The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics, 8th Edition

The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics, 8th Edition

by John M. Blain
Released September 2023
Publisher(s): A K Peters/CRC Press
ISBN: 9781000946857

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Book description

BlenderTM is a free Open-Source 3D Computer Modeling and Animation Suite incorporating Character Rigging, Particles, Real World Physics Simulation, Sculpting, Video Editing with Motion Tracking and 2D Animation within the 3D Environment.

Blender is FREE to download and use by anyone for anything.

The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics: Computer Modeling and Animation, Eighth Edition is a unified manual describing the operation of the program, updated with reference to the Graphical User Interface for Blender Version 3.2.2, including additional material covering Blender Assets, Geometry Nodes, and Non-Linear Animation.

Divided into a two-volume set, the book introduces the program’s Graphical User Interface and shows how to implement tools for modeling and animating characters and created scenes with the application of color, texture, and special lighting effects.

Key Features:

  • The book provides instruction for New Users starting at the very beginning
  • Instruction is presented in a series of chapters incorporating visual reference to the program's interface
  • The initial chapters are designed to instruct the user in the operation of the program while introducing and demonstrating interesting features of the program
  • Chapters are developed in a building block fashion providing forward and reverse reference to relevant material

Both volumes are available in a discounted set, which can also be purchased together with Blender 2D Animation: The Complete Guide to the Grease Pencil.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Half Title page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Contents
  6. Introduction
  7. Download & Installation
    1. Download Blender from: www.blender.org
    2. Installation on a Windows Operating System
      1. Installing with the Installer(.msi) Option
      2. Installing with the ZIP Option
    3. Installing Blender on a Linux Operating System
    4. Linux
    5. Opening (Running) the Program
  8. The Author
  9. Preamble
    1. Assumption
    2. Formats Conventions and Commands
    3. The Graphical User Interface (GUI)
    4. Running Blender for the First Time
    5. Editors
    6. Controls - Buttons, Icons and Sliders
    7. Book Work Flow
    8. Rendering
    9. Render Engines - GUI Versions in Blender
    10. Eevee Render
    11. Cycles Render
    12. Workbench Render
    13. Workspace
    14. 2D Animation – Grease Pencil
      1. Supplements to the Book
    15. Summary
  10. 1 Understanding the Interface
    1. The Interface
    2. 1.1 Examining the Interface
    3. 1.2 First Interaction
    4. 1.3 Quit Blender
      1. Close the Program
      2. Saving Changes
      3. Restart the Program
      4. Alternative Close and Restart
      5. Start Over - Restart Without Closing
      6. Open a New File – Restart Without Closing
    5. 1.4 Getting Help
    6. 1.5 The Interface – Figure 1.1
    7. 1.6 Further Examination
      1. The Default Blender Interface
    8. 1.7 3D Viewport Work Modes
    9. 1.8 Rotating in 3D Space
      1. Rotating the Object (Cube)
      2. Rotating the 3D Space (Viewport)
    10. 1.9 Other Objects
    11. 1.10 Using the Outliner Editor
    12. 1.11 Working in the 3D Viewport (Object Mode)
    13. 1.12 Working in the 3D Viewport (Edit Mode)
    14. 1.13 Adding Vertices by Subdivision
    15. 1.14 The Last Operator Panel
    16. 1.15 Using the Properties Editor
