# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Modeling a Wolf from Guide Images

|previous=Aligning Vertices with a Guide Image
}}
```
This tutorial assumes that you have completed all previous tutorials.

## Method 1

### Get the pictures of the model

If you have a puppy and a digital camera, take three pictures of the
cute little rascal and upload them. If you don\'t have a puppy, any
object or small animal will do. Ideally, the photos will be looking
straight down at the top of the puppy, a side view, and a front view.
It\'s important that the puppy be in the same pose in all three photos!
Or at least close to the same pose\...we all know puppies don\'t stand
still very long.

You could use two mirrors. One is placed next to the puppy at 45 degrees
to the camera and 45 degrees to the puppy. Another is placed above the
puppy, also at 45 degrees to the camera and 45 degrees to the puppy.
This produces three images, one of the puppy (**front \\ NUM1**), one of
its reflection seen 90 degrees to the right (**side \\ right \\
NUM3)**), and one of its reflection seen from overhead (**top \\
NUM7**). Take the photo from a long distance away with a zoom lens to
get close to an orthographic
projection.

Or how about pictures of a toy wolf taken from 6 view points?:

-   Left view
-   Right
    view
-   Front
    view
-   Back view
-   Bottom
    view
-   Top view

Using your favorite image editor, such as PhotoShop or the
GIMP (see detailed GIMP instructions below: Detailed
steps to align images using
GIMP),
down-scale the images need to a reasonable size (I made mine 512x384),
and then match them to each other. To match them, draw construction
lines (pulled from the rulers above and to the left) on the left view
for example to pick out key features. I picked the tail, the front of
the back foot, eye level, tip of the ear, and the front of the nose:

![](Toywolf-construction-left.jpg "Toywolf-construction-left.jpg")

I found when I picked out these features that this first image needed to
be rotated slightly. That completed, I proceeded to scale, rotate and
shift the other two views (top and front) until they matched fairly well
as layers on top:

![](Toywolf-construction-top.jpg "Toywolf-construction-top.jpg")
![](Toywolf-construction-front.jpg "Toywolf-construction-front.jpg")

Once I had the proper results I saved the resulting images, and these
are the ones we will use in Blender.

The results are the files you\'ll need for Step Two:

![](Toywolf-left.jpg "Toywolf-left.jpg")
![](Toywolf-front.jpg "Toywolf-front.jpg")
![](Toywolf-top.jpg "Toywolf-top.jpg")

Just right-click and save them some place where you can find them to
load them into Blender for Step Two. You may notice the photos aren\'t
perfect, but we\'ll use them just to show how you should deal with your
real photos. When you are creating your own pictures to import, note
parallax. In this example,
parallax is present, and we\'ll attempt to compensate.

### Get the Picture into Blender

Getting the image into blender is the easy part. The more difficult part
will be creating the mesh, but first things first. Create a new file
(*File → New*) to see the familiar default objects. Don\'t bother
deleting the cube, we\'ll end up using it in the tutorial. Just as was
done in the \"Making A
Pyramid\"
section, split the 3D Viewer into four views with CTRL-ALT-Q.

Each window will show you different XYZ coordinates.

Go to View \> Properties, or press . A
new toolbar will open to the right of the viewport and by scrolling
through you should see *Background Images*. Use the \"Add images\" bar
and options will open up. Then check the box to display your images.

Click the *Add Image* button and several more buttons will appear. Now
\"Open\" button. A new full-viewport window will appear. Explore this
window a bit and end up selecting the image file of the wolf from the
top view. What you should get is the picture of the toy wolf from above
with the default cube on top of it.

Now load the top view of the wolf, click on \"Open\" select the picture
and set \"Axis:\" to \"Front\". Repeat the procedure and load the
picture of the wolf to the other views.

**Noob note:** the photo from the top goes into top view, the photo from
the front goes into the right view, and the photo from the right goes
into front view, if you have front in front, change it now!

The pictures are now loaded into the Blender viewports. If you look at
the pictures on the grid, you may notice that the front view of the wolf
isn\'t quite center. That is okay, Blender has a way to fix it.

Press **Shift + SpaceBar**, this expands the current viewport to a
fullscreen view, then go to \"Background Images\" and go to the Front
view. Notice that there are picture manipulation options available. One
of these includes picture offsets. Click on right side of the \'X
Offset: 0.00\' to increase the offset to 0.20. The picture will be
shifted over slightly so now the wolf is more centered. Press **Shift +
SpaceBar** again to return to the window-setup you had earlier. Correct
the other views also, and scale the cube if needed.

**Noob Note:** If you made, and aligned your own photos, you will need
to use a different value than \'0.20\' to center the head in the cube in
front view.

The setup work is now done! Let\'s start on actually making the wolf
model.

![](Wolftut1.png "Wolftut1.png")

### Create a Rough Model

This is a brute force model creation using techniques discussed
previously in this book. This section is meant to help you explore and
become more comfortable with them. Do *not* try to follow the example to
the tee. Your wolf and my wolf will probably not look the same since you
may want to add more or have less detail.

**Noob Note:** If you are just getting started with blender, this step
may likely take several hours to complete, since you must use your own
creativity to position things in 3D space, using 2D views. Just like
sculpting, drawing, or oil painting, it will be extremely fustrating at
first, but once you get used to the way it works, \"modeling\" will be
much easier.

The rough fit stage requires either some planning or on-the-spot
decisions. Think about where the wolf will have parts of its body flex
or require parts jutting out.

The first step is to create a blocky wolf. Start out with a column of
blocks using the extrude face command (select face,
). Don\'t worry about snapping the
vertices to the grid since we are working with an organic figure.

***Noob Note:** It is handy to do this in wireframe view, to see better
how the rough model fits out*

**Figure 2.3.1** Body column formation\
![](Wolftut2.png "Wolftut2.png")

The next step is to split the ears and legs off of the body. Do this by
subdividing (With \"Quad/Tri Mode\" checked) the appropriate faces. Save
often, and if you make a mistake, go ahead and use the undo option
(**CTRL** ). Also, if you find yourself
looking at redundant faces, combine them
().

**Figure 2.3.2** Appendage formation\
![](Wolftut3.png "Wolftut3.png")\]

If you are having trouble with this, try mousing over the perspective
window (the one you designated with NUM0) and using the MMB to rotate
the view so that you are looking at the underside of the wolf. Click on
the face underneath the wolf that is alongside his front legs (use the
side view to check this). We are going to subdivide this face in order
to grow legs off the new faces. To subdivide, press the
 and choose subdivide. You will see
that the face has been divided into four. Take one of these faces and
extrude it as many times as is necessary to make the right leg. Then do
the same again for his left leg.

**Noob Note:** To avoid making the extruded faces share common vertices
(and be connected to each other), either extrude the legs separately (as
stated above) or select *Individual faces* in the Extrude pop-up menu.
The same works for the ears.

Doing the ears is similar, except instead of working underneath you will
start with the face on top of the wolf which is directly over the ears.
Select this face and subdivide it once. Deselect everything using
, then select one of these four faces
and extrude it upwards once to make an ear. Do the same for the face
alongside it to make the other ear.

Finally, extrude the tail end of the wolf one more time, so that your
wolf has as many divisions as the picture above.

### Refine the rough model

Let\'s start refining the model starting with the tail. Try putting your
viewports in wireframe mode by pushing
, it may make things much easier. Line
up the vertices over the wolf in each viewport by lasso selecting
multiple vertices (**CTRL LMB, Drag**). then move to the right location
with grab ().

**Figure 2.3.3** Working on the tail\
![](Wolftut4.png "Wolftut4.png")

Continue onto the hind legs of the wolf. It is trickier to manipulate
the legs so keep rotating a viewport to look at the model from multiple
perspectives. Remember that we are working in three dimensions.

**Figure 2.3.4** Working on the hind legs\
![](Wolftut5.png "Wolftut5.png")

Continue working up along the wolf fitting the blocks to the pictures.
If you have problems seeing the picture because the model is in the way,
let\'s hide the model. In Edit Mode, select the entire model by
 or by pressing
 when you have the cursor over the
model. Simply pressing  will hide the
selected items. To unhide the view, use
+. By
hiding and unhiding the model, or parts of the model, you should be able
to keep using the picture as a guide. *Note: It is much easier to just
switch layers by, let\'s say, pressing
(not the Num-Block one) to hide the entire model (thus getting a look at
the picture) and  to reveal the mesh
again.*

Once you have the first pass done, you\'ll notice that the model just
won\'t fit all three pictures correctly. This is due to parallax. The
most obvious example is the side view. The four feet should be level, as
they are all standing on a flat surface. Since they are not, we\'ll just
ignore some of the aspects of each picture and continue with the model.
(This is a helpful example to show what you need to consider when taking
your own pictures.)

**Figure 2.3.5** Completed rough fit\
![](Wolftut6.png "Wolftut6.png")

### Subsurf the model

Now that the rough fit is done, let\'s smooth out the wolf. Add a
Subsurf modifier and set the Levels to 2. The wolf will now be smoothed,
but we want to add some of the hard lines back into the model. This may
be accomplished with creased edges.

Select Edges or faces you want to crease and press **SHIFT + EKEY**. Use
the mouse and pull away from the center until the Crease value is close
to what you want. A value of +1.000 will give you the sharpest look and
is useful for places such as the bottoms of the paws. When an edge has
been creased, the edge will be highlighted in yellow (positive crease)
or black (negative crease). These highlights are shown due to the \'Draw
Creases\' button being turned on.

In this example, I creased edges along the paws, tail, ears, and nose to
give them some sharpness.

**Figure 2.4.1** Creased edges\
![](Wolftut7.png "Wolftut7.png")

The last step is to refit the model to the pictures. You may have
noticed that when the model was smoothed, the result didn\'t quite fit
to the pictures. Now is a great time to tweak the vertices to fit to the
pictures or add to/modify the model.

*Noob note: if you see a weird edge on the body after smoothing, check
the face normals (F9 \> Mesh Tools More \> Draw Normals; and then W \>
Flip Normals on the culprit faces).*

And here is my basic wolf based on three pictures!

**Figure 2.4.2** Final toy wolf model\
![](Wolftut8.png "Wolftut8.png"){width="400"}

## Method 2 (using mirroring)

In this alternative method we will do half a wolf and then mirror it to
create a complete wolf. You should start out by creating a silhouette of
the wolf body in the side view, and then in front view start to shape
the wolf head, tail and legs\...

**Noob Note:** If you are attempting this method, it is best to avoid
using triangles in rounded areas of a Mesh, because they tend to cause
artifacts in your model (artifacts are protruding edges or other things
that don\'t look realistic). Using quads is a much better alternative.
Triangles should only be used on flat areas of your mesh if they cannot
be avoided.

![](Wolf_building_side.jpg "Wolf_building_side.jpg")
![](Wolf_building_front.jpg "Wolf_building_front.jpg")

Here is what you should end up with
![](Wolf_finished.jpg "Wolf_finished.jpg"){width="400"}

## Using mirroring with method 1

You can also use mirroring with the first method (the one with cube
extrusions).

This can speed up your work as you don\'t have to do the same changes on
each side of the fox - just once.

To start the mirroring:

-   Go to Editing (**F9**)
-   In the *Modifiers* panel, add a *Mirror*
-   Check only the *Y* button

When modeling:

-   You may want to adjust the *Merge Limit* value (e.g. 0.14): this
    means vertices too close to each others (after the mirroring) will
    be merged, thus avoiding artifacts along the mirror\'s axis.
-   Remove the faces along the mirror\'s axis, otherwise Subsurf will be
    confused by the faces *inside* the body of the mirrored fox. Keep
    all the faces for the legs though.
-   To move the legs differently on each side: when you\'re done
    modeling the rest of the fox, apply the Mirror modifier, and then
    work on each leg independently.

## Detailed steps to align images using GIMP

From this point forward there are multiple ways to do exactly the same
thing, however for simplicity\'s sake and so that I can be more detailed
I will be using one method (the one which I use) and be using GIMP.

I found it best to size all the photos to a known width, with an easy
way to find center. (Mine happened to be 850x638 pixels, I don't
recommend that but you can choose any size you want really, as long as
all of them are the same size). Then drag the construction lines to form
a crosshair in the middle of the photo. To do this, click on the top
ruler, and drag down to the middle (Exact middle) of the photo, then
click on the side ruler and drag across to the middle (Again exact
middle) of the photo.

If you are having trouble finding the exact middle of the photo, move
the cursor to the very bottom left of your photo and the height of your
photo will be listed at the bottom left of the GIMP interface. The
numbers are listed in an (x,y) format so you want the first number to
say 0 and the second to be the largest you can make it by dragging your
cursor. The second number is the height, and half of that is the middle
of your photo. You can do the same with the top ruler to find the
vertical middle of your photo. Only this time the co-ordinates at the
bottom left of the GIMP interface should list the second number (y) as
0, and the first number should be as large as you can make it by moving
your cursor (to the upper right of the photo). Once you have your width
again half of that will be the middle of your photo.

Then using construction lines put one at the top of your object, and the
bottom of your object. Find the \"height\" of your object by the
distance between them. Remove the construction lines from the top and
the bottom, and place a new construction line above the horizontal
center line by the half of the \"height\"(of your object). Now place a
construction line on both sides of your object and find the "width"
(distance between the new vertical lines), then remove those
construction lines and place a new construction line vertically half of
the \"width\"(of your object) to the right of the vertical center line.
Now cut the object out, and drag it so that the point you used as the
\"top\" is on the horizontal construction line that is above the middle.
Then Drag the photo left or right until the right edge of the object is
on the vertical construction line you put in right of the middle
construction line.

Now the center of your object is at the center of your photo. This is a
very important thing because when blender loads in the picture you will
need this so that all of your pictures match up with each other 3d. You
should repeat these steps with all 3 photos. I also don\'t recommend
doing it in GIMP\'s \"layered mode\" as that caused more pandemonium for
me. I recommend opening each photo in a new window .

Taking your pictures is the most important part, because if the pictures
are not all in the same scale (object size to photo size) then your
photos will not line up and you won\'t be able to place a dot on the
same location from front view, side view, and top view.

As a recommendation I would recommend making your first model from a
Lego man. That is what I did and it is very simplistic easy practice. To
take my photos I took about 10 minutes to construct a photo platform for
my object. It consisted of a cardboard box with two sides cut out. I
covered the inside area with computer paper. I then used a 2"x4" and a
ruler to make sure that the box stayed the same distance from the camera
for all shots, as well as marking where the Lego man's feet were
positioned inside the box with a pencil. This will provide good
pictures, providing you keep the camera at the same distance and zoom
for all three photos.


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Subsurface scattering

|previous=2D Image (logo) to a 3D Model
}}
```
Real-life materials which may look opaque are often not perfectly
opaque: light may penetrate a little way into the surface before
bouncing off. This is noticeable as a subtle softening and colouring of
the edges of shadows on the object. This effect is known as *subsurface
scattering* (commonly abbreviated
"SSS").

