Blender Unleashed: Master 3d Fundamentals Quickly

Blender updates frequently so when you see this course your version will likely be newer, but rest assured that the course will be 100% applicable to the newer version of Blender. Also make sure you have HD turned on in the video settings and that you are watching full screen on as large a monitor as possible.

Overview

This is a brief breakdown of how it looks and feels to work in 3d. I touch on what a typical 3d production pipeline looks like, a simplified version of it, and examples of each step and what we will be doing in the course to prepare you to work in 3d with the Blender software.

Lecture Timline

• The 3d VFX Pipeline (extended) -- 00:18
• The Simplified 3d VFX Pipeline -- 02:18
• Modeling Definition -- 02:57
• Texturing Definition -- 06:42
• Lighting Definition -- 08:35
• Rendering Definition -- 09:43
• Conclusion -- 10:55

The presentation is also available if you want to keep a version to follow along with this lecture.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the supplemental materials for this course can be downloaded using the link provided in the downloadable materials section of this lecture.

Overview

We cover downloading the software from Blender.org, options to be aware of for your computer, and then a quick start installation to get us up and running fast.

Lecture Timeline

• Navigating to the Download Page -- 00:17
• Software Options -- 00:27
• Installation -- 01:14

Overview

I take you into Blender from the first moment you open the software and explain some options you will see immediately from Blender's splash screen.

Lecture Timeline

• Blender's Splash Screen -- 00:09
• Helpful Links -- 00:51
• Recent Projects -- 01:01
• Interaction Presets -- 01:18

Overview

This is a lightning fast overview of all the panels you see on the screen when you first open Blender. In the lectures following in this section we break each of these down into more detail, but I wanted you to get a quick overview of everything you see and allow you to begin to quickly absorb each section of Blender's interface in layers. Repetition is the key to learning!

Lecture Timeline

• The Info Panel -- 00:35
• The Tool Panel -- 01:08
• The Timeline -- 01:40
• The Properties Panel -- 02:25
• The Outliner -- 02:54
• The 3d Viewport -- 03:34

Overview

This panel is kind of like your home base in Blender. It will allow you to create, open, save, and modify .blend files and also provides some shortcut options to other features in the software. As with all of the following panel lectures we will only cover what is essential for you to know when you are just starting out. And as always we will revisit this panel and add to your understanding as the course unfolds.

Lecture Timeline

• The System Output Window -- 00:20
• Changing From One Panel to Another -- 00:51
• The File Menu -- 01:23
• The Render Menu -- 02:49
• The Window Menu -- 04:08
• The Help Menu -- 04:31
• Screen Layout Presets -- 04:58
• The Scene Menu -- 06:09
• The Render Engine Menu -- 07:05
• The 3d Scene Info -- 07:49

Overview

The outliner panel will help you keep things organized when your scenes get complicated. If you need to find something fast you can use this panel to help you save time from trying to find a needle in a haystack. Here we discuss options for how to do just that in the outliner panel.

Lecture Timeline

• Scenes and the Outliner -- 00:08
• Components Contained Within the Outliner -- 00:38
• Object Options and Filters -- 00:57
• The Search Function -- 02:29

Overview

This panel houses options that will allow you to create and modify objects in the scene. As you explore the tool panel you will find that there are more options and that those options will change depending on what objects you have selected and which modes you are in within Blender. But in this lecture we cover the two most important panels which are the create and the tools panels.

Lecture Timeline

• Hiding and Unhiding the Tool Menu -- 00:00
• The Create and the Tools Tabs -- 01:09

Overview

The properties panel is where you will spend most of your time when you aren't in the 3d viewport. This is by far the most extensive panel within Blender because it houses sub menus which are used to modify just about every aspect of your 3d scenes. I will walk you through each of the sub menus giving you a brief introduction into what each one contains and some of the properties I find myself using on a regular basis for my projects.

Lecture Timeline

• The Render Menu -- 00:56
• The Render Layers Menu -- 03:26
• The Scene Menu -- 04:37
• The World Menu -- 05:38
• The Object Menu -- 06:04
• The Constraints Menu -- 06:48
• The Modifiers Menu -- 07:27
• The Object Data Menu -- 08:06
• The Materials Menu -- 08:50
• The Textures Menu -- 10:05
• The Particles Menu -- 11:36
• The Physics Menu -- 12:29

Overview

The object panel is sort of a close companion to what's happening in the 3d viewport. It will give you readouts of properties about objects you have selected as well as options for things you can do to modify and extend capabilities of the 3d viewport itself. We discuss move, rotation, and scale options as well as a couple of other menus I find myself using to help me when I'm building up my scenes.

