Shape Modeling Exercise Series - #4 (Twisted Doorknob)

In this shape modeling exercise we take a look at modeling a Twisted Doorknob.

The point of these videos is not to model a complete object but to rather focus on different shapes and issues that you may encounter while modeling. So, essentially, these are exercises.

Hopefully, these videos will help you better understand how to approach modeling certain shapes, and what tools are available in Blender to make things easier.

Download the blend file, reference image, and texture.

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Shape Modeling Exercise Series - #3 (Fenestron Tail Rotor Blade)

In this shape modeling exercise we take a look at modeling a Fenestron Tail Rotor Blade.

The point of these videos is not to model a complete object but to rather focus on different shapes and issues that you may encounter while modeling. So, essentially, these are exercises.

Hopefully, these videos will help you better understand how to approach modeling certain shapes, and what tools are available in Blender to make things easier.

Download the blend file and reference image.

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Shape Modeling Exercise Series - #2

In this shape modeling exercise we take a look at modeling a fancy doorknob handle.


(Please excuse some issues caused by my sinus allergies. :p )

The point of these videos is not to model a complete object but to rather focus on different shapes and issues that you may encounter while modeling. So, essentially, these are exercises.

Hopefully, these videos will help you better understand how to approach modeling certain shapes, and what tools are available in Blender to make things easier.

Download the blend file, reference image, and texture file.

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Shape Modeling Exercise Series - #1

This is the first video in a series of videos on modeling shapes in Blender.

The point of these videos is not to model a complete object but to rather focus on different shapes and issues that you may encounter while modeling. So, essentially, these are exercises.

Hopefully, these videos will help you better understand how to approach modeling certain shapes, and what tools are available in Blender to make things easier.

(The techniques demonstrated aren't intended to be the exact solution for every scenario.)

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Video Tutorial: Basic Blocking for a 3D Cartoon Hand

In this tutorial, we'll be taking a look at the basic blocking for modeling a 3d cartoon hand.

This is part 2 in the BlenderNewbies Hand Modeling Tutorial series.

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

Video Tutorial: Modeling a Smooth T-Joint Connection in Blender

In this Blender tutorial, we'll be taking a look at how to model a smooth t-joint connection. This technique is something you might want to consider when simply intersecting two cylinders doesn't quite give you the appearance you need.

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

3D Mesh Topology Tip: Quads vs. Triangles

So, what's the big deal about whether you use quads or triangles in your 3D mesh? It's really a very simple issue but, it does cause some confusion for beginning modelers. Let's take a look at some of the issues.

First, let's make sure we understand the terms.

A triangle, of course, is a polygon that consists of three sides. In 3D modeling, you also have to consider that those three sides (called Edges) are connected by three vertices.

A quad is a polygon, but with four sides and vertices.

In 3D modeling, the issue with using quads or triangles revolves around subdividing, edgeloops, and smoothing. Generally, this would include organic-type modeling (faces, bodies, animals, etc.), things that have potential for movement (bending and flexing) or are designed with an organic aspect to their style (sport cars, overpriced uncomfortable furniture, etc.). These are generally modeled with mostly quads.

Subdividing

This one's easy. You can see the issue in basic math.

Quads: Four divided by Two equals Two. Very nice. Balanced.

Triangles: Three divided by Two equals One-and-a-half. Yuck. Unbalanced. How do you resolve the half-part that's left over?

This becomes an issue with 3D modeling because the purpose of subdividing a mesh is to allow for more detail to be added to the model. This is much easier to do when you have quads because the results are predictable. With triangles, subdividing can become tricky because the balance of the flow of vertices gets interrupted. A particular flow of vertices in a mesh is called an edgeloop.

Edgeloops

Edgeloops in a mesh allow you to control how things bend and fold when the mesh is animated. They also provide the foundation for adding mesh details like wrinkles, skin folds, muscles, edge sharpness, etc.

Normally, you can expect to be able to follow an edgeloop until you return to where it began. However, when a triangle is encountered, the edgeloop must terminate because there is no corresponding vertex to allow it to continue.

This isn't always a bad thing. Triangles can play an important part in modeling, but their use should be sparse and, if possible, hidden in an area where they won't cause problems when animating the mesh or smoothing the surface.

Smoothing

Triangles will often create visible anomalies on the mesh surface when smoothing (using Set Smooth) and when using a Subsurf modifier. It all comes down to the fact that a triangle has an odd number of vertices. When placed in the midst of quads (even number of vertices), the triangles cause a "blemish" on the surface and when animating the mesh, they often cause pinching effects. This is why it's best to try and eliminate or hide any triangles in your organic modeling.

Exceptions

Of course, there are exceptions to the general preference of quads over triangles such as low-poly game models, "hard" surface models, architecture, etc. These types of 3D models generally won't need to be animated across the surface of their mesh like a character's face so, a lot of the potential problems that triangles can cause are not encountered.

Conclusion

Keep it simple. Four verts good, three verts bad...usually.

You usually won't be able to entirely avoid triangles, but it's good practice to simply stick to quads as best you can. However, balance that out with learning to recognize when using a triangle is the best solution. They're not all bad.

Study as many wireframes as you can. You'll start to see patterns of mesh topology after awhile. As you get better at modeling, return to some of your past efforts and you'll begin to immediately see issues that need fixing. It makes a great exercise. Also, download .blend files and study the meshes and practice "fixing" them.

Study everything at this following website, starting with this thread on Poles.
(Yes, it will take awhile before it really sinks in. Stick with it.)

Remember to keep it fun.

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials

3D Mesh Topology Tip: Cleanup Those Triangles on Capped Cylinders and Closed Circles

Hello there! It's been a while but, BlenderNewbies lives!

In this topology tip, I want to cover a very easy, but not so obvious, way to get rid of the collection of triangles found on capped cylinders and when you close a circle of vertices. Here's an example of what I mean:



As you may know, it's best to use quads (four-sided polygons) as much as possible in your modeling. In this short study, we'll be converting the triangles shown into quads. There are a couple of important points to note that make this a little tricky, but we'll get to that shortly.

Let's Begin

With your circle of triangles in place, press the A-key until all of the vertices are selected. Then, press Ctrl-N to recalculate the Normals so they all point outward. (Sometimes vertex/face normals can become flipped during the course of modeling and this can cause a number of issues later on so, it's always a good practice to just make sure they all are pointing outward.)



Press Ctrl-Tab to switch to the Face selection mode, making it a little bit easier to select the faces.


Now, as a test, let's see what happens if we select all of the inner triangles and try to convert them all to quads (Alt-J).


You can see that we still have some unconverted triangles. Not good! I'm not sure why all of the selected triangles aren't converted to quads but, let's focus on finding an immediate solution.


Press Ctrl-Z to undo until you get back to having all triangles again. Press the A-key until all faces are deselected. Now, select just two adjacent faces as shown.


Continue selecting pairs of adjacent faces while leaving a pair of unselected faces in between. You should end up with the following selected faces.


Now let's go back to the Mesh menu to try converting the triangles to quads again.


The selected triangles have been successfully converted to quads.


Now, simply select the remaining triangles and convert those to quads.



Here we have the finished version consisting of all quads!



That's All!

Here's a quick video of the entire process:

technorati tags: Blender3D, 3D, graphics, Blender tutorials