blenderart magazine - 07 - blender materials
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
1/46
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
2/46
Welcome to our 1st Anniversary Issue! Yes, that s right,we actually made it a whole year! When Gaurav and I
started this magazine, we had no idea how much wewould end up needing to learn. But learn we did, as wellas adding staff members to help out with proofing andwebsite maintenance.
It has been an eventful year for both BlenderArtMagazine as well as the Blender community itself. Wehave seen the creation and release of Elephant sDream, the addition of many needed and just plainwanted features in Blender. The Blender communitycontinues to grow at a phenomenal rate. BlenderArtMagazine reader numbers have continued to grow aswell. With each new issue, we gain a larger audience.And we appreciate all of you!
We have had an amazing response from thecommunity in terms of contributions to the magazine.While Gaurav and I could have still put out a magazinewithout all their help, it would not have been anywherenear as interesting. I d like to recognize all of ourcontributors at this point; they deserve a round ofapplause for their efforts on all our behalves.
Here they are, in no particular order, and I sure hope Ididn t forget anyone; if I did I apologize in advance.
Okay, now on to what you really want to know about -what s in this issue! Materials, lots and lots of material
information. Admit it, you want it and you need it. Youput enormous effort into your models and you know, aswell as I do, that you just have to add materials atsome point. With the addition of Nodes, or morecommonly called Noodles, whole new effects andmaterials are possible. First, we'll answer a s implequestion What are Materials? Then, we have severalNode tutorials, as well as a look at Vector Blur andRamp Shading. We also take a look at some currentEducational Resources available for Blender users.
So here we go, let s get our Blender world all coloredup!
Happy [email protected]
02
www.blenderart.org Issue 7 November 2006
Sandra Gilbert
Managing Editor
Thank you all !
EDITORIAL
Enrico ValenzaJuan J. Pena
David LettierZsolt StefanClaudio MaleficoAndaurStefano SelleriClaas Eicke KuhnenDaniel LaBargeChristopher KullaKernon Dillon
ChristianGuckelsberger
Manuel PerezClaudio AndaurJos MauricioRodas R.Rogrio PerdizManuel BastioniAlessandro ProglioAntonio Di CeccaGiovanni Lanza
Martin MackinlayEd Cicka
Cory KingEarly EhlingerMariano HidalgoEdouard de MahieuSergey ProkhorchukRojaAndreia LealSchemid & ZagDiego Restrepo Pars
http://www.blenderart.org/http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
3/46
EDITOR/DESIGNERGauravNawani
PROOFERKernonDillonPhillipA.RyalsKevinC.Braun
DerekMarsh
WRITERSOlivierSarajaDanielLeBargeJohnAllieMichaelWach
COPYRIGHT2006BlenderArtMagazine,blenderartandblenderArtlogoarecopyrightofGauravNawani.IzzyandIzzylogoarecopyrightSandraGilbert.
Allproductsandcompanynamesfeaturedinthepublicationaretrademarkorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.
COVERARTWiseMenbyMathiasPedersen
03
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
ArtisticGlowUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
DOFUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
CreatingRealisticEnvironmentforBGE
BlenderAndDisplacementMapping
BlenderandVectorBlur
6
8
11
24
27
CONTENTS
http://www.mathiaspedersen.com/http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
4/46
Withthemultitudeof
toolsavailableinBlender,justaboutanymaterialcanbeconvincinglycreated.ButthereisasayinginCG,itsnotthetool,itstheartistthatcreatesart.
Thesamecanbesaidaboutmaterials.Allthelatest,newtoolsarentgoingtocreaterealisticoramazingmaterialsforyou.Youstillhavetoknowhowtousethemandmoreimportantly,youhavetoknowhowmaterialsarecreatedandwhatmakesthemconvincing.
So,insteadoffocusingontools,wearegoingtotakealookatwhatmaterialsareandwhatmakesagoodmaterial.Withthatinformation,youcanthenusealltheamazingtoolsmoreeffectively.Letsstartwithafewdefinitions.
Material:isthebasesubstanceofasurface(i.e.wood,metal,glass)
Texture:istheadjectiveofthematerial(i.e.rustyiron,brushedsteel,soiledcloth,frostedglass)
Anytimeyoucreateanewmaterial,youshouldgatherreferencematerials.Itcanbeanobjectwiththematerialyouaretryingtocreateoragoodphotographofit.Thesereferencematerialswillhelpyouvisualizewhatyouaretryingtocreate.Whengatheringreference,veryrarelywillyoufindpristinematerialswithoutsignsofwearandtearin
reallife.Therewillbedust,rust,scratches,dentsandamultitudeofothersignsthatthismaterialhasgonethroughovertheperiodoftime.Noticethesesignsofwearanddecideiftheyaresignsofmaterialortexture.
Textureattributes/qualitiescanbebrokendownbyansweringthefollowingquestions:
Whatareyou?Oftenthesimpleactofidentifyinganobjectcanhelpyouunderstandwhatkindofmaterialsyouwillbecreating.Example:afirehydranttellsyouitsshape;thatitismadeofthicksteelleftoutintheweather,andmostoftenpainted.
Whatisyouressence? TrytoidentifythemostimportantfeatureofthematerialExample:aradiatorsmostimportantfeaturemight
beitsrustyquality.Asyouidentifythemostimportantfeature,keeplookingdeeperandnoticingeachuniquefeatureofthematerial,itwillgiveyoualistoffeaturestoaddtothematerial;addingmorerealismanddepthwitheveryoneyouadd.
Whatareyoumadeof?Beforedissectingthemanylayersoftexturesthatmakeupamaterial,youneedtoidentifythebasematerial.Byidentifyingthebasematerial,youwillmoreeasilyseethedetails(textures)thatmakeitthatparticularmaterial.Example:anoldmetalsign;knowingthatitismetal,leadsyoutorealizethatsomemetalsare
pronetorusting,solookforsignsofrustandcorrosion.Isthesignpainted?(Oldpainthasatendencytochiporflakeaway,newpaintwilllookshinyandsomewhatreflective.)
Whatdoyousoundlike? Asoddasitmightsound,sometimesyoureyeswillfoolyou.Tapontheobject,whatdoesitsoundlike?Metal,glassplastic...
Whatdoyousmelllike?Oftenyoucanidentifyimportantcluesbynoticinghowtheobjectsmells.Leathersmellsdifferentthanplastic,differentmetalshavedifferentsmells.
HowcanIseeyou?
Identifythelightsource,lightingofthematerialwillplayanimportantpartinhowitisrecreated.Warmlightsourceswouldproducewarmhighlightsorhotspots,coollightstheopposite.Whengatheringyourreferencematerials,makesuretonoteina
journalormentallywhatthelightsourcewas,timeofday(ifoutside)soyoucanrecreatethematerialaccurately.
Whereareyou?Istheobjectinsideoroutside?Ifoutside,itwillbeexposedtoweather,heat,moisture.Thiswillaffectitsappearance.Newobjectsquicklylosetheirnewappearancebyacquiringdents,dings,
scratches,dustetc.Knowingwhereitislocatedwillhelpidentifythesequalities.
Whatdoyoulooklike?Nowcomesthepartwhereyoustartdescribingthetexturequalities.Thebetteryoucandescribewhatyousee,theeasieritwillbetorecreate.Somethingstolookfor:ColortextureReflectionsandshadowsIstheobjecttransparent?Istheobjectluminous?Withheat?Withoutheat?Fromanoutsidesource?Fromtheobjectitself?
Luminescentobjectscanhaveoneortwoofthesequalitiesandidentifiedas:TranslucentIridescentOpalescentFluorescentIncandescent
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
IzzyTalks
Blender Materials
04
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
5/46
Whatdoyoufeellike?Howdoestheobjectfeel?Isitbumpyorsmooth,warmorcool,softorhard?
Tactilequalities:Temperature
BumpinessRoughnessSmoothness
Whatsyourstory?Trytoidentifythehistoryoftheobject,howhasusagecontributedtowearandtear?
Byansweringthesequestions,youwillbetterunderstandyourmaterialandhowtogoaboutrecreatingit.Itwill,ofcourse,takepracticeandlotsofobservationtomastertheseskills.Youneedtolearntotrainyourartisticeyetoreallyseewhatyouarelookingat.Soon,breakingmaterialsdownwillbeautomaticandyourmaterialswillimprovedramatically.
TheinformationforthisarticlewasparaphrasedfromOwenDemersbookDigitalTexturing&Painting(ISBN0-7357-0918-1).Ihighlyrecommendreadingthisbookforanyonewantingtotaketheirmaterialskillstothenextlevel.
05
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
IzzyTalks
TonhasannouncedthatBlenderisslowlyheadedforanotherrelease.ItlookslikewemaygetanewreleaseintimeforChristmas.Ahostofnewfeatureshavebeenadded.Releaselogshavealready
beenwrittenforthefollowingfeatures;AnimationWalkCycleModifiersProxyObjects,forlocalcontroloverreferenceddatafromLibraries
RenderingRenderfeatures:tangentsandnormalmapsIrregularShadowBuffersShadowbuffer,HalfwayaverageRenderBaking
Compositing
MatteNodesMatteNodes,tutorial
Linkstothefollowingfeaturedocumentationwillbepostedassoonastheyarefinished.ModelingModifierStackupgradesSculptmodeling,multi-resolutionMeshandRetopoFluidDynamicssupportinganimatedObjectsMulti-levelUVediting
Testingbuildscanbedownloadedfromwww.blenderbuilds.com.
Anewblenderbookhasbeenannouncedandtheyarelookingforcontributorstohelpwithcompletionofthebook.Ifyouareinterestedinhelping,contactRolandHessatblenderbasicsatharkymandotcom.
EditorRolandHesswrites:Thebookcanbeusedasafullintroductionto3DartandBlender,orasareferenceforpeoplealreadyexperiencedwithotherapplications.Eachchapterconsistsofatutorialsectionandtheorysection,meanttospeaktonewusersandgivethemagroundinginthesolidbasicsneededtosucceedwithBlender.
Blender News
http://www.blenderbuilds.com/http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Tutorials/Matte_nodeshttp://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/Compositing_Nodes#Matte_Nodeshttp://www.blender.org/cms/Render_Baking.827.0.htmlhttp://www.blender.org/cms/Shadow_buffer__Halfway.786.0.htmlhttp://www.blender.org/cms/Irregular_Shadow_Buffe.785.0.htmlhttp://www.blender.org/cms/New_Render_features.774.0.htmlhttp://www.blender.org/cms/Proxy_Objects.824.0.htmlhttp://www.blender.org/cms/Walk_Cycle_Modifiers.821.0.htmlhttp://www.blender.org/cms/Newsitem.607+M51379558c2b.0.htmlhttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
6/46
ArtisticGlowisaneffectthatisacomponentofalmosteverymajorphotoeditingsoftwarepackage.Blenderhastheabilitytorecreatethiseffect,butwithmorecontrolandmorefinesse,becauseoftheuniquenodebasedsysteminwhichglowcanbeapplied.Therearemanywaysofaddingglow,includingusingotherprogramssuchasGIMPorBlender'sGlowpluginforthesequencer.Wearegoingtotakealookathowto
addglowusingBlendersCompositorNodes.Prerequisites
ThisarticleassumesthatyouhaveascenewhichcontainssomeareasofcontrastandthatyouknowyourwayaroundBlender.Itissafetosaythatthisisforintermediatetoadvancedusers.
GettingStarted
TocreateGlowinBlenderweneedtodoseveralthings.First,enabletheCompositor.Todothis,pleasereferenceImage1whichshowstheDoCompositeenabled.YoucanfindtheseintheRenderButtons(F10)undertheAnimPanel.
NowwearereadytobegincompositingourscenewithGlow.OpenuptheNodeEditorWindowandbydefaultitshouldhaveaRenderLayersnodeconnectedtotwooutputnodes,ViewerandCompositor.ItisagoodideatoopenuptheUVImageEditorWindowandswitchtheimagetoViewerNodetogetalargerviewoftheVieweroutput.Thishelpswithfinetuning.
Let'sfirsttakealookattheimageasrenderedoriginally.ObviouslythesceneissetupwithareasofstrongcontrasttohelpwithapplyingrealisticSpecularGlowinsteadofjustIntensityGlow.Wewillbasetheglowonthiscolorvalue,andthenmixtheglowmaskontoptocompletetheGloweffect.
