Ever considered creating a full 3D environment? The skills taught in this beginner modeling course will get you up to speed in creating a scene that would render quickly for animation or interactively in a game engine running smoothly even on mobile hardware
Martin Turner has created environments for every games platform from PS4, PC and WiiU through to handhelds such as mobiles and the Nintendo DS to name just a few.
Martin is going to start pretty slow, and since there are many ways to do the same thing, and many places to find the same tool, he’ll be building up that knowledge quite naturally, and in many cases explaining why and when to use one location or method over another.
All we need is a copy of Blender and a basic knowledge of getting around the interface (see resources below) and then Martin will take you through the rest!
Project File (right click – save as)
Daily (experimental bleeding edge) builds for Blender 2.79 & 2.8 : https://builder.blender.org/download/
Part 1 – 3:41 Figuring out the scale from the concept
Part 2 – 8:47 Base Object
Using vertex snapping
Holding Ctrl to toggle the snapping status
I to inset, E to Extude.
Part 3 – 18:12 Forcefield Object
P to separate a selected face to create a new object from it.
Change the origin (or use the toolshelf)
Part 4 – 22:06 Forcefield Cap
Ctrl Tab to switch between face/edge/vert select mode.
Alt E for a more complete extrude menu e.g. along vertex normals
Part 5 – 26:08 Central Column
Ctrl R to cut a loop across a ring of edges.
Page up or middle mouse to add more loops with Ctrl R.
Part 6 – 35:37 Top Objects
Decluttering the scene using M to move objects between Layers, the array modifier, Ctrl P to parent and some tips about changing values on multiple objects at the same time.
Using the Array modifier, how to change values on more than one object at the same time.
Part 7 – 45:09 Ring Section
F6, shrink fatten tool alt S, Using Median snapping instead of closest
Part 8 – 52:37 Machine Arm
Using the 3d cursor as a pivot point.
Bridging Edge Loops. Using Ctrl M to mirror, showing the problem with backface culling, fixing with Ctrl N. Solving problems with overlapping duplicate geometry by merging with Remove doubles
Part 9 – 1:11:08 Machine Arm Attachment.
Applying the transformations. Basic posing. Rotation snapping and just for fun 😉 calculating exactly where to place things with a little arithmetic.
END.
Part 1 – 01:25 Breaking down the concept.
Alt P to clear parent. Shift S > Selection to Cursor with Offset.
Part 2 – 03:37 The conveyor belt – Straight section.
Part 3 – 08:51 Curved section.
The spin tool.
Part 4 – 11:28 Conveyor Belt Support Bracket
Shrink/Fatten
Ctrl B for Bevel
Alt E – Extrude (Region Vertex Normals)
Part 5 – 16:38 Large/Small Pipes – Basic Kit Blockout.
Part 6 – 28:45 Laying out the Pipes
Apply rotation
Part 7 – 39:17 Cavern Blockout
Add cube, duplicate and place as the main cave vertical pillars
Part 8 41:26 Cavern Floor
Add plane, extend for the tunnels.
Part 9 – 44:09 Cavern Walls.
Extrude, Flip Normals
Part 10 – 46:48 Combining the Cavern parts together.
Join, Remesh modifier.
END – 49:30 In the next chapter
Part 1 – 02:23 Main Cave – Rough Pass
Turn off symmetry, Beware backfaces, Standard sculpt draw brush, hold Shift for the smooth brush
Part 2- 09:02 Cave PIllars Rough Pass
Masking tools
11:41 Repeating the process for the remaining pillars.
13:40 Matcaps.
14:46 Dynamic Topology Concept Explained.
17:41 Applying dynamic topology sculpting to the cavern.
Constant detail, Detail floodfill.
Part 3 – 21:06 Cavern Ceiling Ridge Shapes
00:00 Cavern Ceiling Ridge Shapes
22:17 Masking the Floor (with B)
23:52 – toggling between sculpting add/subtract with ‘Ctrl’
Part 4 – 28:14 Shaping the Pillars
28:14 – Tilting the Pillars
29:19 Proportional editing. (Shortcut O) brush size with page up or down.
32:16 alt H to unhide objects
32:54 alt H to unhide masked geometry, alt M ot clear mask
33:12 Background Column
33:57 Inflate brush
36:47 Grab brush
Part 5 – 37:42 Cave Entrances
37:42 First cave entrance
42:05 correcting the tunnel
42:59 Second Cave Entrance
Part 6 – 45:35 Pillars
45:35 Pillar Base Left Hand Side
50:05 Pillar Base Right Hand Side
51:23 Notes on a tablet.
52:58 Extra Corner Cave Wall & Moving A Pillar
55:21 Adjusting Pillar Position with proportional editing.
