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Learning to use Blender

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Sun, 07/04/2021 - 19:54
questccg
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Well for the last three (3) days, I have been spending my time figuring out how to use "Blender". I am far from finished creating the 3D Models ... But the good news is that my progress is pretty decent. I watched a YouTube video about "How to create a 6 faced die" and that helped a lot... Me thinking I could follow along and use the SAME procedure...

Well to my SURPRISE... The tutorial or Video did a LOT of "tricky" manipulation that works for his die... But not the ones I am designing.

To explain very short, in the Video the author uses spheres to create the holes in the die. While I do need to do this, I also need a Planar 3D surface too... Well the JOIN and DUPLICATE and Mesh/Break Apart do not work with Planar 3D surfaces.

Basically it TRANSFORMS my Spheres in to "circles" when I cut into the die.

So I have to do everything MANUALLY and ensure everything is exactly where it should be. Not too bad... But you learn as you TRY ... And using hacks here-and-there makes that the author's way of doing things doesn't work for me.

Also will have a field day with the CAMERA, LIGHTHING and RENDERING. Right now I'm focusing on the layout and ensure all objects are in the correct position (since I need to manually move my objects around the faces of the die).

Again all a learning process ... Cheers!

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Sun, 07/04/2021 - 20:17
#1
Juzek
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Awesome! It's never too late

Awesome! It's never too late to learn some new skills. I was thinking of finding some graphic design courses online some time this year.

Honestly a little surprised you are interested in 3D rendering. What are your plans for it? 3D printers for custom game pieces? Or are you interested in something like to unity?

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Mon, 07/05/2021 - 13:50
#2
questccg
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Actually it's a question of TRUST!

Not because I feel the need to WANT to learn new skills. It's more a question of "trust". What I mean by this is that I needed a 3D Model (.STL) file to provide my manufacturer. Because I don't want them to rely on 2D images to produce the correct shape, I figured if I did the 3D modeling MYSELF, there would be less "room for error".

Plus I don't want to have pay like $150 to $200 USD for someone to work on a 3D Model ... Because ATM those fees are "cost-prohibitive" and I want to ensure that the MODEL is 100% accurate.

Even if the Manufacturer doesn't use the 3D Model for production (they may still choose to make their OWN files) ... At least I can SHOW them a finished 3D Model that is what I would want the end result to look like.

Not at all interested in Unity or 3D Game Programming... It's just a question on getting the 3D Model "correct" for the Manufacturer. Now while I don't know HOW they make 3D objects ... I will still submit the 3D Model for them to see the correct shape.

That's my primary motivation: being CORRECT.

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Tue, 07/06/2021 - 22:45
#3
questccg
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No such thing like the UNDO after a save...

My biggest "enemy" ATM is the UNDO after a save. So I need to keep BACKUPS and make copies of all my Blender files at each STEP of the process. For example, I realized that I needed a BLANK die... Well instead of going through all the various steps again... I could use one of the BACKUPS and just delete some meshes and only have my SINGLE "Blank" die.

You need to get used to Blender... But TBH it's not so bad!

Anyways lost a couple of days to "nothing-ness", will resume Blender TOMORROW! Cheers all.

Note #1: One very important factor is that you have actions that can be "applied". Like a shape's Bevel: you can create the Bevel and it WORKS... But at some point you NEED to "apply it" such that it is a PERMANENT effect (no going back).

That's why you need to create BACKUPS along the way (one of many reasons).

Note #2: Why this is a pain??? Well it means that I deleted my WORK file only to realize that MANY of the steps that I had MADE were NOT in the earlier Blender Backup files... So wasted 2 hours of time (plus Googling for help) to be able to get the file KINDA like it was before the "accidental" delete!

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Wed, 07/07/2021 - 22:57
#4
questccg
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Took me another DAY to make the necessary corrections!

Well I finally got the Blender Rendering completed. I took me the entire day to play around with the tool, re-doing much of the work several times as I notice that there were minor "errors" during the process. Well I finally managed to fix everything and with a "little" luck ... I got it pretty close to the original version (which I decided on changing).

See originally I thought that certain values with subtracting produced a "Zero" result. I thought this was BAD ... Because I did not get feedback from Stephen (@let-off studios) who came up with some FRESH ideas. And when taking that feedback into consideration, the additional "Zero" results were not as bad.

