BlenderArt Magazine Issue 4 Character Modeling

CCHH AARRAACCTTEERR MM OO DD EELLIINNGG !!!!

Issue 4 M ay 2006 | Ble nde rart

Ch aracte r M ode ling at Plum ife ros !!

M ode ling a Butte rfly

Rapid Prototyping in Ble nde r

Ble nde r2Pov

Ch aracte r De sign 2d sk e tch to 3d

Re sPow e r Supe r/Farm

M ak e H um an

ble nde r le arning m ade e asy

w w w.ble nde rart.org 2

Issue 4 M ay 2006

EDITOR/DESIGNERGaurav Naw ani gaurav@ ble nde rart.org

M ANAGING EDITORSandra Gilbe rt sandra@ ble nde rart.org

W EBSITENam Ph am nam @ ble nde rart.org

PROOFERKe rnon Dillon

W RITERSCh ristian Guck e lsbe rge rM anue l Pe re zClaudio AndaurJosé M auricio Rodas R.Claas Eick e Kuh ne nRogério Pe rdizM anue l Bastioni Ale ssandro Proglio Antonio Di Ce cca Giovanni Lanza M artin Ed Cick a

COPYRIGH T©‘Ble nde rart M agaz ine ’, ‘ble nde rart’ and ble nde rart logo are copyrigh t Gaurav Naw ani. ‘Ask Ble ntuu’ and ‘ble ntuu logo’ are copyrigh t Sandra Gilbe rt.

All products and com pany nam e s fe ature d in th e publication are trade m ark or re giste re d trade m ark of th e ir re spe ctive ow ne rs.

CONTENTS

NNee ww ss FFllaa ss hh - Pg5

33 dd WW oorrkk ss hh ooppCh aracte r m ode ling at Plum ife ros - Pg8M ode ling a naturalistic Butte rfly - Pg12Rapid Prototyping w ith Ble nde r - Pg23Re nde ring w ith Ble nd2Pov - Pg27Ch aracte r De sign 2d sk e tch to 3d - Pg34

IInnss iidd ee rrVVii ee wwM ak e H um an - Pg40Split/Fram e re nde ring on - Pg47Re sPow e r Supe r/Farm

RRee vviiee ww ss3d Cre ature w ork sh op - Pg523d Ph otore alism toolk it - Pg53

GG aallllee rriiaa - Pg54

Cre dits - Pg9 1

D is claim e r - Pg9 2


Issue 4 M ay 2006

Ch aracte r m ode ling h as got to be one of m y favorite th ings to do in Ble nde r. Th e re is noth ing lik e starting w ith a blank scre e n and e nding up w ith living, m oving ch aracte rs. Now grante d, not all m y ch aracte rs turn out as good as I w ould lik e , but th at just k e e ps m e trying. And th e re are so m any th ings to try.

One of th e be st th ings about ch aracte r m ode ling is th at a ch aracte r can be anyth ing. Th e m ost com m on one s are anim als, alie ns, robots and h um anoids, but th ose k inds of ch aracte rs are but a sm all se le ction of w h at is possible . W ith a little w ork and im agination, you can turn any e ve ryday obje ct into a ch aracte r. As soon as it starts m oving and sh ow ing pe rsonality, it be com e s a ch aracte r. Te le vision com m e rcials are full of such am using ch aracte rs.

As m uch fun as ch aracte r m ode ling can be , it can also be frustrating at tim e s.

Ach ie ving a good m ode l th at pose s w e ll and conve ys a se nse of life and pe rsonality can be an e lusive goal. Ligh ting and te xturing ofte n play a big role in h e lping bring a ch aracte r to life , as w e ll as a good unde rstanding of h ow a ch aracte r sh ould m ove and th e tim ing involve d for be lie vable m ove m e nt.

In th is issue , w e w ill be look ing at a couple of ch aracte rs for you to m ode l and play w ith , as w e ll as a ve ry inform ative article on h ow to tak e your m ode l from th e com pute r scre e n to a re al-w orld ph ysical 3D statue ! (W ouldn’t I just love to h ave one of th ose m ach ine s at m y h ouse . J) Additionally, M ale fico Andaue r give s us a be h ind-th e - sce ne s look at som e of th e de cisions m ade for th e Plum ife ros Ch aracte rs.So sit back , grab a cup of coffe e and re ad all about it

- sandra@ ble nde rart.org

EDITORIAL

Sandra Gilbe rtM anaging Editor


Issue 4 M ay 2006Iz z y k now s...

Ch aracte r Modeling & De sign: A sh ort run- dow n of th ings to conside r be fore you start.

Just w h e re and h ow do you start de signing a ch aracte r? Of course , th e re is alw ays th e “ just jum p righ t in and do it” m e th od. W h ich som e tim e s w ork s w onde rfully, but all too ofte n w ill cause future proble m s de pe nding on w h at you h ad planne d to do w ith your ch aracte r.Be fore you ope n Ble nde r, it is alw ays a good ide a to sit dow n and th ink about your ch aracte r. H e re is a list of que stions you m igh t w ant to conside r be fore you actually start m ode ling:

• W h at style of ch aracte r are you going for? Re alistic, Se m i- re alistic, Toon.

• W h at k ind of ch aracte r? Fantasy, M e ch anical, Anim al, H um anoid, e tc…• Appe arance : H ow m any arm s, le gs, e ye s, e ars, e tc… doe s it h ave any at all?• H ow w ill your ch aracte r inte ract w ith it’s e nvironm e nt? Doe s it h ave /ne e d cloth e s?• H ow doe s it m ove ?• H ow do you plan on using your ch aracte r? Still im age , gam e ch aracte r, anim ation, e tc…• W ill it spe ak , m ak e noise , bare it’s te e th ? (i.e . w ill it ne e d a full m outh se tup or can you m ode l it close d?)

Once you h ave de cide d on w h at you w ant your ch aracte r to look lik e , it is tim e to ge t re fe re nce m ate rial. If you draw w e ll, you can sk e tch out front and side vie w s of your ch aracte r to load into ble nde r for re fe re nce . If you don’t draw w e ll, you sh ould look for im age s th at close ly re se m ble w h at you are going for. Th e inte rne t is a gre at re source for re fe re nce im age s. Anoth e r option, (one I use a lot), is tak ing a trip to m y local de partm e nt store and h e ading straigh t for th e toy aisle . Ch ildre n’s toys m ak e gre at re fe re nce obje cts for m ode ling. Th e y are h igh ly de taile d and com e in e ve ry type im aginable .

You h ave your re fe re nce im age s loade d into ble nde r, now w h at? W e ll, now you start m ode ling. Th e re are various te ch nique s available to com ple te your m ode l. Ch oose th e one th at be st fits your w ork flow and give s th e be st re sults for your m ode l. I pe rsonally pre fe r box m ode ling, but I h ave be e n k now n to use a varie ty of m e th ods to ge t m y m ode l to look just h ow I w ant.

W h e n m ode ling your ch aracte r, you w ill ne e d to de cide h ow m uch de tail you w ant to m ode l vs. h ow m uch of it can be adde d late r w ith te xture s. Eve n if you de cide th at a lot of th e de tails can be adde d late r, you w ill still ne e d to m ak e sure th at you h ave adde d e nough de tail for prope r posing/anim ation. Th e m ost com m on are as th at ne e d adde d de tail are th e joint are as. If you don’t add e nough de tail, th e joints w on’t de form prope rly and your m ode l w on’t be se e n in it’s be st ligh t.

Th is w raps up our run-dow n of th ings to conside r be fore starting your ch aracte r. Now fire up Ble nde r and ge t m ode ling! Your ch aracte rs are w aiting to m ak e th e ir big de but!

- Iz zy


Issue 4 M ay 2006NEW S FLASH

Th e long aw aite d “ Ele ph ant’s Dre am ” w as pre m ie re d M arch 24th at Cine m a Ke te lh uis, Am ste rdam . By all accounts, it w as a re sounding succe ss. Th is film m ark s an im portant ach ie ve m e nt in Ble nde r and ope n source h istory.

Afte r th e pre m ie r and w ork sh ops h e ld th at w e e k e nd at M onte vide o (Ke iz e rsgrach t 264, Am ste rdam ), th e Proje ct Orange te am finish e d up last m inute w ork and h e ade d for h om e . But th e proje ct still h ad a lot to accom plish , nam e ly, th e production of th e prom ise d DVD.

Artw ork for th e DVD disc and pack age sle e ve h as be e n finaliz e d and Joe ri h as be e n h ard at w ork ge tting e ve ryth ing re ady for DVD production. As of April 24th , th e m aste rs h ave be e n finish e d and all file s se nt to th e re production com pany.

Th e DVD w ill include not only th e film , but all proje ct file s and a docum e ntary for us to drool ove r and tak e apart for our ow n e ducation. By tim e th is article com e s out, m ost of us sh ould h ave re ce ive d our purch ase d DVDs and th ose w h o didn’t purch ase it can look forw ard to dow nloading th e file s sh ortly th e re afte r.

A h uge round of applause is due for th e Orange te am and all th e y h ave accom plish e d. Th e ir h ard w ork h as be e n an inspiration for us all

Proje ct O range

Google sum m e r of code 20 0 6Once again, Ble nde r h as be e n invite d to tak e part in th e Google Sum m e r of Code .Google Sum m e r of Code is a program sponsore d by Google for stude nts to apply for a sum m e r coding grant.

Tak e n from a ne w s ite m poste d by Ton:Last ye ar ove r 400 stude nt proje cts w e re grante d (10 for Ble nde r), and Google e xpe cts to approve th is ye ar e ve n m ore . Alth ough w e 've cre ate d a list of ide as for proje cts, w e e spe cially invite stude nts to subm it proje cts base d on past e xpe rie nce and com pe te nce s, or base d on th e ir curre nt re se arch , so th at th e y can e fficie ntly bring in ne w de ve lopm e nt

dire ctions for Ble nde r. Coordination of th e Ble nde r SoC proje cts is again done by Ch ris W ant. Stude nts inte re ste d to w ork on a Ble nde r proje ct during July/August can find th e inform ation in th e link s be low. Proje ct applications w ill start on M ay 1 and w ill e nd M ay 8 by 17:00 Pacific Dayligh t Tim e Ble nde r SoC inform ation: h ttp://m e diaw ik i.ble nde r.org/inde x.ph p/Ble nde rDe v/SOC_ 2006_ ide as Google SoC inform ation: h ttp://code .google .com /sum m e rofcode .h tm l

http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/BlenderDev/SOC_2006_ideas

http://code.google.com/summerofcode.html


Issue 4 M ay 2006New s Flash

Sh arpConstruct is an 3D m ode ling application th at allow s you to w ork out on de tails of your pre viously cre ate d 3d m ode l. You can e ve n cre ate th e m ode ls e ntire ly in it as w e ll. It allow s you to w ork on an 3d m ode l as if you are w ork ing on clay push ing and pulling th e surface into place to cre ate sh ape s. Th e variations in brush e s incre ase th e le ve l of ope ratibility for th e use r. On th e fly w ork ing on Sub-div surface s m ak e s it an e xce lle nt tool, th e re sponsive ne ss le ve ls at de ce nt e nough de nse m e sh e s m ak e s w ork ing in it quite ple asurable .

Sh arp construct h ave be e n in ne w s late ly ow ing to its spe e dy de ve lopm e nt, it h as be com e m uch stable and usable w ith th e re le ase of ve rsion .12x. Due to its nice e nough inte rope rability be tw e e n Ble nde r it m ak e for an pre tty use ful tool for Ble nde r- h e ads, alth ough Ble nde r h ave it sh are of tools th at m im ic functionality of Sh arpConstruct but none is m ore fe ature rich th an

Sh arpConstruct.

Sh arpConstruct com e s in th e ge nre of Z brush . Alth ough it is no w ay as advance as Z brush itse lf but give n th at it is ve ry young proje ct and h as sh ow n a lot of pote ntial up till now , w e can e xpe ct it to be com e one of th e m ost pow e rful tools Ope n- source h as to offe r.

It is available for both W indow s and Linux at h ttp://sh arp3d.source forge .ne t

Sh arp Construct 0 .12

http://sharp3d.sourceforge.net


Issue 4 M ay 2006New s Flash

Ble nde r h as fe ature s th at are sim ilar to Sh arpConstruct, and in th e form of tw o scripts. One com e s w ith Ble nde r 2.41 and anoth e r m ore m ature script, calle d Expre sso. It is an e xce lle nt pyth on script w ritte n by M ich ae l Sch ardt. It w ork s in re al-tim e w ith in Ble nde r.

It's inte rface is pre se nte d ne atly w ith in Ble nde r's 3d w indow. Expre sso h as th e m ost intuitive ly de signe d pyth on script for Ble nde r, e ve r.

Th e curre nt ve rsion1.1.1 w ork e d w ith out any proble m s in Ble nde r 2.41 for W indow s but on Fe dora Core 5, it crash e d e ve n be fore it starte d, a

constant annoyance w ith pyth on scripts

You can find it h e re at h ttp://m em bers.fortunecity.de/pytablet/

Expre sso 1.1.1 Re le ase

Expre sso1.1.1 inte rface

Fe stival de Vide o- PortugalSECOND SINTRA VIDEO FESTIVAL

Afte r th e succe ss of th e first e dition, th e Sintra City Council and th e "Le t's M ak e Te le vision" program m e , are once again organiz ing th e Sintra Vide o Fe stival.

"Adve rtising" is th e th e m e of th is ye ar's fe stival, w h ich is aim e d at all young pe ople unde r 30, re siding in any part of th e country.

W ork s m ay be subm itte d in th e form of spot adve rtising, docum e ntary, or vide o.Th e priz e - giving ce re m ony w ill tak e place on April 22, and w ill distinguish th e be st film , th e be st ide a, th e be st film of Sintra are a, th e be st actor/actre ss, and th e be st dire ctor.

Rule s and applications are available from w w w 2.cm -sintra.pt

Ple ase note th at th e w e b site is only in Portugue se Language

http://members.fortunecity.de/pytablet/

www2.cm-sintra.pt


Issue 4 M ay 2006

M ode ling a ch aracte r is alw ays ch alle nging be cause it's alw ays difficult to ge t a good topology in orde r to ge t nice de form ations and e xpre ssions. For our film proje ct “ Plum ife ros” , w e h ad to m ode l se ve ral ch aracte rs am ong h um ans, cats, diffe re nt type s of birds and e ve n a bat! Since th e y h ave com ple te ly diffe re nt sh ape s and anatom ie s, w e h ad to study e ach case se parate ly.

