Materials for my scene.

I have added more details to the scene. The objects now have basic materials added to them. Of course they will require more tweaking as time goes by. The next stage is going to be UV unwrapping the objects so that texture images can be applied. UV unwrapping is the process of applying the 3d coordinates of an object on to a 2d plane. This allows an image which only has 2 dimensions to be wrapped around a 3d object. Other details need to be added to flesh out the image and create a realistic looking scene.

New 3d image.

I have started a new scene in Blender. Here is a rough draft I started. I plan to create a workspace based on my previous post about an ideal creative space. My is to create a photo realistic image with the textured details such as a can of "Creative Juices" sitting on the desk and a framed copy of an Artistic License.

This scene will also allow me to practice my texturing and provide a test scene to use for playing/experimenting with lighting and rendering.

Blender Boids Demo.

I have been experimenting(playing) with Blender's boid particles. Boids are particles that have a low level intelligence or rule following behavior. The best known example is the armies in Lord of the Rings movie were boids. A soldier model could be given a rule such as charge the castle or a flock of birds could fly through a scene. It is a powerful feature but is not well documented or used. So of course I had the urge to explore it. No keyframes were used to create animations, they are completely boid particle effects.

Some of the uses that I want to explore are creating realistic looking traffic that reacts to the environment, creating realistic pedestrians, and using RGB textures to control boid movement.

I am back. I have been enjoying the last of the summer and also learning to use the Blender 3d modelling software. There are so many good video tutorials on Blender that learing the software is relatively easy. I have managed to get up to level of confidence where I can produce a reasonable model and render it. Now the challenge of practice, practice and practice begins. So the focus of this blog may shift in that direction.

This is a render of a 3d model of a wall fountain that I created. At first glance it is photo-realistic, but it still could use some improvements. I am pleased with the result however.

One of the nice things about open-source software is the level of support available in various forumns. Model files are freely shared and improved on. The level of ingenuity and creativity displayed in the way Blender is used is truly impressive.