I downloaded Blender ... How do i Rotate the camera around an objects ?

[Splatulated]

preferably with a right or left click held down and drag of mouse ?

 

http://i.imgur.com/ppUqqUc.png

[Carbon Philter]

On pc, I use left mouse button while holding down Alt key.

[Splatulated]

found better option  

 

middle mouse button ^~^

 

 

now to uhm ... how do i turn teh cube into a not cube ?

[Aquila Kytori]

Hi Splat

You are almost right

To rotate around an object its : Hold down your Middle Mouse Buton/scroll wheel and then move the mouse.  MMB and Drag

You can find quite a good Blender for beginners tuorial series here :  

Just a note: There are two modes to working in the 3D window, Object Mode and Edit Mode. You add your original mesh Primitive in Object Mode then use the Tab key to toggle into Edit Mode.

Its in this Edit Mode that you do all the modelling stuff like changing a cube primitive into a chair for example.

The camera and the light in the 3d window view you wont need to worry about for a few days/weeks/months yet  .

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

Hi Splat

You are almost right

To rotate around an object its : Hold down your

M

iddle

M

ouse

B

uton/scroll wheel and then move the mouse. 

MMB

and

Drag

You can find quite a good Blender for beginners tuorial series here :  

Just a note: There are two modes to working in the 3D window,

Object Mode

and

Edit Mode

. You add your original mesh Primitive in

Object Mode

then use the

Tab

key to toggle into

Edit Mode

.

Its in this

Edit Mode

that you do all the modelling stuff like changing a cube primitive into a chair for example.

The camera and the light in the 3d window view you wont need to worry about for a few days/weeks/months yet 

.

---

is there an easy way to get an instant object that resembles or is an actual thing ?

 

i really just want to make this http://i.imgur.com/ZwCOD1W.png 

 

 

[Aquila Kytori]

There are alot of 3D model libraries to be found on the Internet from where you could download a ready made mesh and open it in Blender.

BUT

1: It would probably be against SL TOS to bring it into SL.  Why?  Basically you have to be have 100% IP rights (Intelectual property rights) to that mesh. You have to own all the rights to the mesh. The only way to guarantee that is if you made the mesh from scratch yourself.

2: The mesh probably would not be optimized for real time rendering. Which means when you brought it into SL the LI would be very high. (especially on an octopus table )

 

Anyways it has to be alot more satisfying to be able to create something in Blender yourself and then bring it into SL even if to start with it is only something quite basic like a chair or simple table.

Like most things to learn the basics of blender you need the will and alot of practice. (and a notepad to jot down the shortcut keys).

Use the SL beta grid to do your test uploads because there Uploads are free.

And come back here to post a screen shot of your first mesh in SL.

Tutorial number 5 from the link i posted above covers and intro to Blender Edit mode

 

---

Splatulated wrote:

---

is there an easy way to get an instant object that resembles or is an actual thing ?

---

In the list of mesh primitives in Blender there is a Monkey head

SHFT + A  to Add a mesh to your scene and then at the bottom of the list is a Monkey

 

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

There are alot of 3D model libraries to be found on the Internet from where you could download a ready made mesh and open it in Blender.

BUT

1: It would probably be against SL TOS to bring it into SL.  Why?  Basically you have to be have 100% IP rights (Intelectual property rights) to that mesh. You have to own all the rights to the mesh. The only way to guarantee that is if you made the mesh from scratch yourself.

2: The mesh probably would not be optimized for real time rendering. Which means when you brought it into SL the LI would be very high. (especially on an octopus table

)

 

Anyways it has to be alot more satisfying to be able to create something in Blender yourself and then bring it into SL even if to start with it is only something quite basic like a chair or simple table.

Like most things to learn the basics of blender you need the will and alot of practice. (and a notepad to jot down the shortcut keys).

Use the SL beta grid to do your test uploads because there Uploads are free.

And come back here to post a screen shot of your first mesh in SL.

Tutorial number 5 from the link i posted above covers and intro to Blender Edit mode

 

---

but i have literally no artistic talent 

 

i wnat to make stuff people will want and possibly buy not crap they could hire their friend to do much better instead

 

(though im not opposed to making crap so i can understand what it is im doing )

[Aquila Kytori]

I to have very little artistic skills  thats why I almost always start a project by collecting reference images. Lost of them.