At M anos Digitale s Anim ation Studio, w e w ork our m ode ls starting from a ve ry solid ch aracte r analysis m ade in collaboration w ith th e Art De partm e nt. De signe rs h ave long- h our talk ings w ith th e Dire ctor until a look th at re fle cts th e ch aracte r's pe rsonality is ach ie ve d. H ow e ve r, som e tim e s a look th at is appe aling for de signe rs w ill not w ork in 3D or it w ill tak e too m uch tim e to sk in/de form corre ctly. In th e se case s, w e sugge st m odifications according to our

ow n e xpe rie nce .

Anim al Plane tTh e Art De partm e nt not only m ade drafts of th e vie w s ne e de d to m ode l th e ch aracte r, th e y also m ade drafts of th e ch aracte r's e xpre ssions and m ove m e nts. It's ve ry im portant to pay atte ntion to th e se sk e tch e s since th e y w ill be th e k e ystone for m e sh topology.W h e n th is m ate rial ge ts to us m ode le rs, w e draw all e dge loops on top of th e m . Th e n w e use diffe re nt m ode ling

te ch nique s. Som e of us pre fe r th e face -to-face (or poly2poly) approach w h e re w e cre ate th e face s of th e m ain e dge loops first, and th e n join th e m .

And, som e of us use subdivision m ode ling (or box m ode ling) w h ich is starting from a cube and subdividing and conform ing th e m e sh . In any case , w e start our w ork as if th e ch aracte rs w e re com ple te ly sym m e trical.

Ch aracte r M ode lingat Plum ife ros

by M anue l “ Picasus” Pe re z and

Claudio “ m ale fico” Andaur

3d W ORKSH OP


Issue 4 M ay 20063d W ORKSH OP

Th is spe e ds up th e proce ss. W e m ode l only one h alf using a “M irror M odifie r” to ge t th e w h ole picture as m ost pe ople do. W h e n th e m ode l is finish e d, th e se m odifie rs are “ bak e d” and non-sym m e trical de tails are adde d.

One of th e first proble m s w e h ad w as to figure out h ow to de al w ith th e bird ch aracte r's m outh , since birds h ave no lips nor nose . Afte r som e e xpe rim e nts, it w as cle ar th at th e bird's be ak could be tre ate d just as if it w as a “ com bo” of m outh and nose . Cre ating e dge loops

w ith th is in m ind m ade it e asy to im agine . W h e n be ak s are too long, w e ch ange topology and k e e p th e usual loops ne ar th e h e ad. De ntal parts of non-bird ch aracte rs are m ode le d as se parate obje cts and th e n

joine d to th e re st of th e inne r parts of th e m outh .

Ch aracte rs are m ade of partsCh aracte rs are usually m ade of a unique continuous m e sh . W e de cide d to use m ulti-m e sh ch aracte rs for Plum ife ros,

m e aning ch aracte rs m ade out of diffe re nt m e sh obje cts w ork ing toge th e r, but ne ve r joine d. Th is approach h as th e follow ing advantage s:

* W e can h ave m ore th an 16 m ate rials pe r ch aracte r.* W e can re use som e parts (w e igh t painting and sh ape k e ys include d) for oth e r ch aracte rs.* From an inte rface point- of- vie w , w e can ge t diffe re nt draw m ode s for diffe re nt parts of a ch aracte r, spe e ding up th e anim ation proce ss w ith out sacrificing de tail.* M ost tools w ork be tte r w ith le ss ve rtice s or m e sh se ctors, lik e m irroring.* It's m ore suitable for te am w ork .* W e can ch ange parts of th e ch aracte r for diffe re nt sce ne s e asily (e ve r trie d to join tw o m e sh e s w ith sh ape k e ys?). e g: dre ss ch ange s

Th e only draw back s of such a de cision is th e m ore com plicate d sk inning w ork flow (you ne e d to sk in e ve ry part se parate ly and th e n “ stitch ” th e parts in som e w ay). For all th e se draw back s, Pyth on cam e to re scue . Th e re is a ve ry h andy pyth on script, w ritte n by Cam pbe ll Barton, th at w e use d a lot: M e sh W e igh t Copy.

Ch aracte r m ode ling at Plum ife ros

Illustration 3: Th re e ch aracte rs w ith diffe re nt anatom y: H um an, Pige on, Bat. Edge loops are pre tty sim ilar in th e e nd.



Lord of th e W ingsFor our bird ch aracte rs, w e de cide d to m ode l a “ basic w ing” m e sh and from th at, build th e w ings for all ch aracte rs w ith only m inor m e sh e diting. Since w e are using m ulti-m e sh ch aracte rs, w e could add w ings at any tim e w h ile anim ators are w ork ing on corporal or facial e xpre ssion. For th is basic w ing to pe rfe ctly fit oth e r ch aracte rs, w e h ad to de sign a prope r “ w ing-body” inte rface th at w ould w ork for all ch aracte rs.

W h e n re fe rring to fe ath e rs, I m e an th e m ain fe ath e rs th at are use d in th e bird's fligh t, not th e fe ath e rs cove ring th e

body. Th e se fe ath e rs w ill be anim ate d, for instance , w h e n th e ch aracte r spre ads its w ings or sh uts th e m .

Th e w ing fe ath e rs patte rn is a ve ry com ple x and im portant de tail. W e use d se ve ral

re fe re nce s from all k ind of source s including vide os film e d by

ourse lve s. Fe ath e rs w e re m ode le d and place d by h and as se parate d obje cts. Diffe re nt plain colour m ate rials w e re applie d in orde r to be tte r ide ntify th e type s of fe ath e rs in th e

w ing. All of th e se fe ath e rs w e re joine d into one m e sh .

Be side s th e se “ functional” fe ath e rs m e sh e s, anoth e r m e sh re pre se nting th e m ain part of th e w ing w as m ode le d. In th is m e sh , e dge loops w e re im portant since th is part w ould act lik e a re al w ing, and w ould be de form e d h e avily.


Illustration 5: "Basic w ing" for all bird ch aracte rs

Im g4



Th e bat ch aracte r re quire d a com ple te ly diffe re nt approach . Parts of th e w ing sh ould be h ave com ple te ly e lastic allow ing th e ch aracte r to e xpand it or com pre ss it alm ost lik e cloth , and oth e r parts sh ould look fle xible lik e th e rays of an um bre lla. For th e m e m brane parts, w e trie d to stay on th e bare m inim um ve rte x count, trying also to k e e p cle an line s of de form ation to avoid artifacts on w ing be nding.

Modeling and RiggingOnce th e basic look and fe e l of a

ch aracte r is ach ie ve d, th e m e sh suffe rs furth e r m odifications in th e sk inning/rigging proce ss. H e re all topology proble m s, th at w e re n't fore se e n, sh ow up in a sort of painful w ay. Th e w orst part is th at th e m e sh ne e ds to be corre cte d w ith out ch anging its e xte rnal sh ape . So, as a re fe re nce , w e use d orth ogonal re nde rs of th e original m e sh e s.

If a m e sh de form s poorly, it could be cause d by poor rigging, bad sk inning, or bad topology. Eve n w h e n all th e se

conditions are OK, som e tim e s a m e sh just h as a lack of e dge loops. Som e tim e s m ode le rs, se e k ing a m inim al am ount of ve rtice s, forge t to add e nough e dge loops to guarante e prope r de form ations.

W e te st th e m e sh e s in diffe re nt actions and se e h ow th e y be h ave . In th is stage of th e proce ss, w e use d to m ode l cloth w rink le s, or ch ange e dge loops dire ctions until w e got th e nice de form ation w e w ante d. For th is k ind of job, w e e dit th e m e sh in its “ re st” state , or if ne e de d, use th e arm ature 's

de form ate d state (th e so-calle d “ Crazy Space ” ).

Final W ordsI w ish w e h ad m ore spare tim e to w rite a m ore de taile d article but, our production sch e dule is ve ry tigh t. :(

W e w ould lik e to say Th ank You to all th e Ble nde rh e ads around th e globe w h o are supporting our proje ct and h e lping us in m any w ays, to Ton and th e Orange Te am for th e ir invaluable w ork , and to all code rs w h o are m ak ing Ble nde r bigge r and bigge r

h ttp://w w w.plum ife ros.com /


http://www.plumiferos.com/



IntroductionBe cause of th e re lative ly h igh com ple xity of th e m ode ling proce ss, I de cide d to w rite th is tutorial for th e inte rm e diate ble nde r artists. Th e re w ill be passage s, w h e re you ne e d to continue w ork ing on yourse lf on th e m ode l until th e ne xt im portant ste p is be ing e xplaine d. At all, th is is not a ste p-by-ste p instruction guide ; it is an atte m pt to sh ow you h ow to cre ate organic m ode ls base d on a butte rfly w ith h igh ligh ts on th e m ost im portant parts of th e anim al. Do not forge t th at a m ode ling proce ss is a proce ss of continuous de tailing and re fining.

W h at is th e m ode l be ing m ade for? I de cide d to m ak e a film for a portfolio pre se ntation, in w h ich th e butte rfly plays th e role of a guide . In th at case , th e re w ill be m any close -up and anim ation sh ots. Since th e sh ots w ill be close , I m ade th e butte rfly re lative ly

de taile d, but not too de taile d be cause of th e long anim ation re nde ring tim e s. You w ill ne e d to trade off th e de tail of your m ode l for yourse lf, w atch ing it's final de stination.

Pre parationsI de cide d to m ode l a naturalistic butte rfly. Be cause I h ad not re ally h ad any clue about th is sort of anim al at all, I succe ssfully re nte d a sh ow case and a book about butte rflie s from sch ool. Trust m e , th e book did a good job afte r all, th e butte rflie s in th e sh ow case w e re too sm all to use th e m as a m ode ling re fe re nce . So be fore starting, you sh ould h ave a re fe re nce , tak e a look into th e library or th e Inte rne t. (Fig. 1 and 2) sh ow th e re fe re nce s th at I use d. Th e re is

a side pe rspe ctive as w e ll as a pe rspe ctive of th e h alf-front h e ad.

Let's start. Th e abdom e n. As you sh ould do w ith alm ost e ve ry

organic m ode l, first m ak e a sim ple construction out of prim itive s and re fine it late r. I did not use a re fe re nce picture in th e back ground, but you can do so if you lik e .

Use Vie w >>Back ground Im age >>Im age to add an im age to your back ground.

M ode ling a naturalistic butte rfly


byCh ristian Guck e lsbe rge r

Le ve l: Inte rm e diate

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Issue 4 M ay 2006

Fine . Le t's do th e th ing from th e back on and start w ith th e abdom e n. I use d a cube from th e side pe rspe ctive [Num 3] and e xtrude d it 4 tim e s. Th e n, I inse rte d tw o ve rte x row s by e nte ring [K] in e dit m ode [TAB], using a loop cut. As an alte rnative , you can also use norm al cuts [K] or m ulticuts [K] or subdivide it tw ice or se ve ral tim e s, but w ith th e last m e th od, you w ill probably h ave to de al w ith unw ante d ve rtice row s at th e e nd. (Fig. 3) sh ow s h ow th e e xtrude d cube look s afte r aligning it on th e sim ple sh ape of th e butte rfly abdom e n.

Now you w ill ne e d to continue e xtruding th e m e sh righ t to th e th orax part (Fig.4). Afte r aligning th e prim itive m e sh to th e butte rfly sh ape from th e side pe rspe ctive , you w ill also h ave to do th e sam e from th e top one [Num 7]. Try to m ak e th e m ode l sm ooth and round. You

can also alre ady use Subsurfs (Editing>>M odifie rs>>Subsurf>>Le ve ls) to se e h ow th e m ode l look s sm ooth e d. (Fig. 5) Pay atte ntion to th e h igh ligh te d ve rte x row in (Fig. 5). Late r, it sh ould be com e th e borde r be tw e e n th e uppe r-body (inse ct sh e ll) and th e low e r body. As you can se e in (Fig.5) too, I also alre ady adde d 2 cuts to e ve ry ve rtical one to indicate th e late r borde rs

be tw e e n th e sh e ll se gm e nts, as w e ll as to re fine th e back - e nd of th e inse ct.Now it is tim e to de fine th e diffe re nt sh e ll se gm e nts th e first tim e . Se le ct th e m iddle of th e 3 row s w h ich indicate a sh e ll division and scale it a bit sm alle r [s] (Fig. 6). You sh ould re pe at th is w ith e ve ry row , th e n continue w ith th e ne xt

ste p. Ok ay, now w e w ill continue de fining th e diffe re nt se gm e nts of th e abdom e n. To de fine th e uppe r sh e ll, use th e face -se le ct m ode and se le ct all face s th at are low e r th an th e borde r line be tw e e n th e sh e ll and th e low e r-body (Fig. 7).


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3d W ORKSH OP



Now w e use [E] to e xtrude th e low e r part and inse rt one m ore row of face s and th e scale -tool [S] to scale th e w h ole low e r part just a bit sm alle r. Le t's m ove th e w h ole th ing [G+ M M B] ve rtically until both line s (th e uppe r line of th e se le cte d se gm e nt and th e sh e ll borde r line ) ne arly cove r e ach oth e r (Fig. 8).

As you can se e , th e ve rtice s of th e uppe r row of th e se le cte d se gm e nt do not stand dire ctly unde r th e one s of th e

borde r line anym ore . Use th e scale -tool [S+ M M B] again and just scale th e low e r part h orizontally th is tim e , until e ach ve rtice appe ars unde r its ne igh bor again. You can also use th e m ove -tool [G] for th is, but it de finite ly w ill ne e d m ore tim e be cause you w ill ne e d to m ove e ve ry pair of ve rtice s on th e ir ow n.

Th e Th orax + H e adProce e d e xtruding th e m e sh righ t to th e h e ad and align it to th e inse ct sh ape again. Do not forge t to align it also from th e top pe rspe ctive ! :) For th e h e ad, w e can use a sim ple box subdivide d by th e line s w e alre ady got, so just e xtrude th e th orax again a little bit. Look on (Fig. 9 ) to se e th e w h ole proce ss so far. You sh ould also pay atte ntion to th e

re fine m e nt of th e back - e nd w h ich I alre ady did. Now continue to m ak e th e h e ad sm ooth e r, m ak ing it look lik e a low -

de taile d h alf-sph e re from th e side pe rspe ctive . Use th e m ove -tools [G] to ach ie ve th is by e asily m oving th e ve rtice s w h ich w e alre ady got due to our form e r cuts (Fig. 10). (Fig. 11) sh ow s an im age of th e m ode l w e got so far w ith Subsurface turne d on (le ve l 2).


