Learn 3D Graphics

1. When you first open Blender, click outside of the splash screen to access the startup file
2. Making sure that you are using "Object Mode", select the default cube (right-click) and press "X" to delete
3. In the Outliner window , right-click on "Scene Collection" to create a new collection for any objects we will create
   • Double-click on the name of the new collection in the Outliner and rename to a more descriptive name (ie. Scene Objects) for clarity
   • If you find the camera and lamp distracting, click on the eye icon to the right of the first collection to temporarily hide their visibilty in the workspace
   • For more compex files in the future, use multiple collections (ie. environment, characters & etc.) to keep your file organized and to easily show/hide larger areas at once
4. Setup the 3D View Window to start the flower:
   1. Switch to a top view by pressing "7" on the numberpad or click in the view widget, on the blue circle with a "Z" (upper right of the 3D View window)
   2. If the pivot point is not located in the center of the grid, use the shortcut "shift+S" to snap to "Cursor to World Orgin"
   3. Add a plane using the shortcut for the add menu: "shift+A" and select a plane (Mesh → Plane)
   4. Double-click on the name of the plane in the Outliner and rename to a more descriptive name (ie. flower) for better organization and clarity (always name objects descriptively as you make them - this becomes important later on when you have many different objects in a single file)
   5. Back in the 3D View window, switch to "Edit mode" using "tab" or the mode dropdown
   6. Delete the plane to leave a blank slate for the flower:
      1. With the flower active, press "X" to delete
      2. Select "Vertices" so that all segments of the plane are removed (since "Edit mode" is active, the flower is still an object in the outliner and the origin of the plane still remains, even though the faces/edges/vertices are now gone)

1. Use control+left-click to create the first vertex (data point) for the flower, a little ways to the left of the "Y-axis" (green/depth) and at least one larger block below the "X-axis" (red/width)
2. Add 5 more vertices (connected by edges) to create an arc that crosses the X-axis using control+left-click
   • If one vertex is selected, the next vertext will be connected to it by an edge (this is what we want)
   • If multiple vertices are selected, the next vertext will be connected to each selected vertex by an edge (for now, avoid this)
   • If no vertices are selected, the next vertext will not be connected to anything
3. Adjust the vertices as necessary using the "Move" tool's transform manipulator (shift+spacebar)
   • Pull the green handle to move along the Y-axis
   • Pull the red handle to move along the X-axis
   • For now, do not use the blue handle, which moves along the "Z-axis" (blue/height)
   
4. Switch back to the select tool to prevent the move widget from interfering (shift+spacebar)
5. Finish the left side of the petal by creating faces
   • faces make up the interior space formed by vertices and the connected/closed edges
   • While faces can be made up of any number of vertices, the program works best when sticking to quads (4 vertices per face) instead of n-gons (more than 4 vertices per face)
   1. With the top vertex selected, create a new vertex directly to it's right, on top of the Y-axis (this should create a horizontal edge)
   2. Create a vertext directly beneath (parallel to the vertext 2nd from the top on the left)
   3. Create a face by selecting the top 4 vertices (shift+right-click to add to the selection) and press "F"

      →

   4. Create the next 2 faces:
      1. Select only the bottom right vertext
      2. Create a vertex directly below (parallel to the equivilent vertex on the left)
      3. Select the set of four vertices and press "F" to make a face

         →

      4. Repeat the last 2 steps to make one more face using the same method
   5. Make the last 2 faces using a different technique:
      1. With only the bottom right vertext selected, press "E" to extrude and then "Y" to lock to the Y-axis and pull down the extruded vertex to be parallel to the bottom left (left-click to keep the position)

         →

      2. Switch the selection mode from "Vertex select" to "Edge select"
      3. Right-click on the newly formed right edge to select it
      4. From the context menu (W), choose subdivide
      5. Select only the upper left and right edges (shift+right-click to select multiple) from the newly subdivided edges and press "F" to make a face

         →

      6. Deselect (opt+A | alt+A) and change the selection mode back to vertex
      7. Press "C" to enable brush select and paint the 4 vertices that make up the missing face (right-click to exit the brush)
      8. Press "F" to make the last face
   6. Adjust vertices as needed with the move tool's transform manipulator (shift+spacebar)
6. Make the right side of the petal by extruding the middle:
   1. Select the entire right side with "opt+right-click | alt+right-click"
   2. Press "E" to extrude and then "X" to lock to the X-axis
   3. Pull the extruded vertices over to the right and left-click to keep the location
   4. Adjust the location of the right vertices to mirror the left side
      • Press "G" and then "X" to move a selected vertex along the X-axis - when it is positioned properly, left-click to keep the position
      • Press "G" and then "Y" to move a selected vertex along the Y-axis - when it is positioned properly, left-click to keep the position
      
