Blender attempt - Help Desperately Needed

Started by TheBlackHole, June 21, 2010, 08:55:37 PM

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TheBlackHole

So I decided to try again with Blender. I decided to use the 2.5 alpha because I heard it wasn't designed like an alien spacecraft.  :D I added a sphere and changed its material. I'm wanting to put a moon map on it and then use a bump map. How do I do this? I've posted at the Blender Artists forum and the only help I got was to look at tutorials for the alien-ship version. "The interface may be different, but it's done the same way," is basically what that user said. I also sent a message to another YouTube user who also thought I should use Blender. Still no response. HELP!!!
They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

Henry Blewer

Use a cylinder projection of the image onto your sphere. This gives more accurate mapping than the spherical projection. Using displacement in Blender is tricky. VERY small values give large results. You may want to convert the sphere object to triangle faces and use a couple of subdivides to get rid of the jaggies.

Be patient with Blender. It is a very good program, but has its quirks.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T

TheBlackHole

OK, but how do I even put the texture on the sphere (forget about mapping for now)? Keep in mind I'm a total n00b. Also, I'm using a UV sphere object. Should I be using an IcoSphere, a NURBS sphere, or can I keep using my UV sphere? I also need to figure out how to add the texture to the material.
They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

Henry Blewer

Select the UV sphere. Add a new Material. Name it something logical. Now add a new Texture. This will be linked to the material you just made. Go to the texture panel and select image. Load in the image. Now return to the material tab. The mapping  area will allow you to select the various things you want to do with the sphere mapping.

Let me send you a simple .blend file. I'll get it ready shortly.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T

TheBlackHole

THANK YOU!!! I didn't need the Blender file, I just followed what you said on my moon .blend file. Here's where I'm at so far:
They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

Henry Blewer

Using the procedural textures is not very hard to do. What's more difficult is learning to model well. Blender does not react or work quite like other 3D software I have used. The key is to use basic shapes, even during construction. When things are pretty close, use a subsurf modifier. Don't be in a hurry to click on the apply button. It's much easier to modify simpler meshes. The subsurf modifier will be calculated by the renderer, whether it has been applied or not.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T

TheBlackHole

#6
This is what I have now, after animating the camera (How do I render animations? EDIT: Never mind that, I figured it out.) and adding the bump map and procedural textures:
They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

Henry Blewer

Nice. You're learning fast. Try BlenderNation. It's a web site devoted to Blender. There are links to many tutorials, objects, materials; etc.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T

latego

Also Blendervideos. Gigantic video tutorials repository.

Happy blending!

TheBlackHole

They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

Henry Blewer

You're coming along fine. The anim is pretty good, especially for a new Blender user.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T