A realistic modem

Mushking FX / King Kahiga Muriuki portfolio reel

Flintstone Mobil

Couldn’t resist making this. I just came across it on the internet and it’s simple enough so it doesn’t even need blueprints…Fred would be proud.

Arms stash

I developed an interest in modelling of weapons after i made the first one(sketchy a5000).So,i thought why not make something like an armoury except dingy looking.More like a stash of weapons for illegal purposes.

I used uv mapping on the walls……but it doesn’t behave like i would want it to.Upclose the walls apppear like i used a small texture map so it appears stretched.

Anybody wana help me on that?

An old room

I got the idea of modeling this room from a photo i saw on the net.My modeling procedure is not always good for me.I never make sketches,plan on what to model,get textures……i usually go with the flow.I solve problems that come up as i go along.But that is not always good for me because of the amount of time i waste looking for textures,wondering what to model next after i am done with another.

In this model i actually made a plan and followed it.It took me less time than i thought.I rendered the image under different lighting conditions and as a clay render.

Book Review: Architecture, Buildings and Scenery

Book Review: Architecture, Buildings and Scenery.

by Chepkech Kevin

This is another of Allan Brito’s books’, a little over 300 pages with 14 chapters (published by Packtpub Publishers)

I was really excited about this book and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

I have to admit my expectation of this book was totally different from what I got. What it does, is expound on important things to consider in the art of 3D Architecture, Buildings and Scenery.

Chapter 1

This chapter is an intro to Blender and its software and hardware requirements which I wrote in my previous book review. This being a book about Architecture, Allan shows us how to work with files from CAD software such as AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, QCAD and other tools. Sometimes there’s never enough time to work on something and we have to retrieve already completed models mostly of furniture from a previous project or go through the internet to looks for them. Some of the sites that provide free models are:

http://3dcafe.com

http://resources.blogscopia.com:  Furniture models in the native Blender file format.

http://www.e-interiors.net:  Lots of pictures and free models of furniture. Most files are in 3DS or DXF file formats.

http://www.linedstudio.com: More furniture models and scenes already in Blender native file format.

http://blender-archi.tuxfamily.org/Models: A collection of models to be used in Blender for Architectural Visualization, all in the Blender native file format.

Chapter2-3

In these chapters, Allan explains on the workings of Blender, its interface and its tools from merging windows to using modifiers such as the array modifier in architecture.

Chapter 4-6

This chapter focuses on modeling. When it comes to modeling other things not related to architecture like cars, characters and what have you there’s no pressure of precision modeling unlike when dealing with architecture modeling. Well, Allan explains how to go about getting the right and precise dimensions of models. It’s really cool to discover new things that you didn’t know about blender. He gives short examples to practice with.

Chapter 7-9

We learn how to add materials, textures and UV mapping when there is need for more control over the texture.

Chapter 10-12

Proper lighting can make a big difference in a virtual scenario or architectural model. A good lighting setup is the key which doesn’t come easy but with enough practice very much possible.

Knowing and understanding the different lamps in blender will greatly enable you to know which lamp is suitable for which scenario or model. In these chapters we get to learn about radiosity and ambient occlusion, global illumination with YafaRay.

Chapter 13-14

So far it has been about still images but there is also animation. Animation in Architecture can make a strong impression to any person especially when selling your portfolio to a potential employer or marketing of a project. Blender has what other 3D software’s and that is interactive animation made possible with the Blender Game Engine.

As you read along, you will get to learn how to plan, set up key frames and manage them, edit animations with IPO curves.

One more thing that excited me was the video sequence editor in-built in blender. It allows us to edit and merge video files without the need of video editing software. There is more to learn about the sequencer (video sequencer editor) and animation process as you go along.

The post production process can be frustrating especially when the rendering process took so many hours ad the final result is not what you expected. This is where Gimp comes in. The brightness or color can always be adjusted with Gimp. You will get to learn more about Gimp and how much it improves a rendered result saving a lot time of adjusting the rendering engine.

This book is for those into architecture like me.Those into something else, sorry….this book isn’t for you.

I call it Sketchy a5000

I did this while reading Incredible Machines.As i said earlier in the review,the explanation to me was on point so i got this idea in the process of reading the book and this is it minus any material or texture.Just it and lighting.

Book Review:Incredible Machines

Book Review: Blender3d_Incredible Machines

By Chepkech Kevin

Incredible Machines is a 303 page book written by Allan Brito and published by Packtpub Publishers (packtpub.com).He has written two others books, Blender3d: Architecture, Buildings and Scenery and Blender3d-Guia do Usuario. He covers the use of Blender and other tools for architectural visualization at his website http://www.blender3darchitect.com where he can be reached.