   5. Select all the vertices "A"
   6. Make sure you don't have any overlapping vertices with "M → By Distance" (it's helpful to run this occassionally to prevent issues)
      • The merge distance can be adjusted in the merge window in the bottom left of the 3d window if needed (the default should be fine)
   7. Deselect with "opt+A | alt+A"
7. Use "Quad View" (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q) to make the flower petal 3-dimensional:
   • In quad view, the top, front, and right perspectives are always visible
   • Zoom in/out with the scroll wheel
   • Pan by holding shift while dragging with the middle mouse button (mmb)
   • In the top right frame only you can change the angle/rotation with either mmb+drag, the numberpad keys, or the view widget
   1. In a top view, select the middle vertices of the petal (along the Y-axis) with either "opt+right-click | alt+right-click" or box select (B)
   2. Hovering over the right or front view, press "G" and then "Z" to move the bottom of the petal down along the Z-axis
   3. Turn on proportional editing using the toggle or "O"
   4. Set the falloff type for proportional editing to "sharp"
   5. Make a subtle arc by adjusting the bottom vertices on either end of the petal
      • When proportional editing is on, use the scroll wheel to control the area of influence
      • A white circle represents the influence area - only when you are actively moving something
      • The proportional editing size replaces the 3D View window's menu while it is in active use
      • Turn on "projected from view" when you want vertices that are directly behind to move in sync with the vertices in the front (top, left, right or bottom views only)
   6. Adjust other vertices as needed to create a petal sihlouette you like using the move tool or shortcut G locked to the X, Y, or Z axis as needed
   7. Turn off proportional editing (O) and exit quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q)

      

1. Make sure the top view (numberpad 7) is active
2. Set a pivot point for the center of the flower
   1. Left-click with the cursor about 1/2 to 1 larger square away from the bottom of the flower (on the Y-axis)
   2. Press the main keyboard's period key (.) and make sure that the pivot type is set to "3D cursor"
   
3. Add the rest of the petals:
   1. Select the entire petal (A)
   2. Use "shift+D" and then "R" to duplicate and rotate along the pivot point and then left-click to keep the location
   3. Repeat the last step as many times as necessary to complete the flower petals
   4. Adjust flower petals as needed by deselecting (opt+A | alt+A or right-click outside of the object), hovering over the petal and pressing "L" for loose part and then "R" to adjust the rotation
4. Add the center of the flower:
   1. Zoom out a little (scroll-wheel) and then move the cursor/pivot location off to the side (left-click), a little away from the flower
   2. Add a "UV Sphere" (shift+A)
   3. In the front view (numberpad 1 or the bottom green circle in the view widget), refocus the view on just the sphere by pressing the numberpad's period key (.)
   4. Deselect the sphere (opt+A | alt+A or right-click) and switch the shading from solid to wireframe (Z → Wireframe)
   5. Use box select (B) to select the bottom half of the sphere
   6. Delete the bottom faces (X → Faces)
   7. Refocus on both the center and the petals by using shortcuts "A" to select all and then the numberpad's period key (.)
   8. Deselect all (opt+A | alt+A or right-click)
   9. Reposition and scale the flower center to fit with the petals:
      1. Select only the flower center (hover over the center and press "L")
      2. Switch to quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q)
      3. Use the Move tool's transform manipulator (shift+space) in the different windows to move the center to rest inside the petals
      4. If necessary, use the "Scale tool" to resize the center (or use shortcut "S")
   10. Add a slight indent to the center:
       1. Select the vertex at the center of the center (right-click in the top view)
       2. Turn on proportional editing (O)
       3. Turn off projected from view and change falloff to smooth
       4. In the front or side view use the move tool and pull down the center vertex along the Z axis (blue handle)
       5. Use the scrollwheel to adjust proportional editing as needed while adjusting the center vertex
   11. Turn off proportional editing (O)
   12. Switch back to solid view (Z → Solid)
5. Rotate the entire flower to face frontwards using "A" then "R" then "X" then "90" to select everything and rotate 90deg along the X-axis (left-click to keep the change)

