We will begin building our crate with the primitive object that is closest to the finished shape we want. In this case, the default cube we start with works great. So what is a primitive and why do we start with one? Primitive shapes are your basic shapes, in the case of Blender: plane, cube, circle, sphere, cylinder, cone, and torus. We start with these shapes since they are the basic building blocks of all we see. Traditional artists start with these when they draw as well. If you take a look outside, you can see these shapes: poles are cylinders, buildings are cubes, and so on. That is also the reason why Unreal gives us a Shapes folder full of primitives to block out our levels with.

One of the easiest 3D modeling techniques to learn is Polygon modeling, or simply, poly modeling. It involves manipulating the vertices, edges, and polygons that make up a primitive shape to create something greater. Poly modeling uses the following tools:

The Tools...