Blender For Dummies, 4th Edition

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Introduction
   1. About This Book
   2. Foolish Assumptions
   3. Icons Used in This Book
   4. Beyond the Book
   5. Where to Go from Here
3. Part 1: Wrapping Your Brain Around Blender
   1. Chapter 1: Discovering Blender
      1. Getting to Know Blender
      2. Getting to Know the Interface
   2. Chapter 2: Understanding How Blender Thinks
      1. Looking at Editor Types
      2. Understanding the Properties editor
      3. Navigating in Three Dimensions
      4. Extra Features in the 3D Viewport
      5. Customizing Blender to Fit You
   3. Chapter 3: Getting Your Hands Dirty Working in Blender
      1. Grabbing, Scaling, and Rotating
      2. Differentiating Between Coordinate Systems
      3. Transforming an Object by Using Object Gizmos
      4. Saving Time by Using Hotkeys
   4. Chapter 4: Working in Edit Mode and Object Mode
      1. Making Changes by Using Edit Mode
      2. Adding to a Scene
4. Part 2: Creating Detailed 3D Scenes
   1. Chapter 5: Creating Anything You Can Imagine with Meshes
      1. Pushing Vertices
      2. Working with Loops and Rings
      3. Simplifying Your Life as a Modeler with Modifiers
   2. Chapter 6: Sculpting in Virtual Space
      1. Adding Background Images in the 3D Viewport
      2. Setting Up Your Sculpting Workspace
      3. Sculpting a Mesh Object
      4. Sculpting with the Multiresolution modifier
      5. Freeform Sculpting with Dynamic Topology (Dyntopo)
      6. Understanding the Basics of Retopology
   3. Chapter 7: Using Blender’s Non-Mesh Primitives
      1. Using Curves and Surfaces
      2. Using Metaball Objects
      3. Adding Text
   4. Chapter 8: Changing That Boring Gray Default Material
      1. Understanding Materials and Render Engines
      2. Quick ’n’ Dirty Coloring
      3. Setting Up Node Materials
      4. Playing with Materials in Blender
   5. Chapter 9: Giving Models Texture
      1. Adding Textures
      2. Using Procedural Textures
      3. Understanding Texture Mapping
      4. Unwrapping a Mesh
      5. Painting Textures Directly on a Mesh
      6. Saving Painted Textures and Exporting UV Layouts
   6. Chapter 10: Lighting and Environment
      1. Lighting a Scene
      2. Lighting for Speedy Renders
      3. Setting Up the World
      4. Working with Light Probes in Eevee
5. Part 3: Get Animated!
   1. Chapter 11: Animating Objects
      1. Working with Animation Curves
      2. Using Constraints Effectively
   2. Chapter 12: Rigging: The Art of Building an Animatable Puppet
      1. Creating Shape Keys
      2. Adding Hooks
      3. Using Armatures: Skeletons in the Mesh
      4. Bringing It All Together to Rig a Character
   3. Chapter 13: Animating Object Deformations
      1. Working with the Dope Sheet
      2. Animating with Armatures
      3. Doing Nonlinear Animation
   4. Chapter 14: Letting Blender Do the Work for You
      1. Using Particles in Blender
      2. Giving Objects Some Jiggle and Bounce
      3. Dropping Objects in a Scene with Rigid Body Dynamics
      4. Simulating Cloth
      5. Splashing Fluids in Your Scene
      6. Smoking without Hurting Your Lungs: Smoke Simulation in Blender
   5. Chapter 15: Making 2D and 2.5D Animation with Grease Pencil
      1. Getting Started with the 2D Animation Workspace
      2. Working with Grease Pencil tools
      3. Understanding Grease Pencil Materials
      4. Mastering Grease Pencil Layers
      5. Automating Your Drawings with Grease Pencil Modifiers
      6. Animating with Grease Pencil
      7. Integrating Grease Pencil with a 3D Scene
6. Part 4: Sharing Your Work with the World
   1. Chapter 16: Exporting and Rendering Scenes
      1. Exporting to External Formats
      2. Rendering a Scene
   2. Chapter 17: Editing Video and Animation
      1. Comparing Editing to Compositing
      2. Working with the Video Sequencer
      3. Rendering from the Video Sequencer
   3. Chapter 18: Compositing Images and Video
      1. Understanding Nodes
      2. Getting Started with the Compositor
      3. Rendering in Passes and Layers
      4. Working with Nodes
      5. Discovering the Nodes Available to You
      6. Rendering from the Compositor
   4. Chapter 19: Mixing Video and 3D with Motion Tracking
      1. Making Your Life Easier by Starting with Good Video
      2. Getting Familiar with the Motion Tracking Workspace
      3. Tracking Movement in Blender
      4. Where to Go from Here
7. Part 5: The Part of Tens
   1. Chapter 20: Ten Tips for Working More Effectively in Blender
      1. Use Tooltips and Integrated Search
      2. Take Advantage of the Quick Favorites Menu
      3. Look at Models from Different Views
      4. Don’t Forget about Add-ons
      5. Lock a Camera to an Animated Character
      6. Name Everything
      7. Do Low-Resolution Test Renders
      8. Use Annotations to Plan
      9. Ask for Help
      10. Have Fun, but Take Breaks
   2. Chapter 21: Ten Excellent Community Resources
      1. Blender.org
      2. BlenderArtists.org
      3. BlenderNation
      4. BlenderBasics.com
      5. blender.stackexchange.com
      6. CGCookie.com
      7. Blend Swap (blendswap.com)
      8. Blender.community
      9. Social Media
      10. Blender.chat
8. Index
9. About the Author
10. Connect with Dummies
11. End User License Agreement