Blender modeling.

[ShiroiTenshi]

Hello. I know there are other forums which are specific for this type of questions but here I can get an answer faster so... of course if anyone knows the answer. I started to work with modeling in Blender and I'm watching many "Speed Modelings, Tutorials" about it. But is there a difference if I'm modeling, let's say a "gun" with "Plane" or "Cube"? Does it matter which one I choose? And also is it better to finish the whole model only with one "cube" or can I use more cubes and merge them together? And also, do I really need to merge the whole thing together? Let's say I want that gun to be in Unreal Engine 4, would that change anything if I would put it in by parts or is it better to put one whole thing in UE4. Thanks.

[vorticalbox]

 i did a bit of blendeer in college last year, I can user multiple blocks to create an object and group them together. doesn't matter what you start with.

 

There is a mirror feature allow you to create half and it mirrors it to the other. I can't quite remember how to do it as it's been some time but its awesome for planes/cars where both sides need to be the same

[ShiroiTenshi]

 i did a bit of blendeer in college last year, I can user multiple blocks to create an object and group them together. doesn't matter what you start with.

 

There is a mirror feature allow you to create half and it mirrors it to the other. I can't quite remember how to do it as it's been some time but its awesome for planes/cars where both sides need to be the same

"group them together" by that you mean merge? Or something else?

[DannyRyu]

Okay, from one modeler to another ( I use blender ).

Simple models you can just use like a plane and manually add depth you're self by extruding and connecting surfaces etc. or you can just use a simple cube and extrude and stuff from there.

but if you get a complicated model like a gun you use multiple objects and connect them, for example you want to make a gun what you do is make the barrel,Grip,Stock,trigger and all that separately and parent it or conjoin the meshes to all one thing by Ctrl+J. 

[ShiroiTenshi]

Okay, from one modeler to another ( I use blender ).

Simple models you can just use like a plane and manually add depth you're self by extruding and connecting surfaces etc. or you can just use a simple cube and extrude and stuff from there.

but if you get a complicated model like a gun you use multiple objects and connect them, for example you want to make a gun what you do is make the barrel,Grip,Stock,trigger and all that separately and parent it or conjoin the meshes to all one thing by Ctrl+J. 

Thank you. So I can't put parts separately in to UE4? Because I don't know if I will know how exactly to conjoin or parent the parts. ^^

[DannyRyu]

Thank you. So I can't put parts separately in to UE4? Because I don't know if I will know how exactly to conjoin or parent the parts. ^^

each engine is different when you export I don't know about UE4.

[Bittenfleax]

@ShiroiTenshi I have used Blender to model for Unity 4 and Garry's Mod, so it is similar to what you are trying to do.

 

The first thing is that you need to export as an FBX file. You can do this in Blender. There are many tutorials how to export from Blender to UE4 or Unity or just about anything.

 

When I was modeling in Blender, I made sure that my poly's where as low as possible, this is because each poly has to be rendered in and the more poly's there are the more rendering there is and that will result in lower frame rates. (I am not experienced with this. I have been doing it for about 8 months, mainly for Garry's Mod however so I know basic things and techniques).

 

Also, for texturing I have not textured for UE4 but when I do Gmod I use a UV Map and try and get a "fairly" high quality texture (lots of UV Mapping tutorials on the internet). It all depends on what your game is, and what is in it. For example how many players. If you have having a CS:GO type where there are fairly small maps and only a few players, you can afford to use very detailed textures and still achieve high frame rates. However, if you are going for "Ark Survival Evolved" style game where a lot of things are rendered at once, you might want to go for low poly models and lower textures. 

 

If you have any questions add me on steam: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198083774769

 

Also, when using Blender it might be "difficult" at first. But I picked it up withing a few days (of constant modeling). And now I am "fairly" fluent with short cuts and certain methods on how to do things. 

[Casperian]

Thank you. So I can't put parts separately in to UE4? Because I don't know if I will know how exactly to conjoin or parent the parts. ^^

You can with blueprints but it's advisable not to due the extra draw calls each object would incur and the difficulties in animating that model later.

[trag1c]

I will try to make my model whatever it may be from one cohesive block but if I can't get the geometry right or if I know I can do it much faster through another block I will certainly use another mesh.

[carldun]

Although I don't model in blender, your concerns can also be experienced in any 3d modeling software.

 

What you're saying is actually a common practice called box modeling where the idea is to create a basic shape and extrude the faces/edges to create the basic shape of your mesh and add edge loops so you can move around the vertices and define the shape of your mesh.

 

The problem with splitting your mesh is that you have to ensure it can snap back together without creating an ngon. Although I do sometimes model separately like feet and hands, I make sure the vertices are even between the wrists of the hand and the back end of the hand.

 

If you're just starting, I would advice you not to watch speed modeling videos as you'll first need to understand the tools that you'll need. I don't know if there is an insert edge loop in blender but in maya that's gonna be your friend for the rest of your life in modeling . Also, if you plan on animating in the future, you should practice organic meshes especially the human anatomy.

 

Sometimes it matters what basic shape you start with since they have their strengths and weaknesses and as a modeler, you should know when to use the right one to make the most out of it.

 

(When one shape matters over the other)

Let's say you're creating a head, what people would initially think to use is a sphere since it's the closest shape to a head but the single vertex at the top would limit you in defining your skull (not to mention problems connecting it to the neck). What you should use is a smooth cube which looks like a sphere but has enough vertices around it to manipulate its shape.

 

(When you could achieve the same feat using different methods)

Let's say you're creating a cord/wire. You can achieve it using the following:

1. Cylinder and add multiple divisions and move their vertices around / Use a lattice deformer to smoothly deform the mesh rather than individually messing around with the vertices

2. Create a cv curve and extrude a circle to that curve 

 

The tools I mostly use in modeling in Maya are:

1. Insert Edge Loop

2. Extrude

3. Multi-cut Tool

4. Brush tool

5. Animation deformers

6. Extract

7. Combine

8. Mirror Geometry

9. Quad Draw

 

There's a LOT of tools that I haven't included here but these are the stuff I usually work with when modeling with polygons.

[.spider.]

I always model single parts and join them with Ctrl+j

Even printing things modeled like that works.

These are all single parts and just joined together with Ctrl+j

[Guest]

You've probably got an answer already but when modeling from a reference image I like to use a plane so I get it to look right then worry about thickness later