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 M 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, r and video editing, as well as provides a complete i n introduction to Python® scripting suitable for people g with no programming background. B 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 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM Mastering Blender 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd ii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1122 AAMM 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM Mastering Blender Tony Mullen 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiiiii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM 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 Book Designer: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama 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, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per- copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the 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 strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a compe- tent professional person should be sought. 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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 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd iivv 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM 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 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd vv 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM To Hana Marie Mullen, with love 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd vvii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM 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! 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd vviiii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM 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. 0077441177ffffiirrss..iinndddd vviiiiii 22//2200//0099 99::1144::1133 AAMM