Blender. Introduction
This practice session is a hands-on tutorial of Blender - a state of the art 3D modeling software. An overview of the following topics is given:
- Blender UI in general. Panels, menus, use of the mouse and keyboard.
- Navigating around the scene. Use of the mouse and numpad.
- Designing the scene graph. Different types of scene objects in Blender.
- Positioning objects. Establishing object hierarchy.
- Object mode vs edit mode. Editing meshes.
- Rendering the scene. Overview of basic rendering settings.
- World object settings. Ambient lighting, sky, environment.
- Light sources and cameras.
- Materials and textures.
- Texture mapping. UV unwrapping.
The focus is more on how Blender functions fit in and illustrate the technical topics covered previously in the course, rather than on the artistic aspects of 3D modeling in general.
Please, install Blender on your computer before coming to the practice session:
If you miss the session, and/or plan to learn more about Blender, the tutorials page and the Blender reference manual are your best starting places:
Grading
Attendance of the practice session gives 2.5 points. An additional 1 bonus point is awarded for the following task:
- Model and render the Cornell box with the following two changes:
- Switch the colors of the sides (i.e. green side is on the left).
- Replace the small cube with a glass sphere.
The box should not be a perfect replica: you are free to be creative (add unexpected objects, view the scene at unexpected angles, or apply any other artistic touches). The solution should be submitted as a zip archive.
- Deadline for the bonus task: 01.12. Late submission gives no points.