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De tails of th e h e adAs you can se e , th e butte rfly on th e re fe re nce picture h as got ante nnas on h is h e ad. Th e re are diffe re nt, bre e d- spe cific ante nnas but w e w ill try to im itate th e se one s. Se le ct tw o face s w h ich are large e nough to be com e th e ante nnas on th e uppe r h e ad from th e top vie w and e xtrude th e m by [E>>Individual Face s] th e w ay it is sh ow n in (Fig. 12). If you ne e d to se le ct tw o or m ore face s on e ach side of th e h e ad (e ach side sh ould be e qual, as m irrore d if you did e ve ryth ing righ t so far), you ne e d to e xtrude th e ante nnas se parate ly.

If you ne e d so, do it w ith one , th e n copy it and conne ct th e low e r face s w ith th e face s of

th e h e ad [V] as you can se e in (Fig. 12). I first did th e e xtrusion w ith one or tw o face s, th e n inse rte d som e m ore row s in it and scale d th e m a bit ve rtically/h orizontally from th e top vie w to m ak e th e ante nnas a bit sm ooth e r, not th at cubic. Try to give th e se parts of th e body th e ir spe cific look by e xtruding straigh t, e xtruding and siz ing, e xtruding and siz ing again and th e n e xtruding straigh t again... also try to m ak e th e individual se gm e nts diffe re nt from e ach oth e r to give th e m ode l a random look .

As you can se e on th e re fe re nce im age , th e ante nnas be com e large r at th e top, so

le t's do th e m as sh ow n in (Fig. 13). You sh ould also alw ays tak e a look on th e oth e r pe rspe ctive s (front [Num 1], side [Num

3]) to pre ve nt an unw ante d sh ifting of th e ve rtice s. In both last Fig., I alre ady be nt th e ante nnas a bit to th e le ft and righ t (se e n from th e front) by se le cting som e of th e uppe r ve rtice s, turning Proportional Edit Falloff on [O], se le cting a give n falloff m e th od (h e re I use d a com bination of sm ooth and root falloff) and m oving th e

w h ole th ing w ith th e m ove -tool [G]. Probably you w ill ne e d to e xpe rim e nt a bit w ith th e righ t falloff m e th od to re ach satisfying re sults. Try it on your ow n. If th e re are also unw ante d ve rtice s, e .g. from th e ne igh bor ante nna sh ifte d w ith , try to m ove th e oth e r ante nna far aw ay w ith Proportional Edit Falloff off and sh ift th e m back late r (Fig. 14 sh ow s th e w h ole , finish e d ante nna of m y m ode l).


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Fine . Le t's m ak e th e h e ad a bit m ore com ple x now. I adde d face t- e ye s to th e h e ad by adding an Icosph e re (4 Subdivisions), m oving it to th e corre ct place from th e front and side pe rspe ctive and e rasing th e part of it th at protrude s into th e inse cts h e ad. I use d to cre ate th e Icosph e re s out of th e e dit m ode [TAB] to h ave th e m as a single m e sh and on th at w ay, se parate ly for th e late r te xturing proce ss. Finally I got a bit m ore th an a h alf Icosph e re on e ach side w h ich I fitte d on th e h e ad by using th e Proportional Edit Falloff Tools [O] again. Th is action could ne e d som e tim e until th e w h ole e ye fits (ne arly) pe rfe ctly to th e h e ad. So tak e som e coffe e and be patie nt. :) In addition, I also adde d a

ring, m ade by e xtruding a circle se ve ral tim e s (using th e scale -tool [S]) and fitte d it on th e h e ad as w e ll, as a k ind of

fram e for th e inse ct e ye s (Fig. 15). As a furth e r e ffe ct, th is re ve als th e unattractive are a w h e re th e Icosph e re h its th e H e ad's Surface .

Afte r applying th e e ye s, w e w ill continue w ith th e se cond instrum e nt th e se anim als h ave on th e ir h e ad. As you can se e on (Fig. 15), th e y start out as ne arly as unde r th e e ye and long until th e uppe r e nd of it. Th e ir structure is re lative ly e qual to th e one of th e ante nnas, so use th e sam e te ch nique to cre ate th e m .

As you can se e in (Fig. 16), I also cre ate d a be ak w h ich h oists spiral unde r th e h e ad. You can e asily cre ate th is by

e xtruding one face from th e uppe r m iddle h e ad and continuing e xtruding [E] and rotating [R] it until you h ave a spiral. I did th e w h ole

th ing a bit m ore com ple x to give it a bit of structure as you can se e in (Fig. 17). Th e re is also a "m outh " (or be tte r: h ole ) sh ow n w h e re th e be ak com e s out. I took th is scre e nsh ot w ith Subsurface s turne d off, so you h ave a be tte r insigh t into th e m ode ling structure . As you can se e above th e be ak (or m outh , se e n from th e top or front pe rspe ctive ), I h ad to m ak e som e m ore cuts to de fine th e m . Do not use loop cuts [K] all th e tim e . Inste ad of th is, use norm al cuts [K] to incre ase just th e part of ge om e try you re ally w ant to incre ase in de tail and avoid proble m s w ith too m any face s or proble m s w ith too ch ise le d e dge s (Th is occurs w h e n too m any e dge s com e too close toge th e r on oth e r re gions of th e m e sh , e .g.) w h e n turning Subsurf on again.


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Th e le gs and th e ir conne ction to th e body.As se e n on th e re fe re nce im age , th e butte rfly h as a sh e ll around it's le gs as w e ll as on th e part w h ich finally conne cts to th e re st of th e body. Th is part look s re lative ly com ple x w h ich w ould ne e d a lot of additional ve rtice s in th e th orax ge om e try and on th at w ay could probably disturb th e Subsurf functionality or e asily incre ase th e ve rte x count unne ce ssarily. Be cause of th is, I did th e se e le m e nts as w e ll as th e le gs se parate ly. So - le t's ge t of e dit-m ode [TAB] and first cre ate tw o le gs as

se e n on (Fig. 18). I starte d out w ith a circle (about 5-7 ve rtice s) from th e top vie w and e xtrude d it until I re ach e d a m ode l as sh ow n in th e figure . To cre ate th e individual sh e ll se gm e nts, you can use th e sam e te ch nique as alre ady done w ith th e abdom e n or th e ante nnas. To m ak e th e individual sh e ll parts sh ifting unde r e ach oth e r, m ove [G] and scale [S] th e m until th e y re ach a bit unde r th e ne igh bor sh e ll se gm e nt, as se e n in (Fig. 19 ).

Th e re is also th e low e st part of th e inse ct, its claw s, sh ow n. M ode ling th e m h igh ly de taile d incre ase s th e visual

com ple xity of your final m ode l. W e w ill use th e te ch nique sh ow n h e re to re fine th e abdom e n late r in th e de tails se ction. Now w e sh ould h ave m ode ls as in (Fig. 20) and in (Fig. 18, th e oth e r le gs).

Now w e w ill start

out w ith th e conne ctions to th e body. I did a cube at first, flatte ne d it a bit [S+ M M B], e rase d th e bottom face and th e n inse rte d som e loop cuts [K].


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I continue d m oving th e ve rtice s until I re ach e d a form as in th e re fe re nce im age s. Th e n, I fitte d th e m on th e th orax by using th e Proportional Edit Falloff tools from th e 3d- and side -pe rspe ctive [Num 3] and e xtrude d one e dge until th e y re ach e d th e uppe r m iddle of th e th orax. As a last ste p, I m irrore d th e part and joine d th e tw o m e sh e s by h itting [J]. Now I conne cte d th e parts I e xtrude d be fore to th e uppe r m iddle of th e th orax toge th e r (Use [V]-k e y w h ile h aving 2, 3 or 4 unconne cte d ve rtice s se le cte d to cre ate a line , a tri, or a quad). Th at's it. Now you just ne e d to

m ak e 2 variations of th is form for th e oth e r 2 pairs of le gs. You can also cre ate som e de e p-structure by m ak ing 3 ve rtical cuts again and m oving th e m iddle of th e m along

th e z -axis of th e m ode l. You can se e th is in (Fig. 21). Look for (Fig. 18) to se e th e conne ction parts from th e side pe rspe ctive .

Re fining th e m ain bodyOk ay... th e m ode l isn't look ing bad, but th e re are still th ings th at ne e d to be m ore inte nsive , e xpre ssive to look naturalistic. For e xam ple : Th e sh e ll se gm e nts (again! ;) ). W e w ill use th e sam e m e th od of m oving one sh e ll se gm e nt unde r its ne igh bor as w e alre ady did w ith th e claw s. Se le ct one row of face s in face - se le ct-m ode , scale th e m a bit sm alle r [S] and m ove [G] th e m unde r th e oth e r face row. (Fig. 22)


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Now w e w ill finish -up th e back -part of th e inse ct. As se e n in th e re fe re nce again, th e re is a k ind of incision in th e sh e ll w h e re anoth e r part of th e body is visible be tw e e n th e uppe r and low e r sh e ll. You m ay also m ode l th is th e follow ing w ay: First e longate th e uppe r part a bit and de le te th e face s be tw e e n th e uppe r and low e r part. Afte r th is, e xtrude th e borde r face s of th e ope n low e r part to th e m iddle and se condly to th e inne rm ost part of th e inse ct. Th e n, I e xtrude d it again out of th e m e sh and form e d th e body part w h ich is m ark e d in (Fig. 23). Finally, do not forge t to close th e ope n m e sh by se le cting 4 ve rtice s and h itting [V].

As a th ird de tail, you can e xtrude som e ch ose n face s of th e top th orax and e xtrude th e m too, to cre ate also som e sh e ll se gm e nts on th is place . Se e (Fig. 24) for th is


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Th e w ingsAs you can also se e in (Fig. 24 and Fig. 25), I se le cte d 2 pairs of face s and e xtrude d th e m on both side s of th e body in th e top pe rspe ctive [Num 7]. You can use th e scale -tool [S] in th at case to e xtrude th e m aw ay from th e m idpoint afte r h itting [E] for e xtrude . Now , start to build a construct of m uscle s and/or ve ins w h ich start at th e body and be com e sm alle r and sm alle r in th e w ings re gion. Th e look of th e se m uscle s/ve ins diffe rs from e ach butte rfly too, so tak e a look at your pe rsonal re fe re nce or e asily

do it as you lik e :). Do not forge t to m ak e th e se gm e nts a bit th inne r at th e e nd, using th e scale -tool [S] again. Ple ase do th is w h ole action for just one side at first. Now se le ct your one - side construction, m irror it, and attach it to th e oth e r e xtrude d e nds on th e oth e r side by [V]- k e y (Fig. 26).Ok ay.

Le t's start w ith th e w ings surface s. Th e re are se ve ral m e th ods to ach ie ve th is, e .g. 3d spline s, polygonal surface s… e tc. For now , w e w ill continue w ith our

te ch nique w e use d so far: Go out of e dit-m ode [TAB] to m ak e it e asie r to te xture late r. Now start

w ith a sim ple cube again and flatte n it so it be com e s ve ry th in (but don't forge t th at it probably be com e s e ve n th inne r w h e n Subsurfs are turne d on). Try to cre ate tw o sh ape s (Fig. 27) by e xtrusion [E] and re fining ([K] for loop cuts or norm al cuts e tc.) w h e re as th e uppe r one (as se e n in (Fig. 28)) ove rlaps th e low e r one just a little bit.


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Now , turn subsurface s on and m ak e th e w ings in de pth a bit irre gular. For th is, w e can also use th e Proportional Edit Falloff-Tool [O] de spite w e could also use lattice s, e tc. But for now , w e w ill try to m inim iz e th e assortm e nt of tools use d and tak e th e first one . You sh ould pay som e atte ntion to th e w ings th at still ove rlap, but ne arly conne ct to e ach oth e r w ith th e ir low e r and uppe r surface . In (Fig. 29 ), th e de pth s of th e surface I use d h e re are m ark e d, just for

e xam ple . Now com e s th e last ste p w e ne e d to do: W e w ill ne e d to tak e a look to se e if th e m uscle s or ve ins w e did just som e ste ps be fore are still visibly conne cte d to th e w ings in top [Num 7] and bottom pe rspe ctive . If th e y are not, try to ach ie ve th is by m oving or w e lding th e m w ith th e Proportional Editing Tools [O] and/or th e m ove -tool [G].

Ok ay - now re cline and be h old your m ode l - did you e ve r im agine th at a butte rfly look s lik e th at? Ch e ck your re fe re nce - if it's ide ntical, you did a ve ry good job.


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Th e final, ye t unte xture d and unrigge d re sult can be se e n be low. I h ope I h ave succe ssfully cove re d all aspe cts of th e m ode l and h ave w ritte n a com pre h e nsible tutorial




Th e Mak ing of Spe cial PEZ Dispe nse rsIn m y re ce nt M FA Th e sis Exh ibition, I pre se nte d PEZ dispe nse rs w h ich w e re constructe d w ith found obje cts, h and fabricate d and com pute r ge ne rate d e le m e nts. In th is article I w ill focus on th e te ch nical possibilitie s th at Ble nde r provide s artists in cre ating CAD ge ne rate d e le m e nts.

Toge th e r, Ble nde r and Yafray are a ve ry strong toolse t w h ich provide all ne e de d m ode ling and re nde ring tools to visualiz e ide as and e xplore variations in a sh ort pe riod of tim e . W ith it’s e xce lle nt m ode ling and anim ation tools, Ble nde r allow s th e de signe r to virtually cre ate h is obje ct and proof m e ch anical e le m e nts. Yafray tak e s core for a ph otore alistic re nde ring.

H ow e ve r, in te rm s of m ode ling, Ble nde r also offe rs th e possibility to

e xport 3D ge om e try into th e STL (Ste re o Lith ograph y) form at to transcribe to 3D printe rs.

It is im portant to k e e p one lim itation in m ind about Ble nde r: Ble nde r doe s not support advance d NURBS tools. And NURBS tools are e sse ntial w h e n de signing sh ape s and e le m e nts th at re quire a h igh am ount of pre cision. And polygons do not offe r th at pre cision e ith e r. H ow e ve r, w h e n a NURBS obje ct is e xporte d into th e STL form at, th e surface is te sse llate d and save d as a polygon m e sh . Good re sults w ill re quire a h igh te sse llation of th e NURBS obje cts. Th is is sim ilar to w ork ing w ith Polygons. W h ile polygons cannot re place NURBS, th e y h ave th e ir ow n advantage s. Organic m ode ling is today’s stre ngth of Polygons. Toge th e r w ith Subdivide d Surface s, you not only h ave th e e asy m ode ling tools to quick ly cre ate your de sire d sh ape s, but also Subdivide d Surface s th at are ne e de d for fine te sse llation to gain sm ooth STL file s.

During th e past th re e se m e ste rs at Bow ling Gre e n State Unive rsity, I h ave e xplore d a de sign proce ss in w h ich I

include traditional and com pute r-aide d approach e s to e xplore , de ve lop, and construct m y art obje cts.

