Blender 3D Basics Beginner's Guide Second Edition

Blender 3D Basics Beginner's Guide Second Edition

by Gordon Fisher
Released August 2014
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781783984909

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Book description

A quick and easy-to-use guide to create 3D modeling and animation using Blender 2.7

In Detail

This book teaches you how to model a nautical scene, complete with boats and water, and then add materials, lighting, and animation. It demystifies the Blender interface and explains what each tool does so that you will be left with a thorough understanding of 3D. This book starts with an introduction to Blender and some background on the principles of animation, how they are applied to computer animation, and how these principles make animation better. Furthermore, the book helps you advance through various aspects of animation design such as modeling, lighting, camera work, and animation through the Blender interface with the help of several simple projects. Each project will help you practice what you have learned and do more advanced work in all areas.

What You Will Learn

  • Use the Blender user interface for building and animating projects
  • Build objects using Box Modeling, Subdivision Surfaces, and NURBS Curves
  • Create landscapes and trees with Blender's powerful procedural modeling plugins
  • Use movie lighting theory to make your images pop
  • Manipulate cameras for dramatic effect
  • Make entertaining animations with keyframes and motion curves
  • Connect graphics nodes to create stereo 3D animation from two separate image streams

Table of contents

  1. Blender 3D Basics Beginner's Guide
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Blender 3D Basics Beginner's Guide
    3. Credits
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Reviewers
    6. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more
        1. Why subscribe?
        2. Free access for Packt account holders
    7. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Time for action – heading
        1. What just happened?
        2. Pop quiz – heading
        3. Have a go hero – heading
      6. Reader feedback
      7. Customer support
        1. Downloading the example code
        2. Downloading color versions of the images for this book
        3. Errata
        4. Piracy
        5. Questions
    8. 1. Introducing Blender and Animation
      1. Welcome to the world of Blender 3D
      2. Discovering Blender and animation
        1. Learning Blender will literally change how you think
        2. Installing Blender
        3. Using Blender
      3. Time for action – rendering your first scene in Blender
        1. What just happened?
      4. Time for action – closing Blender
        1. What just happened?
      5. Top 10 reasons to enjoy using Blender 3D
      6. Getting a good background in animation
        1. Going back to the year 1922 on an animation field trip
      7. Time for action – watching Felix Turns the Tide
        1. What just happened?
        2. Moving ahead a few years in time, to 1928
      8. Time for action – enjoying Plane Crazy
        1. What just happened?
        2. Arriving in 1938, the animation industry is at a peak
      9. Time for action – sailing to Goonland
        1. What just happened?
      10. Animation principles
      11. Learning from your animation heroes
      12. Time for action – making a folder of your animation heroes
        1. What just happened?
      13. Starting to use computers for animation in the 1960s
        1. Beginnings of 3D animation in 1963
      14. Time for action – meeting Ivan Sutherland and Sketchpad
        1. What just happened?
        2. Going to the late 1970s, a few companies are doing 3D animation
      15. Time for action – seeing the Triple I demo 1976 – 1979
        1. What just happened?
      16. Time for action – watching Triple I's 1982 demo reel
        1. What just happened?
        2. Introducing Pixar in 1984, and everything comes together
      17. Time for action – adventuring with André and Wally B
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – educating yourself about 3D animation
        3. Back to the present
      18. Using your 3D skills, what can you do with them?
        1. Creating 2D animations
        2. TV and videos
        3. Films and pre-visualization
        4. Stereoscopic 3D
        5. Web animation
        6. Games
        7. Flight and driving simulators
        8. Digital signage
        9. Displaying scientific data
        10. Legal evidence display
        11. Architectural walkthroughs
        12. Virtual reality
        13. Virtual sets
        14. Interactive instructions
        15. Showing what can't otherwise be seen
        16. Creating a portfolio to get a job
        17. Product development and visualization
        18. Pop Quiz – uses of Blender
      19. Summary
    9. 2. Getting Comfortable Using the 3D View
      1. Exploring the Blender 3D interface
        1. Using the three basic Blender controllers
          1. Using the numeric keypad with Blender
        2. Setting up Blender the way you want it
          1. Emulating the three-button mouse and NumPad
        3. Understanding how to use Blender windows
      2. Time for action – playing with the Blender windows
        1. What just happened?
      3. Time for action – resizing windows
        1. What just happened?
      4. Time for action – splitting the Blender windows
        1. What just happened?
      5. Time for action – joining the Blender windows
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making windows with parallel edges
        3. Special window modifications
          1. Making and removing windows the secret way
      6. Time for action – maximizing and tiling the window