CreatingtheGlowMask
TocreatetheGlowMaskweneedtohighlightthedetailsintheimage.TodothisIliketofirstuseaSharpenFilter.AddaFilternodeandhookuptheImageinputtotheImageoutputoftheRenderLayersnode.HookingupaViewernodetotheoutputImageoftheFilternodewilldisplaytheresultsofthefiltereffect.WewillbeusingFilterTypeSharpen,astestshaveshownittobethebestforenhancingthedetailsoftheimage,althoughitcreatesmanyartifactswhichwewillhavetodealwithlater.
Nowweneedtoisolateonlythespecularareas,oratleasttheareaswiththemostintensity,whichtypicallyaretheareasofspecularity.Todothiswe
needtomodifytheRGBcolorvalues.ThenodeforthisistheRGBCurvesnode.HooktheImageoutputoftheFilternodeuptotheImageinputoftheRGBCurvesnode.
Thecurverequirestuningaccordingtoyourscene.Youwantapicturethatexhibitsthemostcontrastbetweendarknessandlightness.ToadjustthiscurveusetheCombinecurvetabandselectlocationsonthecurveandmovethem.HookingupaViewernodetotheImageoutputhelps.
06
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-ArtisticGlowUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
Artistic Glow Using Blender'sCompositor Nodes
-byDanielLaBarge
Image1.Enablingnodecompositor
Image2.Examplesceneindifferentsettings
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
7/46
Aftertheoutputhasenoughcontrastyounowneedtoconvertthistoblackandwhite.Forthisstepwe'llneedtoaddanRGBtoBWConverternode.HookuptheImageoutputoftheRGBCurvesnodetotheImageinputoftheRGBtoBWConverternodeandthenhookuptheoutputtoa
Viewernodetoseetheresults.
We'realmostthere,butasyoucansee,themaskisverypixelatedandhaslotsofartifacts.Tofixthis,weneedtoblurit.
AddaBlurnode,connectingtheValueoutputoftheRGBtoBWConverternodetotheImageinputoftheBlurnode.UseafiltertypeofQuadraticandapixelradius(XandYsettings)appropriateforthescene.EnablingGammablurringalsohelps.HookupaViewernodetotheoutputtoseethefinalglowmask.
ApplyingtheGlowMask
ToapplytheGlowMasktotheImageweneedaMixernode.ThisnodetakestheImageinputsandthenmixesthetwoinputstogetherbasedonaFilterType.InmostcasesyouwillwanttousetheAddtype.Thiswillperformapixel-by-pixeladditionbetweenthetwocolorvaluesoftheImageinputs.
FinalTouches
YoucannowhookupaViewernodeandaCompositornodetotheImageoutputoftheMixernode.YouwillseethecombinedimageswiththeGloweffect.Ifallwentcorrectly,youshouldnow
haveapicturethathasintensityalongalloftheedgesthatexhibitspecularityorintenselightdiffusion.
YoucanusetheFactorsettingintheMixernodetocontrolthemixingofthetwoImageinputs.Finetuningmayberequired,andtheextraViewernodeswillhelpmaketuningeasy.
Belowyouwillseetheoutputsettingsforthe
differentvaluesateachstageinthecomposition.AlsoincludedistheschematicfortheGlownodesetup.
07
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-ArtisticGlowUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
Image3TheNoodlesfor'SoftGlow'
ThisschematicshowstheGlownodesinsideaGroupnodecalledGlow.Thisisnotrequiredforthefinal
output.YoushouldfindareferenceBlenderfileincludedwiththisissuetotrackandtraceaworkingexampleofthissetup.
Besuretovisithttp://www.idstudios.orgformore
informationoncreatingGlowandotherspecialeffect
nodes.
NOTE
NOTE:ThisarticlewascreatedusingaCVSversionofBlenderandsomefeaturesshowninscreenshotsmaynotbeavailableatthecurrentpublicationofthisarticle.ThroughthemainBlenderreleasehowever,theeffectdescribedherecanbeusedinthecurrentBlenderrelease.
NOTE
http://%20http//www.idstudios.orghttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
8/46
DepthofField(DOF)isaverypopulareffecttobesimulatedincomputergeneratedimageryasitaddstotheoverallrealismofanimage.True,DOFasyoureyeperceivesitisnotyetpossiblewithBlender,butaveryclosesimulationofforegroundandbackgroundblurcanbeachieved.Wewillbelookingatonemethod,usingBlender'sbuiltinCompositorNodes.
PrerequisitesThisarticleassumesthatyouhaveascenewhichexhibitsanecessityforDOFandthatyouknowyourwayaroundBlender.Itissafetosaythatthisisforintermediatetoadvancedusers..
GettingStarted
TocreateDepthofFieldinBlenderweneedtodoseveralthings.First,enabletheCompositorandpasstheZChannel(Blender'sdepthchannel)totheCompositor.TodothispleasereferenceImage1whichshowstheDoCompositeenabledandtheZPassenabled.YoucanfindtheseintheRender
Buttons(F10)underAnimPanelandRenderLayersPanel.
NowwearereadytobegincompositingourscenewithDOF.OpenuptheNodeEditorWindow.Bydefault,itshouldhaveaRenderLayersnodeconnectedtotwooutputnodes,ViewerandCompositor.ItisprobablyagoodideatoopenuptheUVImageEditorWindowandswitchtheimagetoViewerNodetogetalargerviewoftheViewer
output.Thishelpswithfinetuning.
Let'stakealookattheimageasrenderedoriginally.Obviouslythesceneissetupandthe
elementsarearrangedtoexhibitgoodDOF.Wewillbeblurringthecolorvaluesusingthedepthchannel.
Nowlet'slookattheZChannel,deliveredintheZPasstotheCompositor.Todothis,addanewViewerandconnecttheZinputtotheZoutputoftheRenderLayernode.IntheUVImageEditorclickontheiconthatshowstheZvalue.Thisiswhatthedepthvalueslooklikeforthescene.
MappingtheZChannel
Thesevalues,althoughappearingcorrect,won'tactuallycreateaproperDOFeffectifsenttotheBlurFilternodeastheSizeinput.Tofixthis,weneedanothernodecalledMapValue.Thisnodewilltakethevaluesasinputsandadjustthem.TheValueinputshouldbeconnectedtotheZoutputoftheRenderLayernode.Thereareseveralsettings,includingclampfunctions,tosettheMinimumvaluerangeandtheMaximumvaluerange.Thetwosettingswewilluseare
OffsetandSize.Offset,inmyexperience,hasalwaysbeenanegativevalueanditappearstobetheBlendergridunitsfromthecameratothefocus.Size
appearstobeagradientfilterthatcontrolstheabruptnessofthetransitionbetweensharpnessandblurrinesswhenusedwiththeBlurnode.
Positivevalueisusedforbackgroundblurandanegativevalueisusedforforegroundblur.Thecloser
thevalueisto0,thesofterthegradient.Negativevaluesaretypicallyverysmall,usuallynomorethan-0.250.YoucantakealookatthenewZchanneloutputbyhookingupaViewernodetotheValueoutputandlookingattheZchannelintheUVImageEditor.
08
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-DepthOfFieldUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
DepthOfFieldUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
-byDanielLaBarge
Image1EnablingnodecompositorandZpass
Image2.Examplesceneindifferentsettings
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
9/46
CreatetwoMapValuenodesandhookthemuptotheZoutputoftheRenderLayersnode.SetOffsettoanegativevalue,approximatelythesamenumberofgridunitsfromcameratofocuspoint.TheOffsetvaluesshouldbeidenticalorveryclose.TheSizevalueforoneshouldbeanegative
valuebetween-0.050and-0.250,andtheothershouldbeapositivevaluebetween0.250and1.000.
BlurringtheImage
Nextwe'llneedtousethesevaluestoblurtheimage.ThisiswheretheBlurnodecomesintoplay.AddtwoBlurnodesandhookuptheImageinputtotheImageoutputoftheRenderLayernode.HookuptheSizeinputtotheValueoutputoftheMapValuenode.RepeatfortheotherMapValuenode.TheBlurnodehasseveralsettings.IhavefoundthatQuadraticfiltertypeandGammaenabledworkbest.TheXandYsettingscontroltheradiusoftheblureffectinpixels.Formorebluruseahighernumber.IfyouhookupaViewernodetotheImageoutputyouwillseetheresultsoftheDOFandyoucanedittheMapValuesaccordingly.TheoneViewernodewillshowtheforegroundblurandtheotherwillshowthebackgroundblur.
Nowwehavethetwoimagesblurredbutweneedtheforegroundandbackgroundblurcombined.Thereareseveralwaystodothisbuttheproperwayistouseanotherspecialtynode.ThisnodeiscalledZCombine.HookuptheImageoutputofoneBlurnodetothefirstImageinputoftheZCombinenode,andthenhookuptheother
correspondingMapValue'sValueoutputtotheZinputoftheZCombinenode.
RepeatfortheotherBlurnodeandMapValuenode.NoticethatthecorrespondingImageinputgoestotheoppositeValueoutputoftheMapValuenode.Thisisimportanttoproperlycombinethetwoimageswithoutartifacts.
FinalTouches
YoucannowhookupaViewernodeandaCompositornodetotheImageoutputoftheZCombinenodeandyouwillseethecombinedimageswhichwillshowtheDOFeffect.Ifallwentcorrectlyyoushouldnowhaveapicturethathasforegroundblurandbackgroundblurwiththecenterrangesharpandinfocus.Finetuningmayberequired,andtheextraViewernodeswillhelpmaketuningeasy.
Belowyouwillseetheoutputsettingsforthedifferentvaluesateachstageinthecomposition.AlsoincludedistheschematicfortheDOFnodesetup.
WhatAboutAnimations?
AnimatingDOFwithCompositornodesisalittletoolengthytoexplain,buttheideahitmeoneday
whiletryingtomixvalues.ThesecrettoanimatedDOFistomixkeyframedMapValuesalongaTimenode.AslongasyouhavetheDOFsetforaparticularframeyoucancontroltheMixingusingthecurveinaTimenode.ThiscangetreallybulkyandIcan'twaitfortheBlenderdeveloperstocreateaninputfortheMapValueOffset,butuntilthatfeatureisimplementedyoucanusethereferenceschematicbelow.
YoushouldfindareferenceBlenderfileincluded
withthisissuetotrackandtraceaworkingexampleofthissetup.
09
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-ArtisticGlowUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
Image3TheNoodlesfor'DepthOfField'
ThisschematiccontainsacustomGroupnodeforaddingDOFtothefinalcomposition,andisnotrequiredforthefinaloutput.
NOTE
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
10/46
SpecialthanksgotoCehukenofBlenderArtistswhohelpedexplainthenodesetupforasimilarDOFapproachtotheBlendercommunity.
10
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-ArtisticGlowUsingBlender'sCompositorNodes
Image4DOFNoodlesforAnimation
I'm17andhavebeenafreelancesinceIwas15doingeverythingfromwebsitedesigntographicdesign...Nothingtooimportant!Artist[www.idstudios.org]Writer[www.blendernation.com]Developer[www.monsterweb.net]
http://www.idstudios.org/http://www.blendernation.com/http://www.monsterweb.net/http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
11/46
Blender'sgameengineisfairlysimpleassuchthingsgo,butwithalittlehardworkonecanstillcreaterelativelyrealisticgames.Inthisarticle,ImgoingtotrytohelpyoulearnhowyoucanusethesefeaturestomakeyourBlendergamesasrealisticaspossible.
Planning
Beforeyoubeginmakingagamescene,youshouldhaveasetideainyourmindofwhatyouwantthescenetobe.Decide:Whatdoesthearealooklike?Whatistheplayermeanttoaccomplishhere?Whatisthearea'srealpurpose?(i.e.-iftheareareallyexisted,whatpurposewoulditserve?)
Onceyou'veworkedouttheanswerstothesequestions,yourereadytogettoworkonyourscene.Somepeopleprefertomakesketchesoftheirgamescenesaheadoftime,butIusuallyjustgostraighttoBlender.
Whendesigningyourscene,rememberthatthe
playerneedstobefencedinsomehow.Nomatterwhat,peoplealwaysseemtowanttogobeyondtheconfinesofyourgamemap,andyou'llneedtocomeupwithagoodexcuseastowhytheycan't.Preventingtheplayerfromleavingthemainpartofthesceneisnotenough,youmustalsoconvinceherthatshedoesnotwanttoleaveit.
