Progress update for my new web developer portfolio. Creating a 3D museum to showcase all my stuff from 10 years of film and video production. Final product will be a static HTML website that features a full screen 3D museum environment that the user can walk through and interact with.
As a new web developer, I’m looking for a unique way to showcase all of my skills that I’ve acquired over my 10 year career in visual media. I hope you guys like it!
Hey guys, what’s going on! In this video, we’re going to take a look at how to use the 3D cursor in Blender. The 3D cursor is, if you take everything and delete it, it is this little circle here in the center. That is the red and white circle; the little crosshair thing. In 2.8 and above, they have added a special 3D cursor tool to allow you to move and drag the cursor around. If you’re familiar with any kind of word processor or typing code, it’s very much the same idea. A cursor is just a thing that helps you know where you’re working.
First Example
For example, if I hit SHIFT+A on the keyboard that will bring up the “Add” menu. Let’s just say I want to add a cone. This will add a cone to the scene, but it will add it exactly where I’ve put my 3D cursor. So for example, I can take the cursor tool, move the cursor way over here, and add a monkey head. That monkey head will appear here, exactly where I’ve put the cursor. So that’s cool, to have it put stuff exactly where I want it to appear. Especially if you have a massive scene and you’re adding stuff all over the place. If I want to add something way out here I can do so without having to go all the way up and get something that appeared somewhere that I didn’t need it to appear.
Another Example
Another great use for the 3D cursor in Blender- you can hit SHIFT+S to bring up the snapping menu popup; and this is especially useful if you’re going to do some editing. So for example, if we bring up the monkey Suzanne here for a second, and I hit TAB on the keyboard to enter edit mode. Let’s just say I want to create something in the center of Suzanne’s eyeball. I’m going to hit X on the keyboard and delete the center vertex on the eyeball. So that is going to open up a hole in the eyeball. Next, I’m going to hold ALT on the keyboard and click this edge and that’s going to select all of the vertices inside of this eye socket area. And so what I can do is go back to the SHIFT+S menu to bring up the snapping popup. Then I can choose to snap the cursor to what I have selected. So the cursor will appear exactly in the center of the eye. So then I can go and add a cone or something that will be specifically in the center of the eye.
The pivot point menu
Actually, that was not a great example because I have ‘active element’ currently selected. So this menu up here is the pivot point for transforms. I’m going to choose 3D cursor and then let’s see the difference that that’s going to make. So I’m going to go ahead and add a cone and it’s going to scale it now, this time, scaling from the 3D cursor. It’s a great reference point to be able to pivot scales and rotations around an element or a point that’s not a vertex. So if I go to- this is what I had it on previously- the active element, so here, you can see I’ve selected all the vertices on the bottom of this cone; whichever one (I’m shift-clicking) is white is the active selection, so it will scale from that point. So anyway, the cursor is always available if you’re trying to scale something, rotate something, or create a pivot point, or define or create a center on something, the 3D cursor is a great way to do that.
The Door Example
Okay, here’s a good example use case for the 3D cursor: Let’s say for example, I want to model a door. I might start with a plane and I might rotate it on the X axis for a little bit and scale it along the X. And this is just a rough, general idea for the shape of my door. But when I rotate it like this, it doesn’t rotate quite like I want it to. So an important concept for animations especially, is the idea of knowing where your pivot point is. Usually on all objects that are added through the context menu have the default pivot point (or ‘origin’ as it’s known in Blender) located in the center of mass. Of course, if you model a lot of new geometry onto a base shape, the origin will remain exactly where it was in object mode, even if you completely change the location of the whole shape.
So back to the door example, I want my door to rotate from the edge, like a normal door. So what I can do is go into edit mode, and have edge selection mode enabled, and select the left edge. Then hit SHIFT+S to bring up the snapping menu, and choose Cursor to Selected. That’s going to bring the cursor to the center of these two vertices, basically the center of this left edge. Then hit TAB to go back into object mode, and in the pill menu at the top, choose Object > Set Origin > Origin to 3D Cursor. The origin defines the point at which the object will rotate and scale. So if we hit S on the keyboard to scale the object, it will scale from that left edge.
Using the Cursor to Scale and Rotate
Another example, if we go back into edit mode and choose vertex selection, and choose the bottom left corner, we can SHIFT+S to snap the cursor to that selection, go back into object mode, and then choose Origin to Cursor. Now the origin is at the bottom left corner, and we can scale it from the bottom left corner. That is a super useful case for the 3D cursor in Blender if you’re modeling something or if you’re animating something, and you need it to scale or rotate around a specific point, the 3D cursor is a really great way to set that location.