        1. What just happened?
      7. Time for action – flipping the window header
        1. What just happened?
      8. Exploring the 3D View window – the heart of Blender
      9. Time for action – discovering your tools
        1. What just happened?
        2. Understanding what you see in the 3D View window
        3. Measuring things in 3D
        4. Navigating in the 3D View
      10. Time for action – rotating the scene in 3D View
        1. What just happened?
      11. Time for action – zooming the scene in 3D View
        1. What just happened?
      12. Time for action – panning the scene in 3D View
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – navigating the scene in the 3D View
        3. Navigating for those who have a mouse wheel
        4. Using the NumPad to change the angle in 3D View
      13. Time for action – seeing the top view, front view, and right-side view
        1. What just happened?
      14. Time for action – seeing the bottom view, and back view
        1. What just happened?
        2. Seeing what the camera sees
      15. Time for action – verifying the Camera view
        1. What just happened?
      16. Time for action – rotating the view with the NumPad
        1. What just happened?
      17. Time for action – rotating the view in another direction with the NumPad
        1. What just happened?
      18. Time for action – zooming with the NumPad
        1. What just happened?
      19. Time for action – making the camera see what you do
        1. What just happened?
          1. Understanding Perspective and Orthographic views
      20. Time for action – toggling between the Perspective and Orthographic views
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – playing with Perspective and Orthographic views
          1. Displaying the Quad View and Full Screen
      21. Time for action – toggling the Quad view
        1. What just happened?
          1. Navigating in the 3D View
        2. Making pictures with computers
          1. Making colors with a computer
          2. Making millions of colors with just red, green, and blue
        3. Pop quiz – learning about Blender windows
      22. Summary
    10. 3. Controlling the Lamp, the Camera, and Animating Objects
      1. Placing lamps in the scene
      2. Time for action – moving the lamp
        1. What just happened?
      3. Time for action – moving the lamp close to the cube
        1. What just happened?
      4. Time for action – moving the lamp far away
        1. What just happened?
        2. Checking the lighting without rendering
      5. Time for action – observing how the lighting looks without rendering
        1. What just happened?
        2. Adding color to the lamp using the Properties window
      6. Time for action – adding color to Lamp
        1. What just happened?
        2. Using multiple lamps for better lighting
      7. Time for action – adding a second lamp
        1. What just happened?
        2. Light color mixing
      8. Time for action – setting colors
        1. Have a go hero – experimenting with multiple lamps
        2. Thinking about a career in lighting
      9. Saving your work
      10. Time for action – saving a file
        1. What just happened?
      11. Always have a backup file
      12. Controlling the camera
      13. Time for action – using the global axis and local axis
        1. What just happened?
        2. Moving objects, faster and easier
      14. Time for action – moving an object in one plane in the global mode
        1. What just happened?
      15. Time for action – moving an object in one plane in the local mode
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – controlling the location with numbers
        3. Seeing through the lens
      16. Time for action – setting up Blender so you can see what the camera sees
        1. What just happened?
        2. Using the camera as a canvas
          1. Understanding the rules of composition
            1. Applying the rule of thirds for well-balanced scenes
            2. Using positive and negative space to put the focus on the action
            3. Using a limited palette for better results
          2. Employing Blender's camera composition guides to make your work look better
      17. Time for action – investigating the camera composition guides
        1. What just happened?
          1. Understanding the fundamental camera moves
          2. Rotating and scaling the camera and other objects
            1. Using keyboard commands to grab, rotate, and scale objects
        2. Time for action – moving, rotating, and scaling objects
        3. What just happened?
      18. Making an animation
      19. Time for action – loading a file
        1. What just happened?
      20. Time for action – making a simple animation with keyframes
        1. What just happened?
        2. Rendering your animation
      21. Time for action – rendering the animation
        1. What just happened?
        2. Controlling motion in Graph Editor
      22. Time for action – exploring Graph Editor
        1. What just happened?
          1. Introducing the F-Curve
          2. Modifying motion with the Bézier curve controls
      23. Time for action – working with a Bézier curve
        1. What just happened?
      24. Time for action – adding squash and stretch to the animation
        1. What just happened?
          1. Doing more with the Bézier curve handles
      25. Time for action – refining the use of the Bézier curve handles
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – experimenting with control handles to adjust motion
          1. Selecting which channel to work on
      26. Time for action – adding keyframes in Graph Editor
        1. What just happened?
