Another Blender Basics tutorial has slipped right under the nose of The Man: Blender Basics Part 3 is live and available for download. Here are links for Part 1 and Part 2 as well…

Everyone here at HQ is celebrating: the operatives, technicians, administrators, and secretaries. We’ll be taking a brief respite before grinding away on Part 4.

Make sure and let us know what you think of this video tutorial. The sound setup for this one was a little different, so I’d be interested to know if it sounds better/worse. Also, let me know if the content proves as helpful as Parts 1 and 2.

Here’s what is covered:

  • Advanced Subsurf - 01:09
  • Subsurf Creasing - 14:55
  • Advanced Smoothing - 26:22
  • Merging Vertices - 35:42
  • Edge Split Modifier - 40:48
  • Extrusions - 46:43
  • A Simple Model - 55:11

LINKS:

Blender Basics Part 3 (XviD AVI 149MB 1 hour 13 minutes)
Zipped Part 3 (7-Zip Archive 111MB)
Part3 with Chapters (MOV 125MB) provided by river-valley.tv

Related Posts:


Streaming Video from Viddler.com

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Video Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

57 Responses

  1. DaveC says

    Oh, my god! That was quick. The man in the coffee shop says to say hi. I’m downloading it now. Great stuff! :D

  2. DukeProtocol says

    WHOOOOOO!!!!! *jumping crazily around room* 20 minutes of nail biting anticipation until download is finished.

  3. penix1 says

    WOW!!!….Just WOW!!!

    Lots covered here Apollos. I am going to be busy for the next month going over this with a fine toothed comb…

    One thing I learned already….Not mentioned in any of the three vids (or if it is I missed it and need to re-watch it)…

    ONLY faces are rendered. I extruded vertexes all over the place and did a quick render….It didn’t show them… Had me scratching my head for a few. Why would you want to extrude only verts if they aren’t rendered? Can anyone see a use for having stray vert with no faces? Apollos mentioned something about animations…Can’t wait for that vid…

    Very well done!

    Thanks loads. As always, the presentation is superb. I have added this with 1 and 2 into my growing collection of documentation on this powerful program. Very, very, very well done.

  4. Apollos says

    penix1,

    Nope it’s not covered, however you are correct. Vertices and edges are constituent parts of faces and don’t render…although if you check out this tutorial over at BlenderNewbies (great tutorials over there) the glint effect renders using a single vertex in an object. The vert itself doesn’t render however. It’s cool to hear you’re poking around to figure that stuff out though.

    Really glad you’re enjoying the tutorials!!! ;-)

    Duke!

    Good to hear from you. Don’t hurt yourself!!! I hope you like it, but it probably doesn’t have too much new stuff for you or Dave; you both already know most or all of the material I think.

    Hopefully Dave is straightening everything out with the guy from the coffee shop. :lol:

  5. penix1 says

    I have a fire extinguisher in front of me. After I do your tin can a few times and feel comfortable with the new tools, I think I’ll practice more using it as my model. This is going to be fun!

    Thank you so much for all your hard work. Know that at least one truly does appreciate it…

    Now, to make a tin can! ;-)

  6. Coyabbit says

    Wow is a really good word to cover this. I’ve only been using blender for a few weeks now and its also my first time doing any kind of 3D modeling. These tutorials have helped me more then anything else I have found. Way better then reading wiki pages.

    Keep up the awesome work!

  7. blueblott7 says

    Thanks very much Apollos another superb tutorial your quality is consistant throughout the entire tutorial and moves along at just the right pace to be able to follow. Perhaps you may apply a label to the tin useing materials and textures next time as it would have blown out the size of this tut. Sorry am jumping the gun a bit here!!
    Big thanks for your dedication.

  8. penix1 says

    As I go through this I have found little idiosyncrasies with the keyboard commands. The two I have noted so far are ALT-TAB (switching to verts,edges,faces)and ALT-RIGHT-CLICK (Edge loop select). I run Linux and think the problem is with KDE’s keyboard translations. ALT-TAB switches desktop and ALT-RIGHT CLICK resizes the Blender window. To get around this I used the buttons to switch select mode and CTRL-E->Edge Loop Select to select the loops. For CTRL-E to work though you first have to select one of the loop’s edges. Hope this helps other KDE users out there.

  9. Hx says

    Damn ratings… “edge split is like a condom” would have been good… But really, maybe you should show more like how to find some things also from the menus instead of just telling the hotkeys, like where to find edge specials with the mouse etc.

    But still, you’re the best making video tutorials. Best.

  10. DaveC says

    Hi, Apollos. I’ve gotten about half an hour through so far and, well, fantastic work. As usual. I learned about split geometry :D (Y).