Sometimes even, these can be loaded directly as background images in Blender (plans for an aeroplane for example) and literally traced over with vertices.

The vertice parts can then be assembled (as shown on the aeroplane plans) and and the spaces between filled in with connecting faces. and the result can be perfect.

But to do that you need to learn the basics first, navigation around the 3D view, and how and when to use the handful of the  most commonly used tools.

In other words you start by making "crap" (which you don't sell lol ) and after piles of crap you will have the skills to create stuff other people will want to buy

Don't be afraid of creating "crap" !

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

I to have very little artistic skills  thats why I almost always start a project by collecting reference images. Lost of them.

Sometimes even, these can be loaded directly as background images in Blender (plans for an aeroplane for example) and literally traced over with vertices.

The vertice parts can then be assembled (as shown on the aeroplane plans) and and the spaces between filled in with connecting faces. and the result can be perfect.

But to do that you need to learn the basics first, navigation around the 3D view, and how and when to use the handful of the  most commonly used tools.

In other words you start by making "crap" (which you don't sell lol ) and after piles of crap you will have the skills to create stuff other people will want to buy

Don't be afraid of creating "crap" !

---

i was tryiung make a polygon and i couldnt even get the lines to connect  i made a 3D scribble and none of the lines ever touched each other

[Splatulated]

and now ive made some 2D cube thing ... http://i.imgur.com/wWL8vu5.gif

[Aquila Kytori]

Why are you using the Grease pencil ? lol

Tab into Edit mode then use the A key to toggle Select All on and off until you have nothing is selected.

Then use Ctrl + Tab to bring up the Mesh select mode menu and choose Face.

Use the RMB to select a face. Pess E to extrude that face and drag the face outwards. Then validate the movement with the LMB.

Repeat untill your Octopus has the correct number of legs

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

Why are you using the Grease pencil ? lol

Tab

into

Edit mode

then use the

A

key to toggle Select All on and off until you have nothing is selected.

Then use

Ctrl + Tab

to bring up the Mesh select mode menu and choose

Face

.

Use the

RMB

to select a face. Pess

E

to extrude that face and drag the face outwards. Then validate the movement with the

LMB

.

Repeat untill your Octopus has the correct number of legs

---

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

Why are you using the Grease pencil ? lol

Tab

into

Edit mode

then use the

A

key to toggle Select All on and off until you have nothing is selected.

Then use

Ctrl + Tab

to bring up the Mesh select mode menu and choose

Face

.

Use the

RMB

to select a face. Pess

E

to extrude that face and drag the face outwards. Then validate the movement with the

LMB

.

Repeat untill your Octopus has the correct number of legs

---

I don't understand what I just read

 

 

maybe if i started with something simple an recreated the 1st thing I ever made in SL but in blender ?

 

how do i stretch stuff to be the appropriate thinkness and flatness and length ??

 

i tried useing scale but thats like useing the grey squares in SL inside of the red blue or green ones when stretching

[Aquila Kytori]

Thats perhaps  because you haven't looked at any video tutorials? lol

Reopen a new Blender session so that you only have the cube in the 3D window. You will be in Object mode.

Then use the TAB key to change to Edit mode.

It is in Edit mode that you do all your modifications to that cube.

A key  to toggle select All/nothing.

With all  the cube selected use the S key to Scale, R key to Rotate, G key to move.

X for X axis, Y for Y axis and Z for Z axis

In combination: to Scale your cube along the Z axis its : S  Z  drag mouse, then LMB to validate the transformation.

In Blender its RMB to select and LMB to validate.

 

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

Thats perhaps  because you haven't looked at any video tutorials? lol

Reopen a new Blender session so that you only have the cube in the 3D window. You will be in Object mode.

Then use the TAB key to change to Edit mode.

It is in

Edit mode

that you do all your modifications to that cube.

A

key

 

to toggle select All/nothing.

With all  the cube selected use the

S

key to Scale,

R

key to Rotate,

G

key to move.