Th is proce ss be gins w ith fe w quick sk e tch e s to capture th e m ost im portant ide as of th e proje ct. H and sk e tch ing allow s one to quick ly e xplore m any ide as in a ve ry rough w ay. H ow e ve r sk e tch e s,

by nature , h ave a h abit of be ing tw o-dim e nsional, static, and disproportionate . Th is is w h e n Ble nde r be com e s an e sse ntial tool. Afte r th e m ain e le m e nts are w ork e d out, Ble nde r is use d to construct ide as in a th re e -dim e nsional space and to re fine th e obje cts.

Th e M ak ing of Spe cial PEZ dispe nse rs

Rapid Prototyping w ith Ble nde r for Je w e lry/M e tal Artists

By Claas Eick e Kuh ne n



Th e advantage of sw itch ing to Ble nde r afte r th is be ginning stage is th at th e m ain and im portant ide as are e xplore d and a solid foundation is cre ate d on w h ich Ble nde r can re st. Afte r an initial m ode ling se ssion (w h ich ofte n re quire s quite som e tim e ), applying ch ange s to th e de sign, adding sm all e le m e nts, or ch anging th e point of vie w only re quire fe w click s of th e m ouse . It is during th is stage th at de cisions conce rning m ate rial th ick ne ss, scale and proportions are m ade . Spe cifically, w h e n m e ch anical e le m e nts are involve d in th e de sign, th e ir inte raction w ill be e xplore d and re fine d.

W ork ing w ith th e corre ct m ate rial th ick ne ss is ve ry im portant

w h e n you are incorporating rapid prototype d obje cts into your art. For e xam ple , if it is too th in, th e obje ct m igh t crack .

At th is point, all of th e im portant aspe cts of th e de sign’s de ve lopm e nt are com ple te . In th e follow ing ste p, orth ograph ic vie w s of th e 3D m ode l are printe d out in 1:1 and use d as a re fe re nce to start constructing th e m e tal e le m e nts.

Th e m ajority of th e m e tal w ork can be constructe d using flat sh e e ts of m e tal. Th e te m plate s ne e d to be saw e d out,

file d, be nt, and/or solde re d toge th e r. H ow e ve r, cre ating a re alistic h e ad out of a sh e e t of m e tal is not so e asy. Th is task re quire s a diffe re nt approach .

Th ank s to Ble nde r’s STL e xport fe ature , th e naturalistically m ode le d h e ad could be se nt to a zCore 3D printe r to cre ate m ultiple , re al th re e -dim e nsional re plications. During th is proce ss it w as im portant to w ork w ith close d surface s. Th e zCore softw are ne e ds close d solids, or close d surface s w ith a m ode le d th ick ne ss to calculate w h e re it h as to glue th e starch pow de r toge th e r, w h ich at th e e nd w ill turn into th e de sire d obje ct.




Th e zCore 3D Printe r w ork s lik e a re gular printe r, but inste ad of using ink it use s glue .Th e printe r starts by laying dow n a ve ry th in laye r of starch ove r w h ich th e printe r h e ad puts dow n glue drops w h e re th e

3D m ode l re quire s it. Afte r th at th e printe r brush e s anoth e r th in laye r of starch pow de r ove r th e first one and again glue drople ts are applie d.Th rough th is proce ss th e zCore Printe r cre ate s your 3D re plication laye r by laye r.

Th e se fragile 3D prints sh ould be se ale d w ith a spe cial and fast-drying e poxy glue to

pre ve nt any dam age . Th is proce ss w ork s be st w h e n th e 3D prints are place d in an ove n to w arm th e m up. Th e te m pe rature w ill m ak e th e e poxy glue sink de e p into th e surface w h e n applie d. Th is pre ve nts any glue re m aining on top of th e surface and cove ring any structural de tail. Tw o coats of glue are e nough to cre ate a ve ry solid plastic h ull or surface .

Th e only re m aining ste p is to Ele ctroform th e pie ce s. To e le ctroform m e ans th at you are grow ing m e tal onto your pie ce . In th is case , coppe r is use d. To pre ve nt any dam age to th e solid obje ct or th e e le ctroform e r, th e starch pow de r inside th e 3D print sh ould be w ash e d out w h e n th e 3D print only h as a ve ry th in e poxy glue se aling. It could h appe n, th at som e w ate r w ill flow th rough th e porous e poxy sk in and m ak e th e starch e xpand w h e n place d into th e e le ctroform e r. Th is w ill re sult in crack e d surface s w h ich , h ow e ve r, also can re sult into be autiful crack de tails w h e n de sire d. Afte r applying e le ctrodag (a coppe r paint) to th e h e ad and se aling th e inside w ith w ax and attach ing a coppe r w ire to it, th e 3D h e ad can be place d into th e e le ctroform e r.




For th e final h e ad, th e le ft side of th e face got th re e coatings of

e le ctrodag, w h ile th e righ t side only re ce ive d one ve ry th in laye r. Th is re sulte d in th e le ft side be ing strong and solid and th e le ft side be ing th in, fragile and only partially e le ctroplate d. Th rough a longe r plating proce ss w ith a low am p se tting, a solid and e ve n coppe r surface w as cre ate d. Tow ards th e e nd of th e proce ss, th e am ps w e re incre ase d to cre ate a strong nodulation on th e righ t side of th e face . Th e nodulation turne d into an e ffe ct, w h ich look s lik e th e h e ad is de caye d.

Th e final stage of th e de sign proce ss is re ach e d. W h ile m ost im portant e le m e nts w e re finaliz e d w ith th e first sk e tch se ssion and late r in Ble nde r, during th e proce ss of asse m bling all e le m e nts, th e de sign is tw e ak e d and ch ange d furth e rm ore . Th e printe d de sign plans are a pe rfe ct playground for som e m ore re fine d sk e tch ing. Quite ofte n is it th e case th at th e proble m solving re quire s you to go forw ard and back w ards be tw e e n th e se tw o approach e s until th e final re sult is re ach e d




Alth ough Povray is an e xce lle nt ray-tracing softw are , Ble nde r use rs did not h ave m any w ays of using it cle anly until th e re le ase of Ble nd2Pov. Alth ough Ble nd2Pov w as born as a script, just lik e th e JM S Ble nde r-to-POV e xporte r, th e script e xporte d th e XM L ge ne rate d by Ble nde r for Yafray to a POV form at. Now in th e ir late st ve rsion (0.0.6a at th e m om e nt of w riting th is article ), Ram on Carlos Ruiz (RC Ruiz , th e script auth or) h as succe ssfully inte grate d it as th e re nde r UI w ith in Ble nde r (Figure 1). Th is provide s alm ost se am le ss inte gration for PovRay, base d on cle ve r usage of th e Yafray code . Th is article w ill te ach you h ow to use Ble nd2Pov.

InstallationTo m ak e it w ork , you w ill ne e d to install th e Ble nd2Pov binary w h ich you can find at Elysiun, and also th e ne w e st ve rsion of

Povray. You m ay also w ant to install M e gapov, as it is com patible to Povray and h as additional fe ature s lik e H DRI support and Film Exposure .

Righ t now , th e re is no e xe cutable installation for Ble nd2pov, so you h ave to unz ip th e rar arch ive of ble nd2pov into a folde r and re nam e th e ble nde r.e xe to som e th ing lik e ble nde r2pov.e xe and copy it to th e de fault Ble nde r installation folde r. You m ay also w ant to cre ate a sh ortcut to it for your de sk top.

Be fore going any furth e r, e xe cute th e Ble nd2Pov program to m ak e sure it loads corre ctly. If it give s som e m issing file e rrors, m ak e sure th at you place d th e re nam e d Ble nd2Pov file in your Ble nde r installation folde r.

Afte r th e succe ssful installation of Ble nd2Pov and Povray, you'll be able to acce ss it dire ctly from Ble nde r's Re nde r button just as you do w ith Yafray (Figure 1).

Fe ature sNow w e w ill de scribe e ach one of th e buttons for th e Ble nde r2Pov GUI in th e

'Re nde r buttons w indow '

Re nde ring w ith POVRay from Ble nde r

Re nde ring w ith Povray from Ble nde r

ByJosé M auricio and Rodas R. "M orfe us"

Fig1. Povray as re nde ring e ngine .

Fig2. Th e Povray GUI



Bak e Radio& Ph otTh e purpose of th is is to save th e radiosity* and ph otons data in "e xp.rad" and "e xp.ph " file s th at are store d in th e de fault Yafray path . If you w ant to re nde r an anim ation w ith PovRay, it is re com m e nde d th at you re nde r th e FIRST fram e w ith th is button activate d. Th e n, disable 'Bak e Radio& Ph ot' and e nable 'Load Pre vious Bak e '. Finally, re nde r th e anim ation. Doing th is w ill save you som e tim e on radiosity calculations.

Load Previous Bak eTh is button is use d afte r you h ave save d th e Radiosity and or Ph oton data in th e first fram e of your anim ation. It save s tim e during th e re nde ring by using th e save d data from th e "e xp.rad" and "e xp.ph " file s.

Th e quality of th e radiosity is configure d by de fault pre se ts in Ble n2Pov, w h ich tak e s advantage of th e store d value s in th e "rad_ de f.inc" file s.


Fig3. Radiosity se le ctor

Radios ity is a te ch niq ue us e d for th e calculation of Global Illum ination. Illum ination is done by e m itting ligh t from e ach obje ct in th e sce ne . O bje cts absorb ce rtain q uantitie s of th e e ne rgy and also re fle ct som e part, for w h at can be cons ide re d as ligh t e m is s ion by re fle ction. It is done in such a w ay th at all th e surface s in th e sce ne act as am bie nt ligh ts , and th e re fore e ach one affe cts th e illum ination of th e oth e r surface s (w e ll-k now n ph e nom e non as D iffus e Inte r-re fle ction of th e ligh t ).

Th e calculation of Radios ity is bas e d on m ath e m atical m e th ods th at are de pe nde nt on Raytrace rs . Povray us e s th e Gre g W ard Me th od for radios ity calculation. Th is provide s a form of re placing th e old calculations (constant value of am bie nce ) w ith a value of ligh t bas e d on th e inte raction of ligh t in th e ne igh boring surface s .

Radiosity

Fig4. Radiosity Options



Now w e w ill go th rough th e available radiosity type options.No Radiosity: W h e n se le cting th is option Ble nd2Pov doe sn't calculate radiosity.Radiosity De fault: As th e nam e indicate s it loads th e de fault radiosity param e te rs, th e re sults m ay be bad de pe nding on th e sce ne , but it is good e nough to m ak e te st re nde rs w ith out sacrificing re nde r tim e .Radiosity Fast: Th is m ak e s a quick calculation for radiosity, th us is of low quality but supe rior to th e De fault.Radiosity Norm al: Th is use s typical value s of radiosity for sce ne s w h e re ge ne rally a good re nde r is re quire d, but not sacrificing too m uch on re nde ring tim e (for e xam ple , anim ations).Radiosity 2Bounce : Th is use s value s of 'Radiosity Norm al' but m ak e s a double bounce of ligh t, im proving th e sce ne . Th is is ach ie ve d by alte ring a spe cial Povray param e te r calle d 'th e re cursion_ lim it'. Th is param e te r controls th e quantity of tim e s th at th e ligh t inte racts w ith an obje ct. Th e re is m axim um of 20. In th is case , th e value of th e re cursion_ lim it is at 2. Th is also incre ase s th e re nde r tim e .


De fault (20 Se c) Fast (38 Se c)

Norm al (1 50 Se c)

Above com parison of th e q uality and re nde r tim e s w ith diffe re nt radios ity on th e sam e sce ne :

2Bounce ( 5M in 50 Se c)



Radiosity Final: As th e nam e indicate s, it is use d for h igh quality re nde rs and as you gue sse d w ith e ve n h igh e r re nde r tim e s. Radiosity OutdoorLQ: Th e low -quality radiosity re nde ring for outdoor sce ne s. It w ill be spe e die r. It is use d to sim ulate radiosity in e xte rnal sce ne s in w h ich th e ligh t com e s from a source of punctual ligh t. Th e re nde r is of low quality and is ide al for te sting due to th e low re nde r tim e s. Radiosity OutdoorH Q: Th is is th e opposite of th e pre vious se tting and is use d for h igh - quality re nde rings of outdoor sce ne s.Radiosity OutdoorLigh t: Th is is use d to sim ulate radiosity in e xte rnal sce ne s w ith th e sun as a prim ary source of ligh t. H ow e ve r, th e quality is sim ilar to OutdoorLQ.Radiosity IndoorLQ: Th is is use d to sim ulate radiosity in inte rior sce ne s. It use s a 're cursion lim it' value of 2.Radiosity IndoorH Q: Th is is use d to sim ulate radiosity in inte rior sce ne s using a 're cursion_ lim it' value of 3. Th e re nde r tim e is h igh so, th is is be st use d for your final re nde rs.


Final (13 M in 37 Se c) Outdoor LQ (32Se c)

Outdoor H Q (12 M in 11 Se c)

Above com parison of th e q uality and re nde r tim e s w ith diffe re nt radios ity on th e sam e sce ne :

Outdoor Ligh t (20 Se c)



You can ach ie ve be tte r radiosity configurations by m odifying th e radiosity param e te rs inside Povray or, by m odifying th e PovGlobalRad value from w ith in Ble nde r. Re m e m be r, w h e ne ve r you m odify Radiosity param e te rs in Ble nd2POV you w ill h ave to ge ne rate ne w Bak e Radio& Ph ot.

Ph otons Th is button e nable s th e ge ne ration of caustics in your sce ne . If not activate d by de fault, fak e caustics are ge ne rate d, w h ose re sults can som e tim e s be good. Th e param e te rs of th e ph otons for caustics are store d in th e "e xp.ph " file . Th e ph otons are use d as h e lpe rs for Radiosity calculations.

Alth ough th e fak e caustic re sults are not so gre at, th e se can be use ful in sce ne s w ith large quantitie s of w ate r (for e xam ple , unde rw ate r in a se a or a pool). In th e se type of e nvironm e nts, re nde ring th e caustics w ith ph otons w ill tak e a ve ry, ve ry long tim e . So, it is sugge ste d to use fak e caustics h e re . Th is can be dire ctly adjuste d from Povray using th e k e yw ord caustics pow e r, th is com m and can h ave a value be tw e e n 0.0 and 1.0. Note th at caustics are not sim ulate d w h e n th e value is se t to 0.0. Th e value of caustics pow e r is introduce d as an Inte rior param e te r of th e m ate rials.


