Book Image

Blender 3D Cookbook

By : Valenza
Book Image

Blender 3D Cookbook

By: Valenza

Overview of this book

This book is aimed at the professionals that already have good 3D CGI experience with commercial packages and have now decided to try the open source Blender and want to experiment with something more complex than the average tutorials on the web. However, it's also aimed at the intermediate Blender users who simply want to go some steps further. It's taken for granted that you already know how to move inside the Blender interface, that you already have 3D modeling knowledge, and also that of basic 3D modeling and rendering concepts, for example, edge-loops, n-gons, or samples. In any case, it's also possible for a keen beginner to follow this book, by combining it with the manual on the BlenderWiki or preceding it with a basic Blender UI tutorial on the web. The keyboard/mouse shortcuts for the operations in the recipes are, at least in all the more relevant cases, indicated in brackets.

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Blender 3D Cookbook
Valenza
Jul, 2015 | 608 pages
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Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Preface
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Sections
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Free Chapter
1
1. Modeling the Character's Base Mesh
1. Modeling the Character's Base Mesh
Introduction
Setting templates with the Images as Planes add-on
Setting templates with the Image Empties method
Setting templates with the Background Images tool
Building the character's base mesh with the Skin modifier
2
2. Sculpting the Character's Base Mesh
2. Sculpting the Character's Base Mesh
Introduction
Using the Skin modifier's Armature option
Editing the mesh
Preparing the base mesh for sculpting
Using the Multiresolution modifier and the Dynamic topology feature
Sculpting the character's base mesh
3
3. Polygonal Modeling of the Character's Accessories
3. Polygonal Modeling of the Character's Accessories
Introduction
Preparing the scene for polygonal modeling
Modeling the eye
Modeling the armor plates
Using the Mesh to Curve technique to add details
4
4. Re-topology of the High Resolution Sculpted Character's Mesh
4. Re-topology of the High Resolution Sculpted Character's Mesh
Introduction
Using the Grease Pencil tool to plan the edge-loops flow
Using the Snap tool to re-topologize the mesh
Using the Shrinkwrap modifier to re-topologize the mesh
Using the LoopTools add-on to re-topologize the mesh
Concluding the re-topologized mesh
5
5. Unwrapping the Low Resolution Mesh
5. Unwrapping the Low Resolution Mesh
Introduction
Preparing the low resolution mesh for unwrapping
UV unwrapping the mesh
Editing the UV islands
Using the Smart UV Project tool
Modifying the mesh and the UV islands
Setting up additional UV layers
Exporting the UV Map layout
6
6. Rigging the Low Resolution Mesh
6. Rigging the Low Resolution Mesh
Introduction
Building the character's Armature from scratch
Perfecting the Armature to also function as a rig for the Armor
Building the character's Armature through the Human Meta-Rig
Building the animation controls and the Inverse Kinematic
Generating the character's Armature by using the Rigify add-on
7
7. Skinning the Low Resolution Mesh
7. Skinning the Low Resolution Mesh
Introduction
Parenting the Armature and Mesh using the Automatic Weights tool
Assigning Weight Groups by hand
Editing Weight Groups using the Weight Paint tool
Using the Mesh Deform modifier to skin the character
Using the Laplacian Deform modifier and Hooks
8
8. Finalizing the Model
8. Finalizing the Model
Introduction
Creating shape keys
Assigning drivers to the shape keys
Setting movement limit constraints
Transferring the eyeball rotation to the eyelids
Detailing the Armor by using the Curve from Mesh tool
9
9. Animating the Character
9. Animating the Character
Introduction
Linking the character and making a proxy
Creating a simple walk cycle for the character by assigning keys to the bones
Tweaking the actions in Graph Editor
Using the Non Linear Action Editor to mix different actions
10
10. Creating the Textures
10. Creating the Textures
Introduction
Making a tileable scales image in Blender Internal
Preparing the model to use the UDIM UV tiles
Baking the tileable scales texture into the UV tiles
Painting to fix the seams and to modify the baked scales image maps
Painting the color maps in Blender Internal
Painting the color maps in Cycles
11
11. Refining the Textures
11. Refining the Textures
Introduction
Sculpting more details on the high resolution mesh
Baking the normals of the sculpted mesh on the low resolution one
The Armor textures
Adding a dirty Vertex Colors layer and baking it to an image texture
The Quick Edit tool
12
12. Creating the Materials in Cycles
12. Creating the Materials in Cycles
Introduction
Building the reptile skin shaders in Cycles
Making a node group of the skin shader to reuse it
Building the eyes' shaders in Cycles
Building the armor shaders in Cycles
13
13. Creating the Materials in Blender Internal
13. Creating the Materials in Blender Internal
Introduction
Building the reptile skin shaders in Blender Internal
Building the eyes' shaders in Blender Internal
Building the armor shaders in Blender Internal
14
14. Lighting, Rendering, and a Little Bit of Compositing
14. Lighting, Rendering, and a Little Bit of Compositing
Introduction
Setting the library and the 3D scene layout
Setting image based lighting (IBL)
Setting a three-point lighting rig in Blender Internal
Rendering an OpenGL playblast of the animation
Obtaining a noise-free and faster rendering in Cycles
Compositing the render layers
15
Index
Index

Chapter 1. Modeling the Character's Base Mesh

In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:

  • Setting templates with the Images as Planes add-on
  • Setting templates with the Image Empties method
  • Setting templates with the Background Images tool
  • Building the character's base mesh with the Skin modifier
Previous Section
End of Section 1
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