Blender tutorial: basic 3D for AR

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Blender basics for AR

• use Blender 2.6 essential training
• go to Oasis – training – lynda.com – blender 2.6
• George Maestri
• forgettability – like any practice, don't go more than 24 hrs.
• using exercise files
• get the cheat sheet (dropbox)
• lots of non intuitive things about the interface

• helpful manual [2]

• good to have 2 screens when using tutorials
• need 3 button mouse, preferably with wheel
• for commands to work, make sure cursor is in window!!!

• Blender layout

• • starts with one screen

• • Ctrl/Alt(opt)/Q toggles quad view – very useful

views: 5 toggles between orthographic and perspective numbers toggle R, L, Top, front views

• • zoom – use wheel, or ctrl middle click

• • rotate POV (our view on the space, not the objects themselves) – use MMB/drag

• • slide side to side/up down: shift click MMB

• • slide L/R: Ctrl wheel

• • slide up/down: shift wheel

• 3D concepts:
• Cartesian coordinate space– x, y, z (not all apps the same) – keep orientation x across, also axes embedded in grid (meaning of units can be set in R hand panel, under scene/scene (button2)
• right handed rule

*for making things to be transferred to the real world, set before beginning to create a scene

• object creation: start with graphic primitives

• • (L click moves point of origin – R&W circle - for new object, shift C *to re-center)
  • can see on view screen and in outliner upper R

• basic transforms: RTS

• • certain options only available when you make a new object, Lower L panel
  • resolution, size, etc.

• several ways of achieving:

• • t,r,s keyboard keys
  • upper L menu
  • icons below view window
  • can also move by snapping (object menu below, snap, snap selection to grid, to cursor, snap cursor to center, etc.)

• can modify entire object or, by using manipulators, modify certain aspects of them

• local and global (illustrate by creating cylinder, rotating, then translating in global and local)

• • exercise: create mesh cylinder, rotate to 45 degree angle in x, translate to front left corner of grid

• polygonal modeling
  • (there are also NURBS curves and surfaces – )
• modifications: rts points, edges, faces
• two edit modes: object, edit
• object – entire object; edit – component (points, edges, polygons)

[3]

• a – selects or deselects all faces, etc. in edit mode

ctrl/tab – brings up options to select

• b – border select (rectangle)
• xray mode (along bottom) to select not only side of object facing you, but other side as well
• c – circle select, wheel changes size
• Ctrl – L click – lasso select
• can select individual faces and translate/scale
• try global, local, then normal

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