Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines

In this book you'll learn how to create super-real 3D models of machines using Blender. Three projects, covering a hand weapon, a spacecraft, and a transforming robot, give you all the step-by-step instructions you need.

Overview

Walk through the complete process of building amazing machines
Model and create mechanical models and vehicles with detailed designs
Add advanced global illumination options to the renders created in Blender 3D using YafaRay and LuxRender
Create machines such as a handgun, a steam punk spacecraft, and a transforming robot
Who This Book Is For

This book targets game designers/developers, artists, and product designers who want to create realistic images, 3D models, and videos of machines. You are expected to have experience with basic Blender operation, as the book is not a 'getting started' tutorial.

What You Will Learn
Learn the tools and options to use YafaRay to render your images
Arrange a three-point light system, which produces light for renderings where a single object is the main focus of the image
Create a steam punk spacecraft with minute detailing and more UV Mapping techniques to add extra realism to the model
Use Edge Modeling to create, place, and shape different sections and then connect them together to create a base model
Produce cables and wires by using a combination of curves and surfaces
Make use of textures to generate shadows and the impression of depth in models
Make an object look old by adding dust to its texture
Use, set up, and create combustion flares with particles in Blender 3D
Set up composite nodes, and create glare and glow effects with them
Create a photorealistic space environment for the spacecraft with stars and planets using vertices and Halo materials, and add textures to them
Create a curve, and make any type of object use this curve as a path for animation in Blender
Construct an amazing robot that can change its shape and transform itself into a military vehicle

In Detail
Blender 3D provides all the features you need to create super-realistic 3D models of machines for use in artwork, movies, and computer games. Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines gives you step-by-step instructions for building weapons, vehicles, robots, and more.

This book will show you how to use Blender 3D for mechanical modeling and product visualization. Through the pages of the book, you will find a step-by-step guide to create three different projects: a fantasy weapon, a spacecraft, and a giant robot. Even though these machines are not realistic, you will be able to build your own sensible and incredible machines with the techniques that you will learn in this book along with the exercises and examples.

All the three sections of this book, which cover three projects, are planned to have an increasing learning curve. The first project is about a hand weapon, and with that we can image a small-sized object with tiny details. This first part of the book will show you how to deal with these details and model them in Blender 3D.

In the second project, we will create a spacecraft, adding a bit of scale to the project, and new materials and textures as well. With this project, we will be working with metal, glass, and other elements that make the spacecraft. Along with the object, a new space environment will be created in the book too.

At the end we have a big and complex object, which is the transforming robot. This last part of the book will cover the modeling of two objects and show how you can make one transform into the other. The scale and number of objects in this project are quite big, but the same principles as in the other projects are applied here with a step-by-step guide on how to go through the workflow of the project.