      27. Time for action – controlling the F-Curves with the Channel Selection Panel
        1. What just happened?
      28. Time for action – controlling channel display with the header
        1. What just happened?
          1. Copying, pasting, and deleting keyframes
      29. Time for action – copying and pasting keyframes
        1. What just happened?
          1. Keyframes for properties
      30. Time for action – keyframes for lights
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adding more keyframes
        3. Pop quiz – working in time and space
      31. Revisiting the commands
      32. Summary
    11. 4. Modeling with Vertices, Edges, and Faces
      1. Using Object Mode and Edit Mode
      2. Time for action – going into Edit Mode
        1. What just happened?
      3. Investigating vertices, edges, and faces
      4. Time for action – choosing the best display mode
        1. What just happened?
      5. Time for action – working with vertices, edges, or faces
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – rotating and scaling edges and faces
        3. Selecting multiple vertices, edges, and faces
          1. Selecting all vertices
      6. Time for action – pressing A to select all
        1. What just happened?
          1. Selecting vertices with Border Select
      7. Time for action – pressing B for border selection
        1. What just happened?
          1. Selecting with the Circle Selector
      8. Time for action – pressing C for circle selection
        1. What just happened?
          1. Selecting with the Lasso Selection
      9. Time for action – pressing Ctrl + LMB for Lasso Selection
        1. What just happened?
      10. Creating Blender's primitives
      11. Time for action – making a primitive object
        1. What just happened?
          1. Introducing Suzanne
      12. Making precise selections
      13. Time for action – making back-facing geometry accessible
        1. What just happened?
      14. Time for action – controlling the visibility of vertices
        1. What just happened?
      15. Time for action – selecting vertex by vertex
        1. What just happened?
      16. Time for action – fine-tuning the circle selection tool
        1. What just happened?
      17. Time for action – hiding the vertices you aren't working on
        1. What just happened?
      18. Time for action – modifying objects made by other people
        1. What just happened?
      19. Time for action – fixing Suzanne's eye
        1. What just happened?
      20. Organizing your work by grouping
      21. Time for action – grouping vertices
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – selecting the other eye
      22. Time for action – scaling and rotating groups of vertices
        1. What just happened?
      23. Controlling the center of scaling and rotation
      24. Time for action – controlling the center of scaling
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – how bizarre can you make Suzanne?
      25. Understanding what lies behind vertices, edges, and faces
      26. Building vertices, edges, and faces from scratch
      27. Time for action – making faces out of vertices and edges
        1. What just happened?
      28. Time for action – making a face from an edge
        1. What just happened?
        2. Pop quiz – making selections
      29. The key-function table
      30. Summary
    12. 5. Building a Simple Boat
      1. Turning a cube into a boat with box modeling
        1. Using extrusion, the most powerful tool for box modeling
      2. Time for action – extruding to make the inside of the hull
        1. What just happened?
          1. Using normals in 3D modeling
      3. Time for action – displaying normals
        1. What just happened?
        2. Planning what you are going to make
          1. Choosing which units to model in
      4. Time for action – making reference objects
        1. What just happened?
        2. Sizing the boat to the reference blocks
      5. Time for action – making the boat the proper length
        1. What just happened?
      6. Time for action – making the boat the proper width and height
        1. What just happened?
      7. Time for action – adding curves to the boat's lines by subdividing
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adding curves to the hull
        3. Using clean building methods
          1. Choosing between quadrilaterals and triangles
        4. Time for action – making a non-planar polygon
        5. What just happened?
      8. Time for action – adding a seat to the boat
        1. What just happened?
      9. Time for action – making the other seat
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adding a third seat
      10. Making modeling easier with Blender's layers function
      11. Time for action – introducing layers
        1. What just happened?
      12. Time for action – using layers for controlling rendering
        1. What just happened?
      13. Coloring the boat to add realism
      14. Time for action – coloring the hull and the gunwale
        1. What just happened?
      15. Time for action – adding a texture to the seats
        1. What just happened?
      16. Time for action – naming objects and joining them
        1. What just happened?
      17. Using basic lighting
        1. Pop quiz – extrusion, subdivision, moving vertices
      18. The key-function table
      19. Summary
    13. 6. Making and Moving the Oars
      1. Modeling an oar
        1. Getting a scale from an image
          1. Measurements of the oar
        2. Creating an oar from a cylinder
      2. Time for action – making the shaft of the oar
        1. What just happened?
      3. Time for action – making the grip and guard
        1. What just happened?
        2. Making a round shaft into a wide flat blade