Here are some fun tips to improve topology on your modeling projects. If you’ve done any high resolution sculpting, or imported some very dense 3D scans, you’ll definitely want to do something with all those vertices. Here are a few tips and tools to help you massively reduce the amount of verts in your absolute unit.
Have a Plan
Every single retopology job is going to be different, so it’s good to get an idea for what you’re going to do and how you’re going to approach it before you go diving in. As a general rule of thumb, go for cylindrical parts first (legs, arms, and torsos are relatively easy), and then try connecting them afterward (hips, shoulders, and heads can be more challenging).
There are several tools available for Blender users to help speed up your retopology job and/or make your life easier. Perhaps the most notable being Retopoflow. Others include Tesselator, LoopTools (addon included with Blender), Grease Pencil, and BSurfaces (included in 2.79).
1. Think Big
Start by thinking in LARGE, general shapes. Don’t get into the fine details too early. You can always add that extra detail later on with loopcuts and subdivisions to give you any extra geometry that you may be missing.
2. Even Detail
Keep mesh density as even as you can. This is especially difficult in the beginning. You may be tempted to dive into the finer intricacies of a dinosaur’s toenail or something like that, but don’t! This will give you tons of geometry in one part of your model, and not enough in other parts.
3. Work Smarter, Not Harder
A lot of these tips are related, but it’s good to keep them all in perspective. If your sculpt or scan is symmetrical, do yourself a favor and use the mirror modifier. Not only does this cut your work in half (no, literally), but it also keeps the number of vertices even on both sides so you don’t have to remember how many loopcuts you put around your model’s left elbow. They’re already in place.
4. Think In Loops
If you just go placing quads all over your model with no plan, you’re going to end up with some problems. Yes, there are tools and addons that make adding squares a walk in the park, but that’s not the way you should approach an entire model. Start by targeting cylindrical shapes first. Think: arms, legs, fingers, toes, torsos, thighs, elephant trunks, tentacles, etc. Once you have those in place, focus on joining those shapes later. Connect the arm to the torso (shoulder), leg to the torso (hips and groin), etc.
5. Keep At It
Practice. Seriously! I’m terrible at retopologizing, but that’s why I spent the time creating this video series. I made these mistakes so you don’t have to. Hopefully this helps you out! So if you only get one takeaway from this entire series, just keep practicing retopologizing models. There are tons of models online that have less than stellar topology for animation, so why not give retopology a shot!
Let’s take a look at some concepts that will help you gain a better understanding of layout control in Blender 2.8. In this video, we’ll cover:
Every single window type in detail
Creating and deleting custom tabs
Creating custom themes and loading from the theme preset library
Saving your custom workspace as the new default
Splitting and joining windows
Changing window types
This is one of several upcoming Blender tutorial videos, so stay tuned for more! If you’re not already, consider subscribing to be notified when new videos are posted. If you’re just getting started in Blender, check out my introduction video. Should you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below, or ask using my contact card at the bottom of the home page.
The transition from Blender 2.79 to 2.8 has completely changed the way that users are able to take control of their layouts. To be honest, the default tabs for layouts have worked for my purposes about 95 percent of the time. Every so often I find I need to pull up a new window to create a timeline that didn’t exist before, but that’s about the extent of my layout modifications. Good luck, have fun, and keep creating!
This is a high-level overview of Blender 2.8. In this video, we take a look at:
Information provided on the Splash Screen
Navigating the 3D view
What the 3D cursor is and how to use it
Creating, editing, and manipulating objects
The Collections system and how you can use it to organize your scene
Restrict object visibility using Collections
Perspective vs orthographic views, what they are and how to switch between them
Hotkeys for changing your view quickly
How to add materials to objects
Detailed exploration of each of the panels in the ‘layout’ view
If you haven’t already, you can download the latest copy of Blender from blender.org. Please note: At the time of the this recording, Blender was in the alpha testing stages of version 2.80. However, by this time, most of the visual and back-end changes in the transition from version 2.79 had already been made. Versions 2.81 and later may have slightly different icons or menu placements, but if you’re watching this video and are brand new to Blender, those changes shouldn’t effect you that much.
If you have any problems, or would like to see and updated video, feel free to drop a comment below! All feedback is much appreciated.
My name is Matt and I’ve been using Blender for over 10 years. Today I came to understand the difference between subsurf vs multires. I’d like to share that information with you now.
Subsurf?
Subdivision Surface is a modifier that adds virtual geometry to your mesh, giving it a smoother appearance. The extra geometry isn’t there until you apply the modifier. The extra geometry is added evenly, across the entire mesh.
