Blender question and answer thread

[celifighter]

Originally Posted by tom120934 Try to reorder the normal : Ctrl+N. It will solve issues about transparent faces (which just don't show because you're looking at the rear side of them) and black spots (continuous faces with opposed vertices, but faces visible from both faces)

yes, it solved my problem, next time I have I problem I'll post here again

big THX

*EDIT*
OK, new question;
How can I sort this:

[tom120934]

I'm far from being an expert with UVW unwrapping in Blender. So don't expect this answer to be as short and useful as the previous one

When doing unwrapping, I always do it by using "Project from view" (UKEY, choice #5) I do it several times, a subset of each object at a time. Then, you'll have to merge vertices shown twice (because selected twice on two different faces) or more. To do that, use Ctrl+C to activate automate selection of multiply-shown-vertices, then V to merge them. Actually it won't merge them (just place both at the very same location) so you'll have to stick using the Ctrl+C feature (otherwise use Alt+C to stop using it)

[celifighter]

Can I import somehow .ter-files in blender?

.ter-files are from Terragen

[tom120934]

Blender Projects: Ter2Blend: Project Info

Don't forget to try using a search engine

[TrevorNL]

Is it possible to "weld vertices within a specific treshold"?
You can select the vertices and weld them together, but that can be time-consuming.

I prefer to make basic shapes with SketchUp (free edition), export them as Ogre .mesh.xml files and import them into Blender.
The drawback is that every polygon seems to get 3 vertices, so auto-welding them back together would be quite usefull.

[tom120934]

In the "Editing" panel (F9), box "Mesh tools", there is a setting named "Limit" : the tiptool is self-explanatory : "Specifies the max distance 'Rem Doubles' will consider vertices as 'doubled'". The default value is 0.001, this is expressed in Blender units.

Another useful option is Alt-J while in Edit mode : this feature tries to converse triangles in your mesh to quads. As an example, try to convert a cube to a triangle-only mesh (Ctrl-T) then using Alt-J will get you a cleaned mesh.

[Unrealbeing]

i have a question.... I know there is a way of doing this, cos ive seen it[ albeit cant remember where]. How can i render an image with the wireframe over the top, without subsurf applied to that wireframe... Thanks guys,

also, check out my wip Thread.... in the wip forums
Thanks

[tom120934]

I covered several methods to post a render with wireframe over solid mesh. Please have a look there first : http://www.smcars.net/forums/lights-...nator-2-a.html

Then, if it's not clear enough, feel free to post additionnal questions. I will do my best to answer.

[nikeboy72]

Ok, guys. I downloaded Blender at the beginning of the week and my mind is ready to explode from reading tutorials and looking for buttons and remembering terminoligy. I have never used a 3D program before so everything is new to me. I am sick of looking all over the place to find that no one wants to help. I am impressed with the help that is just posted in this forum. I'll show you what I want to do. It is just a hobby and by no means important. This is what I have:

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...09/broncos.jpg

This is what I want to do:

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...ncosrender.jpg

What do I need and how do I do it? I'm pretty sure I have to have some kind of "model" of the COT for NASCAR, but I can't find anywhere that has it. Anyone want to tackle this mountain of a problem? Thanks guys.

[Jason G]

I would very much like to export my Blender cars directly to rFactor (.gmt files). Does anyone know of a working exporter or if anyone is working on one?

You can see my stuff at www.kiwidirt.com. The midget is mine, 90% modelled in Blender.

Cheers,

[tom120934]

nikeboy72, I understood you never put your hands on 3D so far. So the best thing to do, is to take some really basic tutorials, to teach you what are 3D coordinates, vertices, edges, faces, meshes, etc. A nice place to start is the following collection : Blender 3D: Noob to Pro - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks.

For getting for your first pic to your second one, you'll know to learn two things :
- Model a car. In this case it's a really low poly model, meaning it's very simple.
- Texturing a car you previously modeled.

You'll find tutorials about both things in the link I wrote above.

Jason G, I don't know anything about rFactor. But if you are already used to putting cars into rFactor using another 3D package, my advice would be to use the large Blender exporting capabilities to bring to the other 3D package : it looks like there is (at least) one freely available 3ds->GMT file convertor. So use Blender to do the .blender -> 3ds step before.

[Jason G]

Thanks for the reply. My cars are scratch built in Blender so there is nothing to import. I want to use Blender to do the final export to GMT.

I currently have to go Blender -> 3ds export -> Import to 3dsMax -> add materials -> export to GMT

I would like to do it all in Blender, if nothing else, for a sense of completion.

I am interested in the 3ds -> GMT converter. Do you have a link?

Cheers

Jason.

[V3N0M1300]

In what order do you model the features of a car? Im guessing you start by extruding the nose, tail, and top from a box but when do you add the wheel wells? When do you round out the sides of the body and add other aerodynamic features? What about the windows and light fairings? Blender doesn't support a stack of modifiers that let me tweak things at any point. So what do you consider the most efficient way to model a car?

[tom120934]

I posted an illustration of my modeling process a pretty long time ago : Illustration of my modeling process with Aston Martin DB9 - Pixels or Atoms ?. I've changed my move a bit since : I now work on only one piece at a time, trying to fully complete it before moving to the next one. And trying to focus on only one area at a time.

There is no particular order. I usually start from the hood, then front fender, front bumper, doors, A-pillar, roof, rear-pillar, rear fender, trunk and rear bumper. But YMMV : e.g. for my current Lambo, I started with the engine-hood, then rear end, sides and front end, just because I thought the engine hood was the most interesting part

Of course there is others ways of modeling a car. You mentionned one using a box, it's usually called box-modeling. I just don't do it, because I don't feel comfortable doing this way. So you have to try different moves until you find one seeming easy for you.

About stack of modifiers, I usually use only 2 modifiers : subsurf and mirror.

By the way : welcome to SMC, feel free to post your work as a WIP even you're not happy with it. SMC is used to provide good feedback, from complete newbies to accomplished artists.