      4. Time for action – making the base of the blade of the oar
        1. What just happened?
      5. Time for action – making the blade
        1. What just happened?
        2. Controlling how smooth the surface is
      6. Time for action – controlling flat and smooth surfaces
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – tidying up the details
      7. Making the oarlock
      8. Time for action – making the oarlock
        1. What just happened?
      9. Assembling the boat, oars, and oarlocks
      10. Time for action – loading all of the models together
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adding some blocks to put the oarlock in
      11. Animating the boat
      12. Time for action – timing a stroke
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – figuring out how long it takes you to row the boat
        3. Parenting and kinematics
      13. Time for action – animating the oarlock and oar
        1. What just happened?
        2. Animation cycles
      14. Time for action – copying keyframes to make a rowing cycle
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adding more cycles
        3. Moving the boat
      15. Time for action – moving the boat in sync with the oars
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – rowing your boat
      16. Tracking the boat with the camera
      17. Time for action – tracking the boat
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – tracking with a light
      18. Making stereoscopic 3D animation
        1. Pop quiz – pivot points and parents
      19. The key-function table
      20. Summary
    14. 7. Planning Your Work, Working Your Plan
      1. Using templates to model
      2. Time for action – adding a template
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – inspecting the templates
      3. Time for action – scaling and aligning the template
        1. What just happened?
      4. Time for action – building the mast
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making the boom, gaff, and bowsprit
      5. Modeling with Bézier Curves
        1. Making an object with a single Bézier Curve
      6. Time for action – making the rudder with a Bézier Curve
        1. What just happened?
        2. Using multiple Bézier Curves to make an object
      7. Time for action – making the path and cross section for the tiller
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making the keel
      8. Keeping everything organized
        1. Making an index of your files
      9. Planning your animation
        1. Discovering the story you want to tell with your animation
        2. Bringing your story to life with storyboards
          1. Making a storyboard
        3. Have a go hero – making your own storyboard
      10. Using animatics to plan the timing of your animation
      11. Using charts and guides to help you plan your animation
        1. Staying in TV limits with Safe Title zone, Safe Action zone, and Lower Third
      12. Time for action – using Blender's Safe Title/Safe Action guide
        1. What just happened?
        2. Transitioning from a Standard Definition TV to a High Definition TV
        3. Laying out your motion with Timing
          1. Planning what work must be done to make an animation
      13. Guiding animation production with an audio track
      14. Time for action – adding an audio track to Blender
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – animating to a boogie woogie beat
        3. Pop quiz – organizing Blender files
      15. The key-function table
      16. Summary
    15. 8. Making the Sloop
      1. Modeling with Subdivision Surfaces
      2. Time for action – making a simple Subdivision Surface
        1. What just happened?
        2. Using Edge Tools to make modeling easier
      3. Time for action – turning a reference block into a sloop
        1. What just happened?
      4. Time for action – making selection easy with Edge Loops and Edge Rings
        1. What just happened?
        2. Adjusting control points to make the hull of the sloop
      5. Time for action – creating the shape of the sloop from the top
        1. What just happened?
      6. Time for action – giving the hull a hull shape
        1. What just happened?
        2. Finishing the shape of the hull
      7. Time for action – flattening the transom
        1. What just happened?
      8. Time for action – making the bow sharper
        1. What just happened?
      9. Time for action – finishing the hull
        1. What just happened?
        2. Getting the most of your rendering time with Levels of Detail
      10. Time for action – making the boat simpler
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adjusting the rear of the cockpit
      11. Modeling the hull as a mesh
      12. Time for action – converting the surface to a mesh
        1. What just happened?
      13. Time for action – making the cockpit
        1. What just happened?
      14. Time for action – making the cabin
        1. What just happened?
        2. Preparing to add openings to the cabin
      15. Time for action – creating objects for use in Boolean operations
        1. What just happened?
      16. Using Boolean modifiers to cut holes in objects
      17. Time for action – detailing the cabin using the Boolean modifier
        1. What just happened?
      18. Time for action – applying the Boolean modifier
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making doors and portal windows
      19. Adding materials and textures to the sloop
      20. Time for action – coloring and texturing the sloop hull
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – creating vertex groups for the cabin
      21. Time for action – using the same materials for two objects
        1. What just happened?