Themostpopularformsofenvironmentboundsareasfollows:
Islandisusuallywhatitsoundslike.Thisisanextremelypopularmethodofdefiningsceneboundaries:simplyputinavastoceanandpeopleimmediatelyassumetheycannottraverseit.InmygameTheVoyageoftheGoldenArm,IusedtheIslandtechniqueinadesertaswell:oneofthegame'slevelstakesplaceonalargehill,whichissurroundedonallsidesbyadesertwasteland.Theeffectisthesamethoughtheoceanisanoceanofsandandnotwater.Anothervariationisthebutte,inwhichthegameareaisatopahighcliff,surroundedonallsidesbyverticaldrops.Islandscanalsobecombinedwithinvisiblewalls,topreventthemostdeterminedplayersfromwalkingtoofarintotheocean.
Canyonisanenvironmentwhichissurroundedonallsidesbyinsurmountablewalls.Preferably,theseshouldbehighwalls:shortfencestendtofrustratepeople,asinreallifetheywouldsimplystepoverthem.ThebestCanyonwallsshouldbemuchhigherthanthegamecharacter'sheight.
TunnelwaspopularizedingameslikeDoom,wherealltheactiontakesplaceinsideclosed-incorridors.Tunnelshavefallenoutoffavorbecausetheyallowforverylittlevarietyinyourgamescenery.
DeathZoneistheleastrecommendedoftheacceptableboundaries.Adeathzoneisanareaoutsidethemaingameenvironmentwhichcausesinstantdeathifentered.AnexampleisthedarkcavernsofthetextadventureZork,inwhich
waywardplayersaredevouredbygrues.Thesearenotrecommendedbecausetheyseemunfairtotheplayer,andcostlives.Ifyoudecidetouseadeathzone,makesurethattheplayeriswell-informedofthearea'sstatus.Nothingismorefrustratingthanasurprisedeathzone.
Inthisarticle,wewillbeworkingtowardarealisticIslandscene.I'mnotexpectingyoutofollowalongwiththetutorial,simplyreaditandlookatthestepsItaketoimprovetheisland'srealism.Learnthesetechniques,andyou'llhaveallthetoolsyouneedtoworkonyourowncreations.
Here'sthelittleislandwe'llbeimproving:
Inalllikelihood,yourgameartisnotasbadasthis,
butthisdoesdemonstratequiteafewoftheproblemsI'veseeninbeginnerart.We'llusetechniquesofshading,texturing,andmodelingtomakethisislandmorerealistic.
11
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
-byJhonAllie
Image1Differentenvironmentbounds
Image2.TheIslandscene
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
12/46
Shading
Shadingishowwesimulatelightinginthegameengine.Shadingdefineslightanddarknessonyourmodels,andisoneofthemostimportanttoolsforaddingrealism.
Theeasiestwaytoshadeyourmodelsistomakethemlight-sensitive.Selectthemodelyouwanttomakelight-sensitive,pressFtoenterUVface-selectmode,andpressWtoopentheSpecialsmenu.(It'simportanttomemorizehotkeys,especiallyunintuitiveoneslikethisone.)SelectLightfromtheSpecialsmenu.
Ourhorriblelittleislandismorerealisticalready!Realislandsaren'tfacetedlikethis,though.
Nowthatit'ssmooth,theislandlooksmuchmore real.Here'swhatitwouldlooklikeifwesetLight
foralltheobjects:
Lightsensitivityisnotagoodsolutionforinanimateobjects,though,becauseiteatsalotofprocessorpower.
12
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image3EnablingLightSensitivity
Image4Light-sensitiveisland)
Image5EnablingSmoothRendering
Image6Smoothed,light-sensitiveisland
Image7Real-timeshading
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
13/46
Blenderhasanotherlight-simulatingfeature,though,whichsimulatesthelightonlyonce,thenbakesittotheobject'svertexcolors.Simplyselecttheobjectyouwishtoapplytheeffectto,andclicktheVertColbakebuttonintheEditButtons.
TheVertColbakingoptionisgreatwhenyou'reinahurry,buttheresulttendstobekindofdark.Addingmorelampscanhelpremedythisproblem,asthevaluesarecalculatedfromthescene'slamps.Here'sthesamescene,withvertexcolorsbakedfromtwolamps:
Thelastshadingmethodistopaintthevertexcolorsbyhand.Thisismypreferredmethodbecauseitgivesmuchmorecontrol,butitdoestakemuchmoreeffort.Ifyoudecidetoshadeyourmodelsthisway,makesurethatyoutrytosimulatethelightcorrectly.Trytorememberwherethelightiscomingfrom,andshadeyourmodels
accordingly.
Ingeneral,whenpaintingroundedmodelslikeSuzanne,IusetheVertexPaintbrush.Withangularmodelssuchasbuildings,IselectthefacesindividuallyandfillthemusingtheSetVertColbutton.Sometimes,I'llalsoaddaslightgradientwithVertexPaint.
13
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image8BakingVertexColorShading
Image10BakedShadingwithTwoLamps
Image11RememberLightDirections!
Image12SettingVertexColorsByHandImage9BakedShading
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
14/46
Tolearnhowtoshadewell,payattentiontoyoursurroundings.Trytolearnwhichareasarebrightestordarkest.YoumaywanttorunsomeRadiosityorAmbientOcclusionsimulationsinBlenderforresearch.(Don'tuseRadiosityoutputinthegameengine,though-themodelsitgeneratesareextremelycomplex!)
Carefuluseofvertexcolorscandowondersforyourgameenvironment.Intherealworld,oneneverencountersanobjectwithoutshading,soit'simportanttokeepthisinmindwhenmakingyourgameenvironments.Shadeeverything,nomatterhowsmallitis!
Modeling
Nowwe'lllookathowtoimproveyourgamemodeling.Let'stakealookatthewiremeshofouruglylittleisland.
Whatappearstobeasimplesceneisnotverysimplefromtheenginespoint-of-view!TheislandismadefromacomplexUVsphere,themonkeyheadhasbeensubsurfed,andthetreesandbuildingcolumnsarebothmadefromcylindersat
thedefaultsetting,32.It'simportanttorememberherethatthoughBlendercanbeusedtomakegames,itsprimarypurposeiscreatingrenderedimagery.
ThisiswhytherearemanyBlenderfeatureswhichareincompatiblewiththegameengine,andmanymorewhichthoughcompatibleshouldnotbeused.
Subsurfisanexampleofthelatter.Thoughsubsurf
isnowcompatiblewiththeGE,itshouldnotbeusedongamemodels.Theintentionofgamemodelingistocreatelow-polymodelswhichareassimpleaspossible.Subsurfworksbyturningeveryfaceofyourmodelintomanysmallerfaces,andisthereforeanextremelycounterproductivemethodwhenitcomestothegameengine.
Whenworkinginthegameengine,yourintentionshouldbetokeepyourmodelsassimpleas
possible:avoidusinganythingwhichmakesyourmodelsmorecomplicated.
Let'sgetstartedonourgamemodelsbyimprovingthetemple.
14
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image13Hand-paintedgradients
Image14Darkeningcornerscanimproverealism
Image16TempleMesh
Image15IslandMesh
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
15/46
We'llfixthecolumnsfirst.Thecolumns,asyoucanseeinthisimage,appeartobealmostasolidcolor.Whenyourgamemodelslooklikethis,itsafairbetyou'veusedtoomanypolys.Thirty-two,thedefaultsettingforcylinders,isoverkillforthegameengine.Tenverticesshouldbeenough,you
canprobablygetawaywithonly7,andyoushouldneverneedmorethan15or20.
We'llcreateanewcolumnmodelandsetitto10insteadof32.Asyoucansee,acolumnwith10verticesstilllooksveryround.It'snotimportanttomakeeverythinginyourgamehaveaperfectshape.Peopleexpectgameobjectstohaveslightly
jaggedshapes,andthemindcaneasilyfilloutthemodeltoitscorrectshape.
Thetrickistofindthehappymediumbetweentoomanyverticesandnotenough.Tenisjustaboutrightforthiscolumn.Forabiggercolumn,20mightbemoreappropriate.Forverysmallobjects,youmaywanttoreducethenumbertofouroreventhree.Avoid6-or8-sidedcylinders,though:themindisfamiliarwiththeseshapesandyourplayermayhaveahardtimeignoringthem.
Low-polymodelingalsomeansremovinganythingthatisnotneeded,whichincludesfacesthatcan'tbeseen.Thiscolumnhasfacesoneitherendwhichcannotbeseen.Clickthefaceselection
button,selectthehiddenfacesatbothendswiththeB-keyselectmode,presstheDeletekey,andclickFaces.
Remembertocheckforthesefaces!They'reverycommon,andtheydotendtoaddup.Unimportant
astheymayseem,havinglargenumbersofthemcanleadtoagameslowdown.
Considerthis:Eachcolumnhas10facesoneachend,noneofwhicharevisibletotheplayer.Withallfourofthebuilding'scolumns,thereare80extrafaces!Alwaysremembertocheckforandeliminategameenginewaste.
Now,let'stakealookatthetemplesteps.
Sometimes,weneedtodividefacesintosmallerfacesinordertocreatesomething.OnewaytocreatemorefacesistousetheSubdividetool,butthistooldivideseveryfaceintolotsofsmallerfaces,creatingalotofunnecessaryextrafacesandaddingtogameenginewaste.AmuchbetteroptionistousetheKnifetool.
15
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image17SettingnumberofverticesforacylinderImage20Carelesslymadetemplesteps
Image19DeletingHiddenFacesImage18Newcolumnfrom10-vertexcylinder
k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
16/46
TheKnifetool'spurposeistoaddextraverticestoanedge.Thiswillallowyoutodivideupyourmodel'sfacesonlyasmuchastheyneedtobedivided,andpreventgameenginewaste.TousetheKnifetool,selecttheedgesyouwishtooperateonandpressShift+K.TheKnifemenuwill
appear.SelectExactLinefornow,andthendrawalinethroughyouredgesandpressEnter.
Ourfaceisnowcutinhalf,andreadytobeextrudedintosteps!IfwehadusedSubdivide,thefacewouldhavebeendividedintofoursections,farmorethanweactuallyneed.Nowwecanextrudethefaceandfinishcreatingourstaircase.
Theresultwillbeabaseforthetemplewithfewerthanhalfthefacesoftheoriginal.Don'tforgettodeletetheundersideofthetemple'sbase:itwillbe
underground,sothereisnoreasontosaveit.
Thetempleisprettygoodnow!Let'sleaveitaloneandtakealookatthoseobnoxious
palmtrees.
Thisisnotapalmtree.Thisisacartoonofapalmtree,andaveryhigh-polyoneatthat.Thetrunk,likethecolumnsonthebuilding,isa32-vertexcylinder.Itisabsurdlystraight:thenaturalworldsimplydoesnothavesuchstraightlines.Ourfirstorderofbusinesswillbetoimprovethistrunk.
Adda7-vertextubeandresizeituntilit'slong,straight,andnarrow.ScalingitsmallthenenlargingitontheZaxisshouldwork.(Makeahabitofusingtubesinplaceofcylinderswhenneitherendwillbevisible.Inthiscase,oneendofthetrunkwillbebelowground,andtheotherwillbeaboveplayers'heads.Neitherwillbeseen,soyoucanuseatubeinplaceofacylinderandsaveyourselfsomepolys.)Onceyourtubeisready,usetheKnifetooltosliceitupafewtimes,thengiveitasubtlebend.Scaleitdownabittowardtheupperend.
Thistrunkisnotonlymore realistic,ithasfewerpolysaswell!
Tocreatetheleaves,addaplaneandextrudeoncefromeachend:
Now,selectyourendsoneatatime,pressW,andselectMerge.
Theresultwillbeaplanewithatriangularfaceattachedateachend.NowusetheKnifetooltodividetheplaneverticallydownthe
middle.Selectthenewverticesandmovethemupsothattheleafwillcurveinthemiddle.
