Blender Tutorial by Gedd
Joe Cotter
Posts: 3,259
Well, here is a quick post of the first chapter of the Blender Tutorial is available at my DA Home Page. Let me know what you think... I didn't prof it as I was tired by the time I finished it and wanted to get it up. That might have been a mistake but I'll only know when I look again at it after some rest. Hopefully I wasn't too anxious to get it up that it has any major issues.
The main concept btw behind my tutorial is things that tripped me up in learning Blender. It is not meant to be all comprehensive as that would be to big of a task, nor is it meant to supplant tutorials that cover fundamentals or details that are in good supply.
I actually have some of the next section started, the 'Object Mode' as previously mentioned in another thread, but that is still in development.
A final note, these are being released with rights reserved, that is.. they are freely available to anyone for their personal use while posted. Anyone can download it for personal use also.. share the link.. just don't share the original document, as I would like to reserve the right to change what I do with it at a future date.
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Comments
Thanks so much Gedd! :-)
I will post updates and new modules as the are ready. I welcome feedback/corrections/clarifications and will modify/correct based on the feedback I get. Thanks :)
I thought that was well and clearly written, covering many of the fundamentals of the Blender UI in very compact form. I would think that a beginner will find it very helpful.
There are so many things that are very quick and easy to accomplish with Blender with basic knowledge but are simply impossible to do in DS alone. I've been thinking about producing tutorials (which is a long way from actually creating the tuts) about stuff how Blender can be used in your DS workflow but without a "backbone" like the one you are planning on doing they have seeme a bit redundant: more experienced users have already figured the stuff out for themselves, and total beginners still need to get over the initial hurdles of the UI and general workflow.
In the 3D navigation section of the tut, in addition to the other keypad shortcuts, I would add the shortcuts for Local view "/" - which has utterly confused me sooo many times when I accidentally switched it on without noticing - and "," for centering the view.
Thank you very much. Those are great ones and are exactly the type of thing I've been trying to include.
If at any time, anyone sees something they use all the time, or something that trips them up, those are the two things of focus here. Part of the issue I see with learning Blender is that often the person trying to learn has everything and the kitchen sink thrown at them at once, or conversely, they have some sub-portion but it is random as to what is covered. So, the goal... to include most useful, most confusing, and to have a flow.
On another note, I think I'm going to be fleshing it out with 'more information' links to places like the appropriate area of the Blender Wiki or other useful pages, and to videos that happen to explain something particularly well. The only problem with outside links is that they die, so I will try to cover most of the fundamental information in the tutorial itself. However, I noticed when doing the 'Object Mode' section that there were some good succinct videos covering specific areas and it didn't make sense to redo them or the information in them.
Keep giving feedback, ty :)
[Edit] In doing these, I am going back and forth between much source material and that means it's easy to miss something obvious and right in front of my eyes if I'm slightly distracted, so never underestimate how something seemingly obvious might have slipped past me.
This is timely because these types of keys will be in the next section, the Object Mode.
Oh, for those that are interested, I plan to have a reference section that includes a collection of all of the 'Keys' presented.
Part 1, The Interface has been updated to v.2 to include a section on opening, closing, and managing windows. It also includes more information on saving custom layouts.
Sorry for the quick turnaround on this, but Part 1 has been updated to v.3 . The update is basically to the 'Further Study' area to include other links.
So re-download Part 1? Cool. I'll do that when I get home! Thanks for all the great tutorials.
Ok, I think I just jumped to an alternate universe... ;p
I just checked the Blender Wiki and it has massively changed since I last checked (which was a while ago, I admit.) I was using the 2.4 wiki as the 2.6 wiki was so sparse. The strange thing is, the Interface page in the 2.6 wiki looks almost exactly like the Interface Module I just put together... so close it is very spooky. I am going to go through the 2.6 wiki to see what they've covered and update my modules to reference/coordinate with the wiki rather then duplicate efforts in a one-off fashion.
Net result is, I will be coming out with an update to Part 1 momentarily so anyone following might want to wait to download the updated version. After reviewing some of the Blender Wiki (still am at the moment) I've come to the conclusion that it is much better then the older one, and works as a good reference/jumping off point, but for me it is often a case of 'if you know how to do it already, it makes sense.' to a large extent, just as it had been in the past.