      22. Making the ship's wheel with the Spin tool and DupliVerts
      23. Time for action – using the Spin tool to make the rim of the ship's wheel
        1. What just happened?
        2. Making the parts for the wheel
      24. Time for action – making the hub
        1. What just happened?
      25. Time for action – making the circle
        1. What just happened?
      26. Time for action – making the spoke
        1. What just happened?
        2. Using DupliVerts to assemble the ship's wheel
      27. Time for action – assembling the ship's wheel
        1. What just happened?
        2. Pop quiz – remembering Edge Tool commands
      28. The key-function table
      29. Summary
    16. 9. Finishing Your Sloop
      1. Making sure you have the files you'll need in this chapter
      2. Finishing the sloop's superstructure
      3. Time for action – setting up the boom and gaff so they swing
        1. What just happened?
      4. Time for action – adding the rudder, tiller, and keel
        1. What just happened?
      5. Detailing the sloop
      6. Time for action – adding the ship's wheel
        1. What just happened?
      7. Naming your sloop
        1. Using the proper font
        2. Understanding the parts of letters
        3. Finding the fonts on your computer
        4. Naming the sloop with a text object
      8. Time for action – creating a text object
        1. What just happened?
      9. Time for action – making the second sample
        1. What just happened?
      10. Time for action – making the third sample
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – make your own name
      11. Adding the name to the boat
      12. Time for action – adding the boat name
        1. What just happened?
      13. Time for action – using a NURBS surface to make the mainsail
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making the jib
      14. Detailing the sloop, and adding a door and portals
      15. Time for action – adding a line to control the mainsail
        1. What just happened?
      16. Time for action – adding the door and a portal
        1. What just happened?
      17. Time for action – adding the portals
        1. What just happened?
        2. Pop quiz – fonts
        3. Pop quiz – rotations
      18. The key-function table
      19. Summary
    17. 10. Modeling Organic Forms, Sea, and Terrain
      1. Getting ready to make the island
      2. Creating the ocean
      3. Time for action – making a surface for water
        1. What just happened?
      4. Making an island
        1. Using the ANT Landscape addon
      5. Time for action – using ANT Landscape to make the island
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – playing with ANT Landscape
        3. Detailing the island
      6. Time for action – understanding the Proportional Editing control
        1. What just happened?
        2. Detailing the island using the Proportional Editing tool
      7. Time for action – using proportional editing to create the port
        1. What just happened?
      8. Time for action – building the breakwater
        1. What just happened?
      9. Time for action – adding contours to the back side of the island
        1. What just happened?
        2. Painting the island
      10. Time for action – painting the island
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – painting your island
      11. Making the island ready for habitation
        1. Building the pier with just four objects
      12. Time for action – creating the pier frame rails with Bézier curves
        1. What just happened?
      13. Time for action – adding planks to the pier with DupliFrames
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – changing the shape of the pier
      14. Time for action – using arrays to create the pilings for the pier
        1. What just happened?
        2. Appending the boathouse
      15. Time for action – appending the boathouse and building pilings for it
        1. What just happened?
        2. Building modular houses
      16. Time for action – assembling a house from a kit
        1. Creating trees with the Sapling addon
      17. Time for action – adding trees to the landscape
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making your own trees
        3. Making rocks
        4. Have a go hero – making rocks with subdivision surfaces
        5. Assembling your world
      18. Time for action – using groups to organize your scene
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – putting your world together
        3. Pop Quiz – optimizing rendering times
      19. The key-function table
      20. Summary
    18. 11. Improving Your Lighting and Camera Work
      1. Getting ready to do lighting and camera work
      2. Using lighting
        1. Lighting with three lights
      3. Time for action – introducing the three-point lighting system
        1. What just happened?
        2. Investigating light and color
      4. Time for action – using color to separate what you see
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – changing light intensity
        3. Adding shapes and patterns to your lighting
      5. Time for action – using cookies
        1. What just happened?
      6. Time for action – preparing to adjust falloff
        1. What just happened?
      7. Time for action – adjusting the falloff
        1. What just happened?
      8. Time for action – using Custom Curve to tailor light
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – using three-point lighting
        3. Changing the field of view
      9. Time for action – zooming the camera versus dollying the camera
        1. What just happened?
        2. Using perspective
        3. Using depth of field
      10. Time for action – creating depth of field
        1. What just happened?