16
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image21UsingtheKnifetool
Image25UsingtheMergetool,Step2
Image24CreatingPalmLeaves,Step1Image22PalmTree
Image23Newtreemesh
Image26CreatingPalmLeaves,Step3
Image27CompletedPalmLeafmesh
k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
17/46
Thisisourbasicleafmodel.Youcantweakitalittleifyoulike.Itmaynotlookverymuchlikeapalmleafyet,butthetexturewillimprovethat.Itshouldbenotedthatsinceleavesareclosetobeingflat,itisperfectlyacceptable,andrecommended,toportraythemwithplane-based
objectslikethisone.Inthegameengine,trytoportraycomplexitythroughtexturingratherthanmodeling,wheneverpossible.Thispalmleafdoesnotneedtobeverycomplex,becauseitstruerealismwillbeappliedthroughitstexture.Wewillbecoveringtexturingshortly,butI'lljumpahead
justamomenttoshowyouwhatthecompletedpalmtreelookslike.
Lookhowgrotesquetheoriginalpalmtreelooks,nowthatit'sshownbesideonethat'ssorealistic!It'salwaysworthgoingtheextrafewstepstomakeyourgamelookgood.Don'tbeafraidtoinvesttheextratime-inalllikelihood,yourgamewillnotonlylookbetter,butitmayrunfasteraswell.
ThelargeSuzanneheadIwillsimplydelete.Alwaystrytomakeyourownmodels:they'llmorecloselyresembleyourownstyle,andtheymayevenbemorecompatiblewiththegameengine.Thereisnoneedforagiantstonemonkeyheadhere,though,sothereisnoreasontoincludeit.If
youaremakingaBlender-themedgame,however,incorporatingSuzanneisencouraged!
Let'sspendsometimerebuildingtheislanditself.Atthemomentit'sjustabigroundthing.That'sfineifyourgameisaboutTheFarSide,butifyou'reaimingforsomethingmorerealistic,wehavetoimproveitabit.
ThisisonetimewhenIconsidertheuseofSubdividetobejustified.Addaplane,scaleitupabit,andsubdivideitafewtimes.
Theillustrationshowstheplaneafterfoursubdivisions.Thatshouldbeenough.Nowpress[OKey]oropenthemenutoactivateProportionalFalloffeditingmode.
17
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image28Original&ImprovedPalmTrees
Image30Subdividedplane
Image29Subdividebutton Image31ProportionalFalloffMenu
18D W k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
18/46
Nowselectafewverticesandbeginmovingthem.Youwillseethatnearbyverticeswillbeginfollowingthemalong.Youcanmovethemousewheeltoadjusttheextentoftheeffect.Pullupthegroundtomakesomesubtlehills.IpressedZwhiletranslatingtolockmovementtothe
verticalaxis.
Yourcompletedislandshouldlooksomethinglikethis:Notethatthehighestpointsoftheislandareinthe
middle,andtheedgesslopedownwardintotheocean.Thisisactuallyaprettygoodislandmodel,althoughthesteepslopesmightmakeitdifficulttonavigate.It'salsoworthnotingthatsomevideo
cards(manyIntelchipsets,especially)experienceastrangeproblemwhichcauseslandscapeslikethesetosquirm.Ifyouexperiencethisproblem,simplyselecttheentiremodelineditmodeandpressControl+Ttotriangulatethemesh.
Onelastthingtolookatbeforewemoveontotexturing-theSkybox.
Asyoucansee,thecloudtextureisliterally
mappedontoagiantbox.Somepeoplecanmakethistechniqueworkverywell,butI'vefoundthat
it'sextremelydifficulttodisguisethefactthatit'sahugebox.Iprefertousetubes,spheres,orplanestocreateclouds.Theroundededgeofthetubeorsphereismoresubtlethanacube'srightangles,andthereforehardertospotandeasiertohide.
Thetubeisagreatwaytomakeclouds.Itrequiresabitofextraworkonyourparttomakeitsspecialtexture,buttheresultisworththetrouble.Yousimplyneedtocreateagoodcloudtexture,andthenuseyourpaintingprogramtoaddacolor-to-transparencygradientskycoloratthetop,toachievearesultlikethis:
Thenmapthetextureontothetube,andsetBlender'sworldcolortothesameskycolorastheimage.Theresult:Prettynifty,eh?NotonlydoestheTubemethodcreatenice,
seamlesscloudsaroundthehorizon,butithidesthecornersofthegroundoroceanplaneaswell.AnicewaytoanimateTubecloudsistomakethe
tuberotateveryslowly.Theeffectissubtlebuteffective.
TheSphereskymethodworksbasicallythesameasTube,butIfindthatit'shardertomaptexturesontoasphere,andtheyhavemorepolysaswell.TheadvantageofSphereisthatitallowscloudstobeonallsidesofthescene.
ThePlanemethodisfairlysimple.Youcansimplyaddaplaneabovethesceneandcloud-textureit.
WhenIusethismethod,Ioftencreateanobjectliketheoneontheleft,andvertexpaintitasseenontheright:
18
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image32UsingProportionalFallofftoMakeHills
Image36TubeClouds
Image34UglySkybox
Image35CloudTextureforTube
Image33NewIslandMesh
193D W k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
19/46
I
thenmapitwithablack-and-whitecloudtexture,andsetittoAddinFace-Selectmode.Thesesettingscreatesimplecloudswhichfade
outaroundtheedges.TheyhavetheappearanceofallAdd-renderedobjects,butyoucanalwayschangethatbycreatingatexturedesignedtobeopaqueinstead.
Notethatplane-basedcloudsappearonlyabove,
whereasTubecloudsappearonlyatthehorizon.Spherecanbeconsideredthebestofboth
worlds,butit'sabithardertoworkwith.However,someperseverancecangetyouaniceeffect.
Onelastwordaboutclouds:you'llprobably
experiencesomeproblemsduetothefactthatfacesare,bydefault,visibleononesidebutnottheother.You'llhavetorecalculatethecloudobject'snormalstomakeitvisiblefromtheinside.Ineditmode,simplyselectallitsverticesandpressCtrl+Shift+N.Thisshouldfixtheproblem.
FinalthoughtsaboutgamemodelingTrytousethesmallestnumberofpolyspossible.Smallobjectscanoftengetawaywithvery,veryfew.Ahandleonadoor,forexample,mightbemadeoutofathree-sidedtube!Largeobjectsoftenneedahigher-resolutionmesh,though:don'tbeafraidtogivethemwhattheyneed.Resistthetemptationtocreatehigh-polymodelsandthendecimatethem.Decimationcreatesugly,complicatedmesheswhicharehardtotextureandextremelydifficulttoanimate.
TheDecimatedversionoftheHigh-PolySuzanneisnotequaltotheoriginal.Everythingwillbe
easierifyoustartoutmodelinglow-polyinthefirst
place.Don'ttrytocheatbymodelinghigh-polyanddecimatingitlater.
19
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image37PlanarCloudObjectmeshandvertexcolors
Image41WhyDecimationisNotYourFriend
Image39PlanarClouds
Image40SphereClouds
Image38EnablingAddRendering
203D W k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
20/46
TexturingThoughshadingandmodelingarebothcrucialtocreatingrealisticgameenvironments,yourmostpowerfulweaponbyfaristexturing.Itdoesnotmatterhowperfectyourmodelsareorhowwellthey'reshaded:iftheyhavebadtextures,theywill
lookterrible!Texturingisthefinalword,italonemakesorbreaksyourenvironment.
Imakenearlyallofmytexturesmyself.ItakephotographsofinterestingsurfacesandconvertthemintotexturesusingGimp.Thereisnoalternativetophotographictextureswhenonewishestoachieverealism.
Themostimportantthingtorememberwhencreatingtexturesistomakethemseamless.YoucandothisquiteeasilyinGimpbynavigatingtoFilters->Map->MakeSeamlessinthemenus.This
effectisnotperfect,butitdoeshidetheseamsinyourtexturesquitenicely.Youmaystillneedtododge/burnbyhandalittletoensureauniformshade,butforthemostpart,makingtexturesis
painless.
I'mnotgoingtogiveawholetexture-creationtutorialhere.Sufficeitto
say,texture-makingconsistsmostlyofalteringphotographsuntiltheycanberepeatedwithoutobviousrepetition.
Ifyoulookattheisland,youllseethatitstextureisobviouslyrepeating.Thegroundtexturecontainsastronglydefinedpurplespot,whichisrepeated
againandagainforacrazypolka-doteffect.
Onequickwaytoremedythisistoswitchfromthedefault1/1UVtexturingsettingtoadifferent
setting.IntheUVfaceselectmode,pressAtoselectallthefaces,andpressUtochooseamappingoption.Blender2.42adeliversahordeofnewUVmappingoptions,andI'lladmitthatI'mnotfamiliarwithallofthemyet!I'vefound,however,thatforrelativelyflatobjectslikeourisland,the
projectfromviewoptionworksnicely.Selectitwhileviewingtheislandfromabove,thensimplyscaletheentireUVmapupanddownintheUVwindowuntilyouliketheresult.
Asyoucansee,theisland'sappearanceisalready
drasticallyimproved.Thepurplespots,thoughnotgone,arenotsuchabigproblemanymore.You
maystillwanttotrytochangetheirtone,though,whichcanbeeasilyachievedthroughsomesmallGimptweaks.Theeasiest,andoftenmosteffective,methodistosimplyselectagreenishcolor,thenbrushoverthepurpleareaswiththebrushtoolsetinColormode.
20
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image45ImprovedUVmapping
Image43Non-seamlessandseamlesstextures
Image44SelectingaUVmappingoptionImage42MakingatextureSeamlessinGimp
213D W k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
21/46
Theislandlooksalotbetternowthattheuglypurplespotshavebeeneliminated...butbeforeitcanlookrealistic,weneedafewmoredifferent
texturesonthere!Let'sstartbyaddingabeachwhichrunsaroundtheedge.
Firstcreateasandtexture,andthencreateasecondtexturewhichblendsthesandtextureintothegrasstexture.Itshouldlooksomethinglikethis:
I'mgoingtoassumeherethatyouhavesufficientknowledgeofGimp(orPhotoshop)todothis.Thoughastep-by-stepguidetocreatingtextures
wouldbeuseful,itisbeyondthescopeofthisarticle.
Now,mapyourplainsandtexture(withoutgrass)ontothefacesaroundtheedgeoftheisland(See
Image49).
Next,isthetime-consumingpart.Maptheblendedtexturewemadetothefacesinbetweenthegrassfacesandsandfaces.Ifindthatthe1/1settingworksbestforthis.Gettingthisperfectcantakeawhile,sobepreparedtospendagooddealoftimeonit.
21
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image49IslandwithTwoTextures
Image48Grass->SandTexture
Image46EliminatingColorVariationinTextures
Image47IslandwithImprovedTexturesImage50TwoTexturesSmoothlyBlended
22
3D W k h
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
22/46
LookathowrealistictheislandisnowcomparedtothewayitlookedattheendoftheModeling
section!Thisshowshowimportanttexturesaretoyourscenery.Wecouldcallthisfinishednow,butlet'sapplyafewmorechangesfirst.
First,let'sfixthetextureontheoceanplane.There'snothingwrongwiththetexture,butweneedtoscaleuptheUVmappingslightlytoincreasethedetailonthewatersurface.
Noticehowevenslightchangescanimprovetheoverallappearancedrastically.Ialsotweakedthesea'svertexcolorsslightlytomorecloselymatchthesky.
Nowlet'saddsomesubtlewavesthatlapattheedgesoftheisland.Addaplaneattheedgeoftheislandandbeginextrudingitsoitfollowstheedgeclosely.Keepdoingthisuntilyou'vecircumnavigatedtheisland,thenmergetheendstogethertocreateacontinuousring.
Makeaniceblack-andwhiteripplestexture,andmapit1/1tothefaces.SetallthefacestoAddrendermode,andpainttheouterverticesblack.
Thesesmallripplesintegratetheislandwiththesea,finallypullingtogethereveryaspectofourgamescene.Ifyou'dlike,youcanevenanimate
t
hemwiththeUVscrollPythonscript.
Foronefinaltouch,youmaywishtocreateshadowsforyourpalmtrees.Anicetutorialabout
creatingshadowtexturesforgameswascreatedbymastergamemakerST150,andisavailableat
http://www.blending-online.co.uk/8501/50779.html
ClosingMaybeyoudidn'twanttocreateasimpleislandlikethisone,andmaybeyoudidn'teventrytofollowalong.Itdoesn'tmatter:myhopeisthat
whilereadingthisarticle,yougainedabetterunderstandingofhowtothinklikeagamedeveloper.Whetherornotyounowhavealittleislandscenedoesnotmatter,whatmattersisthatnowyoubetterunderstandtheconceptsandapplicationofgamescenecreationinBlender.