From the name, the book’s about making of machines, sci-fi not of this world unless maybe in your imagination. He covers modeling, rendering and animation of these machines and all the steps that lead to its completion such as UV mapping, dealing with particles and their animation, using curves and so forth. It covers three different projects starting with the most simple to a more complex one (transforming a robot).

This book is for game developers, 3d artists and product designers who strive for realistic images, 3D models and videos and also for those interested in creating realistic models using YafaRay and LuxRender.

Blender3d 2.49 is the version used in this book and some of minimum requirements given are:

Minimum requirements:

Three-button mouse

Open GL Graphics Card with 16 MB RAM

300 MHz CPU

128 MB RAM

1024 x 768 pixels display with 16-bit color

20 MB free hard disk space

However, if you really want to get maximum performance, there is a more powerful configuration:

Three-button mouse

Open GL Graphics Card with 128 or 256 MB RAM

2 GHz dual core CPU

2 GB RAM

1920 x 1200 pixels display with 24-bit color.

There isn’t much to say about the software, only that you can run Blender on almost any operating system available. The following is the list of systems that support Blender:

Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, or Vista

Mac OS X 10.2 and later

Linux i386, x86_64/amd64 or PPC

FreeBSD 6.2 i386 and later

Irix 6.5 mips3

Solaris 2.8 sparc.

Chapter one of the book gives a brief history of blender, where and how to get it. Blender is an open source software available for free at the blender foundation website http://www.blender.org .It goes on to introduce other applications that run hand in hand with blender like YafaRay (http://www.yafaray.org) and gimp (http://www.gimp.org) which are also available for free  from their respective websites.

He goes on to introduce incredible machines, what it means and how the name came about and how he has organized the book to tackle the three projects extensively.

Chapter two to five

Deals with the first project. There’s a brief explanation on why he chose that particular object as the fisrt project and the workflow for modeling it. He uses subdivision modeling but he explains why not polygon modeling and also tells us of other modeling techniques such as nurbs modeling and spline modeling  and where they are suitable. I found the language to be an easy read and straight to the point. He introduces tools used to add detail such as:

How to use hooks in the alignment of objects

Spin tool to close up an object

Adding creases and rounded details

And finally using YafaRay to create an environment and setting up lights and adding materials to achieve that ultimate realism.

Chapter 6to 10

This is the second project bit more complex than the first one. He again gives the project workflow and goes ahead to model the object. Start by making the general shape of the machine and later on adding detail in such a way that you can’ miss anything. He uses curves to add cables and wires to the machine (I was so jazzed by this).

He tackles uv mapping and the use of blender particles.

In the rendering of the machine he further expounds on the use YafaRay and creates an impressive environment for the spacecraft as well as material.

Chapter 11 to 16

I have got to admit that I expected like a lesson on how to transform Optimus Prime from a truck to machine but that’s not what I got. If I did get that then I probably would be lost right now because it requires a lot of detail. Once I understand this fully then I would be in a position to give Optimus a try.

This is the most complex of all the machines and Allan begins by telling us what it is and how he goes about tackling it. The challenges ahead from textures and materials to animating it. In this last project he uses LuxRender instead and expounds on the pros and cons of LuxRender as compared to YafaRay and why he used LuxRender this time.

As he adds detail to the machine I got to discover functions of some modifiers I didn’t know what they did like the array modifier. He provides valuable information concerning LuxRender from where to find it (http://www.luxrender.net), and the process of installing it. I got to learn new things concerning an unbiased render engine.

I found the chapter on animating the robot long and boring, I have to admit animation isn’t one of my strong points being an impatient person I’d like to see fast results but from those long tutorials I have followed through up to the end have been worth it. The knowledge gained is very vital, the same with this chapter. He uses hierarchies, controllers, armatures and helpers. One of the functions of LuxRender is it can be used to edit and fine-tune an image within LuxRender which is so cool and afterwords using gimp to clean and remove the noise on rendered images.

Mistakes

There were a few grammatical errors although I got what the message it would be unfortunate for someone who wouldn’t and probably miss something important.

General Overview

I found it pretty good and straight forward. Aspiring game developers and 3d artists will find this a book a good stepping stone to learning the first steps of game animation and achieving the perfect realism using the different render engines.

2010 hear i come

Thank God for another year even though we had our ups and downs.I believe a better year is ahead and better stuff.

It’s already started nicely well.Blender just released the latest version of Blender after 2.49b,Blender 2.5 alpha 0. Get it now!

Audi-lighting and texturing

Started this a few days ago after seeing a friend of mine make a really realitic car.I decided to give it a try and this is what i have as of late last night.Dealing with lighting and texturing was of course the big deal in this.But it,s not quite there yet.The windows aren’t reflecting as they ought to and the front…..could do better.

Tackling 3dmax again after sometime felt like am learning afresh and i had to try and remember some functions and where they were located.

Blender3d is becoming more and more of a home.Next photorealistic car ill makewill be from blender then i’ll compare and contarst the two.