I would consider contributing directly to the wiki, but doing my own tutorial I can put things in a way that makes sense to me without worrying about stepping on any toes, I can include exercises, I can control the presentation of the material, and as we get further along, we will be diverging away from the wiki even more (but still referencing it.)
[Edit] Almost forgot, adding 'User Interface Tweaks' to the first module also.
Version .4 is up. The User Interface Tweaks section mentioned in the last post will actually be in the Object Mode module, but there is a User Preferences section. As usual, give any feedback you have, ty...
Update 'Module 1 - Interface' to v.4.5 to include a section on Multi-Monitor support (and related keys.)
As I have figured out how to include the tutorial right in my gallery I have done that so that all future updates will be available right from my DA Home Page, or later, the Gallery, so that people don't have to worry about a broken link hopefully.
[Edit] updated previous posts to get rid of broken links.
Alright, I think module 1 is stabilized for anyone who's been following this. I've been working on the next module for a while without seeing things I need to add to the First, so I think we're safe. If there are any incremental updates I will post them here and hold off on an update for a while of Module 1.
On a separate note, I think Module 2 will be exciting, I'm gathering a lot of material for it and it will provide a good solid foundation for basic concepts in Blender I believe. Module 1 in some ways was almost like a Prologue to Module 2 and beyond.
Just a quick update... I was originally planning three modules; Interface, Object, and Edit. I've since decided to split 'Rendering, Lighting, and Materials Introduction' into a module of it's own (Module 3, before Edit) and am planning on a fifth module on 'Sculpting and Displacement Maps' if I don't run out of time and energy.
There's a tip in my 'Edit Mode' module that I wanted to share here as I'm not sure how long it will be before the module comes out and it is something I realized gave me grief and therefore may give others grief, and that is 'Pivot Mode' when editing.
On the (bottom) menubar of the 3D View window is the button for changing pivot mode. In the beginning, we have that set to 'Individual Origins' by default, and that's generally what we want for basic editing. Soon however, we start to get into situations where we want to change it to '3D Cursor' and from there, the other modes. If we are in the wrong mode for what we are trying to do, we get very strange results at times, so once we start playing with this feature, we want to be aware of what the different settings will do in different situations. My suggestion for anyone who isn't fully familiar with this is to play with the feature on a regular basis until comfortable with what to expect rather then find oneself cursing at the screen wondering why Blender is acting strange. ;)
A second tip.. Sometimes we want to just 'play.' That is, practice the different keys and techniques on a base object; uv sphere, monkey, etc... other times we want to practice making something. If we watch speed sculpting, it shows someone doing a particular sculpt where someone is doing it very fast. The trick to it is, they've done that particular sculpt many times before, and so like a video game, have got their time down. Now this might seem like cheating but it's not. The repetition gets the specifics down to where we are very fast/efficient and those skills transfer over to other meshes.
There is a trick to this however if we are to optimize our learning. That is, we specifically want to choose modeling exercises that use the techniques we want to learn. If we practice 'the long way around' over and over, that's what will be embedded, so we want to be choosy on what exercises we do repeatedly. This might mean taking an exercise someone has done and modifying it for our use, then practicing that specific exercise. My recommendation here is to convert interface interactions to shortcut keys wherever possible.*
The second part about choosing exercises is to do ones that both cover the specific things we want to practice and not a lot more. We want to be able to do them repeatedly without getting worn out.
* There are times when interacting with the interface is actually as efficient or more so, but in general the interface can be a crutch to speed and efficiency.
Another quick tip. Since objects get created where the 3D Cursor is, and we often want that to be at 0,0,0 for new objects, setting the 3D cursor to that location is a common task when starting a new model. The shortcut for that is 'Shift+s' (Selection menu) 'Cursor to Center.' Now, 'Shift + A' will give us the 'Add' menu to select a starting object. If our viewport is off we can of course manuver it around untill we see our new object, or we can hit the 'Numeric .' (period) to zoom in on the selected object.
