Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Blender : A Brief Primer, and FAQ


Blender 3D : A Direct Primer, Benjamin Poynter

1.) Navigation.
-Middle Mouse Wheel to Zoom In/Out.
-Shift + Middle Mouse Press to Strafe.
-Alt + Left Mouse Press to rotate around.
-(If number pad available, 8-4-2-6 to adjust view intricately.)
-CONTROL + Z to undo.
-Left Mouse Press to position center of world rotation.

2.) Modes.
-[Find a toolbar widget with a drop down "Object Mode" menu.]
-OBJECT mode. Where you can just move around solid meshes. For example, a cube.
-EDIT mode. Where you can actually extrude/morph/edit meshes. We can 'change' a cube.
-To note, in either mode, next to "Object Mode" menu, you can toggle wireframe/solid views.
-TAB switches from OBJECT to EDIT easily as well.

3.) Selecting.
-[a] to select/deselect all objects.
-In OBJECT mode, Right Mouse Press object to select it.
-To select multiple objects, or deselect one, hit Shift + Right Mouse Press.
-In OBJECT mode, you can shift-select multiple objects. In EDIT mode, its a different story.
-To delete, have selected and press [x]. In EDIT mode, you can delete specific details.
-To duplicate selected object, Shift + [d]. Move newly duplicated object.
-Lasso selection, if desired : Hold down CONTROL and Left Mouse Press. Drag around.

4.) The Gizmo & Moving Objects.
-The gizmo is the red-blue-green icon you use to morph object. Appears when object is selected.
-XYZ coordinates. Think of X and Y as flat. (X, west/east ; Y, north/south). Z is sky/ground.
-[Near the "Object Mode" drop down on its respective toolbar is a SMALL red-blue-green icon.]
-Arrow Icon : Move selected object directly along the rails of XYZ coordinates. Click & drag.
-Curve Icon : Rotate selected object in its center. Click & drag the now different gizmo.
-FAQ! To re-center rotate/pivot on object, reposition object in edit mode! Pivot remains still.
-Line+Square Icon : Rescale select object along XYZ coordinates.

5.) Editing the Mesh. <Needs to be done in EDIT MODE.>
-Vertex = point two edges cross. Edge = point two faces cross. Face = Open space/polygon.
-On same bar as Modes and XYZ commands, find Vertex-Edge-Face icon selections.
-You can (right click) select them. Click and move, rotate, and scale them. Experiment!
-Multiple selection rules with Shift + Right Mouse Press apply here as well. [a] to deselect.
-Important : Subdivide = CONTROL + [r]. Cut a Face in place to create more vertexes/edges.
-While you have a neon "subdivide line" previewing your cut, scroll Middle Mouse Wheel to
  create more edges in your cut. Left Mouse Press to cut. You can move cut. [a] to end sequence.
-Extrude tool is the [e] key. Extends/duplicates selected vertex/edge/face.

6.) Rendering an Image Output.
-First, you want to light your photo well. By File.. Add -> Lamp -> Choose Type. Experiment!
-Note CAMERA placement. View -> Camera to see what camera sees. View -> Align -> Align Camera View to Ours. To make 'our' view cam's. Adjust camera externally with gizmo if need.
-Pro tip for scene views : View on toolbar -> Selections (Top, Left, 'Camera', Etc.).
-Get an image photo-file! At top by file : Render -> Render Image. Or F12.
-You'll get preview. Default size : 960x540. F3 to save file of image. Or Image -> Save As.

These are the complete barebones of Blender 3D. All you'll need to get started!


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F R E Q U E N T L Y  
A S K E D  
Q U E S T I O N S
( b l e n d e r )


This will be an ongoing post. I will attempt to physically address each issue as they come up or in timely fashion. Via email or otherwise.

1.) ((How to rotate view of world/objects, if I can't from primer instructions.))

 (Two images for reference!)

Version 2.5 (-) . Drag down the top line between main 'Blender' title bar and 'File' bar. It should expose a large menu. In the middle of it, click "Emulate 3 Button Mouse" to where it is on.
Version 2.5 (+) . File -> User Preferences. INPUT option on bar. On left, scroll and click "Emulate 3 Button Mouse" to where it is on.





2.) ((Create object in space to edit other than a cube?))


Top Left bar; Add -> Mesh -> choose (Cube, Sphere, Cylinder, and Many More)


3.) ((How may I combine objects in space?))

