Blender 3D: Architecture, Buildings, and Scenery Create photorealistic 3D architectural visualizations of buildings, interiors, and environmental scenery Allan Brito BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI Blender 3D: Architecture, Buildings, and Scenery Copyright © 2008 Packt Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, Packt Publishing, nor its dealers or distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. First published: May 2008 Production Reference: 1220508 Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. 32 Lincoln Road Olton Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK. ISBN 978-1-847193-67-4 www.packtpub.com Cover Image by Allan Brito ([email protected]) Credits Author Project Manager Allan Brito Abhijeet Deobhakta Reviewer Indexer Yorik van Havre Rekha Nair Senior Acquisition Editor Proofreaders David Barnes Dirk Manuel Chris Smith Development Editor Swapna V. Verlekar Production Coordinator Shantanu Zagade Technical Editor Meeba Renny Abraham Cover Work Shantanu Zagade Editorial Team Leader Akshara Aware About the Author Allan Brito is a Brazilian architect specialized in information visualization, who lives and works in Recife, Brazil. He works with Blender 3D to produce animations and still images, for visualization and instructional material. Besides his work with Blender as an artist, he also has substantial experience teaching 3D modeling, animation, and multimedia at Mauricio de Nassau College. He is an active member of the community of Blender users, writing about Blender 3D and its development for websites in Brazilian Portuguese (http://www. allanbrito.com) and English (http://www.blendernation.com). This is his second book about Blender 3D; the first one was Blender 3D—Guia do Usuário, which was published in Brazil. It's a guide on how to use Blender, covering from the basics to character animation. He can be reached through his website at http://www.blender3darchitect.com, where he covers the use of Blender 3D and other tools for architectural visualization. I would like to thank my family for supporting me during the production of this book, specially my wife Érica and of course Mutsumu and Nanna, who are my Father and Mother-in-law. About the Reviewer Yorik van Havre is an architect from Belgium, who currently lives in Brazil, where he works as a freelance architect. Blender is part of his everyday work. He regularly writes articles and tutorials about Blender, architecture, and architecture software, and is actively involved in several communities and free software projects. Table of Contents Preface 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to Blender and Architectural Visualization 5 Architectural Visualization 5 How about Blender 3D? 6 Download Blender 7 Hardware and Software Requirements for Blender 7 Other Tools for Visualization 8 CAD and 3D-Architectural Modeling 9 3D Models from the Internet 9 Visualization with Blender 10 Summary 11 Chapter 2: Blender 3D: Quick Start 13 Interface 13 Windows and Menus 16 Multiple Windows 18 Merge Windows 18 Header 19 Add and Remove a Header 20 Active Window 20 Keyboard Shortcuts 22 3D Visualization 22 Selecting Objects 23 Selecting by Name 25 Renaming Objects 26 3D Cursor 27 Cursor Snap 27 Modes 28 Creating Objects 29 Table of Contents Duplicating Objects 30 Transforming Objects 30 Cameras 32 Render Basics 34 Render Preview 35 Summary 36 Chapter 3: Modeling 37 Types of Objects 37 Mesh Primitives 38 Mesh Editing 41 Transformations 43 Transforming with Precision 43 Loop Subdivide 44 Knife Tool 48 Selecting Loops 50 New Edges and Faces 51 Merge 53 Removing Double Vertices 54 Extrude 56 Extrude with Vertex 56 Extrude with Edges 57 Extrude with Faces 57 Constraining the Extrude 58 Modeling Example 58 Modifiers 60 Subsurf Modifier 62 Smoothing Faces 64 Array Modifier 64 Array Example 65 Boolean Modifier 66 Mirror Modifier 68 Groups 71 How to Create a Group 72 Proportional Editing 74 Summary 76 Chapter 4: Modeling for Architecture 77 Architectural Modeling 77 Modeling by Proportions 78 Planning Is the Key to Success 79 Precision Modeling 82 [ ii ] Table of Contents Edge Length 84 Transforming with Precision 85 Layers 86 Modeling in Practice 87 Walls 88 Rounded Corners 91 Symmetry 96 Openings 101 Floors and Lining 105 Modeling Using the Walls 106 Modeling with Separated Objects 107 Starting From a CAD Drawing 110 Preparing the DXF Files 110 Importing DXF files 110 Summary 112 Chapter 5: Modeling Details 113 Level of Detail 113 Windows 113 Doors 129 Summary 137 Chapter 6: Modeling Furniture 139 Create Models or Use a Library? 140 How to Get Started? 140 Appending Models 141 Importing Models 143 Modeling a Chair 144 Modeling a Sofa 152 Summary 157 Chapter 7: Materials 159 Creating and Organizing Materials 160 Material Color 164 Gradient Colors 165 Shaders 168 Diffuse 168 Specular 169 Ray Tracing 170 Creating Glass 171 Simple Glass 172 Mirrors and Reflections 172 Ray-traced Shadows 173 [ iii ]