 Advancing from moving premade primitives to making our own models  Two different approaches: ◦ Direct mesh editing: A more traditional approach commonly used by professional modelers ◦ Sculpting: A fast and fun way of shaping a model, also useful for fine details like wrinkles

 When Blender creates a 3D object, it has to think of the object in terms of a mesh  The elements of an object (like polygon): ◦ Origin Point:  A n orange dot that appears in the middle of selected objects  The shape of the model is built around this origin point  When it is moved, scaled, or rotated, the object follows along likewise  The origin represents the very heart of the object itself  Figure : The origin point

◦ Vertices:  Around the origin point, the model takes shape as a series of dots known as vertex points or vertices  Figure: Vertices ◦ Edges  The vertices are connected point to point by lines known simply as edges.  Figure : Edges (wireframe of Object)

◦ Faces  Three edges can form a triangle, and four can make a square; a face is made when those edges are filled in as a solid surface.  Faces can be colored to make realistic textures on an object  Figure : Faces

 On starting Blender, you are in object mode. Click the list and change to edit mode  Tab key to switch between object and edit modes  Vertex select mode: Now select one of the corner vertices of the cube by RMB-clicking it  Move the selected corner vertex using the G key or by LMB-dragging  switch between vertex, edge, and face modes by using Ctrl+Tab+1 (vertex select), Ctrl+Tab+2 (edge select), or Ctrl+Tab+3 (face select)  Figure: Selection modes

 Limit selection to visible  On the left, the option is off, allowing you to accidentally select vertices on the opposite side of the mesh. On the right, the option is on, hiding the vertices from the other side.

 Selecting a row of vertices one by one can be very slow  Extrude: one of the most powerful editing features  RMB-select a face of your cube. Press the E key and then move your mouse slightly. You should find that the selected area extrudes out like a branch.  By selecting multiple faces (use the Shift key)  Figure : Extrude in action

 Fill: The fill command (F key) creates a new face from selected vertices  select three or four vertices and press F to make a face from the selection  Figure : Filling a square hole

 An edgeloop is where a set of vertices are connected in a line, or sometimes in a circle  Figure : Adding a new edgeloop

 There are a few steps that occur: 1. At first, when you press Ctrl+R, a pink preview of the new edgeloop is shown. This allows you to move the mouse to different positions so that you can decide where the loop should go (the pink line moves with the mouse) before finalizing the move with a single LMB-click. 2. After the LMB-click, the new edgeloop is formed, and mouse movement now allows sliding the loop into just the right position (at this time press the 0 key if you don’t want the line to be moved from the center). 3. A final LMB-click anchors the newly formed edgeloop into place.

 Pressing Ctrl+E will bring up a special Edges menu with numerous options. ◦ Edge Slide: This allows the selected edgeloop (or part of an edgeloop) to be moved from side to side. ◦ Edge Loop: If you have one edge selected, this option will continue the line to select the rest of the edgeloop until it comes to a fork in the edgeflow or a dead end. ◦ Edge Ring: If one edge is selected, using this option selects a parallel ring running perpendicular to the selected edge. In other words, two edgeloops are selected, running through the vertices of the selected edge.

 Edgeloop Deletion: In edit mode, the X key (delete) brings up a menu of options - delete faces, edges, or vertices  Merging Verticesn: In vertex select mode, you can select a number of vertices and then press Alt+M to bring up the “Merge vertices” menu.

 This feature is useful for placing blueprints behind an image as a reference for modeling over  N key to bring up the Properties panel. Toward the bottom is the Background Images check box; select it and then click the Add Image button

 Edgeflow is a term used to describe how the edges of a mesh should follow the form of the shape, and how they should be positioned along folds so that bending doesn’t crease the faces.  Topology describes the effectiveness of the edgeflow of the lines of a mesh  Figure: Edgeloops of a face should ideally form concentric circles around the eyes and mouth.

 Blender provides a mirror modifier: you can model one side of an object while Blender automatically creates the other

 Exercise: Start with the default cube, and go to front view in edit mode. Place your mouse over the top edge of the cube  While still in edit mode, press Ctrl+R  At this point, a vertical edgeloop should appear. When you are satisfied that the edgeloop is in the correct place, LMB-click once only  you only actually need one half of the cube to enter mirror mode, so you need to delete the other side

 Go to the Modifiers panel on the Modifiers tab (the spanner icon).  Add a mirror modifier  now see the cube in full  If you make any changes to one half, they’ll be automatically reflected in the other

 Smoothing the look of your models  The View field affects how smooth the mesh looks in 3D view, and the Render property specifies the degree of smoothness in the final render

 Box modeling is a process by which you start with a cube, extrude face by face, and add edgeloops as necessary

 With sculpt modeling, you use special brushes to warp the shape of the mesh  Sculpting can be used to get right down to the wrinkles of a character  Exercise: Default cube- Getting into Position  Adding a Multiresolution Modifier  Click Subdivide until the preview/sculpt/render levels in the modifier options reach about 4 or 5.

 The tools needed for sculpting (known as brushes) only show up on the Tool Shelf when you switch to sculpt mode.  With the cube selected, switch to sculpt mode using the drop-down menu on the header strip, along the bottom of the 3D window  Types of Brushes: select different brushes by clicking the image of the brush effect at the top of the Tool Shelf  Once a brush is chosen, you then rub the object over the mouse pointer while holding down the LMB

 Tool Shelf to control brush radius and strength  F key, move your mouse to expand/shrink the brush, and then LMB-click to confirm (or RMB-click to cancel)  example of sculpting from scratch: Begin with a cube of multiresolution level 5  1. Push in the eyes with the Draw tool, as shown in Figure

 2. Sculpt in the basic features, as shown in Figure  3. Increase the level of the multiresolution modifier (e.g., click the Subdivide button in the Modifiers panel) so that you can sculpt finer details, as shown in Figure  4. Keep raising the multiresolution level in order to suit the level of detail you wish to sculpt, as shown in Figure

 Exercise 1: Monkey Sculpt  Questions ?