Blender Tutorial For Beginners: Pool Balls

in this video I'll be demonstrating how to use blender to make this image of two pool balls for this video i'll be using blender version 2.67 a before we start make sure that you have the cycles render engine to do this come over here to this drop-down menu and verify that one of the selections is cycles render if you don't have it then you can go to blender.org to download the latest version of blender let's start by creating a new project so go to the file menu and select new and then click on reload startup file I'm going to start by expanding this section on the right by dragging the edge just in case you're brand new to blender I'll quickly cover a few basics if you want to select an object then click your right mouse button on it for example this is the camera and I can select it by right-clicking on it then to select the cube just right click on it to rotate the view press and hold the middle mouse button while you drag the mouse if you press and hold the shift key and then press and hold the middle mouse button you can pan the view you can also zoom by using the scroll wheel on your mouse the default scene starts with a single cube object we don't need the cube so we're going to delete it to do that right-click on the cube to make sure that it's selected then type X on your keyboard and then select delete by the way if you ever make a mistake and want to undo your last operation just press control Z now let's add a sphere in blender when you add an object it will be added at the location of the 3d cursor this symbol right here is the 3d cursor you can move the 3d cursor to a new location by clicking the left mouse button so to add the sphere click on the add menu and select mesh and then UV sphere let's zoom in to see this better remember to zoom you can use the scroll wheel on your mouse next we're going to set the material for the sphere so click on the material button right here and then click on the new button materials are selected differently when using the blender render engine as compared with the cycles render engine we want to use the cycles render engine so come up here and click on this menu and then select cycles render now click on the use nodes button then click here to select the surface type and select mix shader' mix shader' allows us to combine two different shaders click here to set the first shader and select diffuse then click here to set the second shader and select glossy we want the color of both shaders to be white so we'll keep the default color values down here for the glossy shader set the roughness value to zero now set the FAC value to 0.7 this value is what you use to control the proportions of the two different shaders now let's give this material a name to do that click here and type a name I'll just call this white next we're going to add a blue stripe to the sphere so click here and select edit mode then click here and select wireframe to make this easier to work with I'm going to switch to orthographic projection if you look here you can see that we're currently in perspective projection to switch to orthographic click on the View menu and select view perspective orthographic this toggles between the two now if you look here you can see that we're in orthographic projection now let's view the sphere directly from the front so click on the View menu here we have selections for left-right back front bottom and top you'll also notice that there are hotkeys listed for each of these here on the right it's a good idea to learn some of the hotkeys because they can really be a time-saver now I want to switch to front view so I'll click on front while in edit mode everything that is selected is highlighted with an orange color if you press the a key it will toggle between D selecting everything and selecting everything we want to deselect everything now we're going to select the area where we want to the blue stripe so press the B key on the keyboard this will allow us to select the vertices by drawing a box around them so position the cursor about right here and then press and hold the left mouse button and draw a box around these vertices then release the button now come over here and click on the material button if it's not already selected we're going to add a blue material to the selected portion of the sphere so click this plus button now to make it easier let's just modify the material that we've already made so click this little button here that's next to the new button and select white then click this plus button so that we can make a duplicate of the material then rename it blue now click here to change the color you can move this dot around to select a color or if you want to use the same color that I'm using then click the hex button and in the entry box type 0:01 ee7 then do the same for the other color 0:01 ee7 the colors that we've chosen will be used when we render the image but these colors will not be displayed while we're editing but we can set a color that will be displayed during editing to do this open up the section called settings then click on the color button then just drag this dot over here to a blue color this color is not important so any shade of blue will be fine now come up here and press the assign button this will assign the blue material to the area of the sphere that we've selected now switch from wireframe to solid and also switch from edit mode to object mode you'll notice that the sphere is made of multiple flat rectangles which are called faces we want the sphere to be a nice smooth surface so we're going to shrink down the size of the flat faces and then apply smoothing so to shrink the flat faces click on the object modifiers button that looks like a Ridge then click on add modifier and select subdivision surface you can see that the size of the rectangle faces are now smaller increase this value to two and it makes the faces even smaller increase it one more time and the faces are very small make sure that both the view and render values are set to three the value for view sets what we will see here in this window and the value for render sets what we'll see in our final render in next click on the apply button now to finish smooth and the surface come over here and click on the smooth button now we're going to add another sphere in front of this one so first switch the right side view by clicking on the View menu and then select right this is the front of the sphere over here now pan the view to the right remember to pan the view press and hold the shift key while pressing the middle mouse button now we're going to duplicate this sphere so right click on it to make sure that it's selected then press shift D to duplicate it now if you move your mouse the duplicate sphere moves with it now press the Y key to restrict the movement to the y-axis then drag the sphere to the left and click the left mouse button after it's in position we don't need the blue stripe on this sphere so come over here and click on the