   →

1. Select only the flower center (deselect first, then press L while hovering over the flower center)
2. Move the cursor to the flower center using "shift+S" → "Cursor to Selection"
3. Add a circle (shift+A → Mesh → Circle)
4. Rotate the circle to face front ("A" then "R" then "X" then "90" and left-click)
5. Resize and/or reposition as necessary using the transform manipulators from the Move and Scale tools
6. In the top view, extrude the edge loop to make the first segment of the stem using "E" and then "Y" (to lock to the Y-axis) and left-click to keep the change
7. Shrink the new loop slightly (S) - this will work best if the pivot point is to the side of the stem
8. In quad view's right view, continue to extrude each new bottom loop, adjusting the size and rotation as necessary until you are satisfied with the stem:
   1. "E" to extrude, pull into place and left-click to keep the change
   2. Move the pivot point to the bottom of the new loop (left-click)
   3. "R" to rotate the loop slightly more downward
   4. "S" to scale, only if needed
   5. Keep repeating until the stem is a reasonable length
   6. Exit quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q)
9. Duplicate the flower twice:
   1. Switch to "Object" mode (tab)
   2. Try changing the shading to smooth for a more polished look (3D window's menu → Object → "Shade Smooth")
   3. Use "shift+D" to duplicate and move the new flower into position before using left-click to keep the change (duplicating in object mode creates a separate object in the outliner)
   4. Repeat
   5. Adjust individual location/scale/rotation using the move, rotate, and scale tools as needed
   6. In the outliner, make sure to turn the original collection's visibility back on so that the camera and lamp can be adjusted

Add materials, adjust the lighting, set the camera view, and render your first image by utilizing the other tabs.

1. Open Blender and click outside of the startup window to enter the default startup file
2. Optimize the organization in the Outliner:
   1. In the Outliner window, right-click to create a new collection for your creature
   2. Double-click on the name of the new collection in the Outliner and rename to a more descriptive name (ie. Creature or etc.) for clarity
   3. In the outliner, drag and drop the cube into the new collection
   4. Temporarily hide the first collection (with the lamp and camera) by pressing on the eye icon next to the collection name - if they are distracting
   
3. Select the cube (right-click) and switch into "Edit" mode (tab)
4. Access the context window (W) and choose "Subdivide"
5. In the small subdivision option window (bottom left), increase the number of cuts to "3" (or subdivide another time)
6. Round off the vertical corners (Z-axis)
   1. Select one corner with opt+right-click | alt+right-click
   2. Switch to the top view (numberpad 7 or the blue Z in top right view widget)
   3. Use the Move tool's tranform manipulator to move the corner inward along the x (red) and y (green) axes
   4. Switch to a side view (click and drag with the scroll wheel or use numberpad shortcuts 1 or 3
   5. Repeat the last few steps for the other 3 vertical corners
7. Stretch out the torso:
   1. Select the middle vertex (from the top view) with right-click
   2. Turn on proportional editing (O) and change the falloff type to "Smooth" (leave "projected from view" unchecked)
   3. In the side (numberpad 3) or front (numberpad 1 or lower green cirlce) view, press "G" and then "Z" to pull the center vertex up along the Z-axis
   4. If necessary, use the scroll-wheel to adjust the rounded top of the creature, before using left-click to keep the change
8. Add legs:
   1. Switch the select mode to face select
   2. In bottom view (ctl+numberpad 7 or press the blue Z twice in the view widget), select the mid-outer faces on both the left and right (shift+right-click)
   3. In the front view (numberpad 1 or the empty green circle in the view widget), press "E" and then "Z" to extrude down a small ways - left-click to keep the location
   4. Scale the faces slightly inward (S)
   5. Extrude again (E then Z) to create the lower leg
   6. Extrude again (E then Z) to create a foot
   7. Switch to edge selection mode
   8. Shift+right-click to select the bottom front edge of each foot
   9. In a side view (numberpad 3 or X in the view widget), press "G" and then "Y" to pull out the foot along the Y-axis - use left-click to keep the change
9. Customize the sihlouette:
   1. Select an edge loop (ie. the bottom front) with opt+right-click | alt+right-click and use the Move tool to adjust the edge's location (ie. move the edges up and inwards)
   2. Make other adjustments as needed
10. Add a mouth:
    1. In the front view (numberpad 1), enable the "Loop Cut" tool (cmd+R)
    2. Mouse over the mesh, then click and drag to add and position the new loop (to add detail horizontally and/or vertically where you'd like the mouth)
       • Increase the number of cuts in the small loop cut options window (bottom left) if needed
    3. Repeat the last step if more detail is needed either horizontally or vertically
    4. If proportional editing is enabled, turn it off (O)
    5. Use vertex select and the Move tool's transform manipulator to adjust vertices into the outline for a mouth
    6. With face select enabled, select the faces inside the mouth shape (shift+right-click)
    7. In the right side view (numberpad 3 or the red x in the view widget), press "E" and pull the faces of the mouth slightly inward (to the right) before using left-click to keep the change
    8. Extrude one more time, slightly further inward (to the right) so that there is both a mouth cavity and faces that could be used as lips
    9. Deselect (opt+A | alt+A)

Modifiers can allow you to make a variety of adjustments to your mesh object as a whole - often non-destructively. This means that you can remove or disable the modifiers and return to the unaltered object.

