Modeling

Direct mesh editing: A more traditional approach commonly used by professional modelers Sculpting: A fast and fun way of shaping a model, also useful for fine details like wrinkles

What Is a Mesh? Origin Point Vertices Edges Faces

Edit Mode USING THE TAB KEY TO SWITCH MODES

Select Object

Some Mesh-Editing Tools Extrude l Press the E key and then move your mouse slightly. l Pressing Alt+E will give you a variety of options

Some Mesh-Editing Tools Fill l The fill command (F key) creates a new face from selected vertices. l Simply select three or four vertices and press F to make a face from the selection

Some Mesh-Editing Tools Merging Vertices l In vertex select mode, you can select a number of vertices and then press Alt+M to bring up the “Merge vertices” menu

Some Mesh-Editing Tools Joining and Separating Mesh Objects l In object mode, it is possible to combine separate mesh objects into one by Shift-RMB-selecting them and pressing Ctrl+J. l Likewise, in edit mode, it is possible to split a mesh into different objects with the P key. Generally, the workflow is to select the faces you wish to separate, press P, and choose Selection from the pop-up menu. Choosing “By loose parts” will make Blender separate an object into separate pieces

Background Images

Example Modeling Through Mesh Editing l Many objects are symmetrical (including people, animals, boats, cars, planes, chairs, tables, space aliens, and monsters).

The Mirror Modifier: Making a Mirror Cube

A Note on Modifiers

Smoothing a Mesh l The Subsurface Modifier l The Multiresolution Modifier

Box-Modeling a Man

Figure 3–27. Example of box modeling. This model started as cube with a mirror modifier (see the following section), and faces were extruded out to form the torso and head, and then the legs and arms. Note that to get accurate shapes, some individual vertex positions had to be adjusted.

Sculpt Mode

Getting into Position l Go to front view (numpad 1), and then move the view slightly off center by holding down the MMB and dragging the mouse to one side. Have the y (green) axis/arrow pointing toward you; something like what is shown in Figure 3–28 is fine. Roll your MW to zoom in so that the cube takes up most of the screen space. Make sure the cube is selected by RMB-clicking it.

Adding a Multiresolution Modifier

Starting to Sculpt

Types of Brushes

Changing Brush Size and Strength