Indoor LQ (46 Se c) Indoor H Q (25 M in 36 Se c)

Radiosity 2bounce (11 M in 34 Se c) Radiosity 2bounce (4 M in 47 Se c)

W ith Ph otons W ith out Ph otons



Jitte rTh is is a condition for th e are a ligh t th at m ak e s it ge ne rate a random sam pling of th e are a ligh t, th e re by sm ooth ing th e laye rs of ligh t & sh adow sam ple s. Th is, h ow e ve r, cause s proble m s in anim ations as it ge ne rate s random sam ple s of th e sm ooth ne ss and se e m s to jum p in th e anim ations. Se e th e e xam ple im age s for a be tte r unde rstanding of its e ffe ct.

De fault Am bie ntTh is produce s th e sam e e ffe ct as th at of Ble nde r's 'Em it' function.

Exe c. PovRayTh e function of th is button is ve ry sim ple , to run PovRay for re nde ring as soon as re nde r button is pre sse d. If Exe c. PovRay is activate d, th e sce ne ge ts e xporte d to th e Povray form at and th e im age is re nde re d dire ctly w ith in Povray.

Auto AAIf th is button is pre sse d, th e re nde r is Anti-aliase d in Povray. It is ide al for a te st re nde r. It is pre sse d by de fault. If you de se le ct th is button, th re e ne w options w ill appe ar: AA Sam ple s, AA Passe s and Th r (AA Th re sh old). Th e se ne w options

w ill allow you to h ave m anual control ove r anti-aliasing.

Th e AA Sam ple s is use d w h e n using DOF (De pth of Fie ld). AA Passe s is th e quantity of passe s th at are use d in th e re nde r for aliasing. Th r (AA Th re sh old) is th e se paration value of th e pixe l re gion to anti-alias.


Fig5. Antialiasing options

Radiosity 2bounce (5 M in 14 Se c) Radiosity 2bounce (7 M in 55 Se c)

W ith Jitte r W ith out Jitte r



Rayde pthTh is is th e num be r of bounce s of th e ray and is im portant for glass and m irrors. H igh e r num be rs e qual be tte r re sults. Th is also w ill e ffe ct th e re nde ring tim e .

Proce ssorsTh is option is curre ntly not active in th is ve rsion of Ble nd2Pov.

Gam aGam m a is re late d to th e OSA proce dure , th e ove rsam pling of pixe ls th at are m ixe d to ge ne rate th e final re nde r. Th e conve ntional re nde ring h as a Gam m a of 1.00.

ExposureTh is addition sim ulate s a de cre ase of re active ch e m icals in film e m ulsion during e xposure . Th e are as th at h ave re ce ive d m ore ligh t re act le ss th an oth e r are as. Use ful for h igh contrast sce ne s as it brings out th e dark are as and lim its brigh t are as.

ConclusionI h ope th is basic e xplanation of th e Ble nde r2Pov param e te rs w ill ge t you starte d w ith using th e aw e som e PovRay

raytrace r from w ith in Ble nde r. And, of course , as Ble nd2Pov de ve lops, you w ill be able to use e ve n m ore pow e rful fe ature s of PovRay w ith m inim um fuss from w ith in Ble nde r

ble nde 2povray dow nload.h ttp://w w w.graph icall.org/builds/builds/sh ow build.ph p?action=sh ow & id=116& PHPSESSID=b4c1a7c0379 5db2af8e fe 72e 0349 6217Code r: RCRuiz


To use Exposure you w ill ne e d to h ave M e gapov installe d, since Povray doe sn't support th is function. If you use it w h ile re nde ring, M e gapov w ill be e xe cute d autom atically.

Im portant

http://www.graphicall.org/builds/builds/showbuild.php?action=show&id=116&PHPSESSID=b4c1a7c03795db2af8efe72e03496217



IntroductionTh is article focuse s on a ve ry im portant part of 3D Ch aracte r M ode ling k now n as th e 2D Sk e tch ( or Conce pt De sign). Th e sk e tch artw ork is th e basis for th e succe ssful 3D ch aracte r th at e ve ryone h ope s to h ave in th e ir anim ation. It's during th e Conce pt De sign ph ase th at w e de fine e ve ry aspe ct of th e ch aracte r; providing a w e ll-structure d form and ide a w h ich , if prope rly follow e d, is

difficult to lose w h ile 3D m ode ling. Oth e rw ise , w e m igh t turn our ch aracte r into som e k ind of de form e d alie n, w h ich m ay only be h e lpful if w e do inte nd to m ak e one . ;) Above , you can se e one good-look ing ch aracte r sk e tch but, it is not ve ry h e lpful w h ile 3D m ode ling. So, for th at re ason I h ave de cide d to do a little sk e tch tutorial about w h at goe s into m ak ing a succe ssful 3D ch aracte r starting from th e 2D Sk e tch ph ase .

Th e Ch aracte rTh e styliz e d fictitious guy in th e picture is Orion. H e volunte e re d h im se lf to illustrate w h at w ill be de scribe d in upcom ing paragraph s. For th is, you w ill ne e d a digital table t or th e traditional pape r and pe ncil.

Conce pt De sign vs 2D Sk e tchSom e tim e s, th e gap be tw e e n th e se tw o te rm s is blurre d, th us e asily m isunde rstood. Conce pt De sign re fe rs to th e actual cre ative proce ss of th ough t or ide a and th e de sign proce ss th at suits th e final outcom e . It is usually re pre se nte d visually th rough continuously im prove d sk e tch e s or draw ings of som e obje ct or ch aracte r from th e ve ry first ide a until

th e com ple tion of a production-re ady draw ing. It also include s th e sce ne de tails lik e e nvironm e nt style , ch aracte r spe cialtie s, ligh ting and m ood of th e sce ne and th e te xture style as w e ll.

Th e 2D Sk e tch is a single part of th e Conce pt De sign proce ss. It give s you th e basic form and h ape to h e lp m ate rializ e th e ide a th at w ill gain, ove r tim e , a m ore organic sh ape on th e pape r. It can also be calle d a rough pre -visualization of th e final ide aliz e d draw ing.

Tim e -Saving TipsUnle ss you're a ve ry gifte d artist w ith th e ability to draw quality sk e tch e s ligh tning fast, you w ill ne e d lots of tim e and a fle xible de adline . Re m e m be r, since th is is a sk e tch for pre -visualization of a 3D m ode l, you m ay ch oose to be le ss de scriptive on th e pape r.

If you are draw ing th e sk e tch digitally, use Laye rs in your favorite paint program . Use e ach Laye r for se parate th ings. For instance , put th e h e ad in Laye r 1, th e h air in 2, body in 3, cloth e s in 4 and so on.

Ch aracte r de sign - 2d sk e tch to 3d

Ch aracte r D e sign2D Sk e tch to 3D

by - Rogério Pe rdiz



Using Laye rs can som e tim e s be trick y but, in th e e nd it w ill be ne fit you quite substantially, saving you pre cious tim e .

Th e Sh e e tTh e first th ing you ne e d to re m e m be r is th at w h e n you finish th e 3D m ode l, you'll also ne e d to Rig(*) it so th e ch aracte r can be pose d in th e sce ne . It is h igh ly re com m e nde d th at you pose your ch aracte r w ith th e arm s and le gs sligh tly spre ad apart. You w ant to do th is be cause , for instance , if th e righ t le g is ve ry close to th e le ft it w ill be a m ad job assigning th e ve rtice s to th e bone s. Th is type of pose facilitate s th e arm ature bone positioning and m ak e s it a lot e asie r to

m ode l and w ork w ith th e ch aracte r's pose .

For th e m ain ch aracte r sk e tch , your goal sh ould be a 3- side d ch aracte r sh e e t (Front, Side and Back ). Th is is a ve ry crucial ste p for th e 3D m ode ling ph ase of your ch aracte r. You ne e d to de fine th e 3-dim e nsional fe ature s of th e ch aracte r in th e sk e tch lik e m uscular volum e and th e strik ing contours. Afte r th at, if it's possible , you can de fine m ore de tail on a clay m ode l, but for now your 3- side d ch aracte r sh e e t sh ould give you an acce ptable 2D flatte ne d re fe re nce . Th is sh ould be e nough to ge t you going. In addition, if you w ish , you m ay also do

som e pe rspe ctive sk e tch e s of your ch aracte r w ith re laxe d pose s. I use th e pe rspe ctive draw ings for additional re fe re nce . I alw ays use a

3D block m ode l m ade in Ble nde r as m y re fe re nce for th e pe rspe ctive pose s. It give s a natural cam e ra vie w fe e l to th e pe rspe ctive draw ings and it́ s re ally e asy to de fine th e volum e of th e ch aracte r.

Sk e tch ing UpW h e n I use d to se e draw ings m ade by profe ssionals, I th ough t to m yse lf "W h ooo!! I’ll ne ve r be able to m ak e th at, th e se guys are gods and sim ple m ortals lik e m e w ill ne ve r re ach th e m ." W e ll, w h at h appe ns is th at w e usually only se e th e final draw ing, and ignore th e ste ps th at th e y’ve use d to ge t th e re . You can com pare draw ing to th e construction of a h ouse or a building. In th e e nd, it look s pre tty. But w h ile th e artists are w ork ing, it’s just a lot of dirt, trash and individual parts.


Placing an arm ature or bone inside th e m e sh to e nable th e m anipulation of th e ch aracte r's pose .

Rigging



Th e Golde n Rule of 2D Ch aracte r Sk e tch ing

Ne ve r forge t th at th e re is a h e ad unde r th e h air and a body unde r th e cloth e s. If som e th ing is w rong, you w ill instinctive ly k now it. You m ay not k now e xactly w h at's w rong but, you w ill k now th at som e th ing isn't quite righ t. You’ll be fine if you k e e p th at in m ind.

I’m not going to de scribe ste p-by- ste p h ow to draw , but if you find m y sk e tch e s gre at th e n you re ally are in trouble and I re com m e nd th e follow ing site s th at h ave quick tutorials on 2D ch aracte r de sign. Th e y are focuse d m ainly on th e Japane se anim e style but, th e te ch nique s de scribe d are fle xible and e asily adaptable to any style (de dicate d draw ing book s are pre fe rable but, if th e y are out of your re ach , th e se site s are good one s and cove r w e ll th e basics):

h ttp://w w w.h ow todraw m anga.comh ttp://w w w.bak ane k o.comh ttp://w w w.polyk arbon.com

Th e Front Vie wNow th is is w h e re all th e fun be gins! Ladie s and Ge ntle m e n! Start th e GIM P (or w h ate ve r your favorite 2D im age e ditor h appe ns to be ) or just grab a bunch of pape r and your favorite pe ncil. Th e m ost im portant th ing, if you're using an im age e ditor, is to USE LAYERS, SEPARATE TH INGS, and DON'T DELETE ANYTH ING.

If you’re using pe ncil and pape r, also m aintain th e th ings se parate d. Use a ligh t table or ce ll pape r to draw , for

e xam ple , th e h air on top of th e h e ad. W h e n you're done , scan e ve ryth ing and join th e m in th e com pute r.

Lik e in 3D, th e first th ing you ne e d is a block m ode l, in th is case a block ovaliz e d draw ing. Th is w ay you can de fine th e are a and position of your ch aracte r on th e pape r and avoid boring th ings lik e , afte r alm ost com ple ting th e ch aracte r, not h aving e nough room le ft on th e pape r to draw th e fe e t.

Using sim ple circle s and ovals is ge ne rally a good m e th od to de fine th e body proportions, but is far from be ing th e only m e th od. Use circle s to re pre se nt th e h e ad and th e joints lik e sh oulde rs, e lbow s and k ne e s. Use ovals to conne ct th e m .

Ne xt, draw th e h e ad h airle ss, add th e h air, draw th e body and finally cove r h im w ith som e Coth e s. Ne ve r forge t to put e ach th ing on a diffe re nt laye r.




Th e Side Vie wW h e n you finish th e Front vie w , it's tim e to m ak e th e Side vie w

(Im age le ft bottom ).Now h e re , som e tim e s th ings can be com e trick y. W h at h appe ns is th at th e Front vie w m ust coincide , as pe rfe ctly as possible , w ith th e Side vie w. Th at’s calle d Fore sh orte ning.

Fore sh orte ningFore sh orte ning isn’t e asy to say th e le ast. W h ate ve r you’re using, th e GIM P or pape r, you’ll ne e d to draw h orizontal line s from k e y parts of th e Front vie w and use th e m to draw your ch aracte r from th e Side vie w. In th e GIM P, you can just activate th e Vie w Grid function but, it’s a lot h arde r, tim e -consum ing and e rror-propitious.

Pre ss th e [sh ift] k e y w h ile ch oosing tw o points in th e GIM P or use a rule r on pape r.




Oh M y! So Many Line s!!!

Don’t panic just ye t. Its just lik e a h ouse , e ve ryth ing is m ade progre ssive ly. I’ve m ade th e im age be low to sh ow you th e ste ps I’ve tak e n and th at it’s e ve n use ful w ith a diffe re nt pose .

First, you only trace line s from th e k e y parts of th e block m ode l lik e th e h e ad,

w aist, k ne e s, fe e t (1) th e n, you trace som e m ore to re fine th e h e ad (2) and so on… draw h air, draw th e body (3) and dre ss h im (4) just lik e th e Front vie w. Don’t forge t to use Laye rs.

Pe rfe ction h e re is th e k e y. Th e m ore pe rfe ctly you can do it, th e e asie r it w ill be to m ode l th e ch aracte r in 3D. I th ink th at’s w h y I alw ays h ave so m uch trouble in th e m ode ling ph ase .

Th e Back Vie wTo cre ate th e Back vie w you use a fusion of th e m e th ods you’ve alre ady use d in th e Front and Side vie w s. Th e re ’s noth ing m ore to it th an th at. Afte r finish ing th e Back vie w , you’re re ady to fire up th e Ble nde r th ruste rs!

Re ady to Ble ndW h e n you finish draw ing, it's tim e to save th e picture s to JPEG file s. Th is save s space and is Ble nde r-frie ndly. Any oth e r file type you pre fe r is OK as w e ll, as long as Ble nde r can re cognise it (don't go w ith BM P's).

H e re is w h e re th e Laye r division proce ss pays off. Th e first th ing you’ll w ant to do is m ode l th e h e ad (I alw ays pre fe r to start w ith th e h arde st th ing be cause th e n,

it's all dow nh ill from th e re . But, th at is just m e , fe e l fre e to start w h e re ve r you lik e .). Start by just se le cting your h airle ss h e ad's laye r and m ak e e ve ryth ing e lse invisible . Save th e im age to som e th ing lik e h e adGuide .jpg and, using Ble nde r, ope n it in th e Front and Side vie w ports (in th e 3D vie w port h e ade r, pre ss Vie w |Back ground Im age ... and th e n click th e Use Back ground Im age button) . You can adjust th e position to focus only on th e one th at m atte rs. Se tup th e Front vie w port to use th e Front vie w sk e tch and th e Side vie w port to use th e Side vie w sk e tch as back ground im age s.




