Introducing Blender
Blender.Org is the official website for this free yet incredibly powerful 3D package. We have to use the software center for school installations, but you can download version 3.31 for your home computer as well. The "demo reel" videos show some of the best work from animators who will prove to you that professional results are possible with this amazing open source piece of software. Their official YouTube channel also includes some playlists that are perfect for beginners.
|
|
Extra Folders to Stay Organized
Since we are going back and forth between two programs, we are going to have a lot of files. Let's keep them separated by making some sub-folders (folders inside of other folders) and take care where we export and save to. Make the following 2 new folders inside the current project folder (230117 3D Modeling Project Folder)
Blender
Collada
Blender
Collada
Prepping Simple House for Export
Before we can use Blender to animate a more realistic version of our models, we have to prepare them for export to a format that Blender can use, the Collada.DAE format. This video shows what you need to do with your house in Sketchup for Schools, with one important difference:
- We now use Onedrive instead of Documents. Don't save any work in Documents anymore.
Import a DAE file and Change Blender Settings
Now that you have the DAE file and texture folder unzipped into the Collada folder, you are ready to import your model into Blender. There are many changes we will make to Blender to position the camera, adjust the lighting and make the background transparent. Make sure you save the Blender file in the new Blender folder so that the temporary Collada files aren't cluttering up the Blender space. Note: they are only temporary if you make one change to Blender and check the File --> External Data --> Automatically Pack Resources box so that everything gets packed into the one file you could name:
230125 Simple House YourName
230125 Simple House YourName