      1. Why Color?
    17. 1.16 Making a Plan - Storyboard
    18. Camera View
    19. 1.18 Quick Effects
    20. 1.19 Something to Burn
    21. 1.20 Saving Work to Start Over
      1. The Undo Command
    22. 1.21 Lighting the Fire
    23. 1.22 Smoke and Fire - Quick Effect
    24. 1.23 Animating Suzanne
      1. Play the Animation
    25. 1.24 Render
    26. 1.25 Summary
  11. 2 Editors – Workspaces - Themes
    1. Editors – Workspaces - Themes
    2. 2.1 Editor Types
    3. 2.2 Resizing Editors
    4. 2.3 Splitting Editors
    5. 2.4 Cancel an Editor
    6. 2.5 3D Viewport Features
      1. Uncluttering the Scene
    7. 2.6 Scene Manipulation
      1. Moving in 3D Space
      2. User Perspective and Orthographic View
      3. Render Demonstration
    8. 2.7 Scene Manipulation Widget (another way to Navigate)
    9. 2.8 Multiple Scenes
    10. 2.9 Headers Menus and Panels
    11. 2.10 Headers and Panels
    12. 2.11 The Blender Interface Header
    13. 2.12 The Blender Screen Header
    14. 2.13 The 3D Viewport Header
    15. 2.14 The Widget Panel (See 2.7)
    16. 2.15 The Tool Panel and Object Properties Panel
    17. 2.16 Properties Editor Tabs
    18. 2.17 The Preferences Editor
    19. 2.18 3D Viewport Editor - Background Color
    20. 2.19 Workspaces
    21. 2.20 Creating New Workspaces
      1. Renaming Workspaces
      2. Saving a Workspace
    22. 2.21 Themes
      1. Installing New Themes
      2. Creating New Themes
    23. 2.22 Saving a Theme
  12. 3 Navigate and Save
    1. Saving Work
    2. Navigation
    3. 3.1 Files and Folders
      1. Definition (from the internet)
      2. File Extensions
    4. 3.2 Saving a File
    5. 3.3 Windows File Explorer
    6. 3.4 Windows File Explorer Diagram
    7. 3.5 Blender File Browser
    8. 3.6 Opening Files
    9. 3.7 File Browser Header Features
    10. 3.9 Display Options
    11. 3.10 Saving Your Work
    12. 3.11 The Concept of Files
    13. 3.12 The Append or Link Command
    14. 3.13 Importing Objects
    15. 3.14 Activating Import File Types
    16. 3.15 Packing Data
  13. 4 Objects in the 3D View Editor
    1. 4.1 Workflow Philosophy
    2. 4.2 Starting a New File
    3. 4.3 Modifying the Scene
    4. 4.4 Object Mode and Edit Mode
    5. 4.5 3D Viewport Cursor
    6. 4.6 Selecting and Deselecting Objects
      1. B Key (Box) Selection
      2. Select Box Tool
      3. C Key (Circle) Selection
    7. 4.7 Adding Objects
    8. 4.8 Object Primitives
    9. 4.9 Locating the 3D Viewport Editor Cursor
      1. The Cursor Pie Menu (Snap Tool)
    10. 4.10 Deleting Objects
    11. 4.11 Duplicating Objects
    12. 4.12 Object Mode Manipulation
    13. 4.13 The Last Operator Panel
    14. 4.14 Tool Panel – Widgets Expand the Tool Panel to display the Tool Names (Figure 2.7). 4.14 Tool Panel – Widgets
    15. 4.15 Manipulation Units
    16. 4.16 Measuring Ruler / Protractor
    17. 4.17 Precision Manipulation
    18. 4.18 Camera View
    19. 4.19 Other Types of Objects
    20. 4.20 Naming Objects
    21. 4.21 The Header Button Menus
      1. Join (Ctrl + J Key)
      2. Smooth and Flat Shading
    22. 4.22 Meta Shapes
    23. 4.23 Coloring Objects
  14. 5 Editing Objects
    1. Editing Objects
    2. 5.1 The Mesh Object
    3. 5.2 Edit Mode Selecting
      1. Selection Options
    4. 5.3 Selecting Vertices, Edges and Face
    5. 5.4 Manipulating Selected Vertices, Edges and Faces
      1. Examples of Translation (Move), Scale and Rotation
    6. 5.5 Creating Vertices by Subdivision
      1. Alternative Subdivision Method
    7. 5.6 Adding and Deleting Vertices, Edges, or Faces
      1. Adding Faces – User Perspective View
    8. 5.7 Center Points
    9. 5.8 Joining and Separating
      1. Joining in Object Mode