Planaheadtocreatethebestscenepossible.Trytostartwithsomeideaofwhatyouwantthefinishedprojecttolooklike.Createconceptsketchesifyouprefer.Shadeyourmodels,eitherthroughvertexcolorsorbyusinglightsimulation.Keepyoureyesopenintherealworld,andtrytolearnhowlightbehaves.
Thinkwhileyoumodel:neveruse10facesifthreewilldo,anduseface-dividingtoolssparingly.Deleteunneededfaces,andnevermakeyour
modelsmorecomplicatedthannecessary.Trytoseehowsmallafacecountyoucanget.
22
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
Image54CompletedIsland
Image52MakingWaves
Image51ImprovedOcean
Image53MakingWaves
233D W k h
http://www.blending-online.co.uk/8501/50779.htmlhttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
23/46
Createyourowntextureswheneverpossible.Bringyourcamerawithyouontrips,andphotographas
manydifferentsurfacesaspossible.Whenprocessingyourtextures,strivetoobscuretherepetition.Neverbeafraidtoaddrealisticdetails,especiallyoneswhichhavelittleeffectonpolycount.Asafinaltouch,youmaywanttoexperimentwithaddingmotion.Aslightswayingtothetreesoraspinningweather-vanecanaddtothegame'slookbeautifully.Theworldisfullofmotion,andalittlemotioncanbeagreatadditiontoyourgame.Trytomakesurethattheplayerisnottheonlythingmovinginyourworld.
Andthat'sthat!Ihopeyouenjoyedreadingthe
article.I'vestrivedtoincludeinthisarticleeverythingabeginninggameartistmightfinduseful.Admittedly,therearealotofthingsIdidn'tmention,butthereisenoughmaterialheretogetsomeoneontheirfeetandsolvesomecommonproblems.Withtheseskillsinplace,youllbewellonyourwaytocreatingagreatBlendergame.GostartupBlender,andgettowork!Ilookforwardtoseeingwhatyoucreate!
23
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-CreatingRealisticEnvironmentForTheBlenderGameEngine
IhavebeenusingBlendersinceApril2000.Mycurrentgameprojectisanadventuregamecalled"IntotheTitan."
Website:
www.gorilla3d.com/plantperson
JohnAllie/PlantPerson
Image51ImprovedOcean
24
3D Workshop
http://www.gorilla3d.com/plantpersonhttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
24/46
Introduction
VectorBlurisaninterestingsolutionthatgoesbeyondthelimitationsofregularMotionBlur.ItreliesontheCompositeNodesEditortoperform.ButeveniftheNodesEditormaylookintimidatingatfirstglance,itisinfactveryeasytosetup.Thisshorttutorialwillgothroughthebasicstepsforenhancingyourrenders(bothstillsandanimations)withgoodlookingmotionblur.
Themainthingtounderstandisthattheobject,towhichtheMotionBlurwillbeapplied,shouldhavebeenanimatedbeforehand.ThismeansthattheobjectmustfollowacurveorbeanimatedusingIPOs.Infact,therenderedpicturewillbeturnedintoa3Dmodelwithdepth,andaspeedvector
willbecalculatedforeachpixelofthepicture.Asapost-process,theCompositeEditorwilladdthemotionstothefinalpicinablurredway.Thisiswhydefiningthemotionoftheobjectisabsolutelymandatory.
AverybriefexamplefileofsuchananimationcanbefoundatthefollowingURL:http://feeblemind.tuxfamily.org/dotclear/images/atelier-improbable/vector
Astep-by-stepoftheVectorBlurprocess
First,youwillneedtoturnoneofyour3DviewsintoaNodeEditorview.Thisisdonebyclickingonthegrid-likeiconattheleftendoftheHeaderoftheview.Amenuwillpopupandletyoudefinethetypeofviewneeded.ChoosetheNodeEditor.
IntheHeaderoftheNodeEditor,youwillfindamenufortheview(View,Select,Add,Node)andthentwoicons:(thegreysphereicon)enablesMaterialNodes,and(thesmallfacepictureicon)enablesCompositeNodes.ClicktheCompositeNodes..ThedefaultCompositenodesnetworkshouldbedisplayedonthescreen.Usingthe[LMB],drawaboxthatwillcrossthelinkbetweentheRenderLayernodeandtheCompositenode:thelinkshoulddisappear.Now,usetheAddmenu:Add>>Filters
>>VectorBlur.Anewnodeshouldappear,titledVectorBlur.Moveitbetweenthetwopreviousdefaultnodes,andstartthemagic:connectthe
outputImage,ZandSpeedfromtheRenderLayernodetotheinputImage,ZandSpeedfromtheVectorBlurnode,usingthe[LMB].Oncedone,connecttheoutputImagefromtheVectorBlurnodetotheImageinputoftheCompositenode.
24
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-BlenderAndVectorBlur
BlenderAndVectorBlur
-by Olivier Saraja
Image1AnexampleofIPOcurvesaffectingamovingobject.
Image3TurnoneoftheviewsintotheNodeEditor
Image2Here'showitwouldlookonaregularanimationrendering,withoutvector-basedmotion
blur
Image4ClickontheCompositemodeiconandthenactivatetheUseNodesbutton.
253D Workshop l d d l
http://feeblemind.tuxfamily.org/dotclear/images/atelier-improbable/vector-blur/vectorblur_example.blendhttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
25/46
But,likeanythingelseinBlender,takingintoaccounttheeffectoftheVectorBlurisnothingbutanoption.YouneedtotellBlenderthatitmustdothepost-processingsimulatingthemotionblurexplicitly.ThisisdoneintheScene[F10]menu,intheRenderbuttons,intheAnimpanel.YouwillhavetoactivatetheDoCompositebutton.Asafinalpre-requisiteforVectorBlurmotions,youwillneedtoactivatetheVecoptionintheRender
Layerstab.
Youcannowrenderyourpictureintwoways:
Youobviouslyalreadyknowthe[F12]shortcutortheRENDERbuttonintheRenderpanel
YoucanalsorenderthepictureusingthetinyRendericonintheRenderLayernode
SomeexplanationsontheVectorBlurnodeThisnodeonlyhasafewsettings;mostofthemcouldworkquitewellwiththeirdefaultvalues.Butsometimes(ifnoteverytime!),youneedtogobeyonddefaultsettingstogetrealcoolresults.
Therearefoursettingstoknowabout.
Samples-Thissettingcontrolstheblureffectintensity:thehigherthesamples,themoreblurredtheobjectwilllook.MinSpeed-Ifeverythingisblurred,butsomeobjectsarealotslowerthanothers(ortotallystatic,asthebackgroundofthepic,forexample),thenthisparameterwillhelpdifferentiatehigh-velocityobjectsfromnull-velocity(orslow-
velocity)objects.Thisisreallyusefulduringcameramovementsorslightbackgroundmovements.MaxSpeed-Ifyouhaveextremelyfastobjectsinthescenebuttheblurdoesnotrenderwellenough,thenyoucanmakeuseofthisparametertobetterthevectorblur.Notethata0.0valuemeansthatnomaximumisused.BlurFac-Thisparameterwillscalethevectorspeeds,calculatingfromthemovementsoftheobject.Thevisualeffectisclosetotheshutterspeedofaregularcamera.
ConcerningtheuseofVectorBlur,agoodtipistoputfastmovingobjectsonaRenderLayer,sloworstaticobjectsonanother,andtospecifyindependentparametersforeach,forbettercontrol.
Moreover,largeobjectsnotentirelyseenfromthecamerashouldbesubdividedsothatatleast
somenormalsoftheobjectareactuallyseenfromthecamera,ortheblureffectcouldbedrawnonthewrongside,comparedtothemovement.
Therearesomelimitationsthatyoushouldknowabout.
25
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-BlenderAndVectorBlur
Image2Here'showwouldlookthesameanimationrendering,withvectorbasedmotion
blurenabled
Image4TheCompositenodesaresettodeliveraVectorBlurbasedrendering
Image5Donotforgettoactivatethe
DoComposite
buttonintheAnimpanelandtheVecbuttoninthe
RenderLayerstab
263D Workshop BL d A d V Bl
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
26/46
SinceVectorBlurisapost-processeffect:
ifanobjectisvectorblurred,itsshadowisnotblurred!
ifavectorblurredobjectismovingbehinda(ZTransporRayTransp)glass,itwon'tappearblurredthroughtheglass
ifavectorblurredobjectismovinginfrontofa(EnvMaporRayMir)mirror,itwon'tappearblurredinthereflection
26
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-BLenderAndVectorBlur
OlivierSarajaisanOpenSourceenthusiastrunning
onLinuxsince1999orso.HeusesBlendersince
version1.63aandalwaysdedicatedhimselftowriting
tutorialsforthecommunity,bothinfrenchandin
english.Hehasjustwrittenafrenchbookabout
Blender:"La3DLibreavecBlender"(whichcouldbe
translatedas"Free3DwithBlender")at
EyrollesEditions:
http://www.editionseyrolles.com/Livre/9782212119596/la-3d-libre-avec-blender
HeisalsoacasualWikicontributorofBlender's
documentation.
OlivierSaraja
273D Workshop B & Di l t M i f B i
http://www.editions-eyrolles.com/Livre/9782212119596/la-3d-libre-avec-blenderhttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
27/46
Introduction
BumpmappingandDisplacementmappingaretwospecialtechniquesformakinganobjectappeartohavearoughorirregularsurface.
WhatisBumpmapping?Bumpmappingtakesagrayscaleimageandreadsthelightanddarkinformationtosimulateanirregularsurface.Whenyourenderanobjectwithabump-mappedmaterial,lighter(whiter)areasofthemapappeartoberaisedanddarker(blacker)areasappeartobelowered.Notethatbump
mappingdoesnotmodifythegeometry,onlythenormals.
Thebumpsareasimulationcreatedbyperturbingfacenormalsbeforetheobjectisrendered.Therefore,bumpsdon'tappearonthesilhouetteofbump-mappedobjects.Bumpmappingisusefulforaddingdetailtoanobjectwithoutincreasingthepolygoncount.
WhatisDisplacementmapping?Displacementmappingisverysimilartobumpmapping;whereatwo-dimensionalimage'sgrayscaleinformationisusedtochangethe
appearanceofathree-dimensionalobject.Lightertonescreateraisedbumpsanddarkertonescreateloweredindentationsasusual.Unlikebumpmapping,whichonlyaffectstheobject'stexture,displacementmappingaffectstheobject'sgeometry,creatingadditionalpolygonsaccordingthedisplacementmap'sproperties.
Displacementmappingcanbeverydemandingonyourcomputer'sperformanceasittendstocreate
anextremelylargeamountofpolygons.Thishighresolutionobjectcanappearmuchmorephoto-realisticthanbumpmapping,ifusedproperly.Ascomputersarebecomingmoreandmorepowerful,displacementmappingmaysoonbeabletorenderatspeedsnecessaryforareasonablegameengine.However,currenttechnologydoesnotmeettheheavyprocessingrequirement.
BeforeyoustartBumpmapping&DisplacementmappingtechniquesareveryfastandeasytodoinBlender,evenifyouarenewtoBlender'stexturingtools.Pleasenotethatdisplacementmapsarenotdisplayedin
the3Dviewport.Bumpmapscandisplayaverybasicpreviewwithshading[Shift+Z]turnedon.
BumpmappinginBlenderForthistutorial,IwilluseoneofBlender'smanyproceduraltextures,"Musgrave".Feelfreetopickanothertype,or
evenuseyourownbumpmapimage!BeginbyopeningBlenderandcreatinganewobject.Iusedthepopular"Suzanne"(monkey)modelforthisexample.Next,createanew
materialintheMaterialShadingPanel[F5],andaddanewtexture.NowswitchtotheTexturingPanel[F6],wherewewillcreatethebumpmap.Fromthe"TextureType"box,select"Musgrave".Ileftthedefaultsettingsalone,butyoumaychoosetoplayaroundwiththem.Youcanalsoaddaramp-shaderhereifyouareplanningonaddinguniquecolorstothetexture.
Now,weneedtoconfigurethemostimportantsettingsforthebumpmap.ThesecontrolsarelocatedintheMaterialShadingPanel[F5]underthe"MapTo"tab.Youmaychoosetodisablethetexture'scolor(Col)whenmodifyingyourbumpordisplacementmaps.Thiscansometimesgiveyouabetterideaofwhat'sgoingonwitheachsetting.
