Starting out with Blender 3D, Level = beginner Options

[Tibs]

Starting out with Blender 3D.

Blender 3D is a free open-source 3D application which allows people who
want to try modelling but don't want to spend lots off money on another program.

The program can be downloaded at the Blender homepage which is:

http://www.blender3d.com

Ok now we will start the tutorial. You probably have the program already open, if you don't this would be a good time to open it.
As you might of seen you get 2 windows, one DOS and one normal. DO NOT CLOSE THE DOS WINDOW. As this is needed to render out your images and probably for some other things to.

1. You should get this image when you opened it.

http://www.killanet.net/uploads/blender1.jpg

The cube that is already present will be used in this tutorial to show you several tools which are present in this program.



2. First of all we will place the program in Edit mode. This can be done by clicking in the uppr toolbar on the bottom half of the screen.

http://www.killanet.net/uploads/blender2.jpg

Once you have done this you will see that the cube will get 1 yellow dot on every corner. Another thing you will want to keep in mind is that the mouse should be located in one of the views when hitting a shortcut.


* Tip: Zooming is done by placing the mouse in the chosen view ( this means either front, top or left ) and just scrolling your mousewheel.

* Tip: Hitting the "A" button will select all the points on the active object. You can select seperate points by clicking the right mouse button.



3. When you did this you can now change everything you like about the cube. This involves changing the subdevisions ( the number of cuts made in every side ).
I will try to explain the several tools by using a picture of the lower toolbar.

http://www.killanet.net/uploads/blender3.jpg


* Mesh tools :

- Fract Subd or Fractal subdivide : when doing this you will get asked how much rand fract you want,
this will just make yout cube look very messy. With this i mean
that the cube won't have straight surfaces anymore.

- Split : Using this tool you will split the selected face from the cube. This means that the program will make a seperate face which is not connected to the actual cube.

- Subdivide : this will divide every face off the cube, this means that every line will be cut in half creating 4 faces from 1.


I think these are the basics you should know when starting out with Blender. I just downloaded the program also so I don't really know hwat everything does.


When you read this you should be able to explore the program on your own. I will also write a tutorial on how to model and render some basic objects.
I hope you learned something from this and happy trying.



© Deschamps Thibaut - Killanet Technology Ltd.

[Tibs]

If anyone of you has something more to ask me about this program please do not hessitate to ask. I will try to explain everything as good as possible.

[Esther]

May I ask a practical question too? You see, I'm trying to build a castle -my first task with Blender-.
The actual tutorial is on the website of Blender, here the specific link: Blender.
Where I got stuck is: You have finished your tower. Then you begin making the walls within the same screen. Then you select your tower and place this in each corner of the wall. (And I'm not even at the point how to make 5 towers out of 1 )

My question is: How do you ONLY select the tower? I tried the B and selecting the tower with right-mouse. I've tried it via the drag option. But everytime the tower+wall moved at the same time. Please help me with this simple thing ..

With kind regards,

Esther (who desperately wants to learn!)

[Tibs]

Ok I had to dust of Blender for that but I may have found an answer to your question.

First off al are you in object mode or edit mode?

To select a diffirent object you have to switch over to object mode and then you can easily select the other object by right clicking onto it.

This works for me so if it didn't solve your question please let me know.

Glad to see you want to learn this program

[Esther]

Ok I had to dust of Blender for that but I may have found an answer to your question.

First off al are you in object mode or edit mode?

To select a diffirent object you have to switch over to object mode and then you can easily select the other object by right clicking onto it.

This works for me so if it didn't solve your question please let me know.

Glad to see you want to learn this program

Thank you so much! The problem lied in the object mode/edit mode. In the tutorial stood "Leave edit mode" but this can mean "leave it on" as well as "leave behind" . Anyway, I now have my castlewall with 5 towers!



What do you think of this program? Because you said "Glad to see you want to learn this program".


This post has been edited by Esther: Mar 3 2006, 06:58 AM

[Tibs]

I think it's a very powerfull free program, you can't compare it to the ones you have to pay for but it's has some great abilities in it when you are starting out with 3d modelling. After learning the basic skills you can easy transfer to any other ( more powerfull ) program, or just stick with this one.

Basicly it's how I started so good luck with your modelling and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[Esther]

I think it's a very powerfull free program, you can't compare it to the ones you have to pay for but it's has some great abilities in it when you are starting out with 3d modelling. After learning the basic skills you can easy transfer to any other ( more powerfull ) program, or just stick with this one.

Basicly it's how I started so good luck with your modelling and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Okay! Sounds nice then
Well, I think I'll be going then practising working with it

Thank you! And I'll definetely will come here if I have a question

[eddyhaze]

Im just starting out how do you load files into blender like obj files

[Tami]

The loading of some files require additional scripts for Blender. Here is a list of many of the scripts which are available, including one for obj files.

http://www.blender.org/download/python-scr.../import-export/