      2. Joining in Edit Mode
      3. Separating in Edit Mode
      4. The Separate Menu Options
    10. 5.9 Creating Vertex Groups
      1. Weigh Paint Method
    11. 5.10 Proportional Vertex Editing
      1. Circle of Influence
    12. 5.11 Inset Faces
    13. 5.12 Parenting
  15. 6 Editing Tools
    1. Editing Tools
    2. 6.1 The Edit Mode Tool Panel
    3. 6.2 The Add Menu
    4. 6.3 Last Operator Panels
    5. 6.4 Extrusion
    6. 6.5 The Extrude Region Tool
    7. 6.6 Inset Faces Figure 6.7
    8. 6.7 The Inset Faces Tool
    9. 6.8 The Bevel Tool
    10. 6.9 Edge and Loop Selection
    11. 6.10 Loop Cut Tool
      1. Offset Edge Loop Cut
    12. 6.11 The Knife Tool
    13. 6.12 The Poly Build Tool
    14. 6.13 The Spin Tool
    15. 6.14 Creating a Spin Profile
    16. 6.15 Spin Duplication
    17. 6.16 The Screw Tool
    18. 6.17 The Smooth and Randomize Tools
    19. 6.18 The Edge Slide And Vertex Slide Tool
    20. 6.19 The Shrink Fatten Tool
    21. 6.20 The Shear Tool
    22. 6.21 The Rip Region Tool
  16. 7 Editing with Modifiers
    1. 7.1 Modifiers in General
      1. Adding and Applying Modifiers
    2. 7.2 The Modifier Stack
    3. 7.3 The Modify Group
    4. 7.4 The Generate Group
      1. Mirror Modifier
    5. 7.5 The Deform Group
      1. Cast Modifier - Example
      2. Displace Modifier - Example
    6. 7.6 The Physics Group
      1. Wave Surface Displacement – Using the Dynamic Paint Modifier
  17. 8 Editing Techniques - Examples
    1. Introduction
    2. 8.1 Proportional Editing
      1. Cook Book Instructions
    3. 8.2 Dupliverts
    4. 8.3 Modeling Exercise – Aircraft
    5. 8.4 Sculpting
    6. 8.5 Sculpting Demonstration (Basic)
    7. 8.6 Creating a Humanoid Figure
  18. 9 Materials - Textures - Nodes
    1. 9.1 Material Definition
    2. 9.2 Materials in Practice
      1. Viewport Shading
      2. The Material Node System
      3. Coloring an Object
    3. Applying a Material
    4. 9.3 Materials and the Shader Editor
    5. 9.4 Adding Material Properties
      1. Adding Material Properties
    6. 9.5 Alternative Material Assignment
    7. 9.6 Multiple Material Datablocks
    8. 9.7 The Material Slot
      1. Adding Material Slots
    9. 9.8 The Color Picker
      1. In practice, a Material (color) is selected in the Color Picker Circle.
    10. 9.9 Material Display
    11. 9.10 Lighting Affects on Materials
    12. 9.11 Materials using Nodes
    13. 9.12 A Simple Node Arrangement
    14. 9.13 Accessing and Viewing Node Effects
    15. 9.14 Noodle Curving
    16. 9.15 The Shader Editor
    17. 9.17 Adding Nodes
    18. 9.18 The Shading Workspace
    19. 9.19 Scene Arrangements
    20. 9.20 Mixing Material Example
    21. 9.21 The Principled BSDF Node
    22. 9.22 The Color Ramp Node
      1. Add a New Color Stop
      2. Apply the Color Gradient
    23. 9.23 Saving Screen Space
    24. 9.24 Vertex Paint
      1. Adding Vertices - Surface Preparation
      2. Vertex Paint Mode
      3. Painting
      4. Applying a Base Color – Vertex Paint Mode
      5. Painting Detail on the Mask
      6. Painting More Detail
      7. Brush Controls
      8. Viewing your Artwork
      9. Attributes – The Painting Concept
      10. Additional Attributes
      11. Using the Attributes
  19. 10 Textures
    1. 10.1 Procedural Texture
    2. 10.2 Adding Texture Nodes
      1. An example of a Texture Node System
    3. 10.3 Image as a Texture
      1. Applying an Image Texture
    4. 10.4 Texture Mapping
    5. 10.5 Unwrapping Options
    6. 10.6 PBR Textures
      1. PBR Texturing Node Configuration
      2. Node Wrangler
    7. 10.7 Texture Properties – Properties Editor
      1. Texture Channel Library
    8. 10.8 Texture Painting