Lecture Timeline

• Hiding and Unhiding the Object Panel -- 00:19
• Transforming Objects -- 00:52
• The 3d Cursor -- 01:50
• The Display Section -- 02:41
• Using Background Images -- 03:22

Overview

The timeline allows you to playback animations within your scene. Since we won't be covering animation in this course I provide only a brief overview of how it's used. By showing how a simple animation is built it's easy to see how simple the timeline is to use and if you already know how to use a remote control then you can probably already guess how to do most things in the timeline.

Lecture Timeline

• Timeline Introduction -- 00:22
• Basic Keyframe Animation Example -- 01:00

Overview

In this final lecture for the basics section we get into changing Blender's layout and customizing things for your needs. Blender's biggest strength is also what makes it daunting for most beginners, it's flexibility. Because Blender has so many different options and settings to enable the user to make Blender their own it can sometimes seem like an impossible task to understand how to customize things when you are first learning the interface. I'm going to change all that by giving you some simple techniques for rearranging things if you feel like you need to.

Lecture Timeline

• Resizing Panel Contents -- 00:58
• Rearranging Sub-Panels -- 01:58
• Splitting Windows -- 02:52
• Custom Panel Layouts -- 05:56

Overview

In this first lecture of object manipulation I discuss how to navigate in the 3d viewport. This will be your first step towards learning how to observe and build objects in 3d space. We will cover rotating around a central pivot point, moving left to right and up and down, and finally zooming in and out.

Lecture Timeline

• Rotating around the 3d viewport -- 00:28
• Tracking around the 3d viewport -- 00:45
• Zooming in and out of the 3d viewport -- 01:02
• Using the view menu -- 01:49
• Re-centering your view -- 04:00

Overview

Building out detailed objects and scenes starts with proper selection. You'll see there are many methods for making detailed selections using a combination of mouse and keyboard shortcuts in combination with tools found in the menus for filtering selections.

Lecture Timeline

• Select / Deselect All Command -- 00:30
• Border Select Command -- 01:35
• Circle Select Command -- 02:55
• Random Selections -- 04:18
• Select By Type -- 06:11
• Pattern Selection -- 06:46

Overview

Building more complex objects starts with primitive 3d objects placed in your scene. In this short lecture I discuss how to add and remove these objects.

Lecture Timeline

• The Delete Command -- 00:16
• Adding Objects to the Scene -- 01:12
• The Add Menu -- 02:48

Overview

After you have objects in your scene you can begin to start pushing and pulling them into the shapes you need for your models. In this lecture I'll discuss how to move your objects around, rotate them, and scale them while showing you how to constrain these operations to the x, y, or z axis in 3d.

Lecture Timeline

• The Global Manipulator -- 00:18
• The Move Command -- 02:57
• The Scale and Rotate Commands -- 05:12
• Accurate Object Manipulation -- 06:19
• Object Properties -- 08:39

Overview

The global search menu is one of those unique features that really makes Blender stand out from the crowd among the other 3d suites. It's a nice little feature that's quietly tucked out of the way, but is probably hands down the most useful feature to a beginner for learning how to connect the dots and get things moving. In this lecture I'll discuss how to access this menu and show you the power this little feature packs.

Lecture Timeline

• Accessing the Global Search Menu -- 00:55

Overview

Blender's customization is also one of the things that makes it hard for beginners to learn. There are hundreds of ways to customize the user interface inside Blender to really make the program your own. In this lecture I break down the user preferences menu in all its glory and show you how to harness the power of customization in Blender to speed up your workflow and turn Blender into a 3d suite customized for your desktop.

Lecture Timeline

• The Interface Tab -- 00:25
• The Edit Tab -- 00:40
• The Input Tab -- 02:19
• The Addons Tab -- 08:24
• The Themes Tab -- 13:37
• The File Tab -- 14:40
• The System Tab -- 16:41

Overview

Edit mode and object mode describe the level of detail at which your working in the 3d viewport. In this lecture I show you the differences and teach you how to switch between each mode. Customizing 3d primitives involves manipulating the objects globally in object mode and then tweaking fine details in edit mode. This lecture will bridge the gap between basic object manipulation and detailed modeling inside Blender.

