Hi Folks. Minimal notes this week as we spent the session working with the sculpting tools in Blender; something you really just need to try for yourself.

To start a new sculpting session, just choose File > New > Sculpting to be presented with a  high-resolution quad sphere and an array of sculpting tools.

Of these tools there are three I find most useful:

1. Draw: Normally pulls out the mesh, but will create depressions when CTRL is held
2. Crease: Makes fine creases in the mesh. Great for adding detail
3. Smooth: Great for when the mesh has become a little rough or uneven

You should experiment with the others to see which you like best!

Finally, here’s a little rough and unflattering 10min self-portrait I knocked up at the end of the session, just for laughs:

When sculpting, it a good idea to remesh from time-to-time where you’ve significantly deformed the mesh. Remeshing evens the mesh spacing automatically, avoiding places where individual polygons are overstretched, but it’s only available in Blender 2.81. Some people had this version already installed, while others installed it during the session. If you haven’t got it yet and would like to install it you can get it here.

Finally, here’s little personal project you might like to see. I sculpted and painted my cat Noodle’s head. I used a couple of reference photos and a technique called stencil painting to generate the texture:

Hi folks, hard to believe this was our last regular session of 2019. Next week is our Christmas pizza party and show-and-tell.

This week we took a photo of a cereal box and UV mapped it to a simple cube which we scaled to the appropriate proportions. One we made our model we built a very basic studio setup and did our first render with a camera and a light.

Here are the video instructions:

Here is the final render from my model:

The file for this week can be download from here.

Once we return in January I’ll be using Blender 2.81, instead of 2.80 which we have been using, so everyone should try to upgrade if they can by going here.

This week, we took the mug we’d created the week before and UV unwrapped it again. We’d covered that last week too, and it’s in last week’s notes, but because we’d rushed a little we went over it again.

One the model was unwrapped, we created an image texture and manually painted it. We then used the GIMP image editing program to add an image to our texture.

Step-by-step notes can be found here:

The model file can be downloaded from here.

Hi folks, we got a lot covered this week and completed our sword model.

Here are the video instructions from this week:

The model from this week can be downloaded from here.

Next week we are going to have an open session. Bring your own ideas for models and we’ll help you build them.

See you then!

Hi folks, thanks again for another fun session.

This week we continued our sword model. We finished the blade and started work on the guard.

We didn’t introduce any new concepts this week, but we did make our first practical use of the mirror modifier to allow us to create one side of the sword guard and have the other side created automatically.

Here are the video instructions from this week:

The matching model file can be downloaded from here.

Hi Folks, this week we started to model a sword using the sword found here as inspiration.

We got 85% of the way through modelling the blade this week. Next week we’ll finish the blade and construct the guard, handle and pommel. These should prove considerably easier than the blade which is the most complex part.

I’ve made a video version of the building of the blade, in so far as we got it to this week:

If anyone would like my Blender file with the part-completed blade, it can be found here.

This week we quickly introduced a number of techniques and then had an open session where people were free to create their own projects. Our lead mentor Declan got some video showing a few of the projects in progress:

Super work from everyone!

CoderDojo Boo

If anyone is interested in entering the CoderDojo Boo Challenge with one of their Halloween themed Blender creations, the link to enter can be found is here:

https://coderdojo.com/2019/10/01/show-us-what-boo-can-do-its-the-coderdojo-boo-challenge/

Best of luck!

Mirror Modifiers

The mirror modifier saves us time when working on a symmetrical model (that is, a model that is a mirror image of itself across the X, Y or Z axis).

3D Cursor and Adding New Meshes in Edit Mode

The 3D cursor is the point in our scene where new content is added. We can move the 3D cursor easily by selecting one or more parts of the model, pressing SHIFT-S and then choosing “Cursor to Selection”. If more than one thing is selected, the cursor will be in the middle of the selection.

Adding a Reference Image

A reference image can be very useful when modelling. One can be inserted from the Add menu (look for Image|Reference). It is a good idea to untick “Align to View” most of the time. You can rotate the image to the orientation you want, or move it and/or scale it once it’s imported.

Hi folks and welcome to our new group, Modellers. This year we’re going to be mainly looking at the 3d modelling package Blender Version 2.80.

Blender can be installed from: www.blender.org. Please note that it requires OpenGL Version 3.3 or higher and as a result may not work on some older machines

This week we learned:

1. The 3D viewport and moving around in it:
   1. Middle mouse button: Orbit
   2. Shift + Middle Mouse Button: Pan
   3. Scroll Wheel: Zoom
2. Selecting objects with the left mouse button
3. The toolbar tools for moving, rotating and scaling objects
4. Deleting objects with ‘x’
5. Adding new mesh objects from the “Objects” menu
6. Adding a new material slot and a new material and assigning a colour to it
7. Putting the 3D Viewport into “Look Dev” mode so that material colours can be seen

We also gave out copies of a very convenient Blender Infographic which can be found here.