Click here to go back to Part 1

Click here to go back to Part 2

In the previous parts, we have created the new layer. Now, to combine the 2 layers, we will need a Color>> Mix node. The mode of this composite node is set to Lighten. Link the output socket of the Mix node to the image input socket of Composite.

Next, link the output image socket of the Render Layer to the top image input socket of the Mix node. Now, link the output image socket of the Blur node to the lower image input socket of the Mix node. The configuration is as shown below.

To control the degree of glow, experiment with the Fac value of the Mix node. Typically, a higher value will create a correspondingly brighter glow.

The full configuration is as shown below. Click on the screenshot below to see the enlarged version of it.

When rendering, please remember to activate Do Composite (in the Scene Panel) in order for the glowy effect to be processed as well.

We have come to the end of the Blender Glow tutorial. Hope that it has been useful.

Click here to go back to Part 1.

In Part 1, we have seen the screenshot of the entire compositing node configuration. Here we will describe them in parts.

Basically, the overall process involves creating a new ’soft & glowy’ layer and combining it to the original rendering. This newly created layer will need to have the bright areas (such as the phone screen and the blue rim) intensified and brightened, while the rest of the areas darkened. When composited with the original rendering, this will cause the bright areas to give a glow.

To create this new ‘glowy’ layer, one will firstly need to create an alpha layer that will then be recombined with the original rendering. It goes like this …

Firstly, create a Color>> RGB curves node. Next, add a Converter>> RGB to BW node. Modify the curve of RGB curves node until the bright areas are intensified while the dark areas are darkened further.

Next, add a Color>> Alpha Over node. Link the image output socket of Render Layers to the top input socket of Alpha Over node. Link the output socket of RGB to BW node to the lower image input socket of Alpha Over node. This is shown in the screen capture below.

Next, insert a Color >> Bright/contrast node and Filter >> Blur node. Link them up as shown below. You may increase the Brightness and contrast using the Bright/contrast node. Depending on the image size and the desired effect, give non-zero values to X and Y of the Blur node. Use Bokeh.

This is the end of Part 2 of this Blender Product rendering tutorial.

>>> Click here to go to Part 3.

Below is an image of a product rendering without glow.

Below is the same rendering that includes the glow effect.

There are multiple ways of achieving this effect. One way of creating these Glows within Blender 3D is to use the Compositing Nodes. These nodes work somewhat like layers in Image editors such as GIMP and Photoshop. The advantage of Blender’s nodes over the external graphic editors is that they allow the Blender artist to modify and tweak the results in an interactive and non-distructive manner. Also, unlike the 2D image editors, the effect can be implemented in animations as well.

For this tutorial, it is assumed that you already know how to use Nodes within Blender 3D.

The screenshot shown below is the Compositing Node configuration for achieving the desired glow effects. Click on it to go to a larger display of it.

This is the end of Part 1.

In Part 2, we will look at the process in a more detailed manner.

>>> Click here to go to Part 2

The Video directly below shows the concept as it is created in Blender 3D.

Below is a video of its prototype in flight.

As the title of the book aptly suggests, this is a book about Architectural Visualization and Blender 3D. It is written by Allan Brito who is a Brazilian architect.

The structure of the content is systematically laid out. The writing style and grammar-usage are straight forward too. These make for easy reading and understanding. The book is also well-furnished with much screen shots that support the written texts. Having read much books on 3D modeling and graphics, I must say that this book is one of the clearer and easier-to-understand one. To use this book, one does not need prior experience of Blender 3D which is a powerful open-source 3D application. However, a basic knowledge of architectural and interior design is recommended for clear understanding.

This book covers Blender basics as well as much information pertaining to architecture and interior related modeling and rendering. If you already owned the Essential Blender Book, this book will have much informational overlap with the latter, thus reducing its value. Nevertheless, there are also much valuable content that will be of good use, especially to a person who is interested in this particular field of 3D work.

In my opinion, some of the content of this book that are especially valuable to the field of architecture/interior-related 3D design and graphics include:

1. Techniques for precision modeling of architectural elements such as buildings.

2. Techniques for furniture modeling.

3. Methods for Architectural/interior-styled lighting

4. Integration with Yafray (external renderer) and GIMP

5. Information on creating interactive animations using the game engine

These above-mentioned areas of the book’s content are what that makes it stand apart from the other Blender books on the market. No doubt, these information may be found elsewhere, either online or in other publications. However, Allan Brito’s book goes further by organising them in a way that is cohesive and highly relevant to the architectural and interior design and project work flow.

Who will best benefit from this book? In my opinion, if you are new to Blender and am interested in using it for architectural and interior visualization, this book will prove to be indispensable. I can envisage this book being useful to students and professionals within the architectural and interior-design fields. If you are looking for an open source or low-cost solution to your architectural/interior design and visualization needs, you could well benefit from the acquisition of this book.