1. Add the "Subdivision Surface" modifier to add detail which smooths out the creature:
   1. In the properties window, go to the modifiers tab (wrench icon) and select "Add Modifier"
   2. Under generate, choose "Subdivision Surface"
   3. Increase both "View" and "Render" (the final output) to at least 2 (only add as much detail as needed - too much subdivision can slow down Blender)
   4. Toggle visibility of the modifier on/off in the viewport by clicking on the monitor icon at the top of the modifier and render visibility with the camera icon
2. Add the "Mirror" modifier to work symetrically:
   1. Delete half of your creature (so that it will be perfectly symmetrical)
      1. Switch to the front view (numberpad 1)
      2. Change the shading to "Wireframe" (Z → Wireframe)
      3. With vertex select active, use "B" to click and drag a box selection around the left side of your creature
      4. Press "X" to delete the "Faces"

         →

      5. Switch back to "Solid" shading (Z → Solid)
   2. In the properties window, go to the modifiers tab (wrench icon) and select "Add Modifier"
   3. Under generate, choose "Mirror"
   4. By default the X-axis is mirrored - switch the axis if necessary
   5. Correct the overlap/seam if necessary:
      • If there is a slight gap, increase the merge limit slightly
      • If there is a large gap - or incorrect overlap, use the Move tool's transform manipulator to move the object into the correct position (so that the right edge lines up with the object origin)
      • If only part of the gap is incorrect, use the Move tool's transform manipulator to move each vertex into position
   6. Add eye sockets:
      • With the mirror modifier on (and not applied), making one eye socket will also create the other (unless you place the cavity directly over the mirror's seam)
      1. In the front view (numberpad 1), enable the "Loop Cut" tool (cmd+R)
      2. Mouse over the right side of the mesh, then click and drag to add and position the new loop (to add detail horizontally and/or vertically where you'd like the right eye placed)
         • Increase the number of cuts in the small loop cut options window (bottom left) if needed
      3. Add more loops as needed either horizontally or vertically
      4. Use vertex select and the Move tool's transform manipulator to adjust vertices into the outline for an eye socket - or select the 4 corner vertices and press "S" to scale inward
      5. With face select enabled, select the faces inside the eye shape (shift+right-click)
      6. In the right side view (numberpad 3), press "E" and pull the faces of the mouth slightly inward (to the right) before using left-click to keep the change
      7. Extrude one more time, slightly further inward (to the right) so that there is both an eye socket and faces that could be used as eyelids
      8. Deselect (opt+A | alt+A)
3. Add eyes:
   1. Switch back to "Object" mode (tab) so that the eyes will be their own objects - this is important if they are animated so that the eyes can move independently
   2. Add a "UV sphere" (shift+A → Mesh → UV Sphere)
   3. In quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q), use the move tool's transform manipulator to place the eye inside the socket
   4. With just the eye selected, duplicate it (shift+D)
   5. Move the new eye into the other socket with the move tool's transform manipulator (or use "G" then "X" to move along the x-axis)
   6. In the outliner, rename the UV spheres to "Eye.L" (left eye) and "Eye.R" (right eye) or something similarly descriptive
   7. Adjust the eyelids if needed:
      1. Select the body mesh, and switch back into "Edit" mode (tab)
      2. Select the loop around the right eye (opt+right-click | alt+right-click) and scale inward (S) or adjust individual vertices as necessary
4. Add arms:
   1. Add loop cuts as needed to add more detail where the arms will be added
   2. Adjust the vertices to make a slightly more rounded outline for the arm
   3. Select the faces where the arm will be and extrude (E) outwards (from either the front or back view)

      →

   4. Scale slightly inward (S)
   5. Extrude one more time so that there can be an elbow

Sometimes artists deliberately (or accidentally) create part of an object/character as a separate object and then need to join multiple objects together.

