Rip and Rip Fill
Screw
Separate
Shrink/Flatten
Slide
Solidify
Spin
Split
Subdivide
LoopTools
Tips and Tricks
AutoMerge
Hide and Reveal
Snapping
Summary
Exercises
7 Character Modeling
What Is Mesh Topology?
Modeling Methods
Box Modeling
Poly to Poly
Sculpt and Retopologize
Modifiers
The Best Method!
Setting Up the Reference Planes
Modeling the Eyes
Creating an Eyeball
Using Lattices to Deform the Eyeballs
Mirroring and Adjusting the Eyes
Modeling the Face
Studying the Face’s Topology
Blocking the Face’s Basic Shape
Defining the Face’s Shapes
Defining the Eyes, Mouth, and Nose
Adding Ears
Building the Inside of the Mouth
Modeling the Torso and Arms
Modeling the Basic Shapes for the Torso and Arms
Defining the Arms and Torso
Detailing the Backpack and Jacket
Finishing the Belt and Adding a Neck to the Jacket
Modeling the Legs
Modeling the Boots
Modeling the Hands
Building the Basic Hand Shape
Adding the Fingers and Wrist
Modeling the Cap
Creating the Base of the Cap
Adding Details to the Cap
Modeling the Hair
Shaping Locks of Hair
Adding Natural Details to the Hair
Modeling the Final Details
Eyebrows
Communicator
Badges
Teeth and Tongue
Other Clothing Details
Summary
Exercises
Part IV Unwrapping, Painting, and Shading
8 Unwrapping and UVs in Blender
How Unwrapping and UVs Work
Unwrapping in Blender
The UV/Image Editor
Navigating the UV/Image Editor
Accessing the Unwrapping Menus
UV Mapping Tools
Seams
Things to Consider before Unwrapping
Working with UVs in Blender
Marking the Seams
Creating and Displaying a UV Test Grid
Unwrapping Jim’s Face
Live Unwrap
Adjusting UVs
Separating and Connecting UVs
The Finished Face’s UVs
Unwrapping the Rest of the Character
Packing UVs
Summary
Exercises
9 Painting Textures
Main Workflow
Painting in Blender
Texture Paint Mode
Preparing to Paint
Limitations of Blender’s Texture Paint
Creating the Base Texture
Placing Texture Elements
Saving Your Image
Packing Your Images
Texturing in 2D Image Editing Software
Exporting the UVs as an Image
Loading the UVs and Base Elements
Adding Base Colors
Adding Details
Applying the Final Touches
Seeing the Painted Character in Blender
Summary
Exercises
10 Materials and Shaders
Understanding Materials
Applying Materials
How Materials Work
Masks and Layers
Channels
Blender Render Materials
Cycles Materials
Procedural Textures
Shading Your Character with Blender Render
Blender Render Materials
Textures in Blender Render
Shading Jim in Blender Render
Render Tests
Shading Your Character with Cycles
Using Cycles Materials
Basic Shaders
Mix and Add Shaders
Loading Textures
Shading Jim in Cycles
Render Tests
Summary
Exercises
Part V Bringing Your Character to Life
11 Character Rigging
Understanding the Rigging Process
Parts of the Rig
Rigging Process
Working with Armatures
Manipulating Bones
Object, Edit, and Pose Modes
Adding Constraints
Rigging Your Character
Basic Skeleton
Rigging the Eyes
Rigging the Legs
Rigging the Torso and Head
Rigging the Arm
Rigging the Hand
Mirroring the Rig
Rig Organization
Bone Groups
Bone Layers
Skinning
Setting Up Models
Selecting Deformer Bones
Armature Modifier
Weight Painting
Weight Values
Mirroring Weights
Objects That Don’t Need Weights
Posing Jim
Creating the Facial Rig
Modeling Shape Keys
Creating the Face Rig
Using Drivers to Control the Face Shape Keys
Creating Custom Shapes
Applying Final Touches to the Rig
Summary
Exercises
12 Animating Your Character
Inserting Keyframes
Adding Keyframes Manually
Automatic Keyframing
Using Keying Sets
Animating Properties in the Menus
Animation Editors
Timeline
Dope Sheet
Graph Editor
NLA (Non-Linear Animation) Editor
Common Controls and Tips
Animating a Walk Cycle
Creating an Action
Creating the Poses for the Walk Cycle
Animation Timing
Repeating the Animation
Walking along a Path
Summary
Exercises
Part VI Getting the Final Result
13 Camera Tracking in Blender
Understanding Camera Tracking
Things to Consider before Filming
The Movie Clip Editor
Tracking the Camera
Loading Your Footage
Anatomy of a Marker
Tracking Features in the Footage
Camera Settings
Solving Camera Motion
Making Adjustments
Testing Camera Tracking
Summary
Exercises
14 Lighting, Compositing, and Rendering
Lighting Your Scene
Analyzing the Real Footage
Creating Lights That Match the Footage
The Node Editor
Compositing Methods
Understanding Nodes
Anatomy of a Node
Using the Node Editor
Result Preview
Compositing Your Scene in Blender Render
Setting Up the Scene
Setting Up Render Layers
Node Compositing
Compositing Your Scene in Cycles
Setting Up the Scene
Setting Up Render Layers
Node Compositing
Rendering
Render Settings
Output
Final Rendering Results
Summary
Exercises
15 Other Blender Features
Particles
Hair Simulation
Cloth Simulation
Rigid and Soft Bodies
Fluids Simulation
Fire and Smoke
Game Engine
Masking, Object Tracking, and Video Stabilization
Sculpting
Retopology
Maps Baking
Python Scripting
Summary
Index