        2. Adjusting the center of focus
      11. Time for action – controlling the center of focus
        1. What just happened?
        2. Getting variety in your camera work
          1. Comparing long and medium shots
          2. Using close-ups and two shots
          3. Applying the rule of 180
        3. Using motion blur
      12. Time for action – using motion blur
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – experimenting with motion blur
      13. Planning your animation and making sure it comes out right
        1. Storyboarding your ideas
        2. Have a go hero – making your storyboard
        3. Laying out your animation
      14. Time for action – laying out the animation
        1. What just happened?
        2. Proofing your work
          1. Doing a preview
          2. Using hardware rendering to see the motion
      15. Time for action – doing a hardware render
        1. What just happened?
          1. Inspecting details by rendering only a part of the frame
      16. Time for action – rendering only a part of the frame
        1. What just happened?
          1. Taking a glimpse of what the animation will look like with the quick render
      17. Time for action – reducing render times
        1. What just happened?
        2. Making corrections
      18. Time for action – using the Dope Sheet
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – making corrections
        3. Pop quiz – lighting a scene
      19. The key-function table
      20. Summary
    19. 12. Rendering and Compositing
      1. Getting ready
      2. Editing with Video Sequence Editor
      3. Time for action – preparing a scene in Video Sequence Editor
        1. What just happened?
        2. Working with video strips
      4. Time for action – dissolving between video strips with Video Sequence Editor
        1. What just happened?
      5. Time for action – editing individual video strips
        1. What just happened?
      6. Time for action – using K and Shift + K to make your trims
        1. What just happened?
          1. Completing the scene in the Video Sequence Editor
      7. Time for action – finishing the video sequence
        1. What just happened?
          1. Optimizing render settings
      8. Time for action – getting ready to render
        1. What just happened?
      9. Making stereographic 3D with the Node Editor
      10. Time for action – creating the red image for the left eye
        1. What just happened?
      11. Time for action – making the right-eye view
        1. What just happened?
        2. Time for action – making a cross-eye stereo image
        3. What just happened?
      12. Rendering your animations
        1. Making your computer ready to render
        2. Making rendering more beautiful
          1. Using Anti-Aliasing for more beautiful renderings
      13. Time for action – displaying aliasing
        1. What just happened?
          1. Getting realism with subsurface scattering
      14. Time for action – using subsurface scattering
        1. What just happened?
          1. Putting a sparkle on your animations with ray tracing
      15. Time for action – seeing ray tracing
        1. What just happened?
          1. Choosing the proper number of tiles
          2. Using alpha channels
      16. Time for action – exploring the alpha channel
        1. What just happened?
      17. Time for action – using transparency in the Video Sequence Editor
        1. What just happened?
          1. Choosing the dimensions for your animation
      18. Time for action – selecting render presets
        1. What just happened?
      19. Time for action – seeing what fields look like
        1. What just happened?
          1. Choosing what gets rendered
          2. Selecting the best file format
      20. Rendering with the Cycles renderer
      21. Time for action – simulating the glow of a kiln
        1. What just happened?
      22. Time for action – creating and applying the Cycles materials
        1. What just happened?
      23. Time for action – making an emission material
        1. What just happened?
        2. Have a go hero – adjusting render quality in Cycles
        3. Pop quiz – rendering with fields
      24. The key-function table
      25. Summary
    20. A. Pop Quiz Answers
      1. Chapter 1, Introducing Blender and Animation
        1. Pop quiz – uses of Blender
      2. Chapter 2, Getting Comfortable Using the 3D View
        1. Pop quiz – learning about Blender windows
      3. Chapter 3, Controlling the Lamp, the Camera, and Animating Objects
        1. Pop quiz – working in time and space
      4. Chapter 4, Modeling with Vertices, Edges, and Faces
        1. Pop quiz – making selections
      5. Chapter 5, Building a Simple Boat
        1. Pop quiz – extrusion, subdivision, and moving vertices
      6. Chapter 6, Making and Moving the Oars
        1. Pop quiz – pivot points and parents
      7. Chapter 7, Planning Your Work, Working Your Plan
        1. Pop quiz – organizing Blender files
      8. Chapter 8, Making the Sloop
        1. Pop quiz – remembering Edge Tool commands
      9. Chapter 9, Finishing Your Sloop
        1. Pop quiz – fonts
        2. Pop quiz – rotations
      10. Chapter 10, Modeling Organic Forms, Sea, and Terrain
        1. Pop quiz – optimizing rendering times
      11. Chapter 11, Improving Your Lighting and Camera Work
        1. Pop quiz – lighting a scene
        2. Pop quiz – improving performance
      12. Chapter 12, Rendering and Compositing
        1. Pop quiz – rendering with fields answer
    21. Index

Product information

  • Title: Blender 3D Basics Beginner's Guide Second Edition
  • Author(s): Gordon Fisher
  • Release date: August 2014
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781783984909