Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D Animated Characters(Learning)

Create Amazing 3D Characters with Blender: From Design and Modeling to Video Compositing   Learning Blender walks you through every step of creating an outstanding animated character with the free, open source, 3D software Blender, and then compositing it in a real video using a professional workflow. This is the only Blender tutorial to take you from preproduction to final result, and it’s perfect for both 3D novices and those who’ve used other 3D Software.   Focusing on Blender 2.71 and above, 3D-professional Oliver Villar explains all the basics, including Blender’s interface, controls, and how to manipulate objects. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’ll follow a realistic 3D workflow through a complete project.   You’ll find chapters on every aspect of the character creation: design, modeling, unwrapping, texturing, shading, rigging, and animation. Once your character is ready and animated, you’ll learn how to integrate it into a real video using camera tracking techniques, lighting, and compositing. Each skillset is taught hands on, and available online video tutorials (more than 5 hours) will guide you through Blender’s trickier tasks.   By the time you’re done, you’ll understand how the whole process fits together, and how to use Blender to create outstanding characters for all media. You’ll also build strong Blender skills you can apply in any 3D project, whether it involves characters or not.   Learn How To Master Blender’s innovative user interface, navigation, and selection techniques Create your first scene with Blender and get comfortable with its core tools Prepare for projects so they’ll go as smoothly as possible Use modeling tools to create a 3D character Bring your character to life with color, textures, and materials Create your character’s skeleton and make it walk Make the most of Blender’s Camera Tracking tools Add lights to your 3D scene Render with Blender Internal or the powerful new Cycles render engine Composite your 3D character into a real video Switch to Blender from 3ds Max, Maya, or XSI   Register your book at informit.com/register to access all of this book’s production files, plus bonus video tutorials, and a useful Blender keyboard shortcut reference.  

Table of Contents:
Preface         xxiii Acknowledgments         xxix About the Author         xxxi Learning Blender Ancillaries         xxxiii   Part I: The Basics of Blender         1 Chapter 1: What You Need to Know about Blender         3 What Is Blender?   3 Commercial Software versus Open-Source Software   4 The History of Blender   5 The Blender Foundation and the Blender Institute   7 The Blender Community   9 Summary   9 Exercises   10   Chapter 2: Blender Basics: The User Interface         11 Downloading and Installing Blender   11 Blender User Interface   12 Understanding the 3D View   13 Navigating the 3D View   17 Managing Areas 19 Editor Types   20 Selecting Objects   23 Using the 3D Cursor   24 Blender User Preferences   26 Summary   28 Exercises   28   Chapter 3: Your First Scene in Blender         29 Creating Objects   29 Moving, Rotating, and Scaling   30 Naming Objects and Datablocks   33 Interaction Modes   36 Applying Flat or Smooth Surfaces   37 Modifiers   38 Blender Render and Cycles   41 Materials   42 Turning on the Lights   44 Moving the Camera in Your Scene  45 Rendering   46 Summary   48 Exercises   48   Part II: Beginning a Project         49 Chapters 4: Project Overview         51 The Three Stages of a Project   51 Defining the Stages   53 A Character-Creation Plan   55 Summary   56 Exercises   56   Chapter 5: Character Design         57 Character Description   57 Designing the Character   60 Adding Color   66 Final Design   67 Character Reference Images   68 Other Design Methods  69 Summary   70 Exercises   70   Part III: Modeling in Blender         71 Chapter 6: Blender Modeling Tools         73 Working with Vertices, Edges, and Faces   73 Selecting Vertices, Edges, and Faces   74 Accessing Modeling Tools   74 Selections   75 Mesh Modeling Tools   78 LoopTools   94 Tips and Tricks   95 Summary   96 Exercises   96   Chapter 7: Character Modeling         97 What Is Mesh Topology?   97 Modeling Methods   99 Setting Up the Reference Planes   101 Modeling the Eyes   103 Modeling the Face   107 Modeling the Torso and Arms   116 Modeling the Legs   125 Modeling the Boots   127 Modeling the Hands   129 Modeling the Cap   133 Modeling the Hair   136 Modeling the Final Details   140 Summary   144 Exercises   144   Part IV: Unwrapping, Painting, and Shading         145 Chapter 8: Unwrapping and UVs in Blender         147 How Unwrapping and UVs Work   147 Unwrapping in Blender   148 Things to Consider before Unwrapping   155 Working with UVs in Blender  156 Unwrapping the Rest of the Character   162 Packing UVs   163 Summary  165 Exercises   166   Chapter 9: Painting Textures         167 Main Workflow   167 Painting in Blender   167 Creating the Base Texture   170 Texturing in 2D Image Editing Software  172 Seeing the Painted Character in Blender   176 Summary   177 Exercises   178   Chapter 10: Materials and Shaders         179 Understanding Materials   179 Shading Your Character with Blender Render   183 Shading Your Character with Cycles   197 Summary   205 Exercises   205   Part V: Bringing Your Character to Life         207 Chapter 11: Character Rigging         209 Understanding the Rigging Process   209 Working with Armatures   210 Rigging Your Character   215 Rig Organization   225 Skinning  228 Creating the Facial Rig  235 Creating Custom Shapes   241 Applying Final Touches to the Rig   242 Summary  243 Exercises   244   Chapter 12: Animating Your Character         245 Inserting Keyframes   245 Animation Editors  246 Animating a Walk Cycle   251 Summary   257 Exercises   257   Part VI: Getting the Final Result         259 Chapter 13: Camera Tracking in Blender         261 Understanding Camera Tracking   261 Things to Consider before Filming   262 The Movie Clip Editor   263 Tracking the Camera   264 Testing Camera Tracking   270 Summary   271 Exercises   271   Chapter 14: Lighting, Compositing, and Rendering         273 Lighting Your Scene   273 The Node Editor   275 Compositing Your Scene in Blender Render   281 Compositing Your Scene in Cycles   287 Rendering   290 Summary   292 Exercises   292   Chapter 15: Other Blender Features         293 Particles 293 Hair Simulation   293 Cloth Simulation   294 Rigid and Soft Bodies   294 Fluids Simulation   294 Fire and Smoke   295 Game Engine   295 Masking, Object Tracking, and Video Stabilization   295 Sculpting   295 Retopology   296 Maps Baking   296 Python Scripting   297 Summary   297   Index         299  

About the Author :
Oliver Villar has been drawing since he was a kid. His interest in art led him to 3D, which he’s been studying since 2004. He used commercial 3D software before discovering Blender in 2008. Since then, he has used Blender professionally as a 3D designer and tutor. In 2010 he founded blendtuts.com, a Blender tutorials site. He is currently co-directing Luke’s Escape, a short, 3D-animated film made with Blender.