    I just wanted to point out an error in your tutorial. To select linked geometry, you merely have to put the mouse cursor over a vertex and press L. You don’t have to actually select a vertex.

    I’m off now to watch the rest.

    Agent DaveC, signing off.

  11. DaveC says

    Well, there it was. Another excellent, nay brilliant tutorial video.

    I was waiting for you to mention to make a face, you could just select two edges as opposed to four verts. And with loop cut (Ctrl+R) you can do a multi-cut with the mouse wheel.

    I hope you’re not seeing this as unwarranted criticism. You are pacing these tutorials extremely well. But, those two nuggets of information do help speed up the processes you were demonstrating.

    Oh, and I didn’t spot any misplaced keyboard overlays ;).

    Agent DaveC, signing off. Again.

  12. saebelzahnigel says

    Hey Apollos,

    thank you so much. It’s a pity that I have to study and learn for a written test the next hours. But this evening I will enjoy your 3rd tutorial.

    …and you received an extra featured position on http://www.blenderguide.org/ - as promised…

    Thank you again,

    saebelzahnigel

  13. f.remiddi says

    Apollos you’re a real god.
    Thanks!!!!

  14. Apollos says

    Excellent feedback!

    Coyabbit, thanks!

    Blueblott7, materials are definitely in the plan, but you’ll have to wait until Part 5 or so!

    penix1, good info, thanks for pointing that out for the KDE users. And the fire extinguisher should make an excellent modeling project.

    Hx, good advice. I’ll keep that in mind and try to throw in a few more menu references. Also, I had to stop the metaphors somewhere! “We just bought subsurf her 5th drink…soon she’ll be up for about anything.”

    DaveC, doh! I knew I was leaving something out with Loopcut! That’ll teach me not to check the docs before finalizing the script. It’s almost worth adding it in and reposting the tutorial, but maybe I’ll add it to the beginning of the next one. Also, I didn’t know about the linked verts thing, always assumed they needed to be selected. I’ll check it out!

    saebelzahnigel, thanks! BTW I added blenderguide.org to the resources section yesterday.

    f.remiddi, not a god; just a man with god-like powers. *cringes, waits for lighting bolt*

    Thanks all, for commenting, invaluable! :D

  15. jimiphoenix says

    I have to be the Blender community’s longest lurker: I’ve been following Blender without using the application regularly for about 7-8 years, since before it was the lovely open-source app it is today. That said, for some reason, I’ve never really learnt to USE Blender, despite contributing to the Free Blender fund, buying Orange/Elephant’s Dream and even the recent Essential Blender book. I guess I’ve just always liked the principle behind free software, and Blender particularly. Your tutorials might just be the spark I need to get me into actually using Blender…thanks Appolos! I’m downloading part 2 and 3 as I type :D

  16. Apollos says

    Go for it, jimiphoenix!!! Go get started and never look back!!!

    Let me know if you run into any hurdles and we’ll help you get ‘em knocked down. I wish you the best with Blender. :D

    Welcome to Blender Underground!

  17. lukasz.wolnik says

    I just log… to say… I love your tutorials ;)

  18. Apollos says

    lukasz,

    Thanks! BTW are you hailing from Poland? I’m getting a lot of hits from there today. If so, say hi for me. :-)

  19. Maray says

    Great tutorial, even better than excepted ;)
    it makes a lot of fun listen to them… the scene with the ufo was excellent, very funny.
    I’ve learned many new things, most of them to do with the knife tool.
    I am looking forward to the fourth tutorial.

    Keep up work, please, I am addicted to them ;)

  20. Apollos says

    Maray, thanks!

    I like adding a bit of humor, even if it comes across as a little cheesy. I’m going to start the 4th part this week, I think. I’m busy with a number of things, but I’m gonna try to make time!

  21. penix1 says

    Apollos,

    I have about 20 cans and 3 fire extinguishers thanks to you… ;-)

    I do enjoy these tutorials very much. Words can’t express this noobie’s gratitude.

    I don’t know how many users Blender Underground has or if it has enough to support this but have you considered running a forum here allowing for things like user interaction outside of the main threads here? This isn’t a criticism just an observation but I for one would hang out here if it had one.

  22. DukeProtocol says

    Quote: Hx, good advice. I’ll keep that in mind and try to throw in a few more menu references. Also, I had to stop the metaphors somewhere! “We just bought subsurf her 5th drink…soon she’ll be up for about anything.”

    They were corny but really funny. I had to stop the video for a couple of mins to laugh them out. :)

  23. RedBirdiii says

    “we can ultimately think of ‘Subsurf’ as a beautiful woman, desirable but particular, and sometimes difficult to figure”.. that’s well said.. I like that example..