X

for X axis,

Y

for Y axis and

Z

for Z axis

In combination: to Scale your cube along the Z axis its :

S  Z

  drag mouse,

then

LMB

to validate the transformation.

In Blender its RMB to select and LMB to validate.

 

---

LMB and RMB ??

[Splatulated]

how do i just do this ?

 

http://i.imgur.com/ojRZjHo.png

 

but with this http://i.imgur.com/rOjopFu.png

 

i cant seem to only stretch length of thickness blender just down both at same time like i useing these http://i.imgur.com/homwu2c.png

 

instead of these http://i.imgur.com/4NCjrC3.png

 

 

[Aquila Kytori]

LMB = Left Mouse Button

RMB = Right Mouse Button

Blender is designed to be use with one hand on the keyboard and one on your mouse. but you don't have to use shortcut keys

Below is a screen shot showing where to change from Object to Edit mode and alternative to using G, S and R

 

But please please watch some turotials

 

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

LMB

= Left Mouse Button

RMB

= Right Mouse Button

Blender is designed to be use with one hand on the keyboard and one on your mouse. but you don't have to use shortcut keys

Below is a screen shot showing where to change from Object to Edit mode and alternative to using

G,

S

and

R

 

But please please watch some turotials

 

---

and transformation manipulators thats what i basically needed

[Splatulated]

any way to snap objects to each other? so its easier to align them ? 

 

i made my parts 

 

http://i.imgur.com/saQM5MT.png

 

if i have to eyeball it its gonan look sloppy

[Aquila Kytori]

First thing

In Blender every mesh primitive you Add in Object mode will be a separate object. So if start with a cube and then add 4 Cylinders in Object mode you will have 5 separate mesh Objects.

If you add those 4 Cylinders to your scene with a cube in Edit mode all 4 cylinders and the cube will be one mesh object. Which is what you want if you are creating a table.

So start a new Blender file with the cube already in the 3D window.

Then go into Edit mode to add the 4 Cylinders for the legs. (or better still add 1 Cylinder and create one of the four legs, then select all of that leg and use the keyboard shortcut Shft + D to drag a copy of it and move it to the position for the second leg).

For scaling see my post above.

Just to recap: if you are making one mesh object ( a table) once you have the first mesh primitive in your scene do all the rest of the meshing in Edit mode.

[Splatulated]

there lamost done http://i.imgur.com/nPZK0wu.png

 

but how do i make it more box like and center the foots and bars so they not look wrong 

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

First thing

In Blender every mesh primitive you

Add

in

Object mode

will be a separate object. So if start with a cube and then add 4 Cylinders in

Object mode

you will have 5 separate mesh Objects.

If you add those 4 Cylinders to your scene with a cube in

Edit mode

all 4 cylinders and the cube will be

one

mesh object. Which is what you want if you are creating a table.

So start a new Blender file with the cube already in the 3D window.

Then go into

Edit mode

to add the 4 Cylinders for the legs. (or better still add 1 Cylinder and create one of the four legs, then select all of that leg and use the keyboard shortcut

Shft + D

to drag a copy of it and move it to the position for the second leg).

For scaling see my post above.

Just to recap: if you are making one mesh object ( a table) once you have the first mesh primitive in your scene do all the rest of the meshing in

Edit mode.

---

what if i want to take what i have already and make it one mesh object ?  

 

http://i.imgur.com/nPZK0wu.png

but how do i fix the alignments of the bars and foots so they not off center and improve the overall shape so its more rectable and less trapezoid 

 

 

[Aquila Kytori]

I don't think your paying enough attention Splat !

You now have 12 mesh Objects in your scene.

If you were to upload that to SL it would be like having 12 prims linked together. With SL prims that is necessary to get the complicated shape but with mesh the same shape can be achieved using a single mesh object.

That's one of the reasons you start with a basic mesh primitive in Object mode then do everything else in Edit mode (adding legs to tables for example).

But this is only learning the basics so i guess its fine for now.

BTW you can join all those legs ect to be one mesh object :

In Object mode select one of the leg parts and then holding down the Shft key  select each of the other objects (or use the A key to select all of them together) then use Ctrl + J to Join them all together. (Or from the 3D window header open the Object menu and choose Join.)