      1. Painting with a Texture
      2. Blending Material Color with Texture
    9. 10.9 Texture Displacement
      1. Coloring using Texture
      2. Displacement using Texture
  20. 11 Node Systems and Usage
    1. 11.1 Compositing Nodes
      1. Compositing Workspace
      2. Revised Workspace
      3. Image saved on your computer
      4. The Scene – 3D Viewport Editor
      5. Compositing
    2. 11.2 Texture Nodes
    3. 11.3 The Geometry Node Editor
      1. Starting the Node Pipeline (Tree)
    4. 11.4 Transparency
    5. 11.5 Volumetric Lighting
  21. 12 Scene Lighting & Cameras
    1. Introduction
    2. 12.1 Scene Lighting
    3. 12.2 Light Type
      1. Adding Lights
      2. Scene Arrangement
      3. Materials
      4. Lighting Effects
      5. Additional Light Added
    4. 12.3 Cameras
    5. 12.4 Camera Settings
      1. Safe Area Tab: (Figure 12.16)
      2. Background Image Tab (Figure 12.17)
      3. Viewport Display Tab (Figure 12.18)
    6. 12.5 Camera Switching
    7. 12.6 Camera Tracking
    8. 17.7 Basic Lighting Arrangement
    9. 12.8 Background Scene Lighting
      1. Background Color Lighting
    10. 12.9 Images as a Background
      1. HDRI Maps
      2. Images for Tracing and as Scene Backgrounds
      3. Images for Tracing
      4. Image as a Scene Background
    11. 12.10 Volumetric Lighting
  22. 13 Viewport Shading
    1. Viewport Shading
    2. 13.1 Viewport Shading Options
    3. 13.2 Wireframe Viewport Shading
    4. 13.3 Solid Viewport Shading
    5. 13.4 Color Display Options (Figure 13.13)
      1. Material Color Display (Figure 13.14)
      2. Random Color Display (Figure 13.16)
      3. Texture Color Display (Figure 13.17)
      4. Vertex Color Display
    6. 13.5 Background Displays
      1. Theme
      2. World (see 13.9 World Settings)
      3. Viewport
    7. 13.6 More Solid Viewport Shading
      1. X-Ray:
    8. 13.7 Rendered Viewport Shading
    9. 13.8 Material Preview Shading
    10. 13.9 World Settings
    11. 13.10 Simplified Viewport Shading
  23. 14 Rendering
    1. 14.1 Rendering with Eevee
    2. 14.2 Output Properties
    3. 14.3 The Format Tab
      1. Resolution
      2. Percentage
      3. Aspect (Aspect Ratio)
      4. Frame Start – End – Step (Frame Range)
    4. 14.4 The Output Tab
    5. 14.5 Rendering a JPEG Image
    6. 14.6 Rendering an Animation
    7. 14.7 Rendering a Movie File
    8. 14.8 Video Playback
    9. 14.9 Video Codecs
    10. 14.10 Making a Movie
  24. 15 Animation
    1. 15.1 Animation in the 3D Viewport
    2. 15.2 Movement in the 3D View Editor
    3. 15.3 Planning the Animation
    4. 15.4 Keyframes Time and Interpolation
    5. 15.5 Animation Speed and Length
    6. 15.6 Repositioning the Timeline Cursor
    7. 15.7 Inserting Keyframes
    8. 15.8 Scrubbing the Animation
    9. 15.9 Playing the Animation
    10. 15.10 Adding Keyframes
    11. 15.11 Automatic Keyframing
    12. 15.12 Controlling the Animations
    13. 15.13 The Dope Sheet Editor
    14. 15.14 The Graph Editor
    15. 15.15 Graph Editor Components and Commands
    16. 15.16 Selecting the Curve in the Graph Editor
    17. 15.17 Rotation – Euler Rotation.
    18. 15.18 The Graph Editor Cursor
    19. 15.19 Editing the Curve in the Graph Editor
    20. 15.20 Editing the Curve in the Dope Sheet Timeline
    21. 15.21 Scaling in the Dope Sheet
    22. 15.22 Other Types of Curves
      1. Extrapolation
    23. 15.23 The Curve Properties Panel
    24. 15.24 Animating Rotation
      1. Rotation Procedure
      2. Linear Extrapolation
      3. Speed of Rotation
    25. 15.25 Rotation Using F-Curves
    26. 15.26 Animating Other Features
      1. Material (color) Animation
      2. Spotlight Size Animation
    27. 15.27 Keying Sets