Multires?
The multiresolution modifier adds editable virtual geometry to your mesh. The extra geometry is editable in sculpt mode, allowing you to add finer detail to parts of your mesh, leaving other parts untouched. You can step up and down the different levels of resolution, retaining selective detail.
Best Use Case? Which One Do I Pick?
Most of the time, I use Subsurf. It’s just a general, quick way to add extra geometry and smooth out your model. Mulitres is best and almost exclusively used for sculpting. Once you get that extra detail in there, you can use that high poly Multires model and bake out a normal map to toss into your material. TLDR;
Subsurf: general smoothing.
Multires: specific to sculpting high details and baking later.
If you’re like me and spend any amount of time in the 3D world, whether it’s for game design, game development, motion graphics, 3D animation, or CAD, you’ve probably felt a bit limited and slow when it comes to navigating the 3D viewport. In some programs, you even have to grab different tools or hold hotkey combos to get the movement you want (zoom, pan, fly, rotate, etc). A company called 3DConnexion has made a fantastic effort to fix all that. For this driver install, I’m using a 3DConnexion Spacemouse Wireless.
If you’re on a Mac or a Windows machine, it’s as easy as heading over to their site and installing one of their official drivers. It even comes with a little training program to help you get the hang of the basics.
Unforuntately, 3Dconnextion dropped linux support some time ago. They technically have a Linux driver available on their official site, but it doesn’t work. However, I found the solution:
Setup
There is an excellent 3rd party driver available online called SpaceNav and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened.
Installation is quick and easy. Just download the zipped file with the extension of your choice, extract it wherever you want, and execute the file named ‘configure’, then run ‘make’, and make ‘make install’, and if you want the changes to be permanent and start the driver everytime you boot, then just run ./setup-init. All these instructions are in a handy file named README! After a reboot, Blender should be up and running with your 3DConnexion Spacemouse.
Inside Blender
Once you’re in Blender, you can hit one of the shoulder buttons (the long, skinny buttons on the side) and it will bring up a settings menu for your 3D mouse. From there, you can tweak everything to your liking, including naviation speed, inverting axes, and include some a navigation guide when you fly around.
That’s it! All done. Enjoy flying around the 3D world with your fancy spacemouse!
Side Note:
This is currently not working with the daily build of Blender 2.8 as of March 25, 2019. It works fine on 2.79, though.
This Christmas, I got a 3D graphics assignment. Sorry, I can’t say ‘This Christmas’ without singing it.
Assignment received
For this assignment, I was asked to create a look-and-feel animation that conveyed the spirit of Christmas in a general sense. The ending needed to focus on gift giving. First, I developed a concept that involved a gift box opening on it’s own with shafts of light bursting through it. Upon opening, the bow would untie itself and explode into a shower of fabric. The fabric would be so abundant we’d lose sight of everything else for a moment. Finally, the box would fall open to reveal the title inside.
Obviously, this is a wildly ambitious sequence to create. It would require a ton of time to develop just the cloth sequence, let alone the rest of the animation. To date this project a little, this came at a time when Eevee was still in alpha. Cycles was my only realistic option coming from Blender. However, I ended up running a few test renders before moving in a different direction.
By the time I landed on the final Christmas tree concept, the deadline for this project was fast approaching. I needed a way to create a realistic Christmas tree and quick. Enter The Grove. This plugin fit a perfect gap in my production pipeline. The controls were very intuitive. After a few minutes of learning the basics of the parameters, I was able to generate branches, attach leaves, and animate a gentle breeze that rendered fast, even in Cycles.
Here’s the final shot created specifically to be seamless 10 second loop:
Of course, you can custom model a tree based on tons of references, but the ROI on the time and energy investment didn’t make sense in this instance. Plus, The Grove’s controls make it easy to create virtually any design for a tree that you like! The plugin The Grove version 6, and was purchased for Blender 2.79. Just a few days after the project was completed, Blender 2.80 went into beta and I was automatically upgraded to The Grove version 7. Naturally, the plugin is thoroughly worth it, and if that doesn’t convince you, The Grove was used to create trees in Next Gen.
So not only did The Grove save the day and help me create a great final product, it also gave me the speed and flexibility that this particular project required. The beauty of this plugin is that it’s not something I feel like I’ll use just once and never touch again. Trees and nature are so commonly needed in production I’m sure I’ll need them again. And what’s more, The Grove creates branches using a particle system. That means you can create one custom branch (e.g. one with a Christmas ornament hanging from it) and populate an entire tree instantly.