Snapping can be quite tricky sometimes  So i would suggest you do a search for that with Google.

Below is a screen shot of where you can enable the snapping tool, then you have to choose from the next little menu along what element, vertice, edge, face etc to snap to.

ok , I have other things to do now Splat.

Again I urge you to watch some beginners turorials.

One last thing If you are not already  i would suggest you work in Orhtographic view.

 

 Me/ shuts down PC and races for the door before splat has time to read the above and ask more questions

Your well on your way to creating that  "crap" you spoke about earlier in this thread. lol

[Splatulated]

---

Aquila Kytori wrote:

I don't think your paying enough attention Splat !

You now have 12 mesh Objects in your scene.

If you were to upload that to SL it would be like having 12 prims linked together. With SL prims that is necessary to get the complicated shape but with mesh the same shape can be achieved using a single mesh object.

That's one of the reasons you start with a basic mesh primitive in

Object mode

then do everything else in

Edit mode

(adding legs to tables for example).

But this is only learning the basics so i guess its fine for now.

BTW you can join all those legs ect to be one mesh object :

In Object mode select one of the leg parts and then holding down the

Shft

key  select each of the other objects (or use the

A

key to select all of them together) then use

Ctrl + J

to Join them all together. (Or from the 3D window header open the Object menu and choose Join.)

Snapping can be quite tricky sometimes  So i would suggest you do a search for that with Google.

Below is a screen shot of where you can enable the snapping tool, then you have to choose from the next little menu along what element, vertice, edge, face etc to snap to.

ok , I have other things to do now Splat.

Again I urge you to watch some beginners turorials.

One last thing If you are not already  i would suggest you work in Orhtographic view.

 

 Me/ shuts down PC and races for the door before splat has time to read the above and ask more questions

Your well on your way to creating that  "crap" you spoke about earlier in this thread. lol

---

i was hoping to make the base of my table in blender as a 1 prim mesh object and then attach a SL prim ontop of it and do the same effect i did when i 1st made it day 4 of joining SL almost a year ago 

do i really have to start over from scratch keeping that cube around to make it all a 1 prim mesh object ?

[Aquila Kytori]

---

Splatulated wrote:

 

---

do i really have to start over from scratch keeping that cube around to make it all a 1 prim mesh object ?

---

No, if you don't want to use the starting cube as the table top then just delete it.

Normally the table top and base/legs would be all part of the same mesh object. The table top would be assigned one material in blender and the base a second material. Both would then be UV unwrapped. (WTF is that ! ?  So many videos on youtube explaining what UV unwrapping is and why it is necessary)

A SL cube can take 6 different materials/textures, one face could be given a yellow colour , one face a red colour, another face could be given an image texture and a fourth made transparent like in your table top, and a fith face set to glow......

Well the same thing can be done with mesh objects. A mesh object can have up to 8 material faces.

A material face is any collection of faces on the mesh that have been assigned the same material.

When rezzed in world you would edit the table (with two materials)  and then select the table top the same way you would select an individual face of a SL prim cube and set it semi transparent, then select the base and give it the blue marble texture.

Remember this is one of the many  "crap" meshes you are making just to learn the basic skills.

For one thing you are using far to many vertices in the circumferences of your Cylinders.

When you first add a mesh primitive in Blender, in Object or Edit mode, before you do anything else hit the F6 key on your keyboard.

A little menu will pop up where you can edit some of the primitives parameters. For a Cylinder the first parameter is the number of vertices in its circumference. The default value is 32 vertices. If you want to keep the LI of your mesh low then you should change this to between 12 and 8 for something the size of the tubes of your table base. Smaller the tube the less vertices it will need. Sometimes for very thin tube four vertices is enough.

How can a tube with only 8 or even 4 vertices look round when rezzed in world ?

You change the Shading type from Flat to Smooth.

Also tubes using Smooth shading will have a lower LI than the same tubes with Flat shading.

So that' another thing you need to ask Google about :  Blender Flat and Smooth shading

Nobody ever said there wasn't a lot to learn when first starting with mesh