    Anyway, the sound setup this time is great if not better than the previous tutorials.. This tutorial has a wonderful flow of ideas that takes you in stages to the up high..

    Thanks for all of your effort doing this.. Keep it up!

  24. Apollos says

    penix1,

    put one fire extinguisher in your kitchen, one in your garage, and one in your car. If you have any more spots, you’ll have to model some more.

    I’ve thought about a forum, and there will probably be one down the road. I’m not quite ready to set one up, but it will most likely happen.

    DukeProtocol,

    corny, yes, but you have to admit, it could have been a lot worse!!!

    RedBirdiii,

    Sometimes I think of Subsurf as Kari Byron from Mythbusters and other times, Rosemary Dewitt from Standoff. I can’t seem to choose between the two, so I guess I’ll just have to settle for both.

  25. lukasz.wolnik says

    Yeah, I’m calling from Poland. Unfortunetely I don’t know anybody who will be interested in Blender tutorials. Thanks for the “hi”s, though. But I’m happy to hear that there are some guys here in my country, that love your tutorials as much as I do.

    I’m leaving the message as it is. I don’t feel English today.

    Looking forward for your next tutorials. All the best.

  26. Wizek says

    I think now something starts, Apollos. You have more than 24 comments (including mine), and I guess that you have a lot more guests on your site. They don’t want to leave comments, but downloads your videos and they satisfied with it!
    By the way, Part 3 is excellent. :)

  27. Wizek says

    I think now something starts, Apollos. You have more than 24 comments (including mine), and I guess that you have a lot more guests on your site. They don’t want to leave comments, but downloads your videos and they satisfied with it!
    By the way, Part 3 is excellent. :) (Do I really have to say more about it? You may know what I would say… :) )

  28. DukeProtocol says

    Wow, you must be so impressed that you posted twice! :P

  29. Wizek says

    oops :) there was problem with my net at that time and i didn’t noticed i posted again after i changed my post a bit… :)

  30. Apollos says

    Wizek,

    Here are a few stats in case anyone is interested.

    August 2007 (bots removed)

    • Registered Users: 60
    • Unique Visitors: 4468
    • Visits: 10230
    • Bandwidth: 191.57 GB
    • Estimated Downloads: ~1350
  31. penix1 says

    I’m of 2 minds now that I see the stats. 60 registered users doesn’t justify the trouble of one but how many of the 4468 unique folk would register if you had one? I think I would wait until you had 10,000 unique before firing one up though simply because it does take time and loads of effort to run one properly. You have to fend off the spam bots, keep interest with new articles, fight with unruly users, and deal with the hazards of buggy blog code.

    That said, it is a personal decision only Apollos can make. Just be known that I would hang out here if he did start one.

  32. DaveC says

    Personally, I think 60 registered users is quite impressive considering the only reason to register is because you’ll be wanting to comment. You don’t have to register to download the tutorials. You don’t have to register to read the comments. I’d imagine that, if there were a forum, many more people would register.

    But, as penix1 says, they are a lot of work. People, in general, are a lot of work.

  33. darth_gimp says

    Thanks a ton for these!!!! I am re-learning Blender and these helped me moer than I can explain.

    I look forward to others.

  34. Antlab says

    Hi Apollos,
    thanks for the third tutorial.
    Only a question: for the first two, I downloaded the .MOV versions with chapters. It is in preparation also for the third part or should I stick to the Xvid?

    Thanks again

    Ciao

    Antonino

  35. Apollos says

    Antonino, you’re welcome.

    Sorry for the delay in posting the MOV file. The conversions are done by kaveh at river-valley.tv, and you can download it there. I’ve been having trouble downloading (my problem, not kaveh’s) but I’ll get it posted as soon as I can. In the mean time, grab it here:

    river-valley.tv video tutorials page

  36. Antlab says

    Wonderful, thanks! I am downloading just now.
    I made a mention of your tutorials also on the forum of Blender.org:

    http://www.blender.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12095

    Ciao

    Antonino

  37. Apollos says

    darth_gimp, welcome to Blender Underground. I almost overlooked your comment!

    You are very welcome, thanks for taking the time to say hello. :-)

  38. Apollos says

    Antlab, thanks for the link. I like traffic, unless I’m stuck in it!

  39. Blender Basics video tutorial part 2 and 3 at BlenderNation says

    […] If you want to download, parts 2 and 3 of these tutorials, visit this post at blender underground. […]

  40. darth_gimp says

    Thought this might look familiar to you Apollos:
    http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c143/LDS_Trooper/blender/soupcan.png

    Made that from your 3rd video. I learned a few new things for sure.