![](Blender267MaterialSSSSettings.png "Blender267MaterialSSSSettings.png")
Open a new default Blender document. Select the default cube. Go to the
Material
![](Blender255MaterialContextButton.png "Blender255MaterialContextButton.png")
context in the Properties window. Look for the Subsurface Scattering
panel. Check the box at the top to enable it for the cube's material.

!Subsurface scattering with default settings, before and
after
Compare how the cube looks with and without SSS enabled: see how the
edge of the shadow becomes a little bit fuzzy? This is simulating the
effect when the light penetrates a little way into the material,
emerging just within the edges of the shadow, making them that little
bit lighter.

Note the following settings in the SSS panel:

-   The *Scale* controls how the overall size of the effect relates to
    the size of the object. If you size your object so that 1 BU is
    equivalent to 1 metre, then the default scale of 0.1 should produce
    a realistic effect.
-   The colour swatch causes the scattered light to take on the
    specified colour.
-   The RGB Radius values govern how far the red, green and blue
    components of the light penetrate into the material before being
    scattered. These are relative values, all subject to the overall
    Scale factor.

!Higher red scattering
radius
For example, this is what happens when the red radius is increased to
10, leaving the green and blue radii and the actual scattering colour
unchanged: this causes the red light to travel further, tinting the
interior of the shadow red and the adjacent area the opposite
colour---blue-green. This is similar to what happens with human skin, as
the light scatters through the blood vessels underneath.

![](Blender267MaterialSSSPresets.png "Blender267MaterialSSSPresets.png")
Try the various options in the Presets menu: how convincing do they
look? Of course, they may look better if you apply them to a model that
is supposed to look like the actual material.