1. In "Object" mode (tab), create a new cube (shift+A → Mesh → Cube)
2. Adjust the cube to look like a simple hand with a thumb:
   1. In quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q), line up the cube with the right arm (or whichever arm IS NOT the mirror), leaving a gap between the arm and "hand"
   2. Adjust the scale of the cube to be more suitable for a hand (it should be flatter)
   3. Exit quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q)
   4. With the "hand" cube selected, switch into "Edit" mode (tab)
   5. Subdivide a couple times (W → Subdivide) - or subdivide once and increase the number of cuts to 2
   6. Select a couple faces where you want the thumb to be and extrude out

      →

   7. Adjust the edges as necessary to make a sihlouette you like (use opt+right-click | alt+right-click to select a full edge)
   8. Select and delete the faces at the wrist area

      →

   9. In quad view (ctrl+opt+Q | ctrl+alt+Q), line up the hand so that it is almost connected to the arm but leave some space inbetween (so that you can see the faces on the end of the arm)
3. Join the hand and creature objects together:
   1. In "Object" mode, select the hand first and the creature last (the order of selection is important - only the name and modifiers of the last object selected will be kept)
   2. Use the shortcut "ctrl+J"
4. In "Edit" mode, select and delete the faces on the arm where the hand and arm will meet (both the hand and arm should look hollow)

   →

5. Temporarily turn of the visibility of the subdivision surface modifier (monitor icon)
6. Join together the vertices of the hand and arm using either:
   1. Snapping:
      1. Turn on snapping by clicking on the magnet icon at the top middle of the 3D window and set the snapping type to "vertex"
      2. Make sure vertex select is active
      3. Select a vertex from the edge of the hand and press "G" to grab it
      4. Pull the vertex to the matching vertex of the arm and release when it snaps into place
      5. Repeat as necessary to completely connect the hand and arm
      6. Remove overlapping vertices
         1. Select all with "A"
         2. Use "M" to open the merge commands and select "By distance"
      7. Turn off snapping by clicking on the magnet icon again
   2. or Merging:
      1. Select one vertex from the hand and the corresponding vertex from the arm
      2. Use "M" and choose one of the merge commands (NOT "By distance")
      3. Repeat as necessary to completely connect the hand and arm
      4. This works best when selecting in the same order and using the same merge command
7. Turn on the visibility of the subdivision surface modifier (monitor icon)
8. Add materials, textures, and lighting as needed

1. Make sure the correct object is active in the Outliner
2. In the properties panel, open the "Materials" tab
3. Add the material by:
   1. If the object has no material, use the "+ New" button
   2. If there is already a material and you are adding a new one, use the "+" button next to the material name and then "+ New"

      →

   3. Double-click on the material name to add a descriptive name (this is helpful if you reuse your materials later on)
4. Customize and adjust material settings:
   1. Change the surface type by clicking in the name next to "Surface"
   2. Set a base color after the surface color by clicking on the color field (next to color or base color) to enable the color picker
   3. Adjust other settings as needed
   

The first material applied to an object will always display on the entire object. There must be at least 2 materials for a material to display on only part of an object.

1. Set/change your first material as described above (the first material always applies to the entire object - until additional materials have been assigned)
2. In edit mode, select the faces that should display in the new color
3. In the materials tab of the properties panel, click on the + icon to add a new material
4. Press "+ New"
5. Click on "Assign" so that the selected faces use the new material (selected faces can be assigned at any time to any material)
6. Adjust surface/color/other settings as needed

→

For more complicated materials, sometimes it is easier to work with "nodes" instead of the properties panel. See the node view in the "Shader Editor" - previously called the "Nodes Editor".

1. Open an additional panel by clicking and dragging from the top right corner of the 3D window towards the left
2. At the start of the menu for one of the 3D windows, change the window type to "Shader Editor"
3. Adding/Removing materials:
   1. Towards the right of the Shader menubar, click on the new material icon (if hidden, use the scroll wheel to show) to add a new material
   2. Click on the "X" icon to unlink the material from the object
4. Adding/Removing nodes:
   1. Add new nodes with "Shift+A":
      1. Move node to the desired location
      2. Left-click to keep the location
   2. Delete selected nodes with "X"
5. Moving Nodes:
   1. Use "G" to move a selected node
   2. Placing a node between 2 others will connect the 3 nodes together
6. Disconnecting Nodes:
   1. Click and drag on the connected socket of the right node
   2. Release away from that socket or connect to a different socket

Always make sure to customize the world background - whether that means changing the color or adding a background. Otherwise your render will always feel a little incomplete.