Toenablebumpmapping,pressthenormal(Nor)button.Youcanadjustthestrengthofbumpinesswiththesliderbuttonlabeled"Nor".Usebumpmapswhenyouwanttotakethesmoothnessoffasurface,ortocreateanembossedlook.Keepinmind,however,thatthedeptheffectofabumpmapislimitedtothenormal(Nor)slider.
27
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-Bump&DisplacementMappingforBeginners
Blender&DisplacementMappingforBeginners
-by Michael Wach
Image4EnablingNorMapping
Image1RegularTexture
Image2BumpMap
Image3DisplacementMap
283D Workshop B & Di l t M i f B i
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
28/46
DisplacementmappinginBlenderThewayyoucreateadisplacementmapisverysimilartothewayyoucreateabumpmap.Theonlydifferenceis,youmustenablethedisplacement(Disp)button.Youmayturnoffthenormal(Nor)buttondependingonyourdesiredeffect.
Thedisplacementslidercontrolshowfarawayfromtheoriginalmeshtheverticeswillbemoved.Thenormal(Nor)slideralsohasagreatimpactonyourdisplacementresults.Becarefulwhenusingdisplacementmapsbecausetheycanbeveryprocessordemanding.
Conclusion
Overall,bumpmappinganddisplacementmappingareveryhandytoolsifyouknowhowtousethem.Mapsthatshadebetweenwhiteandblackgenerallyworkbetterthanmapswithhardedgesbetweenthewhiteandblackareas.Ihighlyrecommendplayingaroundwiththesettingsandrenderingyourresultstohelpdeepenyourunderstandingofthemboth.
28
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
3DWorkshop-Bump&DisplacementMappingforBeginners
Image4EnablingDisplacementMapping Isan18yearsoldfromCleveland,Ohio.CurrentlystudyingattheUniversityofAdvancingTechnology.HeworksoverinternetforaNewYorkCitybased
patentattorney,creating3DrepresentationsofhisideasusingBlender3DandYafRay.Alsomakewebsites,composedigitalaudio,recordandeditdigitalvideosandworkswithalotof2Dillustrations,textures,andphotographs.
MichaelWach
292D Workshop C ti A Li ht i B lt i th GIMP
http://www.mikewach.com/http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
29/46
IntroductionThistime,wewilllearntheprocedureforcreatingalightningboltspritefromtheGIMP.Lightningboltsfindgoodusein3DgameSFX,likezappinganitemorenemyfromanelectricweapon,denotingtensioninsci-fiscenarios,orjustanaturallightningbolttoenhancetheenvironmentalmood.
Level:NewbietoIntermediate
Step1.LaunchtheGIMPandcreateanew256x768image.GotoFilters>>Render>>SolidNoise.Inthepop-up,enterthevaluesasshowninImg1or,chooseoneofyourownbyhitting'New
Seed'button.Finally,presstheOKbuttontorenderthenoise.
Step2.Createanewlayeroverthecurrentlayer.GototheToolBoxandselectthegradienttoolandintheToolOptions,selecttheshapeofthegradientasBi-linearandenableAdaptive-
Supersampling.Createanewlayeroverthenoiselayeranddrawasmallgradientoverthenewlayer(seeImg3)).Onethingtorememberhereisthatyoushouldtrytodrawthegradientoverthepartofthesolidnoisewhichcontainsmostlywhiteanditssurroundingareasaredarker.Thatiswhereyougetgoodcontrastforthelightbolt.
Step3.GototheLayersdialogboxandchangethelayer-modeofthegradientlayertoDifferenceseeimg4.Immediately,youcanseetheformationofthebolt.Nowgo
toImage>>FlattenImagetoflattenallthelayersintoonesinglelayer.NowgotoLayer>>Color>>Inverttoinvertthecolorofthelayer.
Step4.Whatyougetisastreakoftwolightningbolts(Seeimg5),butthese
boltsarehardlyusableastheyappearvirtuallygluedtogether.GotoLayer>>Color>>Levels.ThiswillbringuptheLeveladjustdialogbox(seeimg6).Dragtheinputlevelsmid-pointertowardstheright.
Whileyoudothis,youcanalsoseetheformationoftwoneatlightningbolts(Seeimg7).Adjusttheamountofsharpnessyouwantthen,pressOK.
29
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
2DWorkshop-CreatingALightningBoltintheGIMP
CreatingALightningBoltintheGIMP
-blenderart
Image1SolidNoisepop-up
Image2Gradientsettings
Image3DrawnGradient
Image4LayersDialog
Image5Lightningbolts
Image6Leveladjustment
302D Workshop Creating A Lightning Bolt in the GIMP
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
30/46
Step5.ToseparatethelightningboltsasanAlphachannel,youwillneedtoconverttheblackcolortoalpha.Todothat,gotoLayers>>Transparency>>ColortoAlpha.IntheColortoAlphadialog,clicktheFrombuttonandchooseablackcolorthenpressOK.Younowhaveanalpha-basedversionofthelightningbolt(Seeimg8).Thelastthingtodoissaveitinafileformatthatsupportstransparency,likePNGorTGA.
ConclusionAlthoughthismethodonlygeneratesprettystraightlightningbolts,youcancomplimentitwiththenoisegenerationplug-insfortheGIMPcalledPlasma2etc.Thiswillallowyoutohave
randomnoisegenerationwhichcanresultinmorevariedlightningbolts.Ihopethishasprovidedyouwithaniceandeasywaytocreatelightningbolts.
30
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
2DWorkshop-CreatingALightningBoltintheGIMP
Image7Renderedlightningbolts
Image8Lightningboltswithalphachannel
31Blending - A Compositor Node Overview
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
31/46
SandraGilbertandIdiscussedthefactthatwithallofthenewfeaturescomingfromtheBlenderreleases,itisoftenhardtokeepupwiththem.Often,youneveractuallygettousethefeatureinaprojectbecauseyouaresimplytoobusyexploringallofthedifferentwaysofusingthenewfunctionality.Tohelpthosegetuptospeedfaster,I'llgiveaquickoverviewoftheCompositorNodesystem.
CompositorNodeSystemTheCompositorNodeSystemisanadvancedpost-productioneditorthatallowsforquickandeasyconfigurablemodifiers,callednodes,tobe
hookedtogether(usingnoodles)basedonvariousinputsandoutputs.Theconfigurationsareflexibleandtheresultscanbequitedramaticorverysubtlebasedondesignandnecessity.ThemajorfeatureoftheCompositorNodeSystem(Compositor)istheabilitytomixvariousrenderpasses(combinedRGBA,Z,Vector,andNormalvalues)withotherinputstoachieveadvancedeffects.ThesefeatureshavecomeaboutmainlythroughthedevelopmentsmadebyOrangeStudio
andjustrecentlybytheprojectPlumiferos.Althoughdesignedforanimationsandcomputer-generatedimagery,theCompositorhasfounditswayintothetoolboxofmanygraphicartistswhouse3Dand2Dprogramstocreateillustrationsandartwork.Thepossibilitiesareonlylimitedbyyourimaginationandabstractionofthenode-basedlayout!
InputsValues
InputsarevariablesettingsonallEffectandOutputnodes.Inputnodesdonotcontaininputsthemselves,theyusetheinputsfromtheactualScene.AninputcaneitherbeanRGBAvalue(Imageinputs)orarangevalue(Factor,Size,Valueinputs).ThekeydifferencebetweenRGBAvaluesandrangevaluesarethateachpixelrepresentsacolor/alphavalueoravaluerepresentinganinputamount(0-255).RGBAvaluesaretypicallythepixelsthatmakeupthefinalimagewhereasrange
valuesaretypicallyvaluesthatcontrolthetransformingofthepixelsandareusuallyZ,Vector,Normal,Alphaorotherrangevalues.
Inputscanonlyacceptoneinputchannelandrepresenttheentirepictureonaperpixelbasis.Inputsareeitherfromthesceneortakenfromtheoutputofanothernodeorasetvalue(suchasImageinputs,whichcansimplyuseanRGBAvalue).
AnRGBAvalueinputisalwaysyellowandarangevalueinputisalwaysgray.Blueinputsarespecialinputswhichonlyworkwiththeassociatedscene
data(NormalandVectorchannels).AnRGBAvalueinputmayhavetobeconvertedtobeusedasarangevalueinput.Aninputthatrepresentseachpixelinanimageisoftenreferredtoasanpixelorimagemap.
OutputValuesOutputsvaluesarevariablesettingsonallEffectandInputnodes.Outputnodesdonotcontainoutputsthemselves,theydisplaytheinputs.Just
likeInputValues,OutputValuesareeitherRGBAorrangevalues.AnRGBAvalueoutputisalwaysyellowandarangevalueoutputisalwaysgreyandspecialchannelvalues(NormalandVectorchannels)arealwaysblue.Toviewrangevalues,youmayhavetoconvertittoanRGBAvalueorusespecialfilterswhenviewing.Anoutputthatrepresentseachpixelinanimageisoftenreferredtoasapixelmaporimagemap.
Withthatquickprimeroninputsandoutputsandwhatcanandcannotbeused,letustakealookathowtheseinputsandoutputscanbeusedtogetherwithnodes.Pleasenotethatinthefollowingexplanations,anactualworkingmodelwon'tbedescribedbutratherhoweachsettingcanbeusedwithineachnodeandhow,whencombinedwithotherinputs,theywillchange.
InputNodes
RenderLayerNodesareinputsfromtheScene.CurrentlytheonlyavailableoutputsettingsforthisnodeincludeImage(RGB),Alpha,Z(depth),Normal(mapping),andSpeed(vector).TheRenderLayerNodecontainsanImagePreviewandaselectorforselectingScenesandRenderLayersfromtheselectedScene.NotethattheNormalandSpeedvalueoutputsarecoloredblue,thisisbecausetheyarespecialvalueoutputs.Theycanbetreatedthesameasanyrangevalue,butonlyworkforrelatednodes.
TheImageoutputdisplaystheRGBcolorvaluesforeachpixel.TheAlphaoutputisablackand
whiterangevaluewhichrepresentstheopacityforeachpixelwitharangefrom0(black/transparent)to255(white/solid).TheZoutputisarangevaluethatgivesdepthinformation(thedistancefromthecameratothevirtualobject)onaper-pixelbasis.
31
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
Blending-ACompositorNodeOverview
ACompositorNodeOverview
-by Daniel LaBarge
NOTE:Thedescriptionofhoweachnodeworksisbasedonlyontheutilityandnotontheactualmathematicalorgraphicalfunctionalityofthenode.AmoreaccuratedescriptionofhoweachnodefunctionsandoperatesisbeyondthescopeofthisarticleandwillprobablyappearinfuturearticlesontheBlenderWikiathttp://mediawiki.blender.org.
32Blending - A Compositor Node Overview
http://mediawiki.blender.org/http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
32/46
ImageNodesareinputsfromanimagefile.Animagefilecaneitherbeavalidimagetypefile(jpg,png,bmp,etc.)orarangeimagetypefile(exr,hdri,etc.)orevenamovingimagefile(avi,mpeg,mov,etc.).CurrentlytheonlyavailableoutputsettingsforthisnodeincludeImage(RGB),Alpha,andZ(depth).ThisnodealsocontainsanImagepreview.
Whenafileisloaded,asmalliconrepresentedbyfilmtapeappears.Whenyouenablethis,moreoptionsbecomeavailable.Youcansetthenumberofframesintheanimationandsetthestartingframeandwhetherornottocyclethroughtheframes.Thismakesusingrawimageoutputfromtheanimationrendereasytoloadintothecompositorforpostproduction,sinceBlendernameseachframebasedonanumber.
Also,Blendercanreadthefilenameandgetthenextframeoftheanimation.Anothericonalso
showsupandcanbeenabled,whichwilltakeeachframefromthefileifthefileisamovingimage.Typically,onlytheImage(RGB)outputisusedbut,ifascenefileiscreated,youcanuseitasinputwhichwoulddelivertheAlphaandZvaluestobeused.
ValueNodeisaverysimplenode.Yousetanumericvalue(0.00to1.00)andthevalueoutputdeliversitasarange.Programmerscanthinkofthisaspredefinedvariable.
RGBNodeisbasicallythesamethingasaValueNodeexceptthatitoutputsanRGBAvalueinstead
ofarangevalue.Thisnodecontainsacolorpalettewhichmakesiteasytoselectthedesiredcolor.