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Ray Tracing

|previousText=Subsurface Scattering
|next=Using Textures
}}
```
You previously learned about
using diffuse and specular shaders to control the appearance of a
material. These settings only affect how the material reflects *direct*
light from lamps; but in the real world, objects are also illuminated by
*indirect* light bouncing off other lit objects.

!A particularly outstanding ray-tracing example, from the Wikipedia
article "wikilink")

In particular, there is the important case of light bouncing off mirrors
and other glossy or polished surfaces before travelling to the camera,
and also of light passing *through* transparent objects and being
*refracted* (bent).

In the real world, such light can illuminate other objects, and it can
also do so after bouncing off non-mirrorlike surfaces. The general
problem of modelling such indirect lighting is called *global
illumination*, commonly abbreviated "GI". Unfortunately, the Blender
Internal renderer, which is what we have been working with so far,
cannot deal with GI in its full generality; to cope with that, we would
have to use the Cycles renderer, which is introduced
later. So for now
we will confine ourselves to mirrorlike reflections which do not
illuminate other objects.

## Setting The Scene

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceArraySettings.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceArraySettings.png")
Let's create a very basic model we can use to experiment with various
ray-tracing effects. Open a new Blender document. Make sure the default
cube is selected. Go to the Modifiers
![](Blender255ObjectModifiersContextButton.png "Blender255ObjectModifiersContextButton.png")
context in the Properties window, and add an Array modifier to the cube.

The cube will immediately become two cubes, but so close together that
they look like a single cuboid. This is because the default settings for
the Array modifier are to use a Relative offset of (*X*, *Y*, *Z*) =
(1.0, 0.0, 0.0). Change these offsets to (1.5, 1.5, 1.5), so the copies
are more widely separated at a more interesting angle, and increase the
repetition count to 5.

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceRender1.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceRender1.png")
Now try rotating and repositioning the camera and the cubes to get them
all in the view. If you hit  to render
now, you should see something like at right. So far not very exciting.
But since we are going to be dealing with reflections and refractions,
it would be nice to have something in the surroundings to be reflected
and refracted.

thumb\|upright=0.5
One easy thing to add is a world texture. Go to the Texture
![](Blender255TextureContextButton.png "Blender255TextureContextButton.png")
context in the Properties window. Make sure the World texture
![](Blender263TextureIconWorld.png "Blender263TextureIconWorld.png")
(the leftmost of the 3 buttons at the top of the topmost panel) is
selected. Create a new texture, and change its type to "Magic", which
has a nice variety of different colours. Go to the Influence panel; by
default the top-left checkbox (affect background progression) is
checked; but this does nothing, because the default sky setting is not
to have a progression at all. So uncheck that box, and check the second
one on the left (affect horizon colour) instead.

Also under the "Size:" setting, set the X, Y and Z scaling all to 3.0;
by shrinking the pattern, this will bring more detail into the view.

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceRender2.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceRender2.png")
Now if you hit , you should get an image
with a slightly more interesting background.

OK, we are ready to start playing with the material settings\...

## Ray-Traced Transparency

!Left half of pool is filled with water material, right half is empty;
floor is *not* broken, it just looks that way because the path of the
light is
bent.
In physics, *refraction* is what happens to
light when it crosses the boundary from one material (e.g. air) into
another (e.g. water); it slows down when it enters the denser material,
and speeds back up when it leaves. The *refractive
index* of a material is a measure of how
much the speed changes relative to a vacuum (where light travels at full
speed). As the speed changes, the light beam also changes direction,
giving rise to well-known "bending" effects like you see when you put a
teaspoon in a glass of water, or look down into a swimming pool (as at
right).

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceMaterialTransparencySettings.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceMaterialTransparencySettings.png")
Anyway, back to our tutorial model. Make sure the cubes are selected. Go
to the Materials
![](Blender255MaterialContextButton.png "Blender255MaterialContextButton.png")
context in the Properties window. Find the Transparency panel, and check
the box at the top to enable transparency. In the row of buttons for
selecting the type of transparency just below that checkbox, titled
"Mask", "Z Transparency" and "Raytrace", select "Raytrace".

In the editable fields immediately below those transparency-type
buttons, the one at the top left is titled "Alpha:"; you will have to
reduce it below its default value of 1.0 in order to see any actual
transparency effect. Try reducing it to 0.5.

Just a bit further down from the Alpha field, look for two more fields:
"IOR:" ("Index Of Refraction") and "Filter:".

To simulate glass, set the IOR to 1.5 (other useful values are 1.33 for
water, 2.4 for diamond etc).
The Filter value controls how much of the diffuse colour of the material
the light takes on as it passes through; set it to something like 0.5,
though you probably won't notice much effect from this unless you
specify a strong colour in the diffuse shader settings.

The "Depth:" setting controls how many times the light passes across
material boundaries before the renderer gives up keeping track. Larger
values give more realistic results, at the usual cost of increased
render times. In more complex scenes where you have transparent objects
in front of other transparent objects, this value will have a definite
effect; here it probably doesn't matter too much.

!Semi-glassy\...
Now if you hit , you should see
something like at right. The cubes still look a bit grey; if you set the
alpha to 0, they will look much more transparent.

Also try playing with the "Amount:" slider under "Gloss:": the default
value of 1.0 gives perfectly smooth refraction, while values less than
1.0 give a "frosted glass" effect, blurring the light as it passes
through the material.

## The Fresnel Factor

Real-life materials are never perfectly opaque or perfectly absorbent;
even with something like a shiny metal which seems entirely opaque,
light still manages to penetrate a little way into the surface, and even
with the blackest of black soot, there is still some (tiny) amount of
reflection going on.

The general behaviour is that a material is most transparent when its
surface is viewed directly-on, and it is most reflective when it is
viewed almost parallel to the surface (as usual, Wikipedia has all the
gory details if you're interested).

If you look back at that Transparency settings panel, you will see to
the right of the Alpha field one labelled "Fresnel:", and another one
below that labelled "Blend:", which comes to life when the Fresnel value
is set to something greater than its default of 0.

The Fresnel (pronounced
"fray-nel") value is the *power*,
which governs how sharply the transparency of the surface changes with
viewing angle; 0 means the transparency stays unchanged at all angles,
while higher values cause the transparency to fall off more rapidly
towards the edges. The maximum value you can set for this field is 5.0.

## Ray-Traced Mirroring

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceMaterialMirrorSettings.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceMaterialMirrorSettings.png")
Just below the Transparency panel in the material settings, you will see
the Mirror panel. Check the box at the top to enable it. Note the
"Reflectivity:" editable field just below the checkbox; you will need to
set this to something other than its default of 0.0 in order to actually
observe any mirror effect.

!Is that glass, or is that
glass?
If you render now, you should see something like this.

See also the colour swatch specifying the colour of reflections: the
default white means that reflections keep their colours unchanged, which
is characteristic of reflections off glass, plastic or ceramics.
Reflections off metal tend to take on the colour of the metal.

The Gloss setting governs how mirrorlike the reflections are: reducing
this from its default of 1.0 adds blurring to the reflections, giving
the effect of less-polished surfaces.

Note the Mirror panel has its own Fresnel settings. Go back to the
Transparency panel, and set the Alpha to 0. That will disable the
diffuse and specular shaders completely, giving us a pure ray-traced
material, and also render the transparency Fresnel ineffective. Instead,
we will control the Fresnel here in the Mirror panel. The behaviour for
a nonzero Fresnel power is similar to before; however, instead of fading
from transparent in surfaces viewed face-on to effects from the shaders
when viewed edge-on, it will fade from transparent to mirrored.

!Even more
glassy? Set the
Fresnel value to something like 2.5. Compare the render to the previous
one without Fresnel:

!Pure mirror
Finally, set the Reflectivity to 1.0, and the Fresnel to 0. Now if you
render, you should get a completely opaque, mirror-reflective set of
cubes.

## Why Are My Shadows Black?

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceShadows1.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceShadows1.png")
Consider the render at right: this is a default document with a plane
added; the cube has ray-trace transparency turned on with an IOR of 1.5,
Filter of 0.5, Depth of 5 and Alpha of 0, other settings left at their
default. The plane has a material with all settings at their default.

Light should be able to pass through the cube and illuminate the part of
the plane directly behind; so why is the shadow completely black?

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceMaterialShadowSettings.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceMaterialShadowSettings.png")
The problem is, by default, the Blender Internal renderer *doesn't
bother to compute transparent shadows*. Instead, it assumes that
anything that blocks the light does so completely, presumably because it
would slow things down too much to assume the opposite. To fix this,
select the plane (*not* the cube), and in its Material
![](Blender255MaterialContextButton.png "Blender255MaterialContextButton.png")
settings, look for the Shadow panel. Note the two checkboxes at upper
left: by default the "Receive" one is checked, the "Receive Transparent"
one is not. Check the latter as well. Now any object surface with this
material assigned will have proper non-transparent shadows computed as
appropriate.

![](Blender267BasicRayTraceShadows2.png "Blender267BasicRayTraceShadows2.png")
Now when you re-render, you should see a more accurate-looking
transparent shadow.

Imagine if you had a scene with lots of non-transparent objects with
different materials receiving shadows from lots of transparent objects:
you have to check this "Receive Transparent" option on *every single
one* of those materials that might be receiving transparent shadows!
Yes, this can be a pain. Not to mention the issue of
*caustics "wikilink")*, which the BI renderer
doesn't handle at all. If you want to render realistic scenes like this,
then you will need to learn about
Cycles\...


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Using Textures

|previous=Ray Tracing
}}
```
Having said everything about Textures in Blender in the manual
1, many people
find it still hard to grasp the concepts behind the texturing system and
applying Textures.

There are some brilliant tutorials about texturing on the net, I
personally like Texturing for
Dummies , by Leigh Van
Der Byl. It is free (as in free beer, not as in free speech like this
book), so you should download and read it now, to take the most
advantage out of this tutorial.

We\'re going to see how to apply the texturing concepts within the
Blender texturing system. I will explain it using an image texture and
procedural textures, but be aware of the fact that the texturing system
is quite complex, and more advanced maps are created with the use of a
few combined textures.

If you\'re really into texturing you need to learn how to
UV-Map, there\'s no
way around it.

## Colormap

!**Image 1a:** An image applied as a texture to a plane. Download
texture{width="250"}
This is the most basic mapping type. You can use an image or a
procedural texture to change the color of a material.

