Blender 3D Design - Online

Instructor - Neal Hirsig
nhirsig@tufts.edu

General:
The Blender 3D Design course is intended to offer students an introduction to the world of computer generated 3-D modeling and animation. As an introductory course, it provides a basic understanding of the skills and techniques employed by 3-D designers in a wide range of applications. In this online course we will explore basic mesh modeling, applying textures and materials to 3-D objects, lighting, animation and rendering. This course should provide a good basis for further independent study in architectural, engineering and theatrical modeling and game design.

Dual Level:
There are 2 progressive levels of study in this online course: Beginning Level and Intermediate Level. Learning Units 1 through 12 comprise the Beginning Level Course and Learning Units 13 through 24 comprise the Intermediate Level Course (Note: The Intermediate level Course is currently under development.)

Online and Self-Paced:
This course is offered to students online. That is, all of the course material is located on this web site or on other web sites. This course is self-paced meaning that you can pick and choose the Learning Units, Video Tutorials or PDF tutorials as you see fit. The sequence of Learning Units are a suggested path of learning Blender but you are welcome to use this material in any way that suits your purposes.

To take this course, you must have access to a personal computer on which you can download all of the required software (free) and execute all of the required assignments. See below for computer specifications.

Personal computer specifications:

System:
Blender will run on the following Operating systems:
Windows 2000, XP or Vista
Mac OS X 10.2 or later
Linux 2.2.5 i386
Linux 2.3.2 PPC
FreeBSD 6.2 i386
Irix 6.5 mips3
Solaris 2.8 sparc

Hardware:
The following are minimal hardware requirements:
500 MHz CPU
256 MB Ram
150 MB free hard disk space
1024 x 768 px. Display with 24 bit color

Additional Hardware:
3 button mouse (You must have a 3-Button mouse. Blender uses 3 buttons on the mouse to navigate the 3-D space and edit objects. Ideally your 3-Button mouse will have a center scroll wheel). Although Blender will work with other mouse arrngements all of the video and PDF tutorials in this course reference the use of a 3-button mouse.

Open GL Graphics card with at least 8MB RAM (You can get further information on graphics card requirements at:
http://www.blender.org/cms/Graphics_Cards.201.0.html

Software:
The software used for this course is Blender Version 2.45 (or the latest version):

1.) Blender (Version 2.45 or latest version) - Blender is a sophisticated and fully functional open-source 3D software. It is designed cross-platform, with an OpenGL interface. It is available as a free download from http://www.blender.org for Windows, MAC, Linux, Solaris, Irix or FreeBSD operating systems.

1A.) Although it is not required, you may want to download and install the latest version of "Python". Blender uses an embedded Python scripting language (API for Python) and the installation includes the Python scripts necessary to run. However, downloading and installing the latest full version of Python (v 2.51) is recommended. The Python site is located at: http://www.python.org

Other software you will need installed on your computer:

1.) Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 8 - Most of the documents used in this course are in Adobe PDF format. Many documents on this site may not display on earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader at http://www.adobe.com

2.) The video tutorials are in .RM (Real Media Streaming) video format and SWF (Flash Shockwave Streaming) video format. Some student projects and most PDF tutorial animation instructions use .MOV (QuickTime) video format.

Real Media Player - If you choose to view the video tutorials in Real Media format you will need a Media Player that can play Real Media files. You can download a free Real Media Player at http://www.real.com (Note: follow the links for the FREE player - Do not purchase the one that is not free.)

Flash Shockwave Player - If you choose to view the video tutorials in Flash streaming format you will need the latest shockwave player installed on your browser. You can download and install this browser plugin at http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download If you do not have the proper player installed on your browser, clicking any of the "Flash" links will direct you to the proper downloading site.

QuickTime Player - If you choose to do any of the suggested student projects or work through the PDF tutorials you must download the latest version (V-7 or later). You can download a free copy of QuickTime Player at: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/win.html

3.) You will need to open Zip Files and extract the files they contain. To do this on a Windows computer you will need WinZip (latest version is V-10 but earlier versions will work). You can download a free copy of this at: http://www.winzip.com MAC computers using OS 10 should be able to open zip files without any external software. Earlier MAC Operating Systems may need Stuffit or similar software able to unzip .zip files. A free copy of Stuffit is available at: http://www.stuffit.com/win/expander/

4.) Some tutorials and projects will involve using the Google Earth application so you will need to download and install this on your computer. Download and install the latest free version of Google Earth at: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

In addition to the above software you may (although not required) want access to a color printer. Most of the Blender documents on our site are in color. They display crisp when viewed on a computer display but become degraded when printed in Black & White. Color print-outs of these PDF files are considerably easier to read and follow.

