Mastering Blender

475 Pages·2009·9.98 MB·English

by  Tony Mullen

TTTTThhe CD includes Blender 2.48 installers for Windows and
MMaaccintosh, a source tarball for users of Linux and other
Create Amazing 3D Animations
fl avors of Unix, and a variety of .blend fi les.
As You Build Your Blender Skills Mullen
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Are you ready to push the envelope on your Blender
abilities? This professional resource takes you
a
step by step through intermediate and advanced
s
techniques for Blender’s modeling, texturing,
t
scripting, game-creation, and visual effects tools. e
It covers advanced topics on sculpting, compositing,
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and video editing, as well as provides a complete i
n
introduction to Python® scripting suitable for people
g
with no programming background.

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Intermediate Blender users will explore specific Learn video editing and compositing with the Blender Video l
workflow topics that will help boost productivity Sequence Editor and node-based compositor e
and enhance the quality of their work. Advanced n
users will find tips and techniques not covered d
elsewhere that will help them optimize Blender’s e
functionality for professional projects. Learn how
r
to create assets for use in a game engine, how to
use Python in the game engine environment, and Learn advanced
much more. texturing tricks,
such as how to
use Blender’s own
If you want professional tips to reach new 2D texture paint-
ing functionality
heights and create visually stunning 3D
to create game
animations in Blender, this is the book for you.
assets
MASTERING BLENDER
Tony Mullen, PhD, has a broad background in CG-related work. He teaches at Tsuda College, where www.sybex.com
his courses include modeling and animation with Blender as well as the Python programming language
(used for scripting in Blender). Mullen has been a cartoonist and an illustrator; his screen credits
include writer, codirector, or lead animator on several short fi lms, including the award-winning short $59.99 US / $71.99 CAN
The Devices of Gustav Braüstache, Bachelor of Science, and the recent live-action/stop-motion fi lm
Gustav Braüstache and the Auto Debilitator, appearing at several international fi lm festivals. He is the
ISBN: 978-0-470-40741-7
author of Introducing Character Animation with Blender and Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating
the Physical World with Blender 3D, both from Sybex.
Tony Mullen
SERIOUS SKILLS.
COMPUTERS/Computer Graphics/General
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Mastering
Blender
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Mastering
Blender
Tony Mullen
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Disclaimer: This eBook does not include ancillary media that was packaged with the
printed version of the book.
Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo
Development Editor: Kathryn Duggan
Technical Editor: Nathan Letwory
Production Editor: Rachel Gunn
Copy Editor: Sharon Wilkey
Production Manager: Tim Tate
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley
Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde
Assistant Project Manager: Jenny Swisher
Associate Producer: Shawn Patrick
Quality Assurance: Angie Denny
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Compositor: Jeff Lytle, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreader: Josh Chase, Word One New York
Indexer: Ted Laux
Project Coordinator, Cover: Lynsey Stanford
Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed
Cover Image: Soenke Maeter
Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-470-40741-7
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifi cally disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warran-
ties of fi tness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mullen, Tony, 1971-
Mastering Blender / Tony Mullen.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-470-40741-7 (paper/cd-rom)
1. Computer graphics. 2. Computer animation. 3. Three-dimensional display systems. 4. Blender (Computer fi le) I. Title.
T385.M847 2009
006.6’930285536--dc22
2009001899
TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or
its affi liates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Dear Reader,
Thank you for choosing Mastering Blender. This book is part of a family of premium-quality
Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience
with a gift for teaching.
Sybex was founded in 1976. More than thirty years later, we’re still committed to producing con-
sistently exceptional books. With each of our titles we’re working hard to set a new standard for
the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you
the best books available.
I hope you see all that refl ected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and
get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any
other Sybex book by sending me an email at [email protected], or if you think you’ve found a
technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is criti-
cal to our efforts at Sybex.
Best regards,

Neil Edde
Vice President and Publisher
Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley
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To Hana Marie Mullen, with love
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Acknowledgments
As always, my thanks go fi rst and foremost to Ton Roosendaal and all the Blender developers
for all their hard work and dedication. You guys are doing important work and deserve the
heartfelt gratitude of the entire community of Blender users. I am tempted to begin naming
names, but I would not know where to stop. Please visit http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/
List_of_Contributors for a complete list of the current developers and the specifi c work they
have done. I would, however, like to single out Blender developer Nathan Letwory (jesterKing),
who allowed me to benefi t from his expertise as technical editor of this book.
Many other developers and users have helped me in researching and writing this book, and
I’m very grateful for all the support I’ve received from the Blender community. I can’t list all of
the individuals at BlenderArtists.org whose artwork, comments, and tutorials have helped me
to learn what I know about Blender, but I am particularly grateful for those who helped me as
I ventured outside my comfort zone to write about the Blender Game Engine. Special thanks to
BlenderArtists.org forum members Social, Mmph!, Blendenzo, and the other BGE gurus who
were always eager to help me with my questions and investigations of this sometimes arcane
functionality. I’m also very grateful to Dolf Veenvliet (macouno) and Campbell Barton (ideas-
man_42), who helped me enormously to deepen my knowledge of Blender’s Python API.
Throughout this book, I have referred to websites, tutorials, support threads, and other
resources created by members of the community, and I am very grateful to all of those who
have shared their knowledge. Once again, many thanks to Bart Veldhuizen and the contribu-
tors to BlenderNation.com, and to Roel Spruit and all the moderators and administrators
at BlenderArtists.org for their support and for the great service they provide the Blender
community.
This book would not have been possible without the efforts of my editors and colleagues at
Sybex/Wiley, and I’m very grateful to all of them. Thank you to Mariann Barsolo, Pete Gaughan,
Kathryn Duggan, Rachel Gunn, Kelly Trent, and everyone else who had a hand in publishing
and promoting the book.
I’m also very grateful to my colleagues and students at Tsuda College for their support and
encouragement of my Blender-related work.
As always, I am grateful to my wife, Yuka, for her tireless support, and especially for looking
after the baby while I was spending all those hours working on this book!
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About the Author
Tony Mullen is a college lecturer, animator, independent fi lmmaker, and writer living in Tokyo.
He has worked as a newspaper cartoonist, a graphic designer, a software developer, and a
researcher in natural language processing, among other things.
Since discovering Blender, he has been involved in CG animation to the point of obsession,
but he also maintains a keen interest in stop-motion techniques, notably as the lead anima-
tor and codirector of the award-winning 16mm fi lm Gustav Braüstache and the Auto-Debilitator
and other independent shorts. He is an active member of the Blender community and one of
the original members of the Blender Foundation’s Trainer Certifi cation Review Board. He is
the author of Introducing Character Animation with Blender (Sybex, 2007) and Bounce, Tumble, and
Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D (Sybex, 2008), as well as numerous maga-
zine articles and tutorials on Blender for the Japanese magazine Mac People.
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