**Noob Note:** A simple Basic texturing Guide The Basics of texturing
I.

framed\|**Image 1b:** The *Map To* Panel for a
colormap. **Using
an image texture:**

-   Add an *Image* texture in the *Texture Buttons* and load the image
    (this is necessary also for UV mapped textures).
-   The button *Col* in the *Map To* Panel uses the RGB information of
    the image to change the color of the material.
-   The slide number button *Col* governs the blending amount of the
    texture, *Neg* inverts the colourvalues.
-   If you use *No RGB* only the intensity information from the picture
    is used. The target color is then taken from the RGB sliders in the
    *Map To* Panel.

**Using a procedural texture:** The result depends on the type of value
the texture provides.

-   If the value is of type intensity (e.g. *Clouds*), the color is
    taken from the RGB sliders in the *Map To* Panel.
-   If the value type is color (e.g. *Magic*), everything is handled as
    with image textures.

## Diffusemap

framed\|**Image 2a:** Diffusemap settings with a small range
(0.2). A
Diffusemap changes the amount of diffuse light the material
reflects/absorbs. This is controlled by changing the reflectivity
(*Ref*). A material with a rough surface may have the color white, but
absorbs light to a greater amount than a material with a smooth surface.
For more on diffuse reflection physics, see Diffuse
reflection.

**Noob note:** Most of the settings described below will be found in the
\"Influence\" section under the texture/material panel in blender 2.61

Let\'s test:

-   In the Texture buttons (**F6**), in the Map Image panel, make sure
    *UseAlpha* is unchecked.
-   In the Material buttons (**F5**), in the Map To panel, uncheck *Col*
    and check *Ref*.

**Noob note:** In blender 2.6x \"Ref\" has been changed to \"Intensity\"

To understand the effect of this and all other mappings, we have to
discuss the meaning of the NumButton *DVar* (Destination Value).

-   White in a texture (or an intensity value of 1) will be mapped to
    the value of the *DVar* Button. So if you set *Dvar* to 1, white
    will be mapped to 1, if you set *DVar* to 0, white will be mapped
    to 0. The result is multiplied with the value of the *Var* number
    button.
-   Black on the other hand (or an intensity value of 0) does not change
    anything, so the settings from the material will stay unchanged. The
    difference between the material settings and the *DVar* button is
    the range for the texture.

Let\'s take a look at an example.

!**Image 2b:** The image used for the Colormap applied as a Diffusemap
with a small range
(0.2).."){width="250"}
If we use the default settings for the Diffusemap the range of the
values is small.

-   *Ref* is 0.8
-   *Dvar* is 1.0
-   White pixels in the texture change the *Ref* value to 1.0, black
    pixels in the texture don\'t change the *Ref* value at all.

So the resulting **range** for *Ref* is 1.0 - 0.8 = 0.2.

!**Image 2c:** Diffusemap with full range
(1.0).."){width="250"}
When we change the *Ref* parameter in the *Shaders* panel to 0, we\'ll
get a much larger range of *Ref* values from 0.0 (black pixels in the
texture) to 1.0 (white pixels in the texture).

There are other ways to achieve a larger range, you could also set *Ref*
to \"Inverted\" (click it twice, it will be painted in yellow), *DVar*
to 0 and *Ref* in the *Shaders* panel to 1.

## Luminositymap

Luminosity is the property of self-illumination, i.e. of objects
emitting light. So we change the *Emit* value with this texture.

This light does not illuminate other objects - you would have to use
Global Illumination (e.g. Yafaray) to use an emitting object as a true
light source. Radiosity rendering does not work with Luminositymaps.

Everything that was said about the *DVar* value applies here exactly as
for Diffusemaps.

## Specularitymap

Specularity is the second most important material attribute. Specularity
fakes the reflections of light sources. Of course you can modify the
general specularity with a texture. In Blender you can change three
different attributes related to specularity:

1.  *Spec:* The degree of specularity. You can\'t set values above 1.0
    with Specularitymaps, but you could invert the texture and set
    *Spec* on the *Shaders* panel to a higher value and *Dvar* to the
    lowest value of your range. So the texture actually lowers the
    specularity in all areas, that shall have a low specularity.
2.  *Hard:* The hardness of the specular reflections. Sometimes called
    \"Glossiness\". A *DVar* of 1 is equivalent to a hardness of 130.
    Use the same method as described above to achieve a greater range
    for the hardness.
3.  *Csp:* The specularity color.

You will probably use some kind of \"Dirtmapping\" (stenciling) to
change the specularity in certain regions of an object, like an often
touched object, that is shinier on the used or touched parts.

For more on specular reflection physics see Specular
reflection.

## Reflectionmap

A Reflectionmap would be used to fake real raytracing reflections,
either because you don\'t want to use raytracing, or you don\'t want to
create a scene, or you need a special effect you don\'t get with
raytraced reflections. A Reflectionmap would be a Colormap, typically an
Environment
Map.
Since you can use prerendered Environment Maps, you can fake a
surrounding for your object. Sometimes it is sufficient to use a simple
Colormap that just bears the right colours, e.g. if you want to create a
stormy sea it is not necessary that the clouds above are truly reflected
in the water.

Environment Maps are a bit more complicated to create, see the
respective section in the manual.

A very different kind of texture would be used to change the amount of
raytracing reflections, the *RayMir* value. This is useful for something
like a stained or dirty mirror. Simply click the *RayMir* button in the
*Map To* panel and lower the *DVar*.

## Transparencymap

Transparency- or Alphamaps change the (partial) visibility of an object.
They don\'t have to be transparent themselves (though it doesn\'t hurt,
see Make a material partially
transparent).
You will often use an image as Colormap and Transparencymap together. A
nice example for a Transparencymap is in the paragraph
*Translucencymap*.

There\'s one catch though, you can\'t change Fresnel transparency with a
Transparencymap. So you have to use plain transparency, or fake the
Fresnel effect with the method described in the section Map
Input.

## Refractionmap

Well, there\'s no such thing as a Refractionmap. You can\'t change the
IOR with a texture. You may try and use Environment Maps to fake
refraction, but the result is often not worth the effort (for stills, in
an animation it might not be that noticeable).

## Translucencymap

Translucency is a material property of all semitransparent materials,
like frosted glass, paper, plastic, cloth, skin, stained glass and the
like. It allows objects to be lit from behind.

Totally clear glass does not show where the lightrays travel through it.
But if the glass is dirty or uneven you will see the path of the light.
In the first example (*Translucency 1*) the glass material has a
transparency of about 0.5 and a translucency of 0.78. So the glass is
brighter where the lightrays hit the surface from behind. Additionally a
Transparencymap - which sets Alpha to 1 - lets the surface appear to be
stained. If we use the same map also as a Translucencymap (*Translucency
2*), the stain appears to be lit - which it would be of course also in
reality.

```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
!*Translucency 1:* Material with Translucency and a Transparencymap,
but without a Translucencymap. This is an example from the releasenotes
of Blender
v2.32.{width="300"}

```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
!*Translucency 2:* Material with Translucency and a Transparencymap and
a
Translucencymap.{width="300"}

```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
framed\|Material settings for example *Translucency 2* (blue
glas). The
settings for the material (*Z-Transp*, but raytracing shadows):

framed\|Adjusted *Clouds*
texture. The
texture itself is a *Hard Noise* *Clouds* texture, with modified
*Brightness* and *Contrast*.

## Bumpmap/Normalmap

framed\|Settings for a Bumpmap in the *Map To*
panel.
Bumpmaps are a technique to create the
illusion of geometry. They could be used for something like a canvas or
any small structures that are either difficult to model, or are too
computationally expensive. As long as you don\'t get too close with the
camera you won\'t notice the difference.

They come in several different flavors:

-   A Bumpmap texture in the nearer sense is a greyscale image or
    procedural texture mapped to *Nor*. Don\'t activate the button
    *Normal Map* in the *Texture Buttons* for a Bumpmap.
-   A Normalmap is an RGB image whose color information bears the
    information about the direction of the surface normal, also mapped
    to *Nor*. For this you need to activate the button *Normal Map* in
    the *Texture Buttons*.

See also the manual about the differences between Bump and Normal
Maps.

```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
!The bumped
image.{width="300"}

```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
!The Bumpmap, a simple greyscale
image.{width="300"}

```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
```{=html}

```
In the example the bump map was used additionally to the colormap. The
*Nor* slider in the *Map To* panel sets the depth of the bumping.

## Displacement Map

framed\|none\|A displacement map deformes the
mesh A
Displacement Map creates real geometry, i.e. it moves the vertices of a
mesh. Therefore, you need a lot of vertices. You can use it as a texture
mapped to *Disp*, or even more flexible using the Displacement
Modifier.

## Dirtmap

!Our picture has seen some bad
times.{width="300"}
I will try to explain what a Dirtmap is and how you apply one. There are
different things that people mean when they talk about dirtmapping.

-   Sometimes a Diffusemap is meant.
-   Dirtshading is often used as a term for Ambient Occlusion.