• Solid Color:
  1. In the world tab of the properties panel, click on the colored rectangle next to "Color" and use the color picker - or type color values to choose a custom color
• Default Sky (Cycles only):
  1. In the world tab of the properties panel, click on the more options button (circle icon) to the left of color
  2. Select "Sky Texture"
  3. Choose a sky type
  4. Click and drag on the sphere to adjust the angle
  5. Adjust other colors as needed
• Custom Image:
  1. Choose a high resolution image and correct in Photoshop
     1. In Photoshop's top menu, go to "Filter → Other → Offset"
     2. Drag the horizontal and vertical dials to move the corners into the middle
     3. Use tools as necessary to blend/hide the visible edges
        • Patch tool - to blend large areas
        • Clone stamp - to paint with a small selection from the image
        • Burn tool - to darken areas of the image
        • Dodge tool - to lighten areas of the image
     4. Use "Filter → Other → Offset" again, to make sure the image still repeats well when set back to the original offset
     5. File → Save As
     6. Save your file as a PNG
  2. In Blender, go to the world tab of the properties panel and click on the more options button (circle icon) to the left of color
  3. Select "Environment Texture"
  4. Select your image with the "Open" button and press "Open Image"
  5. Adjust settings as needed

If you have changed render engines, most materials should automatically work in the new engine - though they may display differently. ALWAYS press a grey "Use Nodes" button, if it is there.

1. Download your own photo or a photo in the public domain to crop down into a texture (Pixabay.com can be a good source) - DO NOT choose a picture that is a premade texture
2. Open in Photoshop (CMD+O or File → Open)
3. If this is the first time using an Adobe app this year, choose "Sign in with Google"
4. Crop the image
   1. Select the "Crop" tool (C)
   2. Click and drag on the corners to select an area of texture from the image (try to choose an area that is fairly regular/consistent)
   3. Press "enter" to approve the crop
5. Change the offset of the image to see how the edges repeat:
   1. Filter → Other → Offset
   2. Adjust the vertical and horizontal dials until you can see the vertical and horizontal edges in the middle of your image
   3. Press "Ok"
6. Use the "Patch" tool (J) to remove large seams
   1. Click and drag to select an area that you want to change
   2. Drag that selection to an area you want to copy from & release
7. Use the "Clone Stamp" tool (S) make corrections as needed
   1. Opt-click | alt-click to select an area to copy from
   2. Paint with that selection to replace parts of the image
   3. Select new areas to copy from as necessary with "opt+left-click | alt+left-click"
8. Use the "Burn" tool (O) to paint certain areas darker:
   1. If needed, hold down on the "Dodge" tool (O) to find and select the "Burn" tool
   2. Change between "Highlights, Midtones and Shadows" as needed
9. Use the "Dodge" tool to paint certain areas lighter:
   1. If needed, hold down on the "Burn" tool (O) to find and select the "Dodge" tool
   2. Change between "Highlights, Midtones and Shadows" as needed
10. Double-check the image offset to make sure the image repeats well:
    1. Filter → Other → Offset
    2. Adjust the vertical and horizontal dials until you can see the vertical and horizontal edges in the middle of your image
    3. Press "Ok"
11. Save with "File → Save As" - making sure to choose a compatible image format (png or jpeg)

You can to paint your own material directly in Blender, so you have full control over how the colors apply and blend together. You can also paint with a texture instead of a solid color. Either way, you need to create a blank image to paint on.

1. Create a blank image:
   1. In the "Texture Paint" workspace, in the "Image Editor" (left window), click on "+ New" to create a new image
   2. Give the image a name and change the color from black to white (this makes it easier to see what areas are painted - you could choose any color as a base color)
   3. Click on "OK"
   4. Save the image (Image → Save)

Before we can paint a texture, we need to set the blank image (or photo texture) to a material. For the material to apply correfctly, we need a map (or plan) for how that flat image is going to be applied to a 3D form. We do this by "unwrapping" the mesh. Without the "UV map", the texture won't display in the render.

1. Add either the saved blank image or a prepared photo texture to a material (use a blank image if painting with colors or a photo; choose the photo texture if it will be applied without painting):
   1. In the material tab, make/choose a material and apply it to the relevent faces as needed
   2. Override the color with your image:
      1. Click on the circle to the right of color
      2. Select "Image Texture"
      3. Click on the folder icon to find your image texture on the computer and then press "Open Image" (or click on the image icon to select an image already associated with the .blend file)
2. Unwrap the mesh:
   1. In "Edit mode", select the faces you want to create a UV map with (to select all faces, use "A")
   2. Press "U" and select "Smart UV Project"
   3. Increase island margin if needed then select "Ok"
3. In the "UV Editing" workspace, adjust the map as needed (this step is more helpful for photo textures applied directly to a material):
   1. Switch the shading (Z) in the 3D window to "Material Preview" (also called "Viewport Shading")
   2. In the "UV Editor" (left window), select the image texture from the image drop down
   3. For photo textures, in the N-panel (N) under "View" → "Display", check "Repeat Image"
   4. Select either vertices, edges, faces or the new "island select" mode (selects groups of faces) using any of the normal selection shortcuts (A, B or C)
   5. Use the toolbar to adjust the size, position or rotation, or use the standard shortcuts as needed (S, G, and R)