TimeNodeisaverypracticalnodebecauseitisessentiallyavariableValueNode.Thedifferenceisthatthevariationisbasedonthenumberofframes.TheFactoroutputisarangevaluewhichissetusingacurve.YoucansettheStartandEndframeforwhichthecurverepresents.Thisnodeis
usefulforcontrollingthechangesthatoccurduringananimation,andisoftenusedasaninputforanothernode.
TextureNodeissimilartotheImageNodeexceptthatitusesinternaltexturesfromtheBlendersceneastheinputs.ThisgivesyoualotofcontrolbecauseyoucanuseNormalmappingtocontroltheOffsetandScalingdynamicallyandcanusetheRGBAvaluesaseitherarangeValueoutputoranRGBAColoroutput.ThisnodealsoincludesanImagepreviewwhichdisplaysthetextureselectedfromthescene.Thisisgoodforaddingproceduraltextureoverlaysandgradienteffects.
OfalloftheInputNodes,onlytheTextureInputactuallyhasinputsettings.ThesearelimitedtotheBlenderscenehowever,theyarestilldynamic.Overall,theInputNodesareessentialtousingtheCompositorastheyserveasthebasetowhichchangesaremade.Theyalsoallowforcontrol
overeffectsappliedtootherinputs.ThethreemostcommonlyusedInputNodesaretheRenderLayer,Image,andTimenodes.
OutputNodes
CompositorNodesoundskindofredundantbut,itisactuallytheonlywaytooutputthefinalchangestotheRenderBuffer.Currently,therecanonlybeoneCompositorpersceneanditonlyacceptsImage,Alpha,andZinputs.ThenodeusesanImagepreviewfordisplayingtheresultsintheNodeWindow.TheRenderBuffer(F11)willalsodisplaytheCompositornodeoutput.IfnoCompositornodeisfoundtherendererwill
produceanerror.
ViewerNodeisidenticaltotheCompositornodeexceptthatinsteadofdisplayingresultstotheRenderBuffer,itutilizestheUVImageEditorundertheViewerImage.ThisisadynamicimagethatdisplaysthepreviewofthecurrentlyselectedViewernode.ThismeansthatyoucanhavemultipleViewernodeswhichwilldisplaythevariousoutputsofothernodes...usefulfordebuggingandtestingdifferentattributesofthecomposition.
ColorNodes
RGBCurvesNodeisaverypowerfulnodebecauseitcancontrolthecoloroftheimagebyvaryingtheinfluenceofeachcolorseparately,andallofthecolorstogether.ThisnodehasaFactorInput(rangevalue)andanImageInput(RGBAvalue).TheImageOutputisacombinationofallof
theRGBCurveswhichincludeCombined,Red,Green,andBlue.Thereare+and-symbolswhichzoominandoutaccordinglysothatyoucanfinetunethecurveandalignitmoreeasilytothegrid.
Thewrenchiconallowsforcontroloverthegridviewandthecurvehandling(AutoandVector),anditalsoallowsyoutoresetthecurvetothelineardefault.Anorangegridiconallowsforclippingtocontrolthemaximumvalues.TheXicondeletesthecurrentlyselectedpoint.PointsareselectedusingtheLeftMouseButton(LMB).
NewpointsareaddingbyusingCtrl+LMB.Thisnodeismostcommonlyusedforcontrastcontrolandforfinetuningthecolorranges.Itiseasytomakeveryboringimagesinterestingusingthisnode.
32
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
Blending-ACompositorNodeOverview
NOTE:Atthetimeofthiswriting,CVSversionsofBlenderincludenewoutputnodes.ThesenodeswillnotbediscussedinthisarticleastheyhavenotyetmadeitintotheofficialBlenderrelease.Youshouldnote,however,thatadvancednodesdoexistandwillprobablybemakingtheirwayintofutureBlenderversions.
33Blending - A Compositor Node Overview
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
33/46
MixNodedoesexactlywhatitsoundslikeitmixestwoImageinputsbasedonaFactorandfiltertypeandoutputstheresultasanRGBAvalue.ThisnodehastwoImageinputs,butitwillacceptrangevalues.ThismakesitgoodformixingapresetvaluewithaTimeNodevaluetohaveavaryingrangevaluefornodesthatdon'thavemultiplerangeinputs.Amongthefiltertypesaremix,multiply,add,subtract,divide,screen,overlay,darkenonly,lightenonly,andmanyothers.ThisnodeisgoodformixingcolorsaswellbecausetheImageinputscanbesetasafixedRGBAvalueinsteadofapixelmap.
HueSaturationNodeisperfectforfinetuningtheRGBcolors.Ifblueisn'tblueenough,thisisthenodethatyouwillfindthemostuseful.ItacceptsanImageinputandaFactorrangevalueinput,andoutputsthemodifiedImage.TheHueslidercontrolstheHuevalues(similartoRGB)with0.500beingnochange.TheSaturation(intensity)slider
controlsthesaturationoftheHueswhichcanbeusedtofloodaphotoorjustslightlytintanimage.Thisnodeisveryusefulandismostpopularlyusedasatintfilterforsuchnightsceneswhereaslightbluetintisneeded.
AlphaOverNodeisthetitleeffectlifesaver.Thisnodeallowsoneimagetobelaidoveranotherandtransparencyisusedasthewindowinwhichthebackgroundisletthrough.ThisnodehastwoImageinputsandaFactorrangevalueinput.TheFactorcanbeeasilyconnectedtoaTimeNodeandthenyoucanfadein/outtheeffect.ConvertPremulusuallyblendsthetransparentedges
togetherbettersoartifactsareremoved.ItalsoconvertsRGBblacktoAlpha,whichworkswellforcreatingAlphamaps.
It'simportanttokeepalayermentalitywhenworkingwiththisnode.ThetopImageinputisthelayerwhichisplacedontopofthebottomImageinputandtakesprecedenceoverthepixel.Anytransparentpixelsthenallowthebackgroundtoshowthrough.Thisnodeisgreatforoverlaysand
titleworkaswellascompositingscenes.
ZCombineNodeisaveryinterestingnodeinthatitcaneasilygettangled.IthasasingleImageoutputbutacceptstwoImageinputsandtwoZrangevalueinputs.ItcombinesthepixelsbasedontheZrangevaluesandpassesthatcombinedimagetotheoutput.TheproblemwiththisisthattheZvaluethatcorrespondstotheImage(atleastinthescenariowherethisnodeisuseful)isthebelowtheoppositeImageinput.
Thus,thenoodlesthatconnectthenodescaneasilygetcrossedandfollowingthemgetsmessyifmultiplenodesareused.Thisnodeismostcommonlyusedwithscenecompositing.Inthismethod,thesceneisrenderedinsectionsandlayers.Thelayersarereassembledafterpost-productioniscompleted.Usuallythescene'sZchannelisusedtodothis.
VectorNodes
NormalNodehastobeoneofthecoolestnodesavailable.Ionlyrecentlyfiguredouthowamazingitreallyis.Basically,youcanthinkofitasapost-productionlight.ItusestheNormalchannelasitsinputandthenyoucanmovealittlespherearoundtorelocatethelightsource.TheavailableoutputsincludetheremappedNormalchannelandaDotrangevalueoutputwhichrepresentsthelightandnormalintensityinagrayscalepixelmap.Thepossibilitiesforthisincludespecularmapping,nightlighting,subsurfacescattering,andmuchmore.
VectorCurvesNodeissimilartotheRGBCurvesnodeinthatyoucancontroltheVectorchannelvaluesfortheX,Y,andZaxis.TheonlyinputandoutputareVectorchanneldatawhichmustbeloadedeitherfromaNormalnodeorthesceneitself.Itcontainsthestandardcurvewidgetandcontrolfeatures.ThisnodeismostusefulforremappingtheVectorchannelforfinetuningmotionblur,etc.
MapValueNodeisanotherusefultoolforchangingvalueranges.ItacceptsanyrangeValueinputandcanlimititsMinimumandMaximumvaluesandcanbefurthermodifiedbasedonSizeandOffsetvalues.Theseslidersarenotlimitedto0.0and1.0becausethisnodeisnotdesignedonlyforrangevaluesofthatkind.ItalsoacceptsZ,Normal,andVectorchannelsandcanisoftenusedincombinationwiththeZchanneltoremapitforforegroundandbackgroundblurorincombinationwithaVectorchanneltoproducemotionblur.
FilterNodes
FilterNodeisthemostcommonlyusednodeinthisset.Itcanbeusedforabroadrangeofeffects,suchassoftblurring,edgeenhancementsforcartoons,neonsigns,decals,andmuchmore.ThisnodeacceptsanImageinputwhichcanbecontrolledusingaFactorrangevalueandwillthenmodifythepixelsbasedonadifferentfilteror
effecttype.TheresultispassedtotheImageoutput.Thesoftenfiltertypeappliesaverysmallblurtothepixeltoeliminatesmallartifacts.Sharpenattemptstoenhancetheedgesbetweenthepixelstodefinetheedgesbetter(thisoftencreatesartifacts).Laplace,Sobel,Prewitt,andKirschareallverysimilarandtheyenhancetheedgesanddarkentherest.Shadowiskindoflikeengravingandappliesaselfshadowontheedges.Thisnodeisoftenusedtomakeimagesthataretooperfectseemcrisper.
BlurNodeisaverysimplenode.IttakesanImageinputand(basedonaSizerangevaluewhich
influencestheamountofblur)willblurthepixelsbasedondifferentfiltersormethods.ItwillfilteritbasedonanXandYvalueandcanevenbeappliedtoGammacorrectedvalues.EnablingBokehfilteringwilluseacircularfilterinsteadofthesimplesquaremethod.AmongthefiltermethodsavailableareFlat,Quadratic,Cubic,Gaussian,CatRom,Mitch,andTent.
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
Blending-ACompositorNodeOverview
34Blending - A Compositor Node Overview
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
34/46
Eachonefiltersdifferentlyandanyoneofthemcanbeusedtoobtainthedesiredeffect.TheresultingeffectisappliedtotheimageandpassedtotheImageoutput.ThisisveryusefulforDepthofFieldandmotionblur.Itcanalsobeusedcleverlyforinterestingtitleworkandoverlays.
VectorBlurNode isbasicallyaone-purposenode,butitdoesitsjobverywell.Itrequiresthreeinputstogeneratethedesiredoutput.ThesethreeinputsareanImage,aZchannelmap,andaVectorSpeedinput.AllofthesecanbegatheredfromthesceneandVectorNodes.Thismethodusesallthreechannelstogethertoblurtheimagebasedapixelstretchingmodel.Theinnerworkingsofthismethodarebeyondthescopeofthisarticlebutthefunctionalityisaveryfastandefficientpost-productioneffect.ItusesaSamplevaluetocontrolthequalityoftheblur,aMinSpeedtosettheminimumstretchforeverypixelandaMaxSpeedforthemaximumstretchforanypixel.It
thenusesaBlurFactorwhichcanbeusedtofine-tunetheblurfromstrongtoweak.ThehighertheSamplesandthehighertheBlurFactor,thestrongertheblur.ItisimportanttosettheMinandMaxspeedstoinclusiveenoughvalues,butnottoobroadtobecomememoryintensive.Thisnodeismostoftenusedformotionblur.
ConverterNodes
ColorRampNodeisadualpurposenodeinthatitblendscolorsandvalues,andoutputsbothanRGBImageoutputandarangevalueAlphaoutput.Thealphaoutputcanbeusedasanyvalueoutputbut
ismostoftenusedfortransparency.TheFactorinputcanbeeitherarangevalueoratimelinecontroltocontroltheinfluenceofthenode.Therampslidercanusecolorsandtransparenciestocreateagradientwhichisusefulforgradienteffectsonoverlaysandforvaluetuning.
RGBtoBWNode isthesimplestnodeavailable.IttakesanRGBAImageinputandoutputsarangeValueoutput.Thisisagrayscalerepresentationof
theRGBAImageinputandcanbeusedassuchorasavalueoutput.
SeparateRGBANodeisveryversatilebecauseitallowsyoutomodifyeachcolorchannelindependently.ItacceptsanRGBAImageinputandoutputsthecorrespondingRed,Green,Blue,andAlphachannelsasgrayscalevalues.Atthetimeofthiswriting,thenextofficialreleaseofBlenderwillincludeaCombineRGBANodewhichwilldothereverseofthisnode.