With a Dirtmap I simply mean any texture that breaks the clean, uniform,
untouched look of image or procedural textures. You may do this by
simply combining some partially transparent textures resp. textures that
affect only parts of the picture in a semirandom way. You can also
select parts of the object with a
stencil
texture. And of course you can (and will) combine both of these methods.

As long as two textures don\'t affect the same property you can simply
apply one after the other. To select only parts of your texture to apply
another texture with the same properties use stenciling. Or use
stenciling as a convenient method to separate two different sections on
your texture.

You need at least three textures for this.

1.  The basic texture (e.g. color).
2.  The selecting (stenciling) texture.
3.  The Dirtmap affecting the same or other properties then the first
    texture.

The stenciling texture has to provide an intensity value, so if you want
to use an image (or other RGB) texture you must activate *No RGB*.

!The stenciling
texture.{width="300"}
The image texture used as a dirtmap for our example contains some
semirandom noise. framed\|Settings for the stenciling
texure.
*Nor* for the stenciling texture was not really necessary, but it adds a
nice 3D effect. Since the stenciling texture is mostly white, I had to
use *Neg* to use the black pixels as mask.

The third texture (\"Dirt\") affects *Col*, *Nor* and *Spec*.

## Use UV Coordinates for your Maps

It is often necessary to create UV coordinates for more complicated
textures/objects. UV coordinates only describe the geometry of the
mapping, i.e. which pixels to map on what face. You can use the UV
coordinates to create any mapping you want.

1.  Create an UV map for your object. This is beyond the scope of *this*
    tutorial, see UV Map
    Basics and the
    section about UV Mapping in the manual.
2.  Don\'t turn *TexFace* in the *Material* Panel in the *Material
    buttons* on. Though *TexFace* is a very simple way to use UV
    textures, the normal texture mapping methods are much more flexible.
3.  Load the image you used for UV-mapping (or any image with the same
    size) as an image texture. Change *Map Input* to *UV*.
4.  Now you can use this image - or multiple different images - for your
    maps, including color-mapping.

The advantage of this technique is that you have much better control
over your texture. Even if you just want to texture something like a
cube shaped object, you\'re often better off with UV mapped textures.


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Using a texture to make a material partially transparent

|previous=Using Textures
}}
```
To understand the collaboration of textures and material we will use the
opacity of a material - the alpha value - as an example. We will show
how to set the opacity/transparency of a material with different types
of textures.

The Alpha value of the material is set with the *A*(lpha) slider in the
Material panel. This is the basic Alpha value. If *Alpha* is 1, the
material is fully opaque, if *Alpha* is 0, the material is fully
transparent.

Now you change that basic Alpha value with a texture.

1.  If the basic Alpha value is 1 you can only lower it with a texture,
    because 1 is the maximum value anyway.
2.  If the basic Alpha value is 0 you can only increase it with a
    texture.

The target value of Alpha that can be achieved with the texture is set
with the **DVar** button in the *Map To* panel. If *Alpha* is 0 and
*DVar* is 0 than nothing will happen. You can set either:

1.  *Alpha* to 1 and *DVar* to 0, then the texture will lower the Alpha
    value, or you can set
2.  *Alpha* to 0 and *DVar* to 1, then the texture will increase the
    Alpha value.

Both methods are possible and equal in the result, but for clarity we
will always use method number 1. There are more combinations possible,
so it may be that you find tutorials with different settings.

## Using a greyscale texture - white for opaque

!**Image 1a:** Greyscale Image of
leaf{width="200"}
In **Img. 1a** the black areas shall become transparent, the white areas
shall become opaque.

-   Load the image as *Image* texture, turn off *Use Alpha*.
-   Set the *Alpha* value in the material buttons to 1. This is the
    default value anyway.
-   Activate *ZTransp* (or *RayTransp* if you need refraction)
-   The *Map To* panel:
    -   Turn off *Col* (or else the texture would also affect the color
        of the material)
    -   Turn on *Alpha* inverse, you have to click it twice. We need
        inverse here, because the texture shall affect the material from
        its black parts. (**Noob Note**: *On blender 2.63 you need to
        set a specific \'Alpha\' value (the one located under
        \'influence-\>diffuse) to -1, as the alpha button referenced in
        this step no longer exists in 2.63.*)
    -   Turn on *Spec* inverse (you don\'t want your transparent
        sections to show specular highlights) (**Noob Note**: *As far as
        I could tell, the equivalent to doing this on blender 2.63 is to
        set a specific \'Intensity\' value (located under
        Influence-\>Specular) to -1.*)
    -   Set the *DVar* value to 0. The default value is 1.

framed\|**Image 1b:** Material settings for the
texture Now
let\'s take a look at the texture.

-   Where the texture has a value of 0 (e.g. black) it will affect the
    Map To values fully (because we have used inverse).
-   Where the texture has a value of 1 (e.g. white) it will do nothing.
-   Where the texture has a value in between 0 and 1 it will affect the
    Map To values partially.

!**Image 1c:** Result of applying the Greyscale Image to a
plane{width="200"}
The result is shown in **Img. 1c**, the texture applied to a plane
rendered against a white world background.

If your texture is inverted, i.e. black shall become opaque and white
transparent, simply use the normal *Alpha* and *Spec* setting in the
*Map To* panel. (**Noob Note** *If you don\'t see the white \'shine\' on
the maple leaf, move the default point lamp (lighting source) closer to
the plane mesh to which the texture and material are assigned.*)

That\'s it. It\'s basically the same for all settings, the only problem
that remains is sometimes to know which value a texture will give if you
use transparent textures or colored textures.

**_For 2.7 blenderers out there:_** To obtain the
results I had a hard time and finally came across (almost accidentally)
to uncheck the \'use alpha\' button in the image sub panel of the
texture menu. Then, you can get the results as above.

## Using a partially transparent texture to make the material transparent

!**Image 2a:** Using a partially transparent
texture{width="200"}
Often we have a partially transparent texture, and want to directly use
that transparency of the texture to make the material transparent too.
We have now to think a bit about the values that are generated by the
texture itself: If we load the image texture with *Use Alpha*, the Alpha
value of the image is used as input value for *Alpha* and *Spec* in the
*Map To* panel. So a fully transparent pixel in the image has an Alpha
value of 0, a fully opaque pixel has an Alpha value of 1. This is
exactly the same situation as above, simply turning on *Use Alpha* and
*Premul*(tiply Alpha in Advance) will give use the same result as with
the greyscale image.  framed\|**Image 2b:**
Texture settings for a RGB/Alpha
texture So:

-   Turn on *Use Alpha* in the *Map Image* panel of the texture buttons.
-   Turn on *Premul* in the *Image* panel. This is necessary to get real
    partial transparent borders.
-   Turn on *Col* in the *Map To* panel additionally.

!**Image 2c:** The
result{width="200"}
The rendering result is pretty similar to **Img. 2a**, only that it is
affected by lighting (and casts shadows).

Don\'t forget to turn on *TraShadow* in the *Shaders* panel for the
object that is **receiving** the shadow. (**Noob Note:** In Blender 2.6x
you also need to check the \"Receive Transparent\" box in the shadow
section of the material for the object receiving shadows or you will get
a black square shadow.)

(**Noob Note:** *In this case add a plane colored white just below the
\"leaf.\" This is the object the you should turn on* **TraShadow** *with
as this is the object that will receive the shadow. This is also
providing that you have a light source properly positioned.*)


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Creating Basic Seawater

|previous=Using a texture to make a material partially transparent
}}
```

:   \[*ed. note: Need a much more basic introduction to what materials,
    textures, maps, and all the accompanying terms are with illustrative
    examples before diving into a specific sea-water example. Much more
    effective learning when you know what you\'re changing.*\]

!Settings for the seawater
material{width="350"}
75% of the Earth\'s surface is covered with water. In homage to this
great fact, we will develop your materials skills first by creating
basic seawater.

## Create 3 linked planes

First we create a new file in Blender and delete the default cube by
pressing **XKEY** and confirming the popup dialog. Now switch to top
view with **NUM7** and enter **SPACE \> Add \> Mesh \> Plane** to create
a plane. Then scale it up to 20 its original size with the **SKEY** the
way you\'ve already learned in one of the earlier tutorials. Go to the
side view with **NUM3** and duplicate this plane *two more times* using
**Alt-D** (not Shift-D), moving the plane down on the Z axis by two grid
spaces each duplicate. This will make the transparency of the water more
realistic once we set it. Using Alt-D rather than Shift-D makes a linked
duplicate, so that the changes we make to one plane effect the other
two.

## Create material

Now off to the actual texturing work. Select any one of the planes and
press **F5** to bring up the Material Buttons in the Buttons Window. You
will probably find two new small windows appearing here: one called
Links and Pipelines and the other one Preview.

(**Noob note:** A new section has been added for Blender 2.63 users
after this section.)

