Table of Contents

You can now find video tutorials for Blender
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Look under the “Academics” tab and select
“ Technology Education”. You will find a link
to video tutorials in any of the drafting and
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Inquiries and comments can be directed to jchronister@cdschools.org. This document, and other
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“Academics” in “Technology Education”.
Information regarding the Blender program and development can be found at www.blender.org. Blender
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Introductory Items
v Introduction
vi Rendering and Animation Basic Concepts
viii Basic Key Commands
Chapter 1- The Blender Interface
1-1 The Blender Screen
1-2 Window Types
1-3 The User Preferences Window
1-4 Open, Saving and Appending Files
1-5 Packing Data
1-6 Importing Objects (from other file formats)
Chapter 2- Working with Viewports (windows)
2-1 Moving Around in 3D Space
2-2 Window and Button Control
2-3 Creating Viewports
Chapter 3- Creating and Editing Objects
3-1 Working with Basic Meshes
3-3 Using Main Modifiers to Manipulate Meshes
3-5 Edit Mode- Mesh Editing
3-7 The Tool Shelf
3-8 Proportional Editing
3-15 Joining/Separating Meshes, Boolean Operations
Chapter 4- Materials and Textures
4-1 Basic Material Settings
4-3 Halo Settings
4-7 Basic Texture Settings
4-10 Using Images and Movies as Textures
4-12 Displacement Mapping
Chapter 5- Setting Up a World
5-1 Using Color, Stars and Mist
5-2 Creating a 3D Cloud Background
5-3 Using an Image in the Background
Chapter 6- Lighting and Cameras
6-1 Camera Settings and Options
6-2 Lighting Types and Settings
6-4 Indirect Lighting
Chapter 7- Render Settings
7-1 Basic Setup Options
7-2 Rendering a JPEG Image
7-3 Creating an MPEG Movie File
Chapter 8- Ray-Tracing (mirror, transparency, shadows)
8-1 Lighting and Shadows
8-2 Reflection (mirror) and Refraction (transparency)
Chapter 9- Animation Basics
9-1 Basic Key-framing and Auto Key-framing
9-3 Working with the Graph Editor and Dope Sheet
9-7 Animating Materials, Lamps and World Settings (and more)
Chapter 10- Adding 3D Text
10-1 Blender 3D Text Settings
10-2 Converting to a Mesh
Table of Contents
i

Table of Contents (continued)
Chapter 11- NURBS and Meta Shape Basics
11-1 Using NURBS to create lofted shapes
11-2 Liquid and droplet effects using Meta Shapes
Chapter 12- Modifiers
12-1 Generate Modifiers
12-4 Deform Modifiers
12-6 Simulate Modifiers
Chapter 13- Particle Systems and Interactions
13-1 Particle Settings
13-5 Using the Explode Modifier
13-6 Particle Interaction With Objects and Forces
13-7 Using Particles and Vertex Groups for Hair and Grass
Chapter 14- Child-Parent Relationships
14-1 Using Child-Parented Objects
14-2 Adjusting Object Origins (center points)
Chapter 15- Working With Constraints
15-1 Constraint Basics
15-2 Tracking To An Object
15-4 Following Paths and Curves
Chapter 16- Armatures (bones and skeletons)
16-1 Using Armatures to Deform Meshes
16-4 Creating Bone Vertex Groups
16-5 Using Inverse Kinematics (IK) and Constraints
Chapter 17- Mesh Shape Keys (vertex editing)
17-1 Creating Mesh Shape Keys
17-3 Animating Shape Keys
Chapter 18- Object Physics
18-1 Using Soft Bodies
18-2 Creating Cloth Effects
18-4 Creating Fluid Effects
18-6 Creating Volume Smoke
Chapter 19- Working With Nodes
19-1 General Node Information
19-3 Using Nodes for Depth-Of-Field Camera Effects
Chapter 20- Creating Springs, Screws, Gears and other Add-On Shapes
20-1 Create Screws and Gears
20-4 Using Mesh Editing to Create Revolved Shapes
20-5 Blender Add-On Meshes
Chapter 21- Game Engine Basics (real-time animation)
21-1 Setting Up The Physics Engine
21-5 Using Game Physics in Animation
21-6 Using Logic Blocks
Chapter 22- Textures in the Game Engine
22-1 UV Texture Mapping
22-3 GLSL Shading
Chapter 23- Video Sequence Editor
23-1 Compiling Your Clips and Images
23-4 Adding an Audio Track
Index
ii