The book can be purchased via the following URL:

http://www.packtpub.com/create-3d-architecture-buildings-scenery-with-blender/book

Additionally, for every book sold, Packt, which is the publisher for this book, donates a royalty directly to the Blender Project. This helps to support Blender and its development, which ultimately benefits you as a user as the software gets to be continually improved.

There will be two Blender 3D related talks during the event. It will be on the 11th of December 2008. The speakers are Victor Yap and Tony Mullen.

The talks are:

1. Migrating and Integrating Blender into your Pipeline

2. Blender Education and Certification

As you may know, Tony Mullen is the author of 2 great Blender Books ‘Introducing Character Animation with Blender’ & ‘Bounce, Tumble, and Splash! ‘.

For more information on the talks, click here.

The book, is called Blender 3D: Architecture, Buildings, and Scenery . It is a 300+ page book from Packt Publishing. This is a book about creating architectural buildings, interiors and environmental scenery using Blender 3D, the powerful open-source 3D application. This book is written by Allan Brito who is a Brazilian architect. Allan also runs an architecture and blender related website at http://www.blender3darchitect.com/

As my background is in Product and Industrial Design, I use (and teach) Blender primarily as a Product Visualisation tool. The area of Architecture and Interior rendering is not really my main specialisation, although I have done some projects related to them. Thus, I am looking forward to reading this book and gaining insights into using Blender for Architectural, Interior and Scenery visualisation.

I will write and post the review as soon as I have read the book.

suite noire from matray on Vimeo.

Enjoy the video.

Click here to go back to Part 1

Click here to go back to Part 2

In Part 2, we have already created one half of the model as shown below.

Now, we need to create the other half. We do this by using Mirror. Go to Transform >>> Mirror. Select the surface. Using Osnap End and F8 (Ortho) key, create the other half of the spectacle.

The 2 halves appear to have nicely blended, but they are not. This is because the edge where the 2 halves meet is currently only at Positional-level Continuity. At this continuity level, the 2 surfaces will not appear seamless. We need to ensure at least Tangent-level Continuity for that edge, otherwise for actual production and manufacturing, the part may show an unacceptable line where the 2 halves meet.

To resolve that, we can use Match Surface to modify the continuity to Tangency-level.

To do that, go to Surface Tools >>> Match Surface. When prompted, select the 2 adjacent edges of the 2 halves. From the Match Surface dialog box, select Tangency or Curvature (depending on your continuity requirement). Next select, Average Surfaces and Refine Match. The adjacent border of the surfaces should be tangent to each other now.

After this, one should evaluate the surface continuity. There are several ways to do this. The common way is to use the Environmental Map or Zebra to visually assess the smoothness and continuity. To evaluate visually using Environment map, select the surfaces, go to Analyze>>> Environmental Map. It is as illustrated below.

That is all for the tutorial. As mention earlier, this method of using Curve from 2 Views with Match surface can be applied for symmetrical modeling of products of other forms as well.

The same method can also be applied to Alias or Autodesk StudioTools. However, in the case of StudioTools, one can simply select Implied Tangent (for the adjacent border) when using Rail Surface and need not go through an additional surface matching process.

Click here to go back to Part 1

In Part 1, we have already created the resultant curve from the Top and Front profile curves using Curve from 2 Views. The curve is as shown below. For this tutorial, we will use the Top Profile curve as the top edge of one half of the spectacle.

Now, we need to create the cross-sectional curves. In the Right View, create the first Cross-sectional curve using Control Point Curve. Make sure that the 2 points of the curve are touching the ends of the 2 generation curves. If needed, use Osnap End to ensure that. The curve should be similar to what is being shown below.

Next, create the other cross-section curve. In the Front View, create the Curve (as shown below) using Control Point Curve.

Now, we can create the surface for this half of the model. Depending on the situation, there are several surface tools that can be used. These tools are as of the following:

1. Surface from Network of Curve

2. Sweep 1 Rail

3. Sweep 2 Rail

For our case here, the most appropriate tool is Sweep 2 Rail. Surface from Network of Curve surface tool may not work because of the 2 closed looped curves. Sweep 1 Rail is not suitable because, there are obviously 2 ‘railable’ curves. The Alias StudioTools equivalent of Sweep 2 Rail and Sweep 1 Rail is Rail Surface.

Using Sweep 2 Rail, create the surface using the Rail Curves and Cross-sections as indicated in the screenshot directly below.

The resultant surface should look like what is being shown below.

This is the end of Part 2 of this Rhino 3D modeling tutorial.

>>> Click here to go to Part 3