Click the \'Add New\' button in the \'Links and Pipelines\' tab to
create a new material named \`Material.001\' or so. To make life easier
we\'ll rename it to something meaningful like \'Seawater\' by simply
clicking it and typing in the letters, as shown here (SHIFT+DELETE in
field to clear):

Now, on the same tab, give the seawater material a color of RGB (0.100,
0.310, 0.435). Find the tab that reads \'Mirror Transp\' and click it.
Click on \'Ray Mirror\' and \'Ray Transp\'. For the \"Ray Mirror\" box,
move the \'RayMir\' slider to 0.3, the \'Fresnel\' slider to 2.5 and the
Depth to 5. For the \'Ray Transp\' box, move the \'IOR\' slider to 1.33,
the \'Fresnel\' slider to 2.0 and the Depth to 5. This will give the
water realistic transparency and reflection. Also click the \'Shaders\'
tab, change \'CookTorr\' to \'Blinn\', move \'Spec\' to 2.000, \'Hard\'
to 180 and \'Refr\' to 10.000. This will make the water look more
glossy.

Now we\'ll add a procedural texture to our seawater, which will give it
a \"wavy\" look. Click the Texture button (looks like bricks) or press
**F6** to view the texture buttons subcontext. Click on the knob to the
left of the texture name and select the \"Add New\" button. This creates
a new texture named \"Tex.001\" or so. Click on the name and change it
to \"Waves\".

Go to the Texture Type pull-down (**F6**) and select \'Clouds\'. On the
Clouds tab change \'NoiseSize\' to 0.050. Our Waves texture is ready;
next, we will refine how it is applied to our Seawater material.

Noise Size increases the size of the noise, in this case, the clouds.
Soft Noise blends the intensities and reduces the contrast. Makes a
mellow effect, like soft waves. Hard noise creates a high contrast, and
brings out individual \'shapes\'.

If you want to add more detail to your water, add another texture and
rename it to \"LargeWaves\". Make it a cloud texture like the previous
one, but make it\'s \'NoiseSize\' 0.300 and use \'Hard noise\'.

!The final rendered
image{width="350"}
Left click on the Materials button (looks like a red sphere) to return
to the material buttons subcontext. Look at the Texture panel, and
you\'ll see that the \"Waves\" texture has been automatically associated
with the Seawater material.

Select the \'Map To\' tab. Click the \'Nor\' and \'Spec\' buttons so
they\'re selected and have white text (the white text indicates a
positive mapping). Click the \'Hard\' button twice so it\'s selected and
has yellow text (the yellow text indicates a negative mapping). Click
the \'Col\' button so it is not selected, this button will show any
color in the texture which we do not want. Find the \'Nor\' Slider and
move its value to about 5.00.

If you created the \"LargeWaves\" texture, select the \"LargeWaves\"
texture under \'Texture and Input\', go to the \'MapTo\' tab, deselect
\'Col\', select \'Nor\' and move the \'Nor\' slider to 7.00. Do not
select \'Hard\' or \'Spec\' this time.

For lighting press **Space \> Add \> Lamp \> Sun**. You shouldn\'t need
to move the sun or change any of its settings. Finally move the camera
to the edge of the plain and move it up towards the sky a bit.

Go to the Scene tab (**F10**), and look for the six buttons next to the
big render button. Deselect all these, leaving only the \'Ray\' button
selected. This will tell Blender not to render some features in our
scene that we really don\'t need. Go and press **F12** to render the
water, it may take a while depending on your system.

Admire your water, and maybe drink a tall glass of something refreshing!

## Create Material / Textures (Blender 2.63)

**Material**

-   Go to the properties window (Bottom right window by default) and
    click on the Material tab
-   Click of the + symbol to create a new material and name it Seawater
-   Click on the diffuse color box and give it a seawater blue RGB
    (0.100, 0.310, 0.435)
-   Enable the Mirror checkbox
-   In the Mirror section, set Reflectivity: 0.3, Fresnel: 2.5 and
    Depth: 5
-   Enable the Transparency checkbox
-   In the Transparency section, click the Raytrace button
-   Also in the Transparency section, set IOR: 1.33, Fresnel: 2 and
    Depth: 5
-   In the Specular section, use the pull-down menu to change CookTorr
    to Blinn, then set Intensity: 1, Hardness: 180 and IOR: 10

**Textures**

-   Still in the Properties window, click on the Textures tab
-   Click on the "+ New" button to create a new texture and name it
    Waves
-   Set the Type: Clouds using the pull-down menu
-   In the Clouds section, set Size: 0.05 to create soft noise
-   In the Influence section, uncheck Color under Diffuse, then under
    Specular, check the \"Specular\" box and "Hardness" box then set the
    value to Hardness: -1. Under Geometry, check the "Normal" box and
    set the value to Normal: 5

(**Noob Note: V. 2.78** Under Mapping change coordinates to Generated.)

-   Select the second line in the Textures list and create a second
    Texture using the "+ New" button. Name it LargeWaves
-   Set the Type to clouds again, but this time, set Size: 0.3 in the
    Clouds section and click on the \"Hard\" button for hard noise
-   Deselect "Color" and under Geometry, select the "Normal" box and set
    the value to Normal: 7

(**Noob Note: V. 2.78** Under Mapping change coordinates to Generated.)

**Lighting**

-   In object mode, select the default lamp (if present) and delete it
-   Create a new lamp by pressing ALT+A and selecting Lamp \--\> Sun
-   Place the Sun in the sky by moving it up the Z-axis. Press G, Z, 20
    and hit ENTER
-   Go back to the Properties window and click on the World tab
-   Click on the box under Horizon Color and set the color to RGB
    (0.242, 0.617, 0.831) for sky blue
-   Position the camera to be looking over the water with some sky
    visible and render your scene.
-   How about using what we have learned in previous modules to add some
    dolphins swimming just below the surface?

!The final rendered
image{width="350"}

## Extra Practice

This tutorial might also help you make even more realistic water:
Link


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Mountains Out Of Molehills 2

|previous=Creating Basic Seawater
}}
```

This tutorial shows you how to use displacement mapping to make a simple
environment.

1.  Make a grid. (Add/Mesh/Grid) 32x32 will do just fine. Be sure to
    create a Grid instead of a Plane, or you\'ll end up with just a flat
    plane! This is because a Plane only has four vertices to
    manipulate - one for each corner - while a Grid has many, many more.
    A 32x32 Grid, for example, would have over 1000 vertices. The more
    vertices there are to manipulate, the more effect displacement
    mapping will have on the finished product.
2.  Set it smooth. (Editing/Link and Materials/Set Smooth)
3.  Make a new material for it. (Shading/Material/Add New)
4.  Make a new texture for the material. (Shading/Texture/Add New)
5.  Go to Shading/Texture Buttons. You can see your newly created
    texture there now.
6.  Change Texture Type to Clouds.
7.  Change the name of the texture to be more descriptive. For example
    GroundDisp or something similar.
8.  Go back to Shading/Material buttons. You can see our cloud texture
    applied now, but it\'s not applied correctly yet. Let\'s fix this
    next.
9.  Go to Shading/Map To. This defines how the selected texture is
    mapped on our material. Uncheck Col, check Disp on, and set the Disp
    slider to a value like 0.200
10. Set camera and a few lights to the scene. (This is already done as
    part of the default scene in recent versions of Blender, such as
    2.49)
11. Render.

**Noob Note** It looks like from version 2.70 there is no shading as a
main tool but rather as a subtool for Material, so in version 2.70 to
get the effect described in here you have to check third checkbox in
Texture\>Influence\>Geometry and adjust the slider

:

    :   Several individuals, when working through this tutorial, had
        trouble getting anything more than a flat plane. A few solutions
        were proposed (most are still visible on the Talk page), and
        while each worked in its own way, the vast majority of the time
        the problem stemmed from creating a Plane instead of a Grid.
        With version 2.79, it was necessary to change Texture \| Mapping
        \| Coordinat in the Properties window to Generated, Object, or
        Global rather than the default \"UV\" to get anything but a
        plane. Be sure to follow each step very carefully to ensure you
        don\'t miss anything or do a step incorrectly.

![](Ground1.jpg "Ground1.jpg")

You can tweak the environment easily by changing Nor value in the
Shading/Map To. This defines how strongly the displacement texture
affects the material.

You could also add subsurfing to the ground area to get smoother
results. Also feel free to tweak the texture and try out different
alternatives.

Once your mountain looks good, try adding some Mist.

1.  Select the \"Mist\" button on the \"Mist/Stars/Physics\" Tab among
    the World buttons
2.  Add a Cloud Texture to the World and make it blend from white to
    gray

The end result is something like this:

![](Blender_Hill.jpg "Blender_Hill.jpg")


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Basic Carpet Texture

|previous=Mountains Out Of Molehills 2
}}
```
## Goal

I am using a basic scene that I quickly set up before I started to
create the carpet material. It shows a monkey (suzanne), a plane,
camera, 3 area lamps and 1 spot lamp.\
!The basic scene
setup{width="240"}

The purpose of this tutorial, is to highlight the power of blenders
built in shaders and procedural textures to create a carpet material to
use in your scenes.