Afte r you m ode l th e h e ad, you’ll w ant to do th e body. So, se le ct th e Front, Side and Back body laye r and m ak e sure th at e ve ryth ing e lse is invisible . Save th e im age to som e th ing lik e bodyGuide .jpg and ble nd on. For th e cloth e s, you also can and sh ould use th e sam e proce ss.

Closure Note sRe m e m be r, it’s alw ays pre fe rable to do a sk e tch be fore going to 3D, e ve n if you’re draw ing sk ills are not ve ry de ve lope d. You’ll find a lot of draw back s, anatom ical issue s and annoying com plications in your ch aracte r de sign during th e 2D sk e tch ph ase th at you, for sure , don’t w ant to find w h ile m ode ling in 3D.

Note th at I v́e only sh ow n you h ow to draw a full ch aracte r. Som e tim e s it's e nough but, if you re ally w ant to spe cify de tails, it's be tte r, or is e ve n re quire d, to do sk e tch e s of only th e h e ad, th e fe e t, som e spe cific article of cloth ing, e tc. th at occupie s an e ntire page . H ow e ve r, th e m e th od is pre tty m uch th e sam e .

W e ll, it's th e e nd of th e journe y w ith m e . I h ope th is tutorial w as som e h ow use ful to you and pre pare s you w e ll for all th e

cool w ays to do 3D ch aracte r m ode ling th at are in th is e dition of ble nde rart m agaz ine ... I’m in fle as to re ad th e m . H o! About Orion... w e ll, pe rh aps you'll se e h im again som e day. Until ne xt tim e ...


3D Vie w s of Orion


Issue 4 M ay 2006Insiderview

W h at is M H ?M ak e H um an is a softw are pack age , w ritte n com ple te ly in C+ + and available for all th e m ain platform s (W indow s, OSX, Linux, e tc..). Its aim is th e m ode ling of th re e dim e nsional h um anoids.

Use rs can se t up th e age , w e igh t, se x, race , siz e of th e nose , sh ape of th e face , proportions of arm s and le gs, and a w h ole se rie s of oth e r w e ll de fine d param e te rs, so w e can say th at M H is an artistic/para m e trical m ode ling tool.

Eve ry fe ature is de fine d by ch oosing it's pe rce ntage , and all th e fe ature s are "adde d" to e ach oth e r to obtain e ndle ss com binations of form s. Th is allow s th e cre ation, w ith a fe w click s, of e xtre m e ly

re alistic ch aracte rs, re ady for use in a varie ty of profe ssional graph ics applications.

Sh ort H istory

Th e ance storM ak e H um an w as born, ne ar th e e nd of th e ye ar 2000 in an Italian com m unity of ope n source graph ic softw are de ve lope rs. M anue l Bastioni h ad pre viously de ve lope d som e th ing sim ilar: a pyth on script for Ble nde r, w h ich m ode le d only th e ch aracte rs' h e ad. It w as a sim ple tool calle d "M ak e H e ad", and base d on Ble nde r's ve rte x k e ys, w h ich can be conside re d, in e ve ry re spe ct, M ak e H um an's ance stor.

First script for Ble nde rM anue l's ne w proposal w as to do som e th ing m ore fle xible , w h ich allow e d

m ode ling an e ntire ch aracte r, from h e ad to foot. Oth e rs lik e d th e ide a, and afte r about four m onth s of de ve lopm e nt, th ank s to th e first group of program m e rs, in particular, Filippo di Natale and M ario Latronico, th e first alph a ve rsion w as finish e d and im m e diate ly re le ase d unde r th e GPL lice nse .

Oth e rs w e re re sponsible for th e translations (Fabriz io Cali', Lore nzo Dave ri), for logos and oth e r aspe cts re lating to th e m ate rial's publication.

Th e M ak e H um an Proje ct

M ak e H um an"M ak ing" H um anoids Since 20 0 0 !

M anue l Bastioni (English ve rsion)Ale ssandro Proglio

Antonio Di Ce cca Giovanni Lanza

M artin M ack inlay



First m odelEve n if th e GUI w as de fine d, and th e m orph ing code w as m ostly re ady, th e re w as anoth e r de licate and im portant proble m : th e re alization of base h um anoid, w h ich h ad all th e ne ce ssary ch aracte ristics for it to be transform e d into any ch aracte r, and w h ich w as also an optim iz e d m e sh , from w h ich could be cre ate d th e ch aracte r of a m ovie or a low re solution ch aracte r suitable for vide o gam e s.

Furth e rm ore th e basic m e sh h ad to be se xle ss, age le ss and race -le ss, just to m ak e th ings a little m ore com ple x. Afte r m uch discussion, it w as finally m ode le d by Enrico Vale nza. Th is w as th e first ve rsion of th e m ode l, w h ich w as be use d up until tw o ye ars ago, as w e sh all soon

se e . Afte r som e tim e , th e proje ct w as officially re cogniz e d by th e Ble nde r Foundation, by supplying im portant ne w tools, lik e a m ailing list, a spe cific forum , bug track e r, and w as include d in Ble nde r's proje ct page .

Unfortunate ly, due to inte rnal disagre e m e nts, th e collaboration w as re duce d conside rably, and th e official site w as m ove d to de dalo-3d. Afte r a sh ort pe riod tim e , M ak e H um an h ad an im portant m odification. Th e passage from an old com ple x GUI to a ligh te r one w as finally com ple te d, base d on th e input from a console w ritte n in pyth on by th e proje ct adm inistrator. Th is m ade w ay for th e re le ase of ve rsion 1.6.

Afte r th is re le ase , th e participation of th e e arlie r de ve lope rs, w ith th e e xce ption of th e adm inistrator and a fe w oth e rs (Lore nzo Dave ri and Cicca), w as re duce d drastically, and th e proje ct se riously slow e d dow n. Fortunate ly, it w as only a pe riod of transition in w h ich M ak e H um an w as going to adopt a m ore inte rnational look th ank s to th e contribution of Craig Sm ith on m ode ling, to th e contributions of Olivie r Saraja, to th e code of M ich ae l Sch ardt (im port-e xport ve rts group) and to th e syste m of bone s from Andre w Kator.

Th ank s to th e se ne w aids and num e rous ne w fe ature s, a ne w ve rsion w as re le ase d w h ich jum pe d dire ctly from ve rsion 1.6 to 1.8 in a sh ort pe riod of tim e .


Ve rsion 1.6 and th e Ble nde r Foundation Th e stable ve rsion in Pyth on 1.6

http://projects.blender.org



FACSDue to th e succe ss of th is ne w ve rsion as w e ll as to th e m e diation of Craig and Lore nzo, th e proje ct re ce ive d an im portant donation w h ich consiste d of an e ntire docum e ntation of 20 ye ars of re se arch of th e dott k now n as FACS. Th is so-calle d FACS (Facial Actions Coding Syste m ), allow e d for study of an e ntire syste m of coding of facial e xpre ssions. Th e donation cam e from Paul Ek m an, w h o w as a psych ology te ach e r in th e de partm e nt of psych iatry at th e Unive rsity of San Francisco.

Ve rsion 2.0 in pyth on, unstableAt th is point w ith ve rsion 1.8, th e de ve lopm e nt of th e pyth on script substantially stoppe d. Tw o oth e r ve rsions h ad com e out and w as w ritte n alm ost e ntire ly by a ne w de ve lope r, nam e d Paolo Colom bo, th at introduce d an innovative GUI, be tte r th an th e pre vious one . But th at unfortunate ly re m aine d in th e e xpe rim e ntal ph ase due to som e com patibility proble m s w ith Ble nde r, Ope nGL, and vide o cards. Th e se draw back s cause d se ve re de lays th at Paolo h ad to re w rite th e GUI se ve ral tim e s in orde r to adapt it to th e ch ange s of th e pyth on API of Ble nde r and to avoid proble m s w ith th e

vide o cards.

Th e ne w m e shVe rsion 2.0 of th e script w as conce ive d in a ne w m anne r th at w as optim iz e d for profe ssional use and ne ve r succe e de d in m oving be yond th e unstable ph ase . Eve n th ough it w asn't fully usable , it did h ave a ve ry im portant ne w fe ature th at re taine d afte r m onth s of w ork : a ne w basic m e sh . Th e first ve rsion h ad in fact be gun to sh ow it's lim itations as m e sh e s th at w e re too optim iz e d (about 7000 ve rte x), did not succe e d in cove ring all th e re quire d m orph ings, and w as lack ing in som e fundam e ntal e dge loops for th e facial and m uscular anim ation. For th is re ason, a ne w m ode le r, Kaush ik Pal, alre ady auth or of e xce ptional h um anoid m ode ls for Ble nde r and M aya (CGtalk th re ad), cre ate d a ne w m e sh . W h ile not using an e xce ssive num be r of ve rts (about 11000), th e m ode l k e pt up w ith all th e profe ssional

re quire m e nts w h ich w as th e re sult of studie s of m ore w e ll-k now n m e sh e s. In th e follow ing im age s th e m ain diffe re nce s be tw e e n th e tw o m e sh e s are illustrate d (th e "critical" points of th e old m e sh are m ark e d in re d).




De spite th e fact th at Kaush ik 's m e sh w e re alre ady h igh le ve l, th e M ak e H um an te am w ante d to pre se nt th e m ode l also to th e atte ntion of fam ous m ode le rs. Am ong th e se artists, of w orld-w ide re putation Ste ve n Stah lbe rg and e xpe rt subdivide m ode ling Tam Ã s Varga just to nam e a fe w.

H e re w e quote th e w ords of M r. Stah lbe rg, of w h ich w e are particularly proud, answ e ring to our post (by Tom M usgrove ):

"Tom , th at's a gre at re source for artists w h o w ant to study topology. No re al crits, e xce pt m aybe you could ch ange th e dire ction of e dge s dow n th e ch e e k , to e asie r incorporate th e infraorbital fold (w h ich is one of th ose th ings th at e ve ryone h as, alth ough it's ve ry subtle w ith som e ). To com m e nt th e face , I th ink th e re d and blue loops are re ally im portant, but th e brow n and gre e n one s don't re ally ne e d to be pe rfe ct loops. Th e y can be , but th e re 's no pre ssing ne e d im o"

Original th re ad

Fe w w ords, but ve ry gratifying for th e te am . Obviously th e n th e infraorbital line h as since be e n put into place , as w e ll as th e oth e r sugge stions th at cam e out during th e

discussion.

At th e e nd of th e w ork , w e h ave colle cte d som e e xplanatory im age s, particularly conce rning th e facial topology, and in w h ich th e so-calle d line s of action h ave be e n h igh ligh te d.

Th e turning point: th e standalone ve rsion in CH ow e ve r, e ve n w ith th e ne w m e sh , ve rsion 2.0 of th e script w as still lim ite d by th e proble m s de scribe d above . Finally w e re aliz e d th at th e functions, pe rform ance , and stability w e w ante d to ach ie ve w e re n't possible w ith M ak e H um an as a pyth on script. It w as ne ce ssary to "m ove " it outside Ble nde r, and to re w rite it from scratch in h igh -pe rform ance language s, such as C or C+ + . Th e first ste p of th is m ajor transform ation w as possible th ank s to a m ajor contribution from Paolo, w h o alone , and in ve ry little tim e h ad w ritte n a ne w

M ak e H um an com ple te ly in C, m ulti-platform , and w ith an innovative inte rface .

W e 'd lik e to m e ntion in particular th e "slide r- im age s", a ne w button w h ich auto zoom s on m ouse -ove rs (w ork ing as a pre vie w of th e targe t) w h ich pe rm its h olding th e m ouse button to se t th e pe rce ntage of m orph ing. Since th is w as a com ple te ly diffe re nt ve rsion from th e pyth on script and w e h ad re w ritte n it from scratch , th e standalone ve rsion h ad a low e r ve rsion num be r: 0.8a.


http://www.androidblues.com

http://www.androidblues.com

http://maxrovat.sns.hu/subdiv

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=108412&page=74&pp=15

Dow nloading of th e standalone ve rsion of M ak e H um an can be found using h osting provide d by Source Forge .

In th is w ay, th e pyth on ve rsion h oste d by th e Ble nde r Foundation, re m ains se parate from th e ve rsion w ritte n in C. Th e ve rsion

curre ntly available on Source Forge is still Paul's ve rsion, but w ith som e additions and bug fixe s due carrie d out by oth e r program m e rs (OBJ e xporte r by Andre as Voltz, OSX porting by Tan M e ng Yue ). End use rs found th e program to be quite usable , but program m e rs continually w ork e d to furth e r advance th e code , in h ope s of significantly im proving th e usability for th e e nd use r. W e th e n arrive d at a ne w ve rsion th at's going to be re le ase d.

Ne xt ve rsion: Mak e H um an 1.0 (be ta), in C+ +Anim orph sW h ile w e w e re w ork ing on M ak e H um an ve rsion 0.8, Andre as Voltz, a stude nt of Applie d Com pute r Scie nce s at th e Unive rsity of Fulda, in Ge rm any, w as

de ve loping som e conce pts of th e pyth on ve rsion in orde r to construct a ne w , m ore fle xible , library th at w as platform inde pe nde nt and w ritte n e ntire ly in C+ + . H is aim w as to use it for th e softw are th at h e w as pre paring for h is bach e lor th e sis calle d "M e asure H um an". H e w ante d to not only m odify aspe cts of 3D

h um anoid base d on targe ts lik e M ak e H um an, but also on use r input m e asure m e nts.

Andre as h ad gotte n in touch w ith th e te am , announcing th at afte r re ce iving h is de gre e , h e w ould m ak e h is librarie s available unde r th e GPL. Th is w as gre at ne w s; th e librarie s w e re w e ll w ritte n, h igh ly obje ct orie nte d, and w ritte n to be e asily e xte nsible and m odular. Th e C ve rsion on th e oth e r h and, w as de ve lope d in a proce dural style , and w asn't so e asy to update and ch ange . Th e passage from C to C+ + m e ant offe ring th e use rs a still be tte r product, w ith a m ore standard and com pre h e nsible code , w ritte n ve ry profe ssionally and incorporating all possible cautions to satisfy th e rule s of OOP program m ing. Ce rtainly, th is w ould h ave cause d som e de lays be cause , once again, w e sh ould h ave re w ritte n th e code from scratch . Th ough , it w as w orth th e trouble since subse que nt de ve lopm e nt of th e application w ould h ave be e n m ore sle nde r, profe ssional and re liable .

