I’ve been messing around in the 3D modelling software Blender for a while now (1 month), and I wanted to share my experiences along with giving a few tips from a beginner.
There’s no point in my waiting around so let’s get started.
First, why did I get into Blender?
Well, there are a few reasons. I’ve always had a love for environments and creating things, and Blender is something I’ve attempted many times in the past but was never able to ‘understand’ it. Additionally, I wanted to do it as it allowed me to create the covers for my books. The front cover for Alterum: The Other World, was made in blender and edited in Paint.net.
As I said, I was never able to get into Blender, for me, it seemed too advance and overwhelming. I had no idea what I was doing and because of that, I struggled a lot. The thing about these types of software is that the UI has to be confusing. There are going to be tons of words you don’t understand and buttons you have no idea what they do or how they could be used. I still find features I didn’t know about, but the more I learn what things do, the more I improve. So, my first tip is to understand the words and the UI. Once you understand the basics like subdividing along with the different modes like Object mode, UV editing and Shaders, you’ll have an easier time finding what you are looking for and understanding the tutorials.
For me, I did some 3D modelling at university with 3DS Max, and because of this, I seemed to have picked up Blender a bit. But, I’d say the ‘best’ way I improved was through Corridor Digital.
Corridor Digital are a production studio and make tons of videos regarding VFX, 3D modelling and loads more. Because of their videos, primarily the VFX artists react, and the competitions they do amongst themselves, I was able to get an understanding of how to break things down. Seeing their thoughts and processes of things, along with having something to look up to, help me greatly. I can’t say if it’ll help you, but it worked for me. And even if the videos don’t help you, they are super entertaining and amazing to watch. So I highly recommend you check out the Corridor Digital and Corridor Crew YouTube channels.
So, next, let’s talk about my ‘growth’. To put things into a time perspective, it’s been less than a month since I started using Blender. I had attempted it on and off many times in the past but just ended up frustrated with myself. But let’s see what I did.
Below is an image of the Alterum front cover, or an early version of it. This was the first thing I made when I got back into Blender. And, it’s a combination of 2 YouTube Tutorials. The first tutorial was how to make a forest scene, which gave me the terrain and the fog, and the second was a 1 minute tutorial on making the arch.
In total, it probably took me a good few hours to make, but it was a ton of fun, and the result is, in my opinion, pretty good.
But, obviously, this was just the start, and when it comes to creativity, experimentation and going out of your comfort zone are the best things to do.
So naturally, my next render was a failure.
It may be hard to tell, but the above image is a building stuck to the side of the inside of a mountain. The Glass and lighting coming from the building, along with the global illumination caused me a lot of trouble. I wanted to give up and restart but knew that keeping it to remind me of my progress was better. I could look back on it and see how I’ve improved.
So, next up was a scene that I’ve always wanted to make. Except, I couldn’t fully encapsulate my vision, as I wasn’t skilled enough.
I tried a lot in this scene. Different lighting, little details and other stuff. The above is even an animation, but you can’t see the video on this blog. If you wish to see the video, you can find a link to it here.
Knowing what I learnt from the above, I tried another scene I always wanted to make, and yet again, tried an animation.
It’s a bit dark, and the video is clearer (click here for the video) but I learnt a lot from this. It had somewhat advanced models compared to what I was used to, so I learnt a bit about modelling from it all. It’s tedious for me to go through everything I learnt about modelling in these so let’s continue, as the next and final one is important.
The above images are the same scene. The left is an early version, with the right being the final one. It’s important to compare the two, as composition is important. When creating a scene, there is a lot to think about. The position of your camera is the most important.
You should think of it as a photograph, but also as if it was being analysed by an English student. Details are super important. Little things like moths around a light, or your textures blending nicely together add to the scene. I think, in terms of composition, the dark bus stop is my favourite one. It has that mystery to it. Ultimately, you are trying to sell that the scene is alive.
So, I wanted to end with a few little quick tips.
First, create a bookmark folder where you can dump any websites you might need in the future. Tutorials, blog posts about art, even inspirational artwork.
Secondly, plan things out and don’t be afraid to move stuff around. The joy of 3D modelling is you have no limitations to positioning and composition, so do experiment.
Thirdly, look at other art. Look at other people for inspiration and tutorials. Don’t be afraid to copy a tutorial exactly, or even download a model (but do be careful of copyright)
Fourthly, there are tons of free websites where you can get textures, HDRIs, models and more. You just have to google.
And finally, just do it. It’ll be hard at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the less stressful. You’ll start to see things and realise what needs to be done to achieve what you want to make. Giving up is easy, so do try and keep going.
So that’s it. I’m going to keep making things in Blender. But, it can be time-consuming. I haven’t been able to work on it as much as I would like to, but I’m still enjoying it all. I will continue to use it for book covers if I can, as well as just having fun and creating these cool worlds and artwork. I do plan at some point to redo some of the above scenes. I think once I’ve learnt a lot more I’ll be able to make them much cooler and more alive.
So thanks for reading.
As always, I’ll try and come up with more topics to talk about, let me know if there is anything you wish for me to talk about. I’ve got an idea to explain modelling a scene, or at least going through making it. I think a post like that, showing the progress along with some images building up to the final scene could be an interesting topic.
Once again, thanks for reading.
As always my links are below.
My links: https://linktr.ee/FabledByte
Arbitrary Echo: https://linktr.ee/ArbitraryEcho
Help support me: https://ko-fi.com/slippyfoptv
If you wish to check out any of the renders in this post, and any I may do in the future, you can find all of them here: https://ko-fi.com/album/Blender-R6R34MZF1
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