**`NOTE:`**`''  For those of you needing help getting a similar scene to the one above, here are some axis positions,etc. to help out:`\
**`(Spot-Lamp)`**`-`**`X`**`=1.62,`**`Y`**`=0.86,`**`Z`**`=6.74;`**`rotation`**`-`**`X`**`=37.26,`**`Y`**`=3.16,`**`Z`**`=181.34;`\
**`(Area-Lamp-1)X`**`=4,`**`Y`**`=3.27,`**`Z`**`=4.12;`**`rotation`**`-`**`X`**`=54.67,`**`Y`**`=-18.59,`**`Z`**`=-109.47;`\
**`(Area-Lamp-2)X`**`=-2.07,`**`Y`**`=-2.08,`**`Z`**`=4.85;`**`rotation`**`-`**`X`**`=29.37,`**`Y`**`=-28.98,`**`Z`**`=355;`\
**`(Area-Lamp-3)X`**`=0.315,`**`Y`**`=-2.89,`**`Z`**`=4.29;`**`rotation`**`-`**`X`**`=49.23,`**`Y`**`=-10.63,`**`Z`**`=6.68;`\
**`(Monkey)X`**`=0.05,`**`Y`**`=0,`**`Z`**`=0.42;`**`rotation`**`-`**`X`**`=58.61,`**`Y`**`=-16.07,Z=23.245;`**`DIM`**`(`*`dimensions`*`)`**`X`**`=2.734,`**`Y`**`=1.969,`**`Z`**`=1.703;`\
**`(Plane)x`**`=0,`**`y`**`=0,`**`z`**`=0;`**`(no rotation)`**`;`**`Dimensions`**`: `**`X&Y`**`=14.30,`**`z`**`=0.`

Alternatively, you could also download a pre-made
file
in case that you\'re in a hurry.

**Noob Note:** Try adjusting each of the area lamps Dist(ance) value.

**Noob Question:** How does the above coordinates help me at all? I
haven\'t found anything that tells me were in 3D space object actually
is or the objects dimensions little alone control them. Nothing in the
Tutorial up to now even gives a clue to this.

**Noob Answer:** Hit \'N\' to bring up the Transform Properties window
and enter the values there.

## The Basic Material and Shader Settings

For the basic material for the carpet set the color settings of your
material as follows -\
Col (R 0.714) (G 0.134) (B 0.134) Dark Red\
Spe (R 0.590) (G 0.210) (B 0.084) Reddish Brown\
Mir (R 1.000) (G 1.000) (B 1.000) White\
`<b>`{=html}Noob Note:`</b>`{=html} Copy paste-able hex values: Dark Red
(DC6666), Reddish Brown (CA7E52) and White (FFFFFF)

Change the specular shader to (\'phong\') and leave the default lambert
diffuse shader as it is. Change the (\'spec\') to \[0.13\] and the
(\'hard\') to \[12\]. Lastly click the (\'Full Osa\') button to enable
it. If you render now you will notice that the plane looks like an ugly
pastel color (if not, you have a different lighting setup to mine and
the shader will not look the same as the images in this tutorial.)
Don\'t worry about this ugly looking plane it will soon be a beautiful
carpet.\
!Shader Screen-shot{width="800"}\
!Base Shader{width="240"}

## Cloud Texture 1

Press \'F6\' on the keyboard to bring up the texture panel. Click the
bottommost of the long boxes to create a texture in the bottom channel.
Create a new texture and rename it something like \'Red Clouds 1\'. From
the (\'Texture Type\') pull down select clouds. In the \'Clouds\'
settings panel change (\'NoiseSize\') to \[0.210\] and (\'NoiseDepth\')
to \[4\].\
Now select the Colors tab which will bring up the ColorBand for the
texture. Press the orange (\'Add\') button to add a cursor on the
colourband. Next make sure the \'Cur : 0\' is showing next to the add
button and change the colours as follows - (R 0.770, G 0.168, 0.168).
Now click on right side of the \'Cur : 0\' so it shows \'Cur : 1\'.
Change \'Pos\' to 0.6. Set Alpha to 1 and change the colour to (R 0.732
G 0.243 B 0.243).\

!Texture 1 texture panel
Screenshot{width="608"}\
Now go back into the material settings and change the settings in the
Map To tab as follows. Click (\'Spec\') twice so the text becomes yellow
do the same for (\'Hard\'). Now select \'Subtract\' for the texture
blending mode. Change (\'Col\') to \[0.188\].\
!Texture 1 materials panel
Screenshot{width="408"}\
At this stage if you render you might find it hard to notice the
difference, it is apparent only where there is low light levels on the
plane, don\'t worry about this at the moment. It means if you render
with Ambiant Occlusion you get a nice carpet effect of slightly varying
colour.

## Cloud Texture 2

Go back to the texture panel and create another texture, call it
\'Clouds\' and put it in the channel above \'Red Clouds\'. Change
(\'NoiseSize\') to \[0.054\] and (\'NoiseDepth\') to 4. Select
\'Improved Perlin\' from the Noise Basis pull down. Finally change
(\'Nabla\') to \[0.031\]. Do not change any more settings here.\
!Texture 2 texture panel
Screenshot{width="618"}\
Now in the material panel, under the Map To tab change the following -
Click (\'Nor\'). Click (\'Spec\') and (\'Hard\') twice so as they are
yellow.

!Texture 2 material panel
Screenshot{width="412"}\
!Render with the 2 textures so
far{width="240"}\
As you can see the material is starting to look a bit better, only 2
more textures to go.

## The Final Cloud Texture

Switch to the texture panel once again and create a new Clouds texture
in the next channel up. Change (\'NoiseSize\') to \[0.010\] and
(\'NoiseDepth\') to \[6\]. Now click on the \'Colors\' tab and change
the colour of the left cursor (\'Cur : 0\') to (R 0.713 G 0.262 B 0.223)
and Alpha to 0. Switch to Cursor 1 (\'Cur : 1\') and its colour settings
(R 1.000 G 0.363 B 0.000) and Alpha to 1.\
!Texture 3 texture panel
Screenshot{width="618"}\
Now in the materials panel under the \'Map To\' tab Click (\'Nor\').
Click (\'Spec\') and (\'Hard\') twice so as they are yellow. Leave the
blending mode as \'Mix\'. Change (\'Col\') to \[0.464\] and (\'Nor\') to
\[1.00\].

!Texture 3 materials panel
Screenshot{width="409"}\
!Render of the 3 textures so
far{width="240"}\

## The Last Texture

Finally, go to the textures panel one last time. Create a new Stucci
texture in the next channel up. Change (\'NoiseSize\') to \[0.006\] and
(\'Turbulence\') to \[10.94\]. Click on the \'Colors\' tab. The first
cursor \'Cur : 0\' should be black with alpha 0. \'Cur : 1\' should be
red (R 1.000 G 0.000 B 0.000) with alpha 1.\
!Texture 4 textures
panel{width="800"}\
Now go to the materials panel. Under the \'Map To\' tab Click (\'Nor\').
Click (\'Spec\') and (\'Hard\') twice. Change the Blending type to
\'Subtract\'. Change (\'Col\') to \[0.056\] and (\'Nor\') to \[0.50\].
And that\'s it. When you render now, you should have a nice-looking
carpet material. By tweaking with the colours you can create any colour
of carpet.\
!Texture 4 material
panel{width="412"}\
!Final Render of Carpet
Material{width="640"}\


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/The Rusty Ball

|next=Creating Pixar-looking eyes in Blender
}}
```
Making objects with image textures is not really hard for simple objects
like balls, cubes, and tubes. I\'ll show you how to do this:
![](The-rusty-ball.png "The-rusty-ball.png"){width="300"}

1.  Make a new scene in Blender and delete the default cube.
2.  Add a sphere. Apply a Subsurf modifier and Smooth as we have learned
    in previous tutorials.
3.  Find a file picture that you want to apply to your object. Check
    Flickr for something like \"rust texture.\" (If you are going to
    share it, be sure you check the license of the texture you
    download.)
4.  IMPORTANT: Sometimes you need a seamless texture. If you are not
    sure, use a program such as GIMP. Use FILTERS \> MAP \> MAKE
    SEAMLESS. Usually this works well but if your texture turns into
    gorp, try another one.
5.  (**Noob Note:** *Do \[<http://lmgtfy.com/?t=i&q=rust+textures>*a
    search for **Rust Textures** *\] if you do not have one handy.*)
6.  In the Properties Panel, which by default is the bottom right panel,
    select the Material icon
    ![](Blender268TextureIconMaterial.png "Blender268TextureIconMaterial.png").
7.  Select NEW or if you already have a material in use, select the +
    sign to add a new material. Give it a good name like rustyball.
8.  Click on the Texture Icon
    ![](Blender268TextureIconBrush.png "Blender268TextureIconBrush.png").
9.  Click NEW or if you already have a texture loaded, click on the + to
    add a new one. Give it a good name like RUST.
10. The default type is CLOUDS. Pull down the menu and change it to
    IMAGE OR MOVIE.
11. Go to the IMAGE section, choose OPEN. New options will become
    available. (Note: JPGs, PNGs or TGAs are recommended for Blender.
    Bitmaps tend to get all screwy.)
12. Under Source: Click the folder icon and navigate to your image.
13. Scroll down. In the Image Mapping area are some options that you may
    need to try. If your image is small it may have to be repeated in
    the X or Y directions.
14. In the Mapping section (yes, one section is Image Mapping and the
    other is just Mapping) after Projection, choose the shape closest to
    your object. If you are using a sphere like the example, then choose
    \... you guessed it \... SPHERE.

-   The Preview often looks a bit odd and stripey, but render your
    project and it should look very nice.
-   This method works for all sorts of things. Try making a brick wall
    with a wooden gate using Flickr textures or go back to the Jeep
    tutorial and put a pattern on your jeep.
-   You can also render videos onto objects using this method. Just
    select a movie in the \"Load image\" dialog and enable the option
    \"Movie\" at the textures buttons. `<i>`{=html}NOTE:`</i>`{=html}
    Blender ONLY works with Full Resolution video, not video which has
    been compressed using a codec. Most video software will allow you to
    export video as \"**full frames**\" or \"**no compression**\".
    Experiment a bit!

!300 px\|left\|The Rusty
Ball

!400 px\|Textures used from Flicker under Creative Commons 2.0
license!400
px\|Psychedelic Jeep, my own texture such as it may
be


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Creating Pixar-looking eyes in Blender

|next=Procedural Eyeball
}}
```
!The final result, with a blue
iris.
Note: This tutorial uses the same modelling and texturing technique
described in the well-known MAX tutorial by Adam Baroody
(http://www.3dluvr.com/rogueldr/tutorials/eye/eyes.html). The sole
purpose of my tutorial is to make this technique more popular among the
Blender users by explaining how to achieve the same result with Blender.

