Book Image

Blender 3D Basics

Book Image

Blender 3D Basics

Overview of this book

Blender is by far the most popular open source graphics program available. It is a full featured 3D modeling, animation and games development tool used by millions all over the world ñ and it's free! This book is for those looking for an entry into the world of 3D modeling and animation regardless of prior experience. Blender 3D Basics is the entry level book for those without prior experience using 3D tools. It caters for those who may have downloaded Blender in the past but were frustrated by its lack of intuitiveness. Using simple steps it builds, chapter by chapter, into a full foundation in 3D modeling and animation. Using Blender 3D Basics the reader will model a maritime scene complete with boats and water, then add materials, lighting and animation. The book demystifies the Blender interface and explains what each tool does so that you will be left with a thorough understanding of 3D.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Blender 3D Basics Beginner's Guide
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
3
Controlling the Lamp, the Camera, and Animating Objects
Index

Time for action — timing a stroke


The best way to figure out how long an action takes is to do it and time it. Now you'll do a rowing stroke to see how long the animation should be:

  1. Sit where you can lean forward.

  2. Hold your arms out and hold your stopwatch in one hand.

  3. Start the stopwatch and immediately lean backwards, as though you are pulling oars against the water. This is called the drive phase of the stroke.

  4. At the end of the stroke, move your hands down to lift the oars out of the water and lean forward. These are known as the extraction and recovery phases.

  5. Then move your hands back up to the starting point to dip the oars back into the water. This is the catch phase.

  6. Do this three times and then stop the stopwatch. Write down the time it took.

  7. Repeat the timing two more times. Hopefully, all three readings are about the same. Take the average of these three readings and then divide that time by three to get the length of time a single stroke cycle takes.

  8. Now, start the stopwatch and just...