    28. 20.28 Animation Follow Path
    29. 15.29 Evaluation Time
    30. 15.30 Keyframing
    31. 15.31 Displacement Sound Animations
    32. 15.32 Sound Effect and Cast Modifier
      1. Set up the 3D View Editor
      2. Automatically Insert Keyframes
    33. 15.33 The Animation Workspace
      1. The Animation Workspace
  25. 16 Armatures & haracter Rigging
    1. 16.1 Single Bone Armature
    2. 16.2 Adding Armatures
    3. 16.3 Adding Bones
      1. Adding by Extrusion (Figure 16.7)
      2. Adding by Subdivision (Figure 16.8)
      3. Adding by Duplication (Figure 16.9)
      4. Extruding and Subdividing
    4. 16.4 The Armature Rig
      1. Rotating the Armature and Bones
    5. 16.5 Multiple Armatures
    6. 16.6 Child Parent Relationship
    7. 16.7 Armature Display Types
    8. 16.8 Building an Armature Rig
      1. Obtaining the Model
      2. Rig Construction
      3. Creating the Spine
      4. Naming the Bones
      5. Creating Arms and Hands
      6. Creating Legs and Feet
      7. Aligning Bones
      8. Foot and Hand Bones
    9. 16.9 The Extrude Tool
    10. 16.10 Deforming a Mesh
      1. Parenting
    11. 16.11 Parenting with The Armature Modifier
      1. 16.12 Assigning Vertices – Vertex Groups
    12. 16.13 Assigning Vertices – Set Parent To Menu
    13. 16.14 Assigning Vertices – Weight Paint
    14. 16.15 Inverse Kinematics Constraint
    15. 16.16 Spline IK Constraint
    16. 16.17 Forward
    17. 16.18 Character Rigging
      1. Download a Character Model
      2. Prepare the Character Model
      3. Add More Vertices
      4. Some Definitions
      5. Creating the Armature (Root Bone)
      6. Adding More Bones
      7. Creating Arm Bones
      8. Creating Leg Bones
      9. The Rig so Far
    18. 16.19 Bone Naming
    19. 16.20 Assigning the Mesh
      1. Assigning Mesh to Armature
    20. 16.21 Vertex Groups
    21. 16.22 Posing the Character Model
    22. 16.23 Pre-Assembled Armatures
  26. 17 3D Text
    1. Introduction to 3D Text
    2. 17.1 Creating 3D Text in Blender
      1. Concept – Text in Blender
    3. 17.2 The Object Data Properties “a”
    4. 17.3 Fonts
    5. 17.4 Creating Text on a Curve
    6. 17.5 Converting Text to a Mesh Object
    7. 17.6 Converting Text to a Curve
    8. 17.7 Entering External Font
  27. 18 Making a Movie
    1. 18.1 Making a Movie
    2. 18.2 Storyboard
    3. 18.3 The Video Files
    4. 18.4 The Sound File
    5. 18.5 Video Editing Workspace
      1. VSE Editors and Panels
      2. File Browser
    6. 18.6 File Browser Editor
    7. 18.7 Preparation
      1. Set the File Path for Saving
      2. Set the Video Format
    8. 18.8 Video Sequence Editor
      1. Placing Files in the VSE
      2. Viewing the Video File
      3. Selecting in the VSE
      4. Timeline Graduations / Positions
      5. Erasing (Deleting) a File
      6. The Add Button
      7. Adding Video Files
      8. Playing the Video File
      9. Cutting Video Strips
      10. Adding Sound Files
    9. 18.9 Rendering the Movie File
    10. 18.10 Additional Features
      1. Example 1: No Features Applied
      2. Example 2: Add Coler Feature
      3. Example 4: Inserting Text Captions
  28. 19 The Outliner and Collections
    1. The Outliner Editor
    2. Collections
    3. 19.1 Collections in The Outliner Editor
      1. Adding Objects
      2. Adding Collections
      3. Deleting Collections
      4. Deleting Objects
      5. Hiding and Restricting Object Display and Selection
    4. 19.2 View Options in the Outliner Editor
  29. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics, 8th Edition
  • Author(s): John M. Blain
  • Release date: September 2023
  • Publisher(s): A K Peters/CRC Press
  • ISBN: 9781000946857