MH GUIOnce it w as de cide d to use Andre as' library, w h ich h e dubbe d "Anim orph ", w e ne e de d to w rite a sim ple and stable GUI.




In line w ith th e ph ilosoph y of th e proje ct, w e avoide d th e use of large e xisting librarie s. W e w ante d M ak e H um an to be com pact and an e xtre m e ly re liable tool w ith fe w de pe nde ncie s, and w ith w e ll de fine d fe ature s. Afte r h aving re vie w e d a large num be r of e xisting librarie s, w e finally de cide d th at, for th e spe cial inte rface of M ak e H um an, th e be st th ing w ould be to w rite th e ne ce ssary classe s ourse lve s. Sim ple = Re liable , Sim ple = Easy to m anage and update . For th e se re asons, th e GUI contains only w h at is ne ce ssary to us and w e are doing e ve ryth ing to te st it th orough ly. Th e core h as be e n w ritte n w ith th e h e lp of Ninibe Labs. A particular th ank s goe s to Sim one Re and M anue l w h o toge th e r h ave de ve lope d th e first sk e tch of th e GUI. Subse que ntly, e ve ryth ing h as be e n re vie w e d by anoth e r program m e r, H ans Pe te r Duse l, w h o h as also w ork e d on th e porting for OSX.

Mak e H um anNow th at finally both Anim orph and M H GUI h ave re ach e d a satisfactory le ve l (e ve n if is our inte ntion to continue to pe rfe ct th e m ), th e only th ing th at re m ains is to com bine th e m into a single application, M ak e H um an 1.0. Th is w ill be a

be ta ve rsion until it is fully stable and h as th e ne ce ssary fe ature s to to be conside re d "com ple te ". Th e follow ing im age s are a pre vie w of th e w ork th at w e are carrying forw ard.

Th e ne w inte rface , alth ough it use s th e ide as from ve rsion 0.8, h as be e n care fully planne d to h ave a sim ple and intuitive de sign. Each e le m e nt h as be e n care fully studie d to be e asy to unde rstand and use .

Eve n if th e GUI w ill continue to be

im prove d to be com e e ve n m ore intuitive , w e are still going to be pre paring ade quate docum e ntation. Th is is possible th ank s to a te am e xclusive ly assigne d to th e production of docum e nts, th e ir translation and logical organization. A spe cial th ank s goe s to Ale ssandro Proglio for translating th e docum e ntation and adm inistrating th e W ik i (still in ph ase of de ve lopm e nt), to M artin M ack inlay for th e final re vision of th e ITA-ENG translation, and to Antonio Di Ce cca and Giovanni Lanza, w h o active ly contribute to th e ITA-ENG translation.




OutputM ak e H um an is inte nde d to be a ve ry spe cific tool, lim ite d to a pre cise fie ld: to rapidly m ode l profe ssional 3D ch aracte rs w ith all ne ce ssary fe ature s for anim ation w ith th e use of suitable softw are (M aya, M ax, Ble nde r, e tc...). Th e re fore it is a tool th at finds itse lf ide ally positione d in th e profe ssional pipe line s, and th at doe s not w ant or h ave to be an e nd in itse lf.

Additionally, to a lim ite d e xte nt, w e w ant M ak e H um an to re ach an e qually profe ssional le ve l w ith static pose s and to

be able to provide ph otore alistic re nde rings of th e subje ct. On one h and, it can se rve as a pre vie w of an e ve ntual pre -production (of gam e s, m ovie s, e tc. ..), ye t on th e oth e r, can be use d by th e artist to produce final im age s (poste rs, galle ry, e tc. ..). Th e re fore , in conclusion, th e output of M ak e H um an can be divide d in tw o large cate gorie s:

1) Exporting in th e m ost com m on form ats, com patible w ith th e w ide st range of softw are .2) Ph otore alistic (but static) re nde ring of th e ch aracte rs in pose , com ple te w ith h air and cloth ing, suitable for pre vie w ing and th e production of im age s.

Curre ntly only e xport in OBJ form at is supporte d, ye t e ve n th ough OBJ h as be com e a standard, w e h ave inte ntions to add additional form ats. M any fe ature s h ave alre ady prototype d in pyth on, for e xam ple â€ œ h airâ€ , w h ich only ne e ds to be translate d into C+ + and ade quate ly incorporate d in th e GUI. W ith re gards to re nde ring, w e are w ork ing on a sk in sh ade r e ngine th ats Re nde rm an com pliant. H e re are som e im age s m ade w ith Pixie .

H elp from th e com m unityMode le rsAny capable m ode le r th at k now s th e basic fe ature s of Ble nde r are invite d to join and h e lp us. Building a ne w m orph is ve ry sim ple and doe s not re quire any program m ing k now le dge . It is only if you w ant to e xport a ". targe t" file . For e xam ple , try it dire ctly in M ak e H um an. A spe cial script for Ble nde r, calle d "M ak e Targe t", is re quire d and m ay be dow nloade d from th e Ble nde r Foundation's proje ct site .

It's a ve ry inte re sting tool be cause it allow s you to also m anipulate th e ". bs" form ats. A sh ort introduction to its utilization can be dow nloade d h e re .

Program m e rsH e lp on th e de ve lope r's part is also w e lcom e e ve n th ough , obviously, th e participation is bound to spe cific rule s and allocations of th e task s by th e adm inistrator. At th e m om e nt, w e ne e d an e xpe rt W indow s program m e r as m ost of th e de ve lope rs w ork w ith Linux, and th e re fore , th e W indow s ve rsion re quire s a m aintaine r to m onitor optim izations, porting of th e librarie s, and ch e ck ing of th e installe r, e tc




http://projects.blender.org/projects/makeh

http://www.dedalo-3d.com/public/dev/articles/06_01_31_maketarget_1_1_intro_EN.pdf



Outline : I - W h at is Split/Fram e re nde ring? II - H ow doe s Re sPow e r accom plish Split/Fram e re nde ring w ith Ble nde r? III - W h at about re - asse m bly? IV - H ow m uch spe e dup doe s Split/Fram e provide ? V - Re al w orld e xam ple s. VI - Know n Issue s.

I - W h at is Split/Fram e re nde ring?Re sPow e r is constantly se arch ing for w ays to spe e d up th e proce ss of 3D conte nt cre ation, spe cifically in th e are a of re nde ring. Spe e ding up th e re nde r tim e s of anim ations w ith h undre ds or th ousands of fram e s is fairly straigh tforw ard; sim ply re nde r e ach fram e on a diffe re nt com pute r so th at m ultiple fram e s run in paralle l.

Split/Fram e re nde ring is basically th e sam e proce ss, only it is de signe d for

still fram e im age s.

Th e basic ide a be h ind Split/Fram e re nde ring is to bre ak a single fram e into m ultiple ch unk s calle d "buck e ts". Each buck e t is th e n re nde re d on a se parate com pute r so th at se ve ral (possibly one h undre d or m ore ) ch unk s can be run in paralle l. Th is spe e dup is line ar in th e ory, m e aning th at a fram e split into 100 buck e ts sh ould re nde r 100 tim e s faste r th an th e sam e fram e re nde re d as 1 buck e t. Unfortunate ly, be cause of Am dah l's Law , th is is not th e case , alth ough th e spe e dup can still be quite re m ark able . Ch e ck th e side bar for m ore inform ation on Am dah l.

Split/Fram e re nde ring is not a ne w conce pt and h as be e n available for m any 3D re nde ring e ngine s for ye ars. Profe ssional 3D pack age s such as 3DStudio and Ligh tw ave support Split/Fram e native ly, but e ve n w ith one of th e se pack age s th e advantage s of Split/Fram e are only se e n w h e n using a re nde r farm lik e Re sPow e r.

II - H ow doe s Re sPow e r accom plish Split/Fram e

re nde ring w ith Ble nde r?Th e Ble nde r Pyth on API h as facilitie s to pe rform a "Borde r Re nde r." Th is basically m e ans th at a re ctangular se ction of pixe ls from any im age can be se le cte d and th e re nde r e ngine w ill only re nde r th e pixe ls w ith in th at re ctangle , le aving e ve ryth ing e lse black . Using th is m e th od, Re sPow e r can split an im age into any arbitrary num be r of buck e ts, and re nde r e ach buck e t on a se parate com pute r. Th e n, using anoth e r ope n source softw are pack age calle d Im age M agick , th e fram e is autom atically croppe d to re m ove all th e e xtra black space . Each individual buck e t's output is save d as a se parate im age in th e use r's Re nde rs folde r.

Th e ability to re nde r se parate portions of a single fram e in paralle l allow s 3D artists w h o w ork w ith still fram e s to tak e full advantage of a re nde r farm . W ith th is te ch nique , a single fram e can be re nde re d at full re solution in a m atte r of m inute s at Re sPow e r w h e re it m igh t tak e h ours, or e ve n days, to re nde r at th e sam e siz e and quality on a single com pute r.

Split/Fram e re nde ring on Re sPow e r Supe r/Farm

Split/Fram e re nde ring onRe sPow e r Supe r/Farm .

by - Cory K ing and Early Eh linge r



On top of th at, an artist can continue to tw e ak h is sce ne , or w ork on som e th ing com ple te ly diffe re nt w h ile h is fram e is re nde ring be cause h is m ach ine w on't be bogge d dow n w ith th e arduous task of re nde ring.

III - W h at about re -asse m bly?Re sPow e r h as re ce ntly introduce d th e ability to re -asse m ble all th e buck e ts from a Split/Fram e re nde r w ith a proce ss w e call "stitch ing". For fram e s subm itte d as Split/Fram e , th e re is a com m and on th e jobs page calle d Stitch . Stitch ing once again use s Im age M agick to program m atically pull all of th e individual buck e t im age s toge th e r and appe nd th e m into one full-siz e im age . All of th e individual buck e t im age s re m ain available for dow nload if th e use r w ish e s, but an additional im age calle d "fram e _ x.stitch e d.e xt" w ill appe ar in th e Re nde rs folde r once th e stitch ing is finish e d, w h e re 'x' is th e fram e num be r and 'e xt' is th e file e xte nsion, i.e . png, jpg, bm p, e tc.

Im age M agick w ork s from th e com m and line so th at ove rh e ad associate d w ith starting a graph ical use r inte rface is

com ple te ly e lim inate d. Th is m e ans m ore re source s are available to de vote to th e proce ss of re stitch ing, and th at m e ans custom e rs ge t th e finish e d product faste r. Anoth e r advantage of Im age M agick running from th e com m and line is th at re stitch ing can be alm ost com ple te ly autom ate d. W ith a single com m and, th e farm w ill fe tch e ve ry im age re quire d, give th e m to Im age M agick , and w ait for th e final output.

Th is ability is vastly supe rior to th e old w ay of re -asse m bling buck e t im age s w h e re use rs h ad to use ph oto e diting softw are such as Ph otosh op and m anually put all th e im age s toge th e r to ge t th e finish e d product.

IV - H ow m uch spe e dup doe s Split/Fram e provide?As I said be fore , th e th e ore tical spe e dup for Split/Fram e re nde ring is line ar, so th at a 50 x 50 split sh ould re nde r 2500 tim e s faste r th an no split. Unfortunate ly, Re sPow e r h asn't be e n able to se cure any re al e state in Th e ory (price s are *incre dibly* h igh th e re ), and th ings th at w ork in Th e ory don't alw ays w ork h e re . Th e spe e dup is conside rable w ith splits

in th e range of 16 buck e ts all th e w ay up to 400 buck e ts. Unfortunate ly th e re are m any factors involve d in de te rm ining th e be st split, and trial and e rror is ge ne rally th e be st w ay to find th e optim al split.

Be cause Ble nde r is only usable on th e Re sPow e r Supe r/Farm by purch asing a subscription, custom e rs don't h ave to w orry about pick ing th e w rong split. If a 2 x 2 split isn't fast e nough , you can try a 4 x 4. If you start w ith 10x10, and you've passe d th e point of dim inish ing re turns, you can back it up for a 8x8 split.

V - Re al w orld e xam ple s.Th e file use d for de te rm ining th e se tim e s can be found h e re . It is provide d so you m ay re nde r on your ow n syste m to de te rm ine th e spe e dup you can e xpe ct w h e n using Split/Fram e on th e Re sPow e r Supe r/Farm .

h ttp://w w w.re spow e r.com /~ CoryKing/split_ fram e _ te st/


http://www.respower.com/~CoryKing/split_frame_test/



Th e se are th e tim e s re quire d to re nde r th is file at diffe re nt splits using only th e faste st re nde ring node s available on th e farm . Th e re solution of e ach re nde re d fram e is som e w h e re close to 2048 pixe ls x 2048 pixe ls. Th e sligh t ch ange s are due to th e fact th at th e w idth and h e igh t in pixe ls m ust be a m ultiple of th e num be r of buck e ts for stitch ing to w ork prope rly. For instance , an 800 pixe l x 600 pixe l fram e sh ould not be re nde re d w ith a 7 x 7 split be cause 7 doe sn't divide e ve nly into 800 or 600.

Ple ase note th at re nde r tim e s de pe nd on se ve ral factors including sce ne com ple xity, ne tw ork stre ss, th e availability of re nde r node s, and m ore . Be cause of th e se factors, th is ve ry sm all se t of data is fairly inconsiste nt. A m ore robust data se t w ould sh ow a sm ooth e r curve of progre ssion be tw e e n data points


1 x 1 (no split) - 2048 pixe ls x 2048 pixe ls re nde r 11 h rs 06 m in 46 se c

2 x 2 - 2048 pixe ls x 2048 pixe ls re nde r 05 h rs 34 m in 08 se c




6 x 6 - 2046 pixe ls x 2046 pixe lsre nde r 01 h rs 01 m in 11 se c












Am dah l's Law state s th at a paralle l proce ss cannot ach ie ve line ar scaling be cause th e re is a portion of e ve ry program th at m ust occur in se rial. Th is portion de te rm ine s a lim it to th e spe e dup one can h ope to ach ie ve by adding proce ssors. If 80% of your program 's tim e is spe nt in th is se rial portion, th e n adding an infinite num be r of proce ssors can e lim inate , at m ost, 20% of th e program 's total e xe cution tim e , and th at's assum ing th at th e com m unications involve d com e at no cost.

W ith re nde ring, th e pe rce ntage s are typically inve rte d: 1% or le ss of a re nde r's tim e is spe nt in th e se rial portion, so adding proce ssors can give you a ne arly line ar spe e dup: going from 1 to 2 proce ssors w ill give you ne arly double th e th rough put, and going from 1 to 700 proce ssors w ill give you ne arly 700x th e th rough put. In oth e r w ords, if you w ant to re nde r 700 fram e s of anim ation, and h ave 700 com pute rs to do it w ith , you can e xpe ct it to tak e

rough ly th e am ount of tim e it w ould tak e you to re nde r th e first fram e on 1 com pute r. At Re sPow e r, w e routine ly se e th is sort of spe e dup for anim ations.