The goal of this tutorial is to make a Pixar-looking eye. One of the
main reasons that Pixar\'s characters really convey life is in their
eyes. They have depth, you can see how the eye not only shines but it
\"collects\" light. You may think that you can\'t achieve this effect
without raytracing but you\'re wrong. The secret of this depth is in the
modelling of the eye. Let\'s see how it works!

## Parts of the Eye

In this picture you can see the \"ingredients\" of the eye model. The
blue mesh at the left is the cornea. Its shape allows for a small spot
of specular light to appear on it even if the light is in a far side
position. The mesh next to it is the iris. Now notice how it\'s a bit
concave. That\'s the tricky part - the shape of the iris allows for a
wide soft specular light to appear at the opposite side of the lamp
direction. This fakes refracted light from the cornea and makes the
illusion of \"collecting\" light and creates depth. The next mesh is the
eye pupil - a simple circle.The pupil size is the same size as the iris
hole. You can position it close to the inner side of the iris. And
finally - the eyeball. It\'s a simple sphere with a hole in it.

```{=html}
<div style="clear: left; height: 20px;">
```
```{=html}
</div>
```
I won\'t go deep into modelling of each element - it uses Blender\'s
subdivision surfaces and it\'s quite simple as you can see.\
![](Pixareyes-Eye_mesh.gif "Pixareyes-Eye_mesh.gif")

## Materials

Now let\'s look at the materials.

### Sclera

To make the eye white, press NUM3 to go into side view and add a
UVsphere with 8 segments and 8 rings. To create the hole at the front of
the eyeball, delete the 8 triangular faces that make up one end of the
eyeball. Ctrl+Tab+3 to go into face select mode, B for border mode and
select the middle 8 triangles as shown below, press Delete or the X
button and LMB on Faces.

![](Cornea-example.jpg "Cornea-example.jpg")

The resulting hole will be ringed by 8 vertices (which you could
subsequently extrude and use to help you model the sections below - just
a suggestion for those who feel capable)

The eye white has white color and
high values for Spec and Hard (depends on the lighting), as well as a
moderately high Ref value (0.700 - 0.800). Optionally you can use a
reflection map to make it look more wet but I usually don\'t do this.

(Noob note: Using a Phong specular shader turned to work quite well.)

(User: Make sure shadow buttons are off or it will black out the iris.
Spec and Hard are located in the Shaders tab.)

### Iris

-   Loop select the opening of the eye (ALT+RMB click edge of opening).

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Duplicate the loop (SHIFT+DKEY). Move the new loop away from the eye
    a bit perpendicular to the opening.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   With the loop still selected, extrude (EKEY). Without moving the
    extrusion, press ENTER.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Resize by half (SKEY then .KEY then NUM5 then ENTER).

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Move the inner loop back toward the eye a bit to form the concave
    shape.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Create a new
    material and
    create a new
    texture called
    iris. Then hit F6 or click the spotty square icon
    ![](Blendertexture.png "Blendertexture.png") to open the texture
    panel, choose Image as the texture type and then press Load Image
    button and use the image below.\

!`Setting the iris color.`

Here is the eye texture taken from the picture above: !The
iris

**Alternatively**, you can create an image like this procedurally, using
the technique described here.

All that is required now is a bit of tweaking of the texture size using
the Xsize and Ysize values in the Map Input tab, and scaling the pupil
hole size in Edit mode. Also please remember to change \'Projection\' in
the map input settings from \'flat\' to \'cube\'. You can tweak the RGB
values and brightness/contrast of the image to achieve the appearance
you want. Use a smaller value for Hard (about 50) otherwise you\'ll have
a too shiny look instead of soft specular that fakes refracted light.
The Spec value depends on the energy and distance of the light that
illuminates it. Generally you\'ll need to take care that the refracted
light on the iris should be no more than half as bright as the small
specular spot on the cornea - otherwise you\'ll achieve the bad effect
of two specular spots. Oh, another important thing - join the four
meshes before tweaking the texture coordinates. Otherwise you\'ll have
to do the job twice after you join them, because the texture space is
changed. And activate shadeless button.

### Pupil

The material for the pupil is a simple black color with the
\"shadeless\" button on.

### Cornea

The cornea uses a transparent material (**alpha = 0.1**) with **Spec =
.6**, **Hard = 255** and **SpecTra = 1**. \"**Ztransp**\" should also be
turned on (found under Links and Pipelines tab). The cornea is simply a
piece that fits exactly in the middle of the hole in the eye white. Make
sure that the \'Traceable\' button, under Render Pipeline, in the Links
and Pipelines tab, is switched off.\
Noob note: It may be helpful to turn off Shadebuff since you don\'t
generally want the cornea to cast a shadow.

## Lighting

The lighting is simple - move the eye to a new layer, create a new lamp
and make the lamp affect only this layer. Position the lamp at a good
angle so you have a small shiny spot of specular light on one side of
the iris and a soft spot of \"refracted\" light on the other side. You
can use a backlight to prevent the eyeball from being too dark at the
non-illuminated part.

To move the newly created lamp to a new layer, press SHIFT+M and select
the second blue button and press OK.\
Note though that it is not mandatory to create a new layer; it\'s just
meant to prevent cluttering in your main workspace. It\'s completely
optional.

That\'s it! Now you\'re (almost) ready to start with character
animation. You have a nice eye, now you only need a character for it!

## Changing the Eye Color

You can change the color of the eye by either changing the cornea color,
or by changing the iris color itself. Changing the cornea color might be
like putting on colored contacts.

### Changing the Cornea Color

To change the cornea color, do the following:

1.  In the mesh which is used to create Cornea set the value of the
    alpha slider to 0.2 (or more if you desire)
2.  Change the color of the mesh to whatever color you like
3.  Turn off traceble\
    ![](settings1.jpg "settings1.jpg")
4.  Render!

(and remember to smooth out everything by selecting the particular mesh
going to edit buttons and clicking on set smooth)

Image:Blue eye created in Blender.jpg <File:Greeneyes(1).jpg>
Image:redeyes.jpg

### Changing the Iris Color

To change the iris color you can either edit the iris image external
from blender or you can modify the RGB values of the image when imported
into Blender.

!Setting the iris
color.

Image:Pixareyes-iris_blueeye.png Image:Pixareyes-iris_greeneye.png
Image:Pixareyes-iris_redeye.png

## Troubleshooting

### I don\'t know where is the \"SpecTra\" Value. I\'m working on 2.46.

You can find \"SpecTra\" under \"Mirror Transp\"

### My cornea isn\'t transparent. I don\'t know where Traceable is since I\'m using 2.6x

This applies to 2.6. Something that doesn\'t seem to be mentioned in
this tutorial (sorry if it is and I missed it) is the cornea\'s shadow
settings. If it casts a shadow, it will block out everything inside the
eye. So under the cornea\'s Material-\>Shadow settings uncheck the cast
box. Another option is to leave the cast box in your cornea on, and
change to shadow setting in your iris. Check the Receive Transparent,
and that works just as well.

## Useful Links

1.  Ira Krakow\'s Blender 2.49 Pixar Eye
    Tutorial
2.  `<s>`{=html}For rigging an eyeball, (making it stay in one place
    while turning to look at something) and other eyeball stuff, you can
    visit this site. This tutorial assumes you already have the eyeball
    made above or one of your own.
    Click. 5jun2009,
    the PDF shows no rigging, only creating an eyeball.
    `</s>`{=html}(May 10th 2011, the site no longer exists.)