Lecture Timeline

• Explanation of Edit Mode and Object Mode Uses -- 00:37
• Switching Between Edit and Object Mode -- 01:09

Overview

One of the key foundational skills in 3d modeling is the ability to add and manipulate geometry within your objects. In this lecture I break down the key techniques necessary to tweak the geometry of your models in order to mold them into the specific shapes your after.

Lecture Timeline

• The Select Linked Command -- 01:24
• Proportional Editing -- 03:30
• The Extrude Command -- 06:34
• Deleting Geometry -- 09:20
• Building Geometry -- 11:12
• Making Faces / Edges -- 11:54
• Merging Geometry -- 13:23
• The Knife Tool -- 15:34

Overview

In this lecture I'll show you how to group models together as a single object and how to break parts of your models up into other objects. Learning how to combine and separate objects within your scenes is essential for building organizing and even animating objects in 3d space.

Lecture Timeline

• Separating Geometry -- 01:27
• Combining Geometry -- 03:27

Overview

Modifiers are an exciting feature that allow you to add custom properties to objects in the scene. Although we approach modifiers with modeling in mind in this section they can be used throughout Blender for a variety of applications. In this lecture I discuss two of the modifiers I utilize frequently when modeling and show you how to utilize them to build out more advanced objects.

Lecture Timeline

• The Subdivision Surface Modifier -- 02:00
• The Mirror Modifier -- 06:59

Overview

Modeling objects is all about the gradual process of refinement. Blender's menu system is full of useful commands and utilities, but having to wade through the menus searching for these commands can be a waste of time and hinder your ability to model objects quickly. By learning some essential keyboard shortcuts you can exponentially increase your modeling skills. In this lecture I break down the shortcuts I use to model the most complex details in my objects. Learning to use shortcuts in Blender is the key to utilizing the software to its full potential.

Lecture Timeline

• Hiding and Unhiding Objects -- 01:50
• The Shading Menu -- 05:06
• Layers -- 05:44
• Duplicating Objects -- 08:12
• Duplicating with Links -- 08:29
• The Repeat Command -- 09:54
• Adding Edge Loops -- 12:29
• Select Edge Loop -- 16:08
• The Edge Slide Command -- 16:21

Overview

In the first demo of this course I show you the entire modeling process from the ground up in action. By building a high resolution model of a fire hydrant I review all of the techniques we learned in this section and show you how to apply them in a real world modeling scenario. This lecture is sped up in order to save time and I will provide in depth commentary regarding key techniques as they are used in the modeling process.

Overview

In this first lecture in the lighting section I discuss the hemisphere lamp and its applications for environment lighting in your scenes. The hemi lamp is the simplest type of lamp and allows you to quickly add a measure of overall ambient lighting in the scene. Combined with other lamp types it can become a powerful tool for making fine tweaks to the shading in your scene.

Lecture Timeline

• Setting Up the Hemi Lamp -- 03:10
• Tweaking the Settings -- 03:42

Overview

In this lecture I discuss how to add sunlight to your scene. The sun lamp mimics the outdoor lighting cast by direct sunlight. Combined with the shadow and atmosphere settings this lamp is the key to adding realistic outdoor lighting to your subjects.

Lecture Timeline

• Adding the Sun Lamp -- 00:39
• Tweaking the Settings -- 01:34
• Sky & Atmosphere Settings -- 02:34
• Shadow Settings -- 05:55
• Sun Lamp Example -- 10:24

Overview

In this lecture I show you how to use the point lamp in your scenes. This light casts light that illuminates in all directions from a single point in space. A common household light bulb casts the same type of light as the point lamp and for interior lighting it will be a very powerful tool in your lighting arsenal.

Lecture Timeline

• Adding a Point Lamp -- 00:10
• Tweaking the Settings -- 01:10
• Setting the Falloff Distance -- 02:56
• Shadow Settings -- 03:54
• Point Lamp Example -- 04:57
• Point Lamp Example #2 -- 05:14

Overview

The spot lamp continues to be used as a staple source of lighting in theatrical and film productions throughout the industry. The spot lamp in Blender mimics this type of shadow falloff that is iconic and typical of the spot lamp in the real world. In this lecture I show you how to control the aspects of the spot lamp to suite your scene's needs.

