In this article, we’ll see how to create an image render not with the use of external renderers but with Blender’s native internal renderer.  We’ll look at how powerful the internal renderer is and how we can achieve similar results with that of dedicated renderers from tweaking light settings until the final compositing.

Normal maps are widely used in games to make low poly models look high poly. In this tutorial you will learn how to create a high res Skull model, generate a normal map from that model and learn how to apply this to its low poly version.

Techniques covered in this tutorial include multires sculpting, baking a normal map, baking ambient occlusion and applying the maps to a low poly model.

This tutorial uses the free and open source Blender suite. If you’re new to 3D, following this tutorial in Blender is an excellent way for beginners to get started. (Don’t worry – this tutorial has plenty of techniques for more advanced users too!)

Because you never know who you might sit next to on the bus…

Continue reading ‘How to render an animation to your iPod’ »

Highlights some of the techniques used to approximate a linear workflow in blender. While its mainly targeted at tackling several linux problems its main ideas still hold true for all platforms.

I have created a breakdown of the steps I used to achieve an old worn gold material. It describes and highlights some aspects of the luxrender material system.

Learn how to create animated texturemaps. A very cool tutorial but not for absolute beginners.

Strategies for efficient preview rendering of stills and animations in Blender.

Preview rendering is an important part of your workflow and needs to be as efficient as possible. It’s important to have strategies and techniques for the earlier stages of scene development that facilitate a smoother workflow.

In this Blender tutorial, we’ll take a look at how simple it is to drastically effect the look and feel of your renders by applying textures to lighting. Applying a texture to a light is generally the same as applying a texture to an object. The only difference is that we’ll be projecting the texture into the scene based on the light settings.

Perfect for advertisements, logos and animations! This tutorial teaches you useful techniques such as modelling with curves, creating a glow effect and making a curve emit light.

Continue reading ‘Create a glowing neon sign’ »

Let’s face it – rendering is tedious. Your machine is unusable for hours on end, leaving you with nothing to do but twiddle your thumbs, watch TV and generally get distracted. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could harness the power of those idle computer’s lying around the house, and shave this boring task down to a fraction of the time? In a few easy steps you can!

Continue reading ‘How to set up a renderfarm with Indigo’ »