1. In "Editing Mode", make sure that all the faces are selected (A)
2. Switch to the "Texture Paint" tab
3. In the 3D window, change the shading to "Material Preview" (Z) - also called "Viewport Shading"
4. In the "Tool properties" (first tab in the properties panel or in the "N-panel"), adjust the brush settings as needed:
   1. Radius - controls brush size
   2. Strength - controls opacity, where "1 = opaque" and "0 = transparent"
   3. Color - controls the color of the brush
   4. Experiment with other settings as needed - colors can be saved as a color palette for easy color switching, symmetry can be turned on & etc.
   
5. Paint, fill and blend as needed in either the "Image Editor" or in the "3D Viewport"
6. Always save changes to the image in the "Image Editor" before quiting Blender - they do not save automatically (Image → Save)

Skip these steps if you are painting with Blender's colors and not a photo.

1. Setup the texture as a brush:
   1. In the "Texture" tab of the properties panel, click on "+ New"
   2. Select the image texture and then click on "Open Image"
2. Paint with the texture:
   1. In "Editing Mode", make sure that all the faces are selected (A)
   2. Switch to the "Texture Paint" tab
   3. In the 3D window, change the shading to "Material Preview | Viewport Shading" (Z)
   4. In the "Tool properties" (first tab in the properties panel or in the "N-panel"), adjust the brush settings as needed:
      1. Radius - controls brush size
      2. Strength - controls opacity, where "1 = opaque" and "0 = transparent"
      3. Switch to the "Texture Paint" tab
   5. Under texture, choose the mapping type (Tiled or Stencil recommended) and paint the texture onto the mesh in the 3D window
      1. Tiled:
         1. Left-click and drag to paint with the texture onto the mesh
         2. Zooming in/out will change the size that the texture paints with
      2. Stencil:
         1. Left-click & drag over the stencil to paint with it onto the mesh
         2. Adjust the stencil as needed:
            1. Move the stencil: right-click & drag
            2. Resize the stencil: shift+right-click
            3. Rotate the stencil: ctrl+right-click
   6. Save the image (Image → Save)

While Blender usually does a decent job unwrapping a UV mesh, more control is sometimes needed. When you aren't satisfied with any of the default results, you can create your own seams. For human figures, the seams in your clothes can give you a good idea on where seams should be on your mesh.

1. In "Edit" mode, select the edges that make up your seam and select "Ctrl+E → Mark Seam"
2. In the same way, make a seam to contain each "UV island" you would like to create
3. Remove a seam by selecting those edges and select "Ctrl+E → Clear Seam"
4. Once you are satisfied with your seams, select all of the faces (A) and unwrap (U → Unwrap)
5. Add and/or remove seams as necessary until you have a workable UV map

External data (such as images) are linked to the .blend file by default. This keeps the file size down but makes moving files more challenging. To ensure that your images display properly, packing (embedding) your images is usually a good idea.

1. Check "Automatically Pack into .blend" in the menu under File → External Data

1. Line up your subject in the 3D window a little zoomed out from where you actually want the camera view to be (use the scroll wheel or 3D window navigation tools as necessary)
2. In the View menu, go to "Align View → Align Active Camera to View
3. Select the camera (in Object mode) and make adjustments using the transform tool as needed

Evee is a realtime engine and renders very quickly - if speed is more important than realism, use Evee. Keep in mind that certain materials won't display properly and certain settings might not be available.

1. In the Render tab of the properties panel, set the Engine to "Eevee" (you may also want to use render shading → Z)
2. In the Output tab of the properties panel:
   1. Set the resolution to 1280 (X) by 720 (Y) at 100%
   2. Change the start and end frames to the length of your animation if necessary
   3. Under "Output", choose an output location that is easy to find. DO NOT use the tmp folder!
   4. If rendering to PNG (or another format that gives options for color depth), set the color depth to 16
   5. Save your file (CMD+S)

Depending on the level of complexity, Cycles can take a long time to render but it also can be incredibly accurate. If realism is more important than speed (and you have the time), use Cycles.