Select both and hit (Ctrl + J). Should be prompted to combine. Hit okay.


4.) ((Apply color/texture to object?))

2.5 (-) (Should be applicable to 2.5+ as well.) . Follow these steps.













5.) ((A useful brush-coloring tool (Color multiple polygons of object?))

2.5 (-) (Should be applicable to 2.5+ as well.) . Follow these steps.








To be continued.

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Project 5 : Geometric Self-Portrait



D U E


August 1 :

Reading (The New Aesthetic)
and selection of Tumblr post/reasoning
as a post to your class blog.

August 5 (EDITED) :

 Project 5!

In addition, comments for peers
not already posted to their blogs.
Projects 1, 2, 3, and 4. I will finally
be able to check for those.


★ ★ ★ ★


P R O J E C T  5



Geometric Portrait, Using 3D Modeling



"Learning About Blender 3D and Self"




Blender 3D is a freeware program! Downloadable from the official site, for PC or Mac. Heavily encouraged is a three button mouse (left button, right button, middle wheel) to help you out. Lab has plenty already connected to monitors.

*Now the "3D World". With Blender 3D, we will be employing a technique called "box modeling". In laymen's terms, a very lo-res method of 3D modeling that is typically a precursor to a more defined model. However for our purposes and parallel to the ideas from "The New Aesthetic", we are going to be chivalrous to the concept of 'cubes' and 'minimalism'.

Workflow of Project 5

1.) Explore the fundamentals of Blender 3D (program)! A tutorial post I've written containing everything necessary to completing assignment follows this one.

For the record, the version of Blender I have employed for the write-up is 2.56. Fundamentals may apply if a different version, but be sure. Working computers in lab should have Blender installed.


2.) With techniques and fundamentals in mind, develop project. You are to create a self portrait. Additionally, a portrait of yourself you believe would be perceived from the lens of a machine. Geometric in nature. This is where the cubist visual-minimalism comes in handy for the college student without enough time to create a million-polygon rendition. You may be very, very liberal in your approach to your machine-esque self portrait. It may be your head or face. It may be a certain character or closely related object to you which summarizes your being. But it is self portrait. In your statement, think hard about why it relates to you.

3.) The method of turn-in : Five snapshots rendered from Blender and posted to your blog. This way : One front-view, one back-view, one-side view, one-top view, and angle of your choice. Also, of course, the artist's statement.

Silly example...













This is just an example I did (playing with the whole 'other things are me' schtick) inspired by Michael Murphy's work. I took a zoomed up pixel shot of Sonic from 1991, even further bitmapped it to look more primitive, and distorted the individual pixels by deleting 'polygons' from panels it mapped the image onto.

A less silly example...


This is actually refuse of a current project I am working on, where I consider a 'fictional' game character to be a self portrait of me, through the narrative. In a way, I consider old videogames to be 'story generating devices', because the old 8/16 bit characters don't have a deep mythos to them. I am left to insert my own emotions.

A good page to see geometric "self-portraits"-

The Polygon (tech website) 'about us' page. Full of staff, 'derezzed'-


Links for inspiration-


It is easy to be discouraged at first. That is why you have extended time than usual to practice. Start slow. Build up. Don't expedite any steps that seem important.

Once you realize 'modeling' is nothing but moving, rotating, and scaling a series of bent boxes, the fundamentals take on more complex and understandable forms naturally.

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Reading 3 : The New Aesthetic

R E A D I N G  3
The New Aesthetic

Below, linked is a transcript is a talk by
James Bridle entitled "Waving at the Machines".
Images are included in the reading.


To quote the about page of The New Aesthetic-



Since May 2011 I have been collecting material which points towards new ways of seeing the world, an echo of the society, technology, politics and people that co-produce them.
The New Aesthetic is not a movement, it is not a thing which can be done. It is a series of artefacts of the heterogeneous network, which recognises differences, the gaps in our overlapping but distant realities.



Reading is due August 1, Thursday.
INSTEAD of two reading response questions,
I want you to search through the Tumblr linked
and select a post on it that either interests
you visually or conceptually. Link it on
a post to your blog, and write a paragraph
as it why it interested you.

You might choose one that is relevant
to your own artistic practice currently.
Also search! Don't just swipe from
the very front page.

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