Bottom line is that I got my rendering DONE! You really need to MASTER "Blender" to get it to do WHAT YOU WANT... Not what it wants to do. I don't think I'd be able to be a full-time 3D Modeler ... Although I have the patience, I just don't want to sit there for an entire day just because of a design "flaw" that needed correcting.

However it was a good learning experience... And I did manage to get what I needed to get done. That too is also important. So for the frustration of re-doing OVER and OVER and OVER ... until the 3D Model was "correct", I did succeed even though at times my patience was running a bit "thin".

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Wed, 07/07/2021 - 23:23
#5
questccg
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Believe me ...

It wasn't an easy task to do what I WANTED to do... Some tutorials relied on some "tricks" that work for the generic case ... But not when you have multiple DIFFERENT object to work with. I learnt this EARLY when I saw that my spheres had been converted to "circles" (lost the 3D component) for the subtraction operation.

Then there was learning that I needed to INSTALL a Plug-in to allow me to do actually do the subtraction operation. And then some spheres would work fine while other would not. That took like a good 30 minutes to try to find work-arounds.

In any event ... I found the PAINTING to be tedious and "un-precise". Perhaps there is another method. I could not find one.

And then the WORST part: learning the KEYS. "A" selects ALL, Shift + "-" does the subtraction of two or more objects, Shift + "`" to pan the camera... 7, 3, 1, 0 for the views (combined with CTRL to see the opposite side)... This was a bit confusing ... Because HONESTLY do I WANT to memorize KEYS???!!!

Chuck one up to experience. And if I was not designing something that could be used as a "mold" the precision and "no errors" would not really matter. So what there is a TRIANGLE where it's NOT supposed to be... But with a MOLD you need to ensure that everything is EXACT.

It's a very intricate and COOL tool for certain. If you have some patience... I'm sure you could do all your renderings using Blender as a good choice of tool (considering it is FREE as opposed to AutoCAD or 3D Max). Cheers.

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Thu, 07/08/2021 - 01:50
#6
pelle
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Blender used to have an even

Blender used to have an even more unusual user interface relying even more on pressing various keys, and not keys similar to what other applications use. Nothing wrong with that if you optimize for professional users that are using the same software for hours every day, but I think making it more familiar for new users helped make Blender more popular with more casual users.

I only used Blender a bit now and then to learn how it works. Never had much use for it.

For precision you might want to look at CAD applications as well. FreeCAD is a free one for instance. Although that one is not very easy to figure out. I tried a few times, but there is a lot to learn to even make very basic drawings.

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Thu, 07/08/2021 - 16:43
#7
questccg
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Managed to get done what I needed to do!

pelle wrote:
Blender used to have an even more unusual user interface relying even more on pressing various keys, and not keys similar to what other applications use.

That makes it "harder" to learn. If you have menus and pulldowns and buttons or tabs ... That is easier because you have places to LOOK. Keys are often NOT shown what drop-down option they are linked to. Like "A" selects all objects in Edit-Mode. It does nothing in the other modes... And Blender has like 5 or 6 modes.

pelle wrote:
Nothing wrong with that if you optimize for professional users that are using the same software for hours every day, but I think making it more familiar for new users helped make Blender more popular with more casual users.

Thank you for that. It's not too bad. I kinda like it. I've worked with AutoCAD back in University when I was in Mechanical Engineering. I've also used 3D Studio when I was in Computer Science (one final term project). I've also used 3D Max a couple of times afterwards too...

pelle wrote:
I only used Blender a bit now and then to learn how it works. Never had much use for it.

That's cool... I mean you use it when you need it. You may not have had a need for it. But maybe in the future... I had an IMMEDIATE need for it and it did a pretty decent job. A bit "hard" to work with when you've never used the tool (in comparison with 3D Studio and 3D Max) compared to other apps in the same category that look like CAD look-a-likes.

pelle wrote:
For precision you might want to look at CAD applications as well. FreeCAD is a free one for instance. Although that one is not very easy to figure out. I tried a few times, but there is a lot to learn to even make very basic drawings.

For now, I'm happy with Blender. Got what I needed to get done. But thanks for the "heads-up". Always good to know that there are options even if they may be more difficult to use. Blender is PRETTY darn good. Like I said, it compares to 3D Studio and 3D Max. And it is supported by Microsoft (so it has to be reliable software - even if it is NOT perfect).

Again thanks for the tip. Cheers!

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Thu, 07/08/2021 - 20:52
#8
questccg
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Right now I've watched an interesting tutorial...