  41. Apollos says

    darth, that’s so cool!

    Right on. 8)

  42. darth_gimp says

    Amazing what a wee bit of ray mirror and fractal can do eh?

  43. Apollos says

    Yes it is. Thanks for posting it. It’s beautiful. I think I have a little tear welling up…:P

  44. darth_gimp says

    I should give credit where credit is due… the model itself is from Blender Basics 3 and the material is from what I learned in DukeProtocol’s first video tut.

    Thanks Guys… one day I will be able to repay by helping you out.

  45. Paco says

    Superb tutorials! Awesome work Appolos! Thanks a bunch for putting that up! I will refer all about Blender underground any time I’m ask for Blender good tutorials and learning stuff.

    Keep up the very good work!

    PS: I just happen to have my pens in an (empty) maple syrup can and I think I’ll try myself at rendering what you teach us with a flavoring touch… just need to find a flat print of the label.

  46. Apollos says

    Thanks Paco, and you’re welcome for the tutorials.

    The maple can should make a good subject. And I’ll be sure to keep it up! :-)

  47. darth_gimp says

    So what’s next in the tutorial realm from Apollos? Or do you have more than the three Video tuts and I just missed them?

  48. Apollos says

    Hey darth,

    I have a script half-written on Object Data and the OOPS schematic. It’s a somewhat dry topic, but having an understanding of it will give new users solid footing on how blender works. It’s an invaluable topic (I think) and it will contribute very well to those trying to learn Blender.

    Beyond that, I want to deal with:

    - Materials
    - Another modeling project
    - UV Mapping
    - Basic IPO Animation
    - Parenting and Constraints
    - Curves
    - Arrays
    - Cameras
    - Basic Lighting
    - Basic Rendering

    Thoughts?

    I’m not yet sure how I’ll cram it all in, or in what order, but that is what I’m thinking as of right now.

    After the Basics series, it’s anyone’s guess where it’ll go next.

    So you’re not missing any tutorials. The 3 parts and a supplement are all that exist at the moment, but there are many tutorials out there that cover all sorts of subjects. Check out the resources section if you’re itching to learn! ;-)

  49. darth_gimp says

    Looks like a sweet line up… What I would love to see you do is a basic model tut and then run that same scene through each of these steps. In other words a start to finish on one model over several tutorials, showing everything from the modelling itself through the lighting and camera materials and UV mapping all of the stuff you have listed there.

    Don’t get me wrong new models for each one would be welcomed as well. need all the practice I can get!

    4G3N7 D4R7H 0U7

  50. DukeProtocol says

    Is that all going into part 4 or is there going to be a Part 5 and 6?

  51. Apollos says

    Duke,

    I think there will need to be a part 5 and even 6 to cover everything I want to cover. Based on how these have gone so far, there’s just no way to squeeze everything into one more tutorial!

    UV Mapping alone will be a complete tutorial probably, and if I can make it Materials and UV mapping, that would be great, but still there is alot left over. I haven’t even talked about parenting yet! 8O There could be 8 parts before I get to everything “basic.”

  52. Apollos says

    Agent Darth,

    I’ll give that some thought. It may not end up working out that way, but I’ll consider it and see if it makes the most sense to apply the remaining tutorials to a single project. It’s good feedback! 8)

  53. darth_gimp says

    NP Apollos….

    I just noticed that of all the great tuts out there.. none have taken a project from start to finish.

  54. ralphkaeppeli says

    Hello Apollos,

    just wanted to thank you VERY much for these great video tutorials! As you mentioned yourself, video tutorials are likely the best way to learn Blender and I am looking forward to your next tutorials. I especially like your pace, your detailed explanations and your comments (and maybe someday I will even figure out who’s the bad man, that is after you….;))

  55. Apollos says

    ralphkaeppeli,

    LOL! Thanks for coming by. Welcome to Blender Underground!

    You’re welcome, and I am glad they are helping! I’ll try to keep the pace about the same throughout the series, and continue explaining things in detail.

    The Man is out there somewhere, but he’s not at Blender Underground. ;-)

  56. Blender Basics Part 5: Material Foundations | Blender Underground's Video Tutorials says

    […] Blender Basics Part 3 […]

  57. joelv says

    By far the best tutorials I’ve come across. I’ve been all over the web trying to get some information that is not given at a crawl or skips vital steps. I am one of the many that fully appreciates your time and knowledge (BlenderUnderground team as a whole). I love your personality and the video effects are EXTREMELY helpful. It is impossible to learn from someone who tells you to change something of which you didn’t even knew existed. Apollo & BlenderUnderground….rocks! Great Tutorials. I’m learning lots!

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