Book Image

3D Printing Designs: Octopus Pencil Holder

By : Joe Larson
Book Image

3D Printing Designs: Octopus Pencil Holder

By: Joe Larson

Overview of this book

This book will cover the very basic but essential techniques you need to model an organic and functional object for 3D printing using Blender. Starting with pen and paper and then moving on to the computer, you will create your first project in Blender, add basic geometric shapes, and use techniques such as extruding and subdividing to transform these shapes into complex meshes. You will learn how modifiers can automatically refine the shape further and combine multiple shapes into a single 3D printable model. By the end of the book, you will have gained enough practical hands-on experience to be able to create a 3D printable object of your choice, which in this case is a 3D print-ready octopus pencil holder.
Table of Contents (10 chapters)

The Edit mode


In Blender, the Edit mode allows more access to the shape of a single object so that it can be manipulated in order to change its shape. To enter Edit mode, use this method:

  1. Select an object.

  2. In the 3D View menu, locate the mode pop-up menu and select Edit Mode or press Tab on your keyboard.

In Edit mode, the 3D View menu, Tool Shelf, and Properties all change, adding new functionality only available in Edit mode:

Parts of objects

In Edit mode, objects are broken down into three parts:

  • Vertices: Points in three-dimensional space. Vertices don't have any shape by themselves

  • Lines: Two points are connected with a straight line between them

  • Faces: Three or more lines can be connected to make a face

There are many ways to think about vertices, lines, and faces. For instance, if making a kite, the vertices are the joints, the lines are the sticks, and the bits of paper are the faces. If the location of the vertices is moved, the shape of the kite will change. It's the same with a 3D object...