59:42 Pillar Base Rear Side
Part 7 – 1:01:14 CAVE FLOOR AND WALLS
1:01:14 Cave Floor
1:04:57 Cave Walls
1:07:11 Expanding out the front wall
1:08:54 freehand selection with ctrl Left click.
1:09:20 Proportional editing the wall move.
1:10:05 Tip – Fixing the stretched polygons with a dyntopo (strength 0)
Part 8 – 1:12:22 Making General Tweaks
1:12:22 Bringing in the left side wall
1:14:07 Freehand selection with ctrl Left click.
1:14:23 Box deselect with B > Middle click drag.
1:16:39 Back wall space shortening between entrance and machine
1:17:59 Softening foreground ceiling spikes and angular parts.
1:19:04 Entrance tidy up after previous move with the Grab brush.
1:20:41 Left hand wall tweaks
1:23:33 Right hand wall tweaks
1:26:59 END
Part 1 – 02:05 Large Base 2nd Pass
02:39 Isolate selected object with / on the numpad
07:45 Using the Boolean Modifier
08:24 Creating the main bevel
08:57 Smoothing the object then enable Autosmooth normals and use Ctrl E > Mark Sharp
10:17 Alt Right click to select the edge loop.
11:44 Breaking up the Ngons with tri’s and quads.
12:23 Using J to connect vertices.
14:18 Creating the Base Trays
Part 2 – 16:13 Forcefield Base
17:13 Adding the Bevels
18:12 Setting up the smoothing as before.
19:14 Creating the feet
20:31 Clearing the parent
21:54 Ctrl I to invert selection.
22:23 Using Shift Z when scaling to lock the Z axis while scaling on X and Y.
22:56 Using Alt S shrink/Fatten tool to bring the feet out further and curve the feet top.
24:23 Using a Boolean to flatten the bottom of the foot and using dissolve to get rid of extra edges
26:40 Beveling the corner edges then marking them as sharp for proper normals shading.
29:01 Making copies for the other feet.
Part 3 – 29:12 Forcefield Upper
31:07 adding a fan of triangular faces with Poke Face
Part 4 – 35:13 Main Forcefield Object
36:03 making the horizontal bevel
38:32 vertical part
40:06 dissolve edges on the cylinder
40:43 Show wireframe on object
41:30 Using the boolean modifier
43:18 Ngons cleanup
44:57 automatically merge vertices when snapping option
46:22 rotating the object into position
47:12 grow selection with Ctrl and Numpad + together
49:36 Mirroring the top half
50:37 Extruding in the groove
52:15 Disabling Loop Slide for better bevel in this case
52:37 automating the object smoothing with the autosmooth option
Part 5 – 55:08 Torus
56:55 Changing the edge slide position with the factor slider
59:33 sliding an edge by pressing G twice
Part 6 – 1:03:38 Mechanical Arms
1:09:04 Switching off the 3d manipulator
1:12:24 Select connected faces under cursor with ‘L’
1:14:58 resetting cursor position with Shift C
1:18:21 Tip : Isolating for easier wireframe selections
1:22:30 calculations within input fields
03:19 Layer Management Addon
Part 1 – 05:21 Triple Dish Attachment
15:04 ‘Ctrl + 1’ shortcut for a Subdivision Modifier to create a simple sphere from cube
17:31 select sharp angles automatically
Part 2 – 20:57 Laser gun attachment
28:01 Press ‘F’ to create a face
Part 3 – 32:43 Claw Attachment
35:48 Using Curves
37:26 Using a Bevel Object for the curve
39:28 Using a Taper Object for the curve
41:41 Holding Shift for Precision control
42:54 Converting the curve into a mesh
51:07 Ctrl A to apply rotation and scale
1:11:40 Rotating using Local coordinates by pressing the axis key twice.
1:14:39 Scaling using individual origins
Part 1 – 01:28 Pipes
04:46 Sharing Object data with Ctrl L > Object Data
Part 2 – 08:35 Conveyor Belt
Part 3 – 12:46 Rock And Crystal Objects
15:10 Flatten/Contrast Sculpt Brush
17:59 Slicing Objects with the Bisect Tool
21:14 Trackball rotation style by pressing ‘R’ twice
Part 4 – 31:28 top cables and block attachment
Part 5 – 47:33 Tunnel Support Struts
48:51 duplicate a linked copy with Alt D
Part 6 – 1:04:15 Valve Wheel Object
1:11:24 Extruding individual faces from the Alt E Menu
Part 7 – 1:13:04 Large Power Cable
Part 8 – 1:23:08 Light Fixture
Part 9 – 1:31:07 Extending the cave tunnels
01:46:07 Shift F for 1st Person mode