Lecture Timeline

• Adding a Spot Lamp -- 00:06
• Tweaking the Settings -- 01:00
• Shadow Settings -- 01:31
• Spot Lamp Example -- 05:02
• Spot Lamp Example #2 -- 08:15

Overview

The area lamp is extremely useful in creating a lighting scenario in your scenes that is even and flattering. It's used to cleanly light showcase products and human models. In this lecture I discuss how the area lamp differs from the other lamp types within Blender and how you can harness the lamp to easily add a quick and beautiful lighting setup to your scene.

Lecture Timeline

• Adding an Area Lamp -- 00:08
• Tweaking the Settings -- 01:29
• Distance and Gamma Settings -- 01:41
• Shadow Settings -- 03:11
• Area Lamp Example -- 04:34

Overview

In this second demo for this course I walk you through a basic lighting setup for our fire hydrant as we place it in a street scene. We will utilize a variety of lights throughout the scene building a moonlit lighting scenario with added ambient lighting from the street and the surrounding building.

Overview

In this first lecture of the texturing section I'll go over the materials panel inside Blender and how you can use it to start adding realism to your scene. Materials control how objects interact with light within the scene and allow you to begin to describe what makes up your models. By looking at the different aspects that describe a material I show you how to start building materials of your own.

Lecture Timeline

• Naming Materials -- 00:41
• Material Preview Options -- 01:03
• Diffuse Settings -- 02:52
• Specular Settings -- 03:21
• Shading Settings -- 04:55
• Transparency Settings -- 07:11
• Mirror Settings -- 10:47
• Shadow Settings -- 13:55

Overview

In this lecture I break down the key features in building textures in Blender. Textures will allow you to control fine scale details within your materials and can also be used to mask the effects of other textures within a material. The combination of material and texture settings give you all the control necessary to describe virtually any kind of object surface real or imagined.

Lecture Timeline

• Texture Type Filters -- 01:37
• Naming Textures -- 02:41
• Texture Types -- 02:53
• Texture Preview Options -- 03:37
• Colors Options -- 04:21
• Texture Type Options -- 06:21
• Texture Mapping Options -- 08:40
• Texture Influence Options -- 10:15
• Bump Mapping Options -- 14:24

Overview

Procedural texturing is a process used to quickly apply a uniform texture across the surface of an object. It's a great way to add basic textures to models and can be used to very effectively texture objects in the background of your scenes. In this lecture I go over how to generate a procedural texture in Blender and apply it to a basic model.

Lecture Timeline

• Building the Base Material -- 00:34
• Adding the Texture -- 00:45
• Fixing Mapping Issues -- 01:40
• Basic Bump Mapping -- 03:43
• Explanation of Displacement Mapping -- 04:24

Overview

UV mapping is the foundation to complex texturing in 3d. In this lecture I discuss the process of UV mapping and show you how to build a custom UV map on a primitive model. Then I show you how to test the integrity of the UV map and make modifications in order to prepare your model to accept custom textures.

Lecture Timeline

• Automatic UV Unwrapping -- 03:37
• Previewing with a Texture -- 04:33
• Manual UV Unwrapping -- 09:32
• Mark Seams Command -- 09:44
• Advanced UV Software Recommendation -- 13:54

Overview

In this lecture I show you how to take a previously UV mapped model and build a texture from the ground up to fit the UV map which was generated. By using the map as a guide I show you how to assemble a color map in Photoshop and then apply it to our model.

Lecture Timeline

• Exporting a UV Map -- 0013
• Painting Textures in Photoshop -- 01:25
• Importing a Custom UV Texture -- 04:06
• Basic Material Settings -- 04:51

Overview

In the first half of this demo I show you how to apply the process of UV mapping to a complex object by unwrapping our fire hydrant model. We will also begin to generate a red paint material for our fire hydrant. Then in the final part of the demo I'll show you how to use a feature called texture baking to prepare a base texture for our fire hydrant.

Overview

In the second half of the texturing demo I start by demonstrating how I paint a color map texture in Photoshop for our fire hydrant. Then I bring our textures back into Blender and apply them to the fire hydrant to complete our red paint material. By the end of this demo you will have a complete scene lit and textured using all the techniques we've discussed in previous lessons in the course.