SeparateHSVANodeisessentiallythesameastheSeparateRGBAnodebutitseparatestheHue,Saturation,Value,andAlphachannelsfortheimage.TheyaregrayscalevaluesjustliketheSeparateRGBAnode.Atthetimeofthiswriting,thenextofficialreleaseofBlenderwillincludeaCombineHSVANodewhichwilldothereverseofthisnode.
SetAlphaNodeisgoodfortitleworkandoverlaysbuthasit'spurposeinothernodesaswell.ItacceptsanRGBAImageandthenallowsanAlphavaluetobesetoroverwrittenbyaValueinput.Alphavalueof0.0istransparentand1.0isopaque.ThecombinedRGBAvaluesarepassedtotheImageoutput.ThisnodeisoftenusedwithaTimenodetocontrolthefadeinorfadeoutofascene.
TranslateNode istheonlymovinganimationnodeavailableatthemoment(moreadvancednodesforrotation,etc.arebeingdeveloped).ThisnodewilltranslateormoveanImageinputasetvalue
fromthetopleftofthebasecanvassize.ItwillbemovedX(horizontal)pixelsbyY(vertical)pixels.ThesevaluescanbevariableXandYinputswhichisusefulforanimationswhereaTimenodecanbeusedtoslideasceneorimageacrossthecanvas.TheresultingImageisoutputwhichcanthenbeplacedontopofanotherImageformergingdown.
GroupNodes
GroupnodesarenothingmorethancustomnodeswhicharemadebytakingthegenericnodesandgroupingthemwithCtrl+Gkey.Thisgroupisthenavailableasaduplicatetothecurrentgroup.Toungroupthenodes,youcanpressAlt+Gkey.ToaddagroupnodeyoucaneitherusetheAddmenuorpressShift+Gkeyforalistofcurrentlyavailablenodes.Workingwithgroupnodescansavealotoftimeforrepetitiveeffects,butshouldbeusedwithcaution.Anewgroupshouldbeadded,thenungroupedandregroupedasadifferentgroupnode.Thisgetsaroundtheproblemofcopynodesinsteadofduplicatenodes.GroupnodesaremostoftenusedinthedefaultBlenderfile,thatwaycommonlyusedeffectscanbedonequickly.
ConclusionIwouldliketoencourageyoutoexplorethe
varioussettingsandusesforthenodes.Also,visitthesupportforumsforvariousreferenceschematicswhichcanhelpyouunderstandthemathematicalandgraphicalfunctionalityofeachnode.Forpracticalpurposes,theCompositorisaverypowerfultoolandshouldn'tbeconsideredaglorifiedSequenceryoucandoalotmorewiththisthanyoucouldeverdowiththeSequencer.Infact,Iwouldn'tbeabitsurprisedifyouneverusetheSequenceragain!
ThishasbeenabriefdescriptionoftheCompositor,whichisonlyhalfoftheNodewindow.Thereismoretolearn,suchastheinterface,the
Materialnodes,andthevariouswaysinwhichthesenodescanbeusedtogether.
Again,Iencourageeachusertopracticeusingnodesandlearntheinsandoutsofthistool.Havefun!
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
Blending ACompositorNodeOverview
35Know How - Index Of Reflection
http://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
35/46
IndexofRefraction
Refractionoccurswhentheenergyofanincominglightwavematchesthenaturalvibrationfrequencyoftheelectronsinamaterial.Thelightwave
penetratesdeeplyintothematerial,andcausessmallvibrationsintheelectrons.Theelectronspassthesevibrationsontotheatomsinthematerial,andtheysendoutlightwavesofthesamefrequencyastheincomingwave.But,thisalltakestime.
Thepartofthewaveinsidethematerialslowsdown,whilethepartofthewaveoutsidetheobjectmaintainsitsoriginalfrequency.Thishastheeffectofbendingtheportionofthewaveinsidetheobjecttowardwhatiscalledthenormalline,animaginarystraightlinethatrunsperpendiculartothesurfaceoftheobject.Thedeviationfromthenormallineofthelightinsidetheobjectwillbelessthanthedeviationofthelightbeforeitenteredtheobject.
Theamountofbending,orangleofrefraction,ofthelightwavedependsonhowmuchthematerial
slowsdownthelight.Diamondswouldnotbesoglitteryiftheydidnotslowdownincominglightmuchmorethan,say,waterdoes.Diamondshaveahigherindexofrefractionthanwater,whichistosaythattheyslowdownlighttoagreaterdegree.
Oneinterestingnote
aboutrefractionisthatlightofdifferentfrequencies,orenergies,willbendatslightlydifferentangles.Let'scomparevioletlightandredlightwhentheyenteraglassprism.Becausevioletlighthasmoreenergy,ittakeslongertointeractwith
theglass.Assuch,itissloweddowntoagreaterextentthanawaveofredlight,andwillbebenttoagreaterdegree.Thisaccountsfortheorderofthecolorsthatweseeinarainbow.Itisalsowhatgivesadiamondtherainbowfringesthatmakeitsopleasingtotheeye.
DefinitionofIndexofRefractiontakenfromhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/light12.htmForamoretechnicaldescriptionyoucheckouttheexplanationathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index
Nowwhyisthisimportant?Whencreatingmaterials,youneedtotakeIndexofRefractionintoaccount.Otherwise,yourmaterialswillnotbeconvincing.AndwiththenewtransmissivityfeatureaddedinthelastreleaseinadditiontotheIORsettingspanelalreadyinplace,blenderiscapableofconvincingIORvalues.
HereisalistofIORvaluesforyourreference.Thisimageisrathersmall,foraclearercopypleasecheckthepdfincludedwiththisissue.
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
KnowHow IndexOfReflection
IndexOfReflection
-by Sandra Gilbert
36Know How - Educational Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_indexhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/light12.htmhttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
36/46
Thelastyearhasseenamajorincreaseinuserdocumentation.Withthearrivalofnewbooksinseverallanguages,downloadablemanualsandclassbooks/courses,learningBlenderhasbecomeeasierthanever.Letstakealookatwhatiscurrentlyavailableforoureducationalenjoyment.
BooksIntroducingCharacterAnimationwithBlenderbyTonyMullen,willsoonbefinishedandisnowavailableforpre-orderatAmazon.com.Itis432pagesandisanidealstartingpointforanybodyinterestedincreatingengaging,convincingcharacteranimation,givingathoroughandpracticalintroductiontothefunctionalityofBlender.
ItcomeswithacompanionDVDthatincludesthecompleteBlenderinstallationexecutableforWindows,Mac,andLinux;theshortfilm"ElephantsDream";alltheBlenderandsourcefilesusedtoproducetheexamplesandtutorialsinthebook;extensivelinksfortutorialsandBlender-relatedresources;andothervaluableOpenSourcesoftwarediscussedinthebook,includingthepopularBlenderPeoplescript.
La3DlibreavecBlender(Frenchmanual)byOlivierSarajaisavailablein
France.Itisaround356pages,featuringsomecolorplatesbywellknownartistsofthecommunity(StefanZsolt,Robertt,Harkyman).
Blender3D-GuiadoOsorio(Brazilian/Portuguesemanual)byAllanBrito.ThebookisaimedbothatthebeginningandtheadvancedBlenderuseranditcounts448pages.
BlenderBeginnersBible(Japanesemanual),byShinichiTasakiwasreleasedinSeptember.BlenderBeginnersBibleisaimedatthebeginningBlenderuser,coveringallthenewfeaturesandtoolsthathavebeenaddedtoBlendersincethelastJapanesebookwasreleasedin2003.
Aprendeen24HorasBlender&YafrayDisenoGrafico3DconSoftwareLibre(SpanishBlender2.41Manual)
http://www.boxel.info/morcy/index.php?entry=entry060805-185712Theprintedbook(orPDFversion)isactuallyacompilationofthetutorialsfromthecourse'AnimationforCommunication'whichwastaughtattheEscuelaSuperiordeInformaticaofCastilla-LaManchaUniversityinSpain,in2005/2006,byCarlosGonzalezMorcillo
CourseWork/GuidedTutorials
BlenderBasicsbyJimisthesecondeditionofBlenderBasics;hisclassroomtutorialbook.Itisaverythorough,readytouseguideof118pages.
NealHirsigfromTuftsUniversityofferscompletecoursematerialsforTuftsUniversity3DDesignclasscanbefoundathttp://ocw.tufts.edu/Course/28ortheBlackboardcoursesiteat:http://blackboard.tufts.eduUserword:blenderPassword:blender.Thereisalinktothecoursesitelistedunder"MyCourses"onthehomepagedisplayedafterlogin.TheBlackboardsiteisnotavailabledailyfrom1:00AM-2:00AMEasternStandardTime.
Thecoursecontainsweeklylearningunitsconsistingofoverahundredvideotutorialsandsome25PDFtutorials.Allassociatedfilesincludingcompletedtutorialscanbedownloaded.ThevideotutorialsareinstreamingRealMediaformatandrequirebroadbandorDSLaccess.Thesitealsoincludes4courseprojectsandexamplesofpriorstudentwork.
Nealinvitescommentsonthecoursematerialandcanbereachedatnhirsig@tufts.edu
OfficialDocumentationhttp://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Main_PageUser'sManualGameEngineDocumentationGlossaryQuickStartNoobtoProwikibookBlenderSummerofDocumentation
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
KnowHow EducationalResources
http://ocw.tufts.edu/Course/28http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Main_Pagehttp://www.blenderart.org/ -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
37/46
IInntteerreesstteeddiinnwwrriittiinnggaarrttiicclleessffoorrBBlleennddeerrAArrttMMaaggaazziinnee??
1. Weacceptthefollowing:TutorialsexplainingnewBlenderfeatures,3dconcepts,techniquesorarticlesbasedoncurrentthemeof themagazine.
ReportsonusefulBlenderevents,throughouttheworld.
Cartoonsrelatedtoblenderworld.InterviewsofwellknownBlenderheads.
2. Sendsubmissionstossaannddrraa@@bblleennddeerraarrtt..oorrgg.Sendusanotificationonwhatyouwanttowriteandwecanfollowupfromthere.
Someguidelinesyoumustfollow.ImagesarepreferedinPNGbutgoodqualityJPGcanalsodo.Imagesshouldbeseperatefromthetextdocument.
Makesurethatscreenshotsareclearandreadableandtherendersshouldbeatleast800px,butnotmorethan1600pxatmaximum.
Sequentialnamingofimageslikeimage001.png...etc.TextshouldbeineitherODT,DOC,TXTorHTML.
Archivethemusing7ziporRARorlesspreferablyzip.
3. Pleaseincludethefollowinginyouremail:Name:Thiscanbeyourfullname,nicknameoranameofyourchoice.
Photograph:AsPNGandmaximumwidthof256Px.(Onlyifsubmittingthearticlefirsttime)
Aboutyourself:Max25words.
Website:(optional)
Note:Alltheapprovedsubmissionscanbeplacedinthefinalissueorsubsequentissueifdeemedfit.Allsubmissionscanbecroppedifnecessary.
www.blenderart.org Issue7November2006
Galleria 38
http://www.blenderart.org/mailto:[email protected] -
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
38/46
LaBarge-Gamer
Galleria 39
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
39/46
GuilhermeLopes-Coca
Galleria 40
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
40/46
SalvadorGraciaBernal-Hormijas
Galleria 41
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
41/46
ScootMorrison-GavinsToyRobot
Galleria 42
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
42/46
ZoltanMiklosi-AirSurfing
Galleria 43
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
43/46
ZoltanMiklosi-Janine
Galleria 44
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
44/46
ZoltanMiklosi-Jenny
Galleria 45
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
45/46
GeorgeM-Coffeexp
Upcoming... 46
-
8/14/2019 BlenderArt Magazine - 07 - Blender Materials
46/46
p g
Issue8January2007
Theme:CarModelingMegaSpecial!!
ModelingCars
ModelingTyres
CarPaintandmore...
blenderart.orgdoesnottakesanyresponsibilitybothexpressedorimpliedforthematerialanditsnatureoraccuracyoftheinformationwhichispublishedinthisPDFmagazine.AllthematerialspresentedinthisPDFmagazinehavebeenproducedwiththeexpressedpermissionoftheirrespectiveauthors/owners.blenderart.organdthecontributorsdisclaimallwarranties,expressedorimplied,including,butnotlimited