12th-Apr-22, 03:06 PM
I've been using Blender for about six months now, and since it seems such an impressive piece of kit, I thought it might be worth sharing a few of my impressions.
What is it?
Blender is a 3D computer graphics application used for creating 3D & 3DP models, animated films, computer generated images, visual effects and art.
It is totally free and open source, but don't let that fool you into thinking it is in any way limited or lacking. In fact it is quite the opposite with a hugely impressive set of features and capabilities. More than most of us would ever need or use, and plenty enough to make some other 3D software look like toys.
This Lamborghini Miura is an example of a 3D model created in Blender, so you can see that the software is quite capable of producing high quality models and renders, in the right hands. This isn't my work, I'm nowhere near this level of skill as yet, so I simply downloaded the free model from Blend Swap.
Is it easy to use?
Ease of use is a relative term in 3D modelling, with the simpler, easier to use applications often sacrificing functionality. Blender is at the opposite end of the scale, so the simple answer is no, it's not particularly easy to use. But because it is such a popular piece of software, there are hundreds of tutorials available, and a large community of users to answer your questions. There is also of course, a comprehensive manual, though this does tend to be fairly dry and technical.
Having used another 3D application (3DS Max) for over a decade, I was obviously familiar with many of the concepts involved, but found it quite awkward to get used to a completely different way of doing things.
Features
There are far too many features for me to list here, but I'll skip through a few...
Obviously there are all the basic 3D tools that you'd expect, for adding, viewing, editing, and manipulating shapes, plus quite a few that I've never come across before, and haven't got the hang of yet. The basic shapes available are not as comprehensive as I'm used to, but the asset manager would soon allow you to build up your own range of useful building blocks, or commonly used shapes.
There are four possible viewport modes, wireframe, solid, material preview, and rendered which you'll no doubt switch between as you model.
Lighting is exactly as expected, but the materials interface is quite unusual. Even after six months of using it, it still baffles me occasionally. The complexity of the software's nodes system is extremely powerful, but sometimes bewildering. Fortunately there are simpler options available for most common types of materials.
UV editing is fairly straight forward but the unwrapping process can be quite difficult, though that's not unusual for any 3D software.
There is a choice of render engines, with the best and at the same time slowest, being Cycles. It is excellent but the Lamborghini image above took several hours to render, though again that's not unusual.
Animation is dealt with through the usual keyframe process, where different states (whether that be position, rotation, scale or any number of other possibilities) are set on separate keyframes and the software interpolates the transition.
Blender also features a rigging system for posing figures.
But apart from the modelling, much of the above will be of little concern if you're just producing models for 3D printing, so you'd be able to avoid much of the complexity involved there.
Add Ons
Blender does have a 3D Print Toolbox which is an add on which comes as standard bundled with the software, but needs to be activated. I'm no expert in this area, but this article on All3DP should explain it.
Other standard add ons include a paper model exporter which turns your model into a printable paper representation with fold lines and tabs, and an architectural modelling tool which can add walls, doors, windows and other architectural features.
A non standard add on will also map terrain for you, using images from google maps and height maps from NASA. Let's be honest, who wouldn't want an accurate 3D map of the Col de Turini?
Well, that's my experience of Blender so far. It is big, and it is clever. I think it's a fantastic application, and expect to be using it for a long time to come.
But it's intended audience is much wider than the 3D printing community, so if that's all you're going to use it for, there may well be other software that is better suited, and/or less complex.
But as a way to get into 3D modelling it's excellent. Apart from the fact that it is totally free, there are also loads of free models available, which means you can just have a play around with the basic controls without having to attempt to model a Lamborghini Miura.
This is where I'm up to on my journey. These are just some models I did of some alterations we want to make at home. Fairly simple shapes to create, with the addition various imported models.
What is it?
Blender is a 3D computer graphics application used for creating 3D & 3DP models, animated films, computer generated images, visual effects and art.
It is totally free and open source, but don't let that fool you into thinking it is in any way limited or lacking. In fact it is quite the opposite with a hugely impressive set of features and capabilities. More than most of us would ever need or use, and plenty enough to make some other 3D software look like toys.
This Lamborghini Miura is an example of a 3D model created in Blender, so you can see that the software is quite capable of producing high quality models and renders, in the right hands. This isn't my work, I'm nowhere near this level of skill as yet, so I simply downloaded the free model from Blend Swap.
Is it easy to use?
Ease of use is a relative term in 3D modelling, with the simpler, easier to use applications often sacrificing functionality. Blender is at the opposite end of the scale, so the simple answer is no, it's not particularly easy to use. But because it is such a popular piece of software, there are hundreds of tutorials available, and a large community of users to answer your questions. There is also of course, a comprehensive manual, though this does tend to be fairly dry and technical.
Having used another 3D application (3DS Max) for over a decade, I was obviously familiar with many of the concepts involved, but found it quite awkward to get used to a completely different way of doing things.
Features
There are far too many features for me to list here, but I'll skip through a few...
Obviously there are all the basic 3D tools that you'd expect, for adding, viewing, editing, and manipulating shapes, plus quite a few that I've never come across before, and haven't got the hang of yet. The basic shapes available are not as comprehensive as I'm used to, but the asset manager would soon allow you to build up your own range of useful building blocks, or commonly used shapes.
There are four possible viewport modes, wireframe, solid, material preview, and rendered which you'll no doubt switch between as you model.
Lighting is exactly as expected, but the materials interface is quite unusual. Even after six months of using it, it still baffles me occasionally. The complexity of the software's nodes system is extremely powerful, but sometimes bewildering. Fortunately there are simpler options available for most common types of materials.
UV editing is fairly straight forward but the unwrapping process can be quite difficult, though that's not unusual for any 3D software.
There is a choice of render engines, with the best and at the same time slowest, being Cycles. It is excellent but the Lamborghini image above took several hours to render, though again that's not unusual.
Animation is dealt with through the usual keyframe process, where different states (whether that be position, rotation, scale or any number of other possibilities) are set on separate keyframes and the software interpolates the transition.
Blender also features a rigging system for posing figures.
But apart from the modelling, much of the above will be of little concern if you're just producing models for 3D printing, so you'd be able to avoid much of the complexity involved there.
Add Ons
Blender does have a 3D Print Toolbox which is an add on which comes as standard bundled with the software, but needs to be activated. I'm no expert in this area, but this article on All3DP should explain it.
Other standard add ons include a paper model exporter which turns your model into a printable paper representation with fold lines and tabs, and an architectural modelling tool which can add walls, doors, windows and other architectural features.
A non standard add on will also map terrain for you, using images from google maps and height maps from NASA. Let's be honest, who wouldn't want an accurate 3D map of the Col de Turini?
Well, that's my experience of Blender so far. It is big, and it is clever. I think it's a fantastic application, and expect to be using it for a long time to come.
But it's intended audience is much wider than the 3D printing community, so if that's all you're going to use it for, there may well be other software that is better suited, and/or less complex.
But as a way to get into 3D modelling it's excellent. Apart from the fact that it is totally free, there are also loads of free models available, which means you can just have a play around with the basic controls without having to attempt to model a Lamborghini Miura.
This is where I'm up to on my journey. These are just some models I did of some alterations we want to make at home. Fairly simple shapes to create, with the addition various imported models.
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