But w h at about Split/Fram e re nde rs? Can you divide a single fram e 700 w ays and h ave it re nde r 700 tim e s faste r? Unfortunate ly, for individual fram e s, th e se rial pe rce ntage involve d is significantly h igh e r th an for anim ations, and you start to se e a point of dim inish ing re turns m uch soone r. As th e ch arts sh ow , you se e a tre m e ndous boost ve ry quick ly, but afte r about 100-200 com pute rs, adding buck e ts doe sn't spe e d th ings up ve ry m uch .

W h y is th at? W e ll, Joh n Gustafson cre ate d a re buttal to Am dah l th at e xplains it fairly w e ll. W ith a single Split/Fram e re nde r, th e siz e of th e proble m re m ains unch ange d, and so your spe e dup follow s Am dah l's Law. Th e sh ape of th e curve look s alm ost e xactly lik e a graph ing of Am dah l's e quation: spe e dup=1/(s+ p/N)

W ith anim ations, w e te nd to incre ase th e siz e of th e proble m m ore th an th e num be r of proce ssors. As a re sult, you se e a scaling m ode w h e re 400 fram e s finish in rough ly th e sam e am ount of tim e as 1 fram e . You h ave n't incre ase d th e spe e d of any individual fram e - you've just done m ore fram e s. So, w as Am dah l w rong, or Gustafson? Re sPow e r's te sting indicate s th at th e y're both righ t, de pe nding on your pe rspe ctive . If you k e e p th e proble m siz e constant and add proce ssors, you se e a ve ry logarith m ically-sh ape d curve , w ith m axim um be ne fit around 100-200 com pute rs (at le ast for th e te st sce ne w e use d). If you ch ange th e proble m siz e in conjunction w ith th e num be r of proce ssors, you se e a ne arly line ar curve .

As it turns out, Dr. Yuan Sh i ove r at Te m ple Unive rsity w as able to prove m ath e m atically th at Gustafson and Am dah l w e re both saying e xactly th e sam e th ing, w h e n you account for th e im pre cision in th e ir re spe ctive te rm inologie s.


Am dah l vs Gustafson: a Paralle l Sh ow dow n



Th e ir form ulae all w ork e d out to th e sam e th ing, w ith re sults th at jive w ith w h at w e se e at Re sPow e r: a static proble m siz e yie lds dim inish ing re turns, but additional proce ssors le t you solve large r proble m s in th e sam e am ount of tim e . So th ank s to Dr. Sh i, w e can now se e th at th e unive rse m ak e s se nse again and pe ace h as be e n re store d.

Re fe re nce s:h ttp://e n.w ik ipe dia.org/w ik i/Am dah l's_ lawh ttp://joda.cis.te m ple .e du/~ sh i/docs/am dah l/am dah l.h tm lh ttp://w w w.scl.am e slab.gov/Publications/Gus/Am dah lsLaw /Am dah ls.h tm l


Am dah l vs Gustafson: a Paralle l Sh ow dow n

FIg2. Th e de ploy com m and/script.


Issue 4 M ay 2006Under review

In th is issue w e are doing a dual book re vie w. W e w ill be look ing at Bill Fle m ing’s “ 3D Cre ature W ork sh op” and th e update d 2nd e dition h e co-w rote w ith Rich ard H . Sch rand. Both book s cove r th e sam e gre at ste ps and te ch nique s, w ith th e 2nd e dition containing four ne w ch apte rs h igh ligh ting fantasy cre ature cre ation and th e anim ation of single m e sh m ode ls. A varie ty of ne w cre ature s are use d to illustrate te ch nique s in th is e dition as w e ll.

W h e th e r you h ave a copy of th e first or se cond e dition, you are h olding an invaluable re source on cre ature /ch aracte r m ode ling and cre ation. Each book starts off w ith a th orough discussion of cre ature de sign. Th e n you w ork th rough th e e le m e nts of cre ating a cre ature biograph y th at w ill h e lp you w ith your de sign de cisions. Th e re is also a gre at se ction on th e value of source m ate rial and h ow it fits into de signing your cre ature .

Th e ne xt m ajor se ctions contain ch apte rs th at cove r m ode ling in various softw are program s. And w h ile th at m igh t put you off buying th is book , don’t le t it. Th e tutorials are w e ll w ritte n and w h ile slante d tow ard spe cific program s, can be applie d ve ry e asily to ble nde r te ch nique s and tools.

Once you h ave finish e d m ode ling your cre ature of ch oice , th e re is a rath e r in de pth se ction cove ring te xturing. Bill Fle m ing sh ow s som e gre at te ch nique s for adding re alistic de tail to your te xture m aps.

W h ile both e ditions are som e w h at olde r, noth ing ne w h as h it th e m ark e t th at can surpass or re place th e am ount of inform ation available in th e se book s. If you w ant your cre ature s/ch aracte rs to be re alistic and appe ar to be as life lik e as possible , th e n you ne e d to ch e ck at le ast one of th e se book s out.

If you follow th e follow ing link , you can dow nload a sam ple ch apte r of th e 2nd e dition from Ch arle s Rive r M e dia.

3D Cre ature W ork sh opby Bill Fle m ing· Pape rback : 450 page s · Publish e r: Ch arle s Rive r M e dia; Bk & CD Rom e dition (M ay 19 9 8) · Language : English · ISBN: 1886801789

3D Cre ature W ork sh op, Se cond Edition (Graph ics Se rie s)by Bill Fle m ing and Rich ard H . Sch rand· Pape rback : 441 page s · Publish e r: Ch arle s Rive r M e dia; 2 e dition (Fe bruary 1, 2001) · Language : English · ISBN: 1584500212

3D Cre ature w ork sh opBill Fle m ing and Rich ard H . Sch rand

Book re vie w s

http://www.charlesriver.com/books/proditem.aspx?ID=1758


Issue 4 M ay 2006Under review

In th is issue w e are re vie w ing “ 3D Ph otore alism Toolk it” by Bill Fle m ing.

H ave you e ve r w ork e d long h ours to m ode l, rig, stage and ligh t your sce ne , just to

re nde r it and say “ som e th ing just is not quite righ t”? If you w e re not able to figure out w h at th at “ som e th ing” w as, th e n th is book m ay be for you.

3D Ph otore alism Toolk it, by Bill Fle m ing, provide s m any ide as on h ow to ach ie ve th at cove te d “ Ph otore alistic” look . Th is is not a H ow -to book pe r se . Inste ad, it is a group of good ide as th at you can use to h e lp im prove your im age cre ating ability – a true Toolk it.

Th e book is divide d into five parts, e ach one cove ring a spe cific are a of th e cre ation proce ss.

Part I is an introduction to th e e le m e nts th at m ak e up ph otore alism , it is a 10,000 foot vie w of w h at w ill be cove re d in de tail in th e re st of th e book .

Part II dive s into m ode ling te ch nique s th at e nh ance th e de tails of th e m ode ls, including th e use of scre w s, se am s, be ve ls and fille ts, e tc. It also discusse s th e m e ch anics of h ow th ings are put toge th e r, as w e ll as th e m ate rials th at th e y are m ade of.

In Part III, Fle m ing discusse s surfacing te ch nique s, conce ntrating on fundam e ntals, such as aging surface s, prope r use of spe cularity, h ow to use im age s and proce dural m aps.

Part IV de als w ith staging te ch nique s to include h ow to plan your im age , w h at ite m s to include , h ow to clutte r th e stage , e tc.

Part V talk s about using cam e ra angle s and ligh ting to th e m ost advantage . Again th e e m ph asis is on th e th e ory of h ow th is im pacts th e final im age , back e d w ith e xam ple s of h ow it w ork s.

A unique ite m about th is book is th at it doe s not e m ph asis te ch nique as m uch as h ow im portant it is to be aw are of your e nvironm e nt. As artists w e h ave to look de e ply at th e w orld to find th e sm all de tails th at, w h e n le ft out, m ak e our sce ne s look unnatural. A gre at e xam ple th at Fle m ing use s

to sh ow th is is including a w e ld be tw e e n a fire h ydrant and its base . W ith out th e w e ld, e ve n w ith all of th e te xture s and ligh ting, th e im age still doe s not look righ t. Just th e addition of a fe w e xtra polygons and th e im age look s lik e a ph otograph .

Th e book doe s h ave som e draw back s. It is cove ring a lot of ground in a re lative ly sm all num be r of page s, so som e are as are not as de taile d as one w ould lik e . Th e large st part of th e book cove rs th e first th re e parts, le aving th e last tw o sh ort on de tail. Finally, be cause th e book is a bit old by com pute r standards (19 9 8), som e of th e te ch nique s, partially for som e of th e ligh ting te ch nique s, fe e l a bit date d. H ow e ve r, th e book is non-application spe cific and be cause th e te ch nique s be ing taugh t are w e ll founde d, th e re ade r w ill find th at th e se ite m s are not a draw back .

Th is is a “ m ust re ad” book for be ginning and inte rm e diate CG artists and e ve n e xpe rie nce d pe ople m ay find som e ge m s th at th e y h ad not k now n or th ough t about be fore

Nam e : 3D Ph otore alism Toolk itAuth or: Bill Fle m ingEdition: 19 9 8Pape rback : 328 page sPublish e r: Joh n W ile y & Sons, Inc.Language : EnglishISBN 0-471-25346-4

3D Ph otore alism toolk itby Bill Fle m ing

Book re vie w s


Issue 4 M ay 2006GAlleria

by - Bruno O k ano - "Sam ara"



by - Kadir Ce lik - "Moddy"



by - Kadir Ce lik - "Robot"



by - Tim o - "Africa Mask "



by - Z ooly - "Th e Prince ss 2"


Issue 4 M ay 2006Galleria

by - Z ooly - "Th e Prince ss"



by - Z ooly - "Th e re is no lim it"



by - Adre a Giro - "Dino"



by - Blak iz - "Face s"



by - Ble nde r ak i - "Be laKiss" & "Irk e n Cre w m an"



by - Ble nde r ak i - "Robopato" & "Pluck y"



by - Luis De l- "Aguila h e ad"



by - Cale b Eph ratah - "Th e Knigh t"



by - Roge rio Pe rdiz - "Orion W IP"



by - Roge rio Pe rdiz - "Orion W IP"



by - Salvador gb Pe rdiz - "Mie ntos Ch ilm e nton"



by - Sim on Baudry - "Cim e tie rre "



by - Sim on Baudry - "Me duse "



by - Rich - "Mask e d"



by - Z ach Goldste in - "Lictor"



by - Tony Mulle n - "Th e old m an & th e be an"



by - Roja - "Goblin m ale & Goblin fe m ale "



by - Roja - "Orc m ale & Orc fe m ale "



by - Roja - "H um an fe m ale & "Te xture block "



by - Roja - "Sk e le ton arm e d"



by - Grze gorge M ich alak - "Bogdh ans"Farm e r M atrix



by - Grze gorge M ich alak - "Bogdh ans"M atrix2 Rape r



by - Grze gorge M ich alak - "Bogdh ans"Spide y W ade r



by - Jonath am W illim son - "Bust"









by - Ce k h une n - *Prototyping article "Ash tray"



by - Ce k h une n - *Prototyping article "Cre am e r Se t"



by - Ce k h une n - *Prototyping article "Sugar Full"



by - Ce k h une n - *Prototyping article "PEZ Advile "



by - Ce k h une n - *Prototyping article "PEZ Exactly Finale "

w w w.ble nde rart.org 9 0


by - Ce k h une n - *Prototyping article "PEZ Nicotine Finale "


Issue 4 M ay 2006CONTRIBUTIONS

Gaurav Naw ani - Editor/De signe rSandra Gilbe rt - M anaging e ditor/Proofe rNam Ph am - W e b Adm inistrator/Proofe rKe rnon Dillon - Proof re ade r

Ble nde rart Staff

Ble nde rart Contributors

Butte rfly tutorial Ch ristian Guck e lsbe rge r h ttp://w w w.abyi.com /

Mak e h um anM anue l Bastioni (English Ve rsion)Ale ssandro Proglio Antonio Di Ce cca Giovanni Lanza M artin M ack inlayh ttp://source forge .ne t/proje cts/m ak e h um an/

Ch aracte r m odeling at Plum ife rosM anue l Pe re z (Picasus)Claudio Andaur (m ale fico)h ttp://w w w.plum ife ros.com /

Ble nde r2povJosé M auricio Rodas R. (M orfe us)

Rapid Prototyping w ith Ble nde rClaas Eick e Kuh ne n (F.ip2)w w w.ck brd.dew w w.concolori.de

Ch aracte r De sign 2d sk e tch to 3dRogério Pe rdiz (rogpe r)

Book Revie w - 3D Ph otore alism Toolk itEd Cick a

Re spow e rCory K ing Early Eh linge rh ttp://w w w.re spow e r.com /

http://www.abyi.com/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/makehuman/

http://www.plumiferos.com/

www.ckbrd.de

www.concolori.de

http://www.respower.com/


Issue 4 M ay 2006Upcom ing

Th e m e : M ode ling trick s and Ble nde r Scripts

Article s : Using Ble nde r for 3d gam e asse stsVarious m ode ling approach e sExte nding your Ble nde r via Scripts

Issue 5 available in July 2006

ble nde rart.org doe s not tak e s any re sponsibility both e xpre sse d or im plie d for th e m ate rial and its nature , or accuracy of th e inform ation w h ich is publish e d in th is PDF m agaz ine . All th e m ate rials pre se nte d in th is PDF m agaz ine h ave be e n produce d w ith th e e xpre sse d pe rm ission of th e ir re spe ctive auth ors/ow ne rs . ble nde rart.org and th e contributors disclaim all w arrantie s, e xpre sse d or im plie d, including, but not lim ite d to, im plie d w arrantie s of m e rch antability or fitne ss for a particular purpose . All im age s and m ate rials pre se nt in th is docum e nt are printe d/re -printe d w ith e xpre sse d pe rm ission from th e auth ors/ow ne rs .

Th is PDF m agaz ine is arch ive d and available from th e ble nde rart.org w e bsite . Th e ble nde rart m agaz ine is m ade available unde r Cre ative Com m ons ‘Attribution-NoDe rivs2.5’ lice nse .

Th e CC lice nse is available at h ttp://cre ative com m ons .org/lice nse s/by- nd/2.5/le galcode

Disclaim e r

BlenderArt Magazine Issue 4 Character Modeling

Documents

BlenderArt Magazine Issue 4 Character Modeling