1. In the Render tab of the properties panel:
   1. Change the render engine to Cycles
   2. Change "Path Tracing" to "Branched Path Tracing"
   3. Increase samples and subsamples as necessary (200 for the Render Samples and 10 for relevent subsamples a starting point)
   4. Click on the menu icon next to "Light Paths" and choose "Full Global Illumination" (it takes a couple moments to update, but this changes all of the light path values at once)
   5. Under "Clamping", turn the "Direct Light" value to 1.0
2. In the Output tab of the properties panel:
   1. Set the resolution to 1280 (X) by 720 (Y) - this is the same aspect ration, but smaller
   2. Set the % based on how much time you have - 100% if you have time, 50-75% if you need to render more quickly
   3. Change the start and end frames to the length of your animation if necessary
   4. Under "Output", choose an output location that is easy to find. DO NOT use the tmp folder!
   5. If rendering to PNG (or another format that gives options for color depth), set the color depth to 16
   6. Save your file (CMD+S)

1. Use the shortcut fn+F12 (on the mac extended keyboard, the function key is between the delete key and the numberpad) or in the top menu, go to "Render → Render Image"
2. When the render is finished, if you want to save the render, at the top menu of the render window, go to "Image → Save As"
   1. Choose an easy to find location for the render
   2. Name the render as needed
   3. Press "Save As Image"
3. Close out of the render window to return to the workspace
4. Adjust render settings and repeat if necessary

1. In "Output" tab of the properties panel, choose an image format
   • PNG for most cases
   • Multilayer EXR - only if you are doing compositing (3D Graphics II)
2. Use the shortcut control+fn+F12 (on the mac extended keyboard, the function key is between the delete key and the numberpad) or in the top menu, go to "Render → Render Animation"
3. When the rendering is finished, close out of the render window to return to the workspace
4. If your render was interrupted, change the starting frame number in the "Output" tab of the properties panel to the next frame that needs to be rendered and repeat these steps

Video rendering is incredibly fast when rendering an image sequence - since Blender is just stitching together already rendered images.

1. Open a new Blender file (this prevents old data from interfering with the video render AND stops the video from interfering with future changes to your original file)
   • If opening Blender, select "Video Editing" under "New File" in the splash window
   • If Blender is already open, go to "File → New → Video Editing"
2. In the Sequencer's menu, go to "Add → Image/Sequence" (or use Shift+A)
   1. Select the render directory through the file tree on the left
   2. Select all of the rendered frames
      • "A" selects all files in the directory
      • Use "B" to enable box select (to select a smaller range)"
      • Shift-click to deselect a single file
   3. Press "Add Image Strip"
3. With the image strip selected in the Sequencer panel, go in the menu to "Strip" → "Set Render Size"
   (this resizes the camera to fit the images instead of squashing the images to fit the camera)
4. Press the spacebar to play and pause the animation - or use the playback controls at the bottom of the screen
5. Adjust animation speed (only if needed): ...+x
   1. Speed up the animation:
      1. With the strip selected, find the "Duration" value in the right side of the sequencer, under "Time"
      2. Add a forward slash "/" after the frame number, and a number for the rate to speed up the timing - ie. 26/2 to make the animation 2x faster then press enter
         This will remove every 2nd frame (or etc.), resulting in a faster speed
   2. Slow down the animation:
      1. With the strip selected, add "Speed Control" (Add → "Effect Strip" → "Speed Control")
      2. In the right side of the Sequencer, uncheck "Stretch to input strip length" and add a speed factor value:
         1. 1 = current speed
         2. .5 = half the speed/twice as slow (any decimal number below 1 will slow down the speed)
         
      3. Calculate the needed strip length: orignal strip length/speed factor (ie. 26/.5 = 52 frames)
      4. Right-click+drag on the end of the image strip to increase the strip length to the new number of frames (ie. 52)
      5. Play the animation to see the change in speed
      6. Mkae any other adjustments as needed
6. Switch the workspace to the rendering tab:
7. In the Output tab of the properties panel:
   1. Lower the resolution's percentage only if rendering takes too long, or the image size is especially large
   2. Set an easy to find output location
      (files in the tmp folder are hard to access and get deleted by the system regularly)
   3. Change the start/end frames to match your sequence if the values are different
   4. Set the file format to a video format - ie. "AVI JPEG"
8. In the top menu, go to "Render → Render Animation" - or use the shortcut Ctrl+Fn+F12 | Ctrl+F12
9. Close out of the render window to return to the workspace
10. On your computer, find the video and make sure that it plays as expected