Class Structure:

1 - Learning Units:

There are series of learning unit assignments. These are labeled Learning Unit#1, Learning Unit #2... The learning units may contain Video tutorials, Web based (PDF) materials and web site viewing. You will need to complete these assignments as they are the basis for learning the software functionality and completing the assigned projects.

The video tutorials can simply be viewed (however you may want to try some of the techniques in the Blender software yourself). The PDF tutorials should be worked through with a copy of Blender open executing all of the directions. Some of these are quite long.

The video tutorials can be viewed in either a Real Media Player (latest version) or in Flash. There is a link in each Learning Unit and in the general list of all video tutorials for viewing the video tutorials in Real Media (Streaming - not downloadable) and Flash (Streaming - downloadable) format.

The Blender software, as you will discover, is quite complex. It is by no means intuitive and the hardest part of learning it is getting used to the interface. The material becomes progressively harder so it is important that you keep up with the learning units.

2 - Projects:

There are a number of suggested design projects for this course. They are located under the "Blender 3D Design Projects" topic area. Project descriptions, requirements can be found in the description of each project. As this is a self-paced online course with no grading there is no requirement to submit these projects for my approval. However, I am always glad to view anyone's project work sent to me and will gladly return to you my comments.

3 - Examples of Student Projects:

I have posted examples of various project work performed by my students in the "Student Gallery" area. Feel free to view these examples and download the .blend file to serve as inspiration. If you decide to do any of the projects listed here and send me the files I will post them along with the others.

 

Learning Units 1 to 6 - Beginning Level Course
Learning Uniits 7 to 12 - Beginning Level Course
Learning Units 13 to 18 - Intermediate Level Course

NOTE:
Click on the Real Media link to view streaming Real Media.
or
Click on the Flash link to view streaming Flash video. --- (Note: you can download the Flash file (.swf) by clicking on the Flash icon then clicking on the "Download" button. After downloading you can open the .swf file in your web browser)

Basic Blender GUI:       Blender Default Scene U-01 Splitting and Joining Windows U-01 3D Viewport Navigation U-01 Viewport Shading U-01 Perspective/Orthographic Projection U-02 Maneuvering About U-01 Blender For Laptops U-01 Blender Layers U-02 Loading and Saving Files U-01 Blender Default File U-02 Undo / Redo U-02 Outliner Window U-03 (NEW) Blender Data Blocks Part 1   (NEW) Blender Data Blocks Part 2   Text Window U-03 Background Image U-06 Appending Objects U-09 (NEW) Blender Groups   Appending Materials U-09 (NEW) Display Speed and File Size U-05 (NEW) File Browser / Image Browser U-09 (NEW) Reset 3D Cursor U-05 (NEW) Keyboard Shortcuts Window U-09 Object Mode Modeling:       Primitive Mesh Objects U-01 Icosphere - Torus Objects U-01 Naming Objects U-02 Selecting Objects U-01 Moving Objects U-01 Scaling Objects U-01 Rotating Objects U-01 Transform Properties Panel U-02 Global and Local Orientation U-02 Pivot Poiints U-02 Object Centers U-02 Duplicating Objects U-04 Parenting Objects U-04 Deleting Objects U-04 Joining Objects U-06 Separating Objects U-06 Boolean Objects Part 1 U-06 Boolean Objects Part 2 U-06 Smoothing U-05 Plane - Grid - Circle Objects U-01 Empty Object U-05 Text Objects U-09 (New) Subsurf U-06 (New) Symmetrical Modeling Part 1 U-08 (New) Symmetrical Modeling Part 2 U-08 (New) Mirror Menu U-08 Decimator Tool U-08 (New) Curve Modifier U-09 Lattice Deformation U-09 Bevelling Tool U-09 (New) Blender Snap Menu   (New) Array Modifier Part 1   (New) Array Modifier Part 2   (New) Dupliverts   Blender Camera and Scenes:       Blender Camera U-04 (NEW) Align Active Camera U-04 Camera Constraints U-04 (NEW) Multiple Blender Scenes U-10 (NEW) Multiple Cameras U-08 (NEW) Set Chaining   Animation:       Basic Keyframe Animation U-04 Timeline Window U-04 IPO (Interpolation) Curve Window U-04 Path Animation U-10 Alpha Animation U-10 Cyclic Animation U-10 Layer Animation U-10 Camera Path Fly Around U-10 Animating Lattice Deformation U-10 (New) Creating An Animated GIF   Modeling Demos:       (New) Box Modeling Frog Part 1   (New) Box Modeling Frog Part 2   (New) Box Modeling Frog Part 3   (New) Box Modeling Frog Part 4   (New) Box Modeling Frog Part 5