Practice Exercises
1. Viewports ............................................................................................................... 2-5
Chapter 2 Practice Exercise-Multiple Viewport Configuration
2. Creating Objects ................................................................................................. 3-4
Chapter 3 Practice Exercise- Create a Sculpture
3. Basic Editing ......................................................................................................... 3-9
Chapter 3 Practice Exercise- Modeling a Landscape and Lighthouse
4. Vertices and Faces .............................................................................................. 3-16
Chapter 3 Practice Exercise- Creating a 3D Logo
5. Boolean Editing ..................................................................................................... 3-19
Chapter 3 Practice Exercise- Adding Windows to the Lighthouse
6. Applying Materials ............................................................................................. 4-4
Chapter 4 Practice Exercise- Adding Materials to the Landscape
7. Applying Textures ................................................................................................ 4-13
Chapter 4 Practice Exercise- Texturing the Landscape and Lighthouse
8. Adding a World ..................................................................................................... 5-4
Chapter 5 Practice Exercise- Creating an Environment for Your Scene
9. Lighting and Cameras ......................................................................................... 6-5
Chapter 6 Practice Exercise- Lighting Up the Landscape Scene
10. Rendering an Image ............................................................................................ 7-4
Chapter 7 Practice Exercise- Saving a Picture of the Landscape Scene
11. Raytracing ............................................................................................................ 8-3
Chapter 8 Practice Exercise- Reflection and Refraction
12. Creating an Animation ........................................................................................ 9-8
Chapter 9 Practice Exercise- Adding Motion to the Landscape Scene
13. Creating 3D Text ................................................................................................... 10-3
Chapter 10 Practice Exercise- Company Logo
14. Meta Shapes ........................................................................................................ 11-3
Chapter 11 Practice Exercise- Lava Lamp
iii

Practice Exercises
15. Using Modifiers .................................................................................................... 12-7
Chapter 12 Practice Exercise- Common Modifiers Exercise
16. Particle Systems .................................................................................................. 13-13
Chapter 13 Practice Exercise- Adding Rain to Your Landscape
17. Creating a Robot Arm ......................................................................................... 14-3
Chapter 14 Practice Exercise- Animate a Robotic Arm
18. Camera Constraints ........................................................................................... 15-3
Chapter 15 Practice Exercise- Make a Camera That Follows the Arm
19. Paths & Curves ..................................................................................................... 15-6
Chapter 15 Practice Exercise- Extruding Shapes and Following Paths
20. Creating a Skeleton ........................................................................................... 16-6
Chapter 16 Practice Exercise- Create a Hand With Armatures
21. Vertex Keys .......................................................................................................... 17-4
Chapter 17 Practice Exercise-Cheesy Actor Monkey
22. Making A Flag ...................................................................................................... 18-3
Chapter 18 Practice Exercise- Using Physics to Make a Flag
23. Water ..................................................................................................................... 18-8
Chapter 18 Practice Exercise- Splashing Water with Fluids
24. Depth-Of-Field ..................................................................................................... 19-5
Chapter 19 Practice Exercise- Using Nodes to Show Camera Blur
25. Gear Design ......................................................................................................... 20-6
Chapter 20 Practice Exercise- Create and Animate a Set of Gears
26. Real-Time Animation .......................................................................................... 21-10
Chapter 21 Practice Exercise- Motion Maze
27. Game Textures ..................................................................................................... 22-5
Chapter 22 Practice Exercise- Motion Maze Textures
28. Movie Producer ................................................................................................... 23-5
Chapter 23 Practice Exercise- Create a Presentation of All Your Work
iv