But when I TRY to PAINT a "texture" like the tutorial ... It colors regions not part of where I want to paint. Like I SELECT the Faces to edit ... But the brush goes 1-2 pixels into the other shapes and it creates lines and such of un-desirable lines and/or markings.

It's really annoying because I SELECT ONLY the faces that I want to DRAW on. I don't know why the "bloody" thing goes 1-2 pixels BEYOND MY selection!

The thing is that the 2D UV Map looks good. But the crappy tool that does the drawing works poorly. I'm sure there must be some kind of settings for no "Anti-aliasing" or something like that (similar). Have to look into it more.

Coloring 3D Faces WORKS, it's just not PRECISE enough to RESTRICT painting to the CORRECT Faces that are selected. Go figure!?

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Thu, 07/08/2021 - 23:39
#9
questccg
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Always something...

Well I decided to TRY a Client-Side ONLY ".STL" Viewer with my exported model. It turns that although it looked OKAY... A Layer with a HIDDEN "Sphere" was purposely left on the model for measurement. But it was HIDDEN both in 3D and in Renderings.

Not so when I export the model to ".STL" file!

Again nothing like double-checking your work to ensure that everything is 100% and there are no "surprises" along the way.

Who knew!?

I now know that the model is correct and there are no artifacts. Which is important because when I submit this model to the Manufacturer... He will need to get back to me and let me know "all is well with the model".

You learn from experience and if you want a job done right, DIY. Cheers!

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Thu, 07/08/2021 - 23:58
#10
questccg
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Also ...

Juzek wrote:
Honestly a little surprised you are interested in 3D rendering. What are your plans for it? 3D printers for custom game pieces?

You never know how HANDY it can be to model a Game Box or Cards on a playing surface. You need some kind of rendering tool for this and many Kickstarters usually have some kind of "renderings" or 3D objects in 2D images (like a .PNG or .JPG).

I have BoxShots on my other PC which allows me quick access to 3D Boxes ... But other 3D models, I do not have the option to generate these in BoxShots (although there is a library of models). I can for example model CARDS in BoxShot and render the scene. Or make a 3D Box rendering, etc.

It's not really a "surprise" but yeah... I can find USE for the 3D Rendering tools... Maybe even TRY to do a fly-bye animation!

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Fri, 07/09/2021 - 09:22
#11
questccg
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Helps to know HOW you can do things

questccg wrote:
Coloring 3D Faces WORKS, it's just not PRECISE enough to RESTRICT painting to the CORRECT Faces that are selected. Go figure!?

I finally watched the RIGHT video. You can apply Materials to FACES in your model. All you need to do is SELECT the Face you want, create the material with the color you want and then hit ASSIGN! It's as simple as that.

It works FANTASTIC, I was able to render all my images looking fantastic.

I actually showed them to a friend and he was like: "Hmmm... Maybe you're on to something...!"

Been working since 6:00 AM today to get more images generated. I'm on my way... Looking and working good!

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Sat, 07/10/2021 - 17:11
#12
questccg
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Was a long day yesterday (4:30 AM to 9:00 PM)!

questccg wrote:
Been working since 6:00 AM today to get more images generated. I'm on my way... Looking and working good!

Well I worked really hard on all the Models and even produces a very nice "Stretch Goal" sheet for moving beyond the original "Funding Goal". I took some screenshots to add more information, explained our "one-rate" for shipping everywhere (included is areas that we don't ship to).

I updated the KS Banner too (and now have 2 ready to go).

Sent out one set of quotes for these models and we'll see what price I get for them. More planning to do... But so far things are moving forwards nicely. A bit of a wait concerning quotes... However I found a supplier that does "prototypes" which means that I can request a one-off production and pay $25 USD + Shipping.

I've thought about 3D printers... I can wait until my Manufacturer gives his quote. Anyhow I'm moving forwards with the "prototype", Version 1.0 has been corrected (worked on that last evening) and I uploaded all the correct sheets for The Game Crafter (TGC). I also ordered a few sets of Version 1.0 to send to a few people (think reviewers and video producer).

We'll see what happens soon enough! Cheers.

Note #1: Not that it happens all the time. But before going to bed the night earlier... I had Google a video about how to apply Textures to an object. And I maybe watched like 2:00 of a 5:00 minute video... And I was SUPER stoked about trying this method out to see if it would work for me.

So I was a bit "awaken" by this video and that's why I was awake at 4:30 AM. It doesn't happen often ... But sometimes if I have matters that are too pressing on my mind, I have a hard time getting to sleep (or perhaps just falling asleep in general).

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