Well here's a gotcha that was tricky to figure out. It ends up that the 'Operator Panel' which allows us to change settings of the action just performed, such as number of vertices of a newly created primitive can get disabled for various unknown reasons as mentioned here. It just happened to me and I had a devil of a time figuring it out. The solution seems to be to reset to factory defaults, so guess it's a good reason to save user settings.
On another related note, for anyone that didn't catch it. The Layout settings and User settings got separated recently, not sure which build exactly (this, a previous...) It is a welcome change as they never should have been attached as it made it a pain to update them.
{Edit] Hmm, didn't notice the link didn't stick and I don't have it at the moment. If I find the link I'll update this post.
Shift - C is the shortcut to reset cursor to center.
Thank you, didn't have that one :)
[Edit] Ends up did have that but forgot as it zooms to cursor and since I don't want it changing my current view often, I had gotten in the habit of using Shift + s. I need to practice Shift + c when appropriate so I remember it :)
Another gotcha when working in Blender... Scale, rotation etc when in object mode has a different effect then when the scale and rotation are applied in edit mode. Often, those applied in Object Mode will mess up how tools behave in Edit Mode, so we either want to perform the action in Edit Mode, or 'apply' the scale/rotation etc.. The 'Ctl + a' (apply) will apply the scale/rotation/transform, zeroing it out in the Object Mode settings while leaving it rotated, that is, transferring the rotation to the Edit mode settings. I hope this makes sense. It will make more sense in the module hopefully where we can look at it with examples/images.
The net result, if a tool such as spin isn't acting the way we expect, jump to object mode and check the properties in the Numeric Input panel. If they aren't zeroed, Ctl + a ... apply appropriate.
Just a reminder, I'm trying to post particularly useful items here while I get the modules done as I'm not sure how long they will take. Happy Blending ;)
The pivot point option selected also has an effect on how things scale and rotate.
That was actually the first gotcha I posted, #15 :)
Gedd, while I applaud your effort I think the number of resources devoted to interface and functionality and training in Blender is extensively covered, but what I can't find nearly as much is Blender integration with Studio; things like rigging, morph targets, and importing/exporting models for instance, while their may be info on these subjects there is very little on these subjects applied to be use in Studio.
There are a number of Blender forum posts I've made asking questions and had several well meaning Blender users respond they don't know how Studio works, or even what it is.
StratDragon, while I applaud your desire to learn, that is not my current target. I am responding specifically to people who don't share your particular take on these things being well covered and have specifically said these are areas that have kept them from getting into Blender. That is who I am looking to help at this particular time.
StratDragon, you could check this post: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/6728/
Ignore the OPs instructions, the collada format just complicates things. Stick to what I wrote (and yes I am pretty full of myself).
Hi,, at first thank you much to show many blender tutorial ,,
then I hope to know about how to use phicics simulation for daz clothing with pozing genesis,,@@;
I heared before,, if export clothing and genesis as obj, and use phisics simulation,, we can adjust clothing shape as if use poser
or optex dynamic clothings tools,,
I know ,, it only work on blender,, but
, after use phisics simulation in blender with exported clothing as obj (with genesis pozing ) ,
it can save as new morph of the clothing too? not change vertex order,?
I know already how to make morph in blender,, and about some tools of blenders.
but hope to know clear way to use phisics simulation to make morph which may perfectly fit naturall
to genesis pozing,,,
Is it really work @@;?
I haven't tested that out yet but there was a thread where people were talking about making sure vertex order isn't changed on import/export of Blender. I don't have the link though. I would post in the commons a question about "Import/Export Mesh Through Blender Without Changing Vert Order" and mention in the post that it's so you can make morphs.
Yes,,, I can import export and make morph without changing vertex order, or poligon coutns,,
to blender.
(so that I can use shape key or mix selected only vertex from other shape key,,,to make morph which work in ds 4.5
by blender. without problem,,)
but I am afraid, when apply phisics simulation,,if vertex counts may change or not? @@;
(though I do not know clear,, how to apply phisics simulation with clothing obj and pozinge gensis ^^;
so that I wan to know who actually use blender phisics simulation for making morph which work in ds 4.5)