Rendering:       Dump Window U-02 Render Image U-02 Render Screen U-02 Blender Materials:       Blender Material Basics U-04 Colored Material U-04 (NEW) Color Picker U-04 Multiple Materials U-07 Image Textures U-07 Multiple Textures U-07 Noise U-11 Tweaking Materials U-07 Transparent Image Textures U-07 Bump Map Texture U-07 Packaging Texture Images U-07 UV Textures Part 1   UV Textures Part 2   UV Textures Part 3   UV Textures Part 4   UV Textures Part 5   (NEW) Color Gradient   (NEW) Texture Gradient   Blender Lighting:       Lamp Lamp U-05 Spot Lamp U-05 Sun Lamp U-05 Hemi Lamp U-05 Volumetric Lighting U-08 Lamp Textures U-11 Lamp Constraints and Parenting U-08 3 Point Lighting U-08 Edit Mode Modeling:       Vertices, Edges and Faces U-03 Selecting Vertices U-03 Selecting Edges U-03 Selecting Faces U-03 Subdivide U-03 Extruding U-03 Extrude Constraints U-03 (New) Extrude Dup (New) Organic Extrusion U-03 Spin U-05 Spin Dup U-10 Hooks U-09 Warp U-09 Proportional Editing U-08 Vertex/Edge/Face Loop Selection U-09 Face Loop Splitting   (New) Transform Snap Tool   (New) Knife Cut Tool Subdivide   (New)Edge Split Modifier   (New)Rip Tool   Modeling Problems:       (New)Cutting A Hole-Flat Surface   (New)Cutting A Hole-Curved Surface   (New)Smoothing Problems U-10 (New)Curving A Surface Along 2 Axes   Curves:       Bezier Curve U-07 NURBS Curve U-07 (New)Loft Modeling - Bevel and Taper U-07 Blender Particle System:       Basic Blender Particles U-11 Objects as Particles U-11 Fire Effect U-11 Particles Lattice Deformation U-11 Static Particles - Fur U-11 World:       World Background Color U-06 World Background Image U-06 Mist U-09 Stars U-09 Google Earth:       Basic Google Earth   Google Earth Footprint   (New) Blender/GE UV Textures   (New)Exporting BlenderModel For GE   (New)Importing Blender Model In GE

Blender 3D Design Projects

Examples of Student Projects

Download Printable Single-Page PDF Cheat Sheet

UNIVERSAL ESC Stops Ongoing Procedure SPACE Opens Toolbox TAB Toggles Edit/Object Mode CTRL-Z Undo CTRL-Y Redo ALT-U Undo Menu CTRL-W Save File F1 Open File F2 Save File F3 Save Rendered Image F4 Logic Buttons F5 Shading Buttons F6 Texture Buttons F7 Object Buttons F8 World Buttons F9 Editing Buttons F10 Scene Buttons F11 Show/Hide Rendering F12 Starts Rendering Modeling IKEY Insert Keyframe ALT-C Convert Menu SHIFT-D Duplicate NKEY Object Properties Panel CTRL-J Join Objects ALT-J Join Faces PKEY Separate MKEY Layer Menu CTRL-P Parent ALT-P Clears Parent WKEY Specials Menu XKEY Delete CTRL-H Hooks Verticies OKEY Proportional Editing EKEY Extrude Menu CTRL-N Align Face Normals FKEY Make Face/Edge KKEY Knife Tool CTRL-LMB Create New Vertex SHIFT-R Face Loop Selection CTRL-E Edge Specials Menu SHIFT-M Mirror Menu

Navigation Home All Layers Displayed CKEY Centers View on 3D Cursor ZKEY Toggles Wire/Solid View NUM. View Selected NUM1 Front View NUM7 Top View NUM3 Side View NUM0 Camera View CTRL-NUM1 Back View CTRL-NUM7 Bottom View CTRL-NUM3 Other Side View CTRL-NUM4 Pan Display Right CTRL-NUM6 Pan Display Left CTRL-NUM2 Pan Display Up CTRL-NUM8 Pan Dislay Down NUM8 Oribt Up NUM2 Orbit Down NUM4 Orbit Counter-Clockwise NUM6 Orbit Clockwise MMB-SCROLL Zoom In/Out MMB-DRAG Orbit View NUM- Zoom Out NUM+ Zoom In ALT-A Play Animation LEFT ARROW Decrease Frame Number RIGHT ARROW Increase Frame Number Selecting - Transforms AKEY Selects/Deselects All BKEY Border/Box Select BKEY-BKEY Circle Select GKEY Grab Mode GKEY-X or Y or Z Grab Constrain to X-Y-Z ALT-G Object Set To 0 Location RKEY Rotate Mode RKEY-X or Y or Z Rotate Constrain to X-Y-Z ALT-R Object Set To 0 Rotation SKEY Scale Mode SKEY-X or Y or Z Scale Constrain to X-Y-Z ALT-S Object Set To 0 Scale HKEY Toggle Align/Free Handles VKEY Vector Handles CTRL-SPACE Toggles 3D Widget SHIFT-TAB Use Snap/Grid