material button then left click on the blue material to make sure that it's selected then click on this minus button to delete it now we're going to scale the sphere so press the S key now when you move your mouse the sphere will change size while I'm scaling I can also enter a value indirectly which is what I'm going to do so I'll type 0.4 and then I'll press the Enter key and now I've scaled the sphere down in size we're going to use this sphere to make the round white circle where the pool ball number is located so use the green arrow and drag the sphere to the right until it's about in this position now you can rotate the view to get a better look now we're going to make this small sphere even with the front of the larger sphere so click on the object modifiers button then click on add modifier and select boolean make sure that the operation value is set to Enter sect then click in this entry box and select sphere then click the apply button this will produce an object that is equal to where the two spheres intersect you can drag this green arrow to see the new object better now zoom in closer for this next step you may also need to pan the view then drag the green arrow and position this object until the front of the object is just a little bit in front of the large sphere you want it to be as close as possible without letting any of the blue color show through now if you look along this edge you can see that it's not completely smooth to fix this click on add modifier and select edge split verify that the checkbox next to edge angle is checked and that the split angle is set to 30 then click on the apply button now go to front view by clicking on the View menu and then select front then zoom out and pan the view to the left next we're going to duplicate both of these objects so right click on the large sphere to select it then hold down the shift key and right click on the middle object holding down the shift key allows you to select multiple objects at the same time now press shift D to duplicate the objects the duplicate objects will now move with the mouse press the X key to restrict the movement to the x-axis move the objects to the right and then press the left mouse button when they are in position this ball on the right is going to be an 8 ball so we need to change its color right now the right sphere and the center object are both selected we only want the sphere to be selected so right click on it this will select the sphere and deselect the middle object now click on the material button then left-click here on this blue material to make sure that it's selected then click the minus button to remove the blue material now we're going to change this white color to black but first we need to duplicate this white material if we don't duplicate it but instead we simply change the color of the white material then the color will change for every object that uses this material so all of the white on this fear would change too so to duplicate the white material click this plus button then change the name to black now click on this color button and change the color to black then click on this color button and change this to a grey color I'm using seven zero seven zero seven zero next change the FAC value to 0.3 now come down to the settings section and click on this color button set the color to black remember that this color is displayed while we are editing now would be a good time to save what we have so far so from the file menu select save as here you can specify a directory and this is the file name I'm going to name this pool balls dot blend blend is the extension that blender uses then click the save as blender file button next we're going to add the numbers to the pool balls so left click down here to set the position of the 3d cursor then from the add menu select text the text is right here but it's lying down flat you can rotate the view to see it better we want the text to be standing up so press the R key to rotate then press the X key to restrict the rotation to the x axis then type 90 followed by the Enter key this will rotate the text by 90 degrees you can use the green arrow to drag the text to the front to change the text click this button and select edit mode then press the backspace key several times and then type ten then click here and return to object mode now click the object data button we're going to make the text characters a little wider we do this with the offset value so set this value to point zero one five now let's add some depth to the text by setting the extrude value set this value to point three let's also change the spacing between the characters so come down to the paragraph section and set the character value to 0.8 this will move the characters closer together now we're going to change the overall size of the text so press the s key to scale then type 0.7 followed by the Enter key next we're going to set the material for the number so click on the material button we can use the same black material that we used for this sphere to do that click on this little button right here and select the black material now duplicate this number by pressing shift D you can see the duplicate move with the mouse press the X key to restrict the movement to the x-axis move the number to the right and then press the left mouse button now go into edit mode to change the number press the backspace key a couple of times and then type eight now we turn to object mode for the next step we're going to be converting the text into a mesh to do this press alt C and then select mesh from curve meta cerf text now we'll do the same thing for the other text so right click on the tin to select it press alt C and then click here again now let's move the text into position so from the View menu select front then drag the blue and red arrows to Center the tin then right click on the 8th to select it then drag the arrows to center it next rotate the view now drag the green arrow and move the text to about this position the text should be partway inside of the ball next right click on the other text to select it drag the green arrow and move the text to here now we're going to make the text even with the outside of the ball to do this we need to first find out the name of this white sphere so right click on it to select it its name as displayed right here and it's just called sphere now right-click on the text to select it then click on the object modifiers button then click add modifier and select boolean make sure that the operation value is set to intersect then click in this entry box and select sphere then click the apply button let's zoom in for a closer look now drag the green arrow to move the text as close to the white background as possible without letting any of the white show through to make sure that the edges are smooth click the add modifier button and select edge split verify that the edge angle is checked and the split angle is 30 degrees then press the apply button now let's repeat this for the other text so first