Robert Burke (robbur) writes:
This book takes a new or intermediate user and give them a reference that explains what Blenders modelling tools do. Following the reference chapters are a range of simple to intermediate practical exercises, explained in detail and illustrated with step by step images as the models progress. The book explains both the design intent, and the reasoning behind why and how the chosen tools are used. The final aim of the book is to give the reader sufficient knowledge and experience to be confident in the construction of their own 3D models.
The practical guidance uses two main projects to demonstrate the use of the various tools, a basic low‑poly house and a detailed Spiral Staircase. The projects follow through the various reference chapters of the book, so as you progress through the book, you learn about Materials, Textures, Lighting, Rendering and Animation. The introductory chapters to Materials,Textures, Lighting, Rendering and Animation, gives a brief outline to their principals which are then demonstrated by applying them to the models you have created.
The low-poly house demonstrates the basic principles of working in 3D and shows how a basic model can be UV Unwrapped and then detailed with image textures.
The spiral Staircase is a much more detailed model that was chosen because its complexity allows the book to demonstrates many of Blenders modelling tools in a single project. The user is guided from adding the first circle of vertices to a completed spiral staircase, set in a house scene that gives both a finished render and camera fly through animation. The process of modelling is described in step by step detail along with the reasons why the tools were chosen and the design intent. The user therefore not only learns to model a spiral staircase, but also how to create their own models.
I have used Blender for around 17 years and amassed a great deal of experience creating illustrations, product visualisations and training animations. In 2007 I released a series of structured tutorials culminating in the 150 page PDF book “Blender Precision Modelling Guide”. The Guide detailed how to use Blenders 3D engine to produce dimensionally accurate models. This was based on principals carried over from my 2D and 3D CAD design experience. The tutorials and Precision Modelling Guide was extremely well received by the blender community and over the years since its publication, the guide has been downloaded many hundreds of thousands if not over a million times.
A full breakdown of the chapters content can be viewed here.
Pages: 455
Illustrations: 841
Format: .pdf