right click on the black sphere to find its name it's called sphere zero zero two now right click on the text to select it then click add modifier and select boolean make sure that the operation value is set to intersect then click in this entry box and select sphere zero zero two sometimes when you try to perform the boolean operation this will happen instead of cutting away the front of the text the outline of the text will be left behind let's zoom in for a closer look the solution that has worked for me in the past is to resize the text a little bit so press the s key to scale then type one point one followed by the Enter key this seems to fix the problem but we can't see the text until we move it out a little so come over here and click on the apply button to finish the boolean operation next drag the green arrow and move the text until it's as close to the white background as possible without letting any of the white show through now make sure that the edges are smooth so click the add modifier button and select edge split verify that the edge angle is checked and the split angle is 32 korie's then press the apply button now we're done creating the pool balls the next thing that we're going to do is to rotate one of the balls so from the View menu select front now soom out next right click on the number-10 to select it then hold down the shift key and right click on the center white area to add it to the selection then while still holding the shift key right click here to add the large sphere to the selection now press the R key to rotate and then type 20 followed by the Enter key this will rotate it by 20 degrees now drag the blue arrow and move the ball until the bottom of the ball is even with the other one on the right now from the View menu select top we're now looking down on the pool balls from the top side we're going to rotate the ball again so press the R key then type 20 followed by the Enter key then grab the red arrow and drag the ball to the left a little next let's make a surface for the balls to sit on start by switching to front view now click the left mouse button here to set the location of the 3d cursor now from the add menu select mesh and then plane then drag the blue arrow up until the plane is just below the bottom of the two pool balls if you rotate the view now you can see the plane better now we're going to resize the plane in our final render we want the plane to look like it's fading into the background we can do this by making the plane very large so press the s key to scale and then type 50 followed by the enter key now let's set the material for the plane so click on the material button then click the new button we can use the default diffuse surface to set the color click here if you want to use the same color that I'm using then enter 1 1 6 1 0 0 now we need to add a light source so go to the right side view by clicking on the View menu and select right now soom out then position your cursor up here and click the left mouse button to reposition the 3d cursor then from the add menu select mesh and then plane then press the R key to rotate and then move your mouse to rotate the plane until it's facing the two pool balls then click the left mouse button now press the S key to scale and type five followed by the Enter key this will scale up the plane by five times you can rotate the view to get a better look next we need to set the material for this plane so click on the new button then click here and select emission this material emits light the strength value sets the strength of the light source set this value to 15 the default color that's used for the background is a grey color we're going to change the background color to black to do that click on the world button then click here and move this slider all the way down to the bottom now we're ready to set up the camera view start by going to the View menu and select camera this is the view looking through the camera what you see looking through the camera is what will be rendered in your final rendering I'm going to zoom in a little bit if you want to be able to rotate and pan the view while looking through the camera then we need to make a change to the view properties to do this click on the View menu and select properties then over here on the right put a checkmark in the box next to lock camera to view then to hide this menu click on the View menu and select properties again now you can rotate zoom and pan the view while looking through the camera so now I'm going to position the view to the view that I want to render remember to zoom the view use the scroll wheel to rotate the view press and hold the middle mouse button while you move the mouse and to pan the view hold down the shift key and press and hold the middle mouse button while you move the mouse if you want to make fine adjustments to the zoom then you can do that by holding down the control key and then press and hold the middle mouse button while you drag the mouse now we're ready to render the image but I'm going to save the project first it's a good idea to save your project before rendering in case something goes wrong during the rendering process so from the file menu select save now click on the render button that looks like a camera for now keep all of the default values and just press the render button this is a quick render that isn't rendered with very many samples so it will look grainy but it will give us a good idea of what we have so far if you want to switch between this rendered image and the previous view click on this menu down here if you select 3d view it will take you back to the previous view to return to the rendered image select UV image editor well everything looks good with this image so we're ready to render the final image with more samples so come down here and open the section called sampling and some older versions of blender this section is called integrator the number of render samples is currently set to 10 I'm going to change this to 500 the larger this number is the better the final image will look but the longer it will take to render now to render the final image come back up here and click on the render button if you want to abort the rendering before it's finished then just press the Escape key this image is going to take a while to render so I'm going to pause the video until it's done rendering is finished and now we have our final image to save the image make sure that your cursor is over the image and press the f3 key specify a directory here and a file name here I'm going to name this image pool balls dot PNG then press the save as image button well that concludes this video thanks for watching and please subscribe and leave a comment

Channel: tutor4u

Views: 389,459

Keywords: blender, pool balls, pool, balls, billiard balls, 3d, cycles, cycles render, blender version 2.67a, how to, tutorial, tutorials, 2.67a, tips, tricks, beginners

Id: csro_0eV0BQ

Length: 24min 26sec (1466 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2013