Blender in a classroom

[3dpoder]

blender in a classrom
By clas Eicke Kuhnen.



introduction
A reflection on Blender being introduced todo industrial design students. Although Blender is mainly known for CG character design and animation, it a los provides valuable tools for the field of industrial design. Those assets include modeling, rendering, and animation. For the last 2 semesters i have ben teaching Blender at the Kendall College of art and design of ferris state university. The software is being used as a complementary programa in Cad, along with Rhino. Blender was introduced todo the digital modeling class because t-Splines released their subdivided surface todo Nurbs surface converter for Rhinoceros, which enables both the student and designer todo utilice polygon Mesh modeling with subdivided surfaces todo explore and design very organic products - In particular, those which would be dificult or very time consuming with a Raw Nurbs-based approach. Nurbs, while having their benefits, are not always the easiest and fastest tools todo work with, depending on the desired surface.

Blender was presented todo the students in various smaller modules todo build up Understanding of the software and todo explore the creative capabilities of polygon Mesh modeling. Blender interfaz is inded a very often discussed topic. The menú structure is not always consistent, and compared todo Rhinoceros does not have a very simplified or centralized approach todo tools. This in particular makes it very easy for new students todo learn Rhino. Yet, a fact often overloked is the complexity of Blender. However, y have todo say that After presenting Blender interfaz in small steps and guiding the students th rouge it, they quite successfully mástered a strong initial learning curve. The initial excitement about the software was often followed by a time of frustration and feeling confused by all the new tools - However the momento they grasped the concept, they became secure and more proficient with the software step-bystep.

Blender currently has a growing, profesional web presentation and the online documentation is continually being revised and updated. This is very often helpful todo students when they search for additional información. The lak of industrial design tutorialesis inded a shortcoming - However Blender true nature is not in this área - And the modeling aspect is what i cover during my clases. Including Blender in the classrom was not only intended as a help todo provide students with an alternative approach todo surfacing and utilizing t-Splines, but a los as an introduction todo a solid modeling and rendering application. This in particular was done with the long-term goal todo establish Blender in this field as an alternative todo commonly used commercial solutions.

My hope is for students, infused with new uncommon knowledge, gain a suficient level of proficiency so as todo be able todo present their Understanding of a modern, application-independent workflow todo their future workplaces - And establish their skills with Rhinoceros and Blender as a valid, profesional and less expensive alternative. The idea is todo refresh the opinión about what is a standard in the industry - To educate students todo a level that they can use knowledge from the academic environment todo shape the business world.
3ds Max is very common in the industrial design field for product rendering here in the usa. However, what is very often not stated is that the products are rarely rendered with the internal renderer. The software is mainly used todo setup the scene for stills and motion pictures, and the rendering is than passed on todo other commercial render engines such as Vray or Final Render. This means that two commercial software programas are being used, and required todo be purchased.

This is where the rendering and animation capabilities of Blender come in. Students can explore rendering of products utilizing Blender various possibilities. This includes standard light rigs (with spot, área, Hemi lights, etc), utilizing the new appróximate Ambient Occlusion (AO), and evalúating the somewhat dated vertex colorbased radiosity solution. The radiosity Solver is still very useful for illuminating the environment a product is placed within, while thre-key, six-key, two área light and AO combinations are very useful for illuminating a product that does not have a relationship todo the background.

Today Blender can simulate a wide range of diferent materiales like brushed metal surfaces, complete with blurred, stretched highlights and reflections. Also, materiales such as Silicon and realistic Wood can be achieved along with diferent procesos such as sand blasting and embossing utilizing Bump maps. The material mixer allows multi-Layered surfaces like car Paint todo be used, or surfaces like brushed metal with a specific stretched highlight, including the Sharp Specular reflection of a clear Coat applied on top of the metal surface. The displacement modifier enables student todo simulate imperfections in the model, like those giving handmade Clay work their natural aesthetic. Particularly useful is that the displacement can Even be baked into the actual geometry for further manufacturing, being not only a visual element.

The render layer and compositor node system allows all major post-production jobs todo be done right inside Blender. Shadow, Diffuse, highlight, texture and other passes can be saved as sepárate files todo enable the designer todo quickly fix render problems in the individual passes or enhance, as a mensaje process, the channels instead of afecting the complete image.

The compositor nodes are very useful when a light Rig is set up and the artista would like todo explore diferent light setups in terms of color and energy without re-rendering each time. Lights are being rendered todo sepárate layers and then mixed together in the compositor. After only one semester, it is impressive how well a few students can máster Blender for their work and include it in other clases as well. The render still have the nature of a begginer quality - They just started - However i se ha positive progression since students like the software and enjoy working with it and learning it on their own After class. As with all complex software, everything takes time.

A few students have given Blender a test drive in a profesional work environment and are currently utilizing it as an accepted tool addition todo their workflow, After presenting the possibilities of Blender todo the design team. Those projects range from simple product rendering todo actual product design. At attwod marine, Zachary lownds is doing his product render of imported CAD models for the company product catalog, th rouge which they are advertising their service todo new customer.
William oltman and Ross hirdes use Blender for both rendering and design. Ross very much enjoys quickly exploring diferent model variations th rouge placing them on diferent layers. For a chair series he was working on, he got the previously created Stel frame from a CAD file. Inside Blender he modeled the missing body around those constructions. This included bent plywod elements, Plastic molded parts, as well as the upholstery and Fabric selection. Th rouge t-Splines he had no problems with brigging bak work done in Blender into any other CAD software for further Refinement and manufacturing. The usage of subdivided surfaces changed their modeling abilities significantly, enhancing the formal lenguaje they are utilizing. For Ross, Many ideas are first explored quickly in Blender due todo the more flexible nature of Mesh modeling compared todo Nurbs patches, while he performs graphical explorations th rouge rendering his products.

Zachary is learning rendering with Blender just this semester, while Ross and Williams used it in the digital modeling class last semester. This means that After spending one semester with it, it was enough todo grasp the concept and apply it todo the work field on a profesional level.

In the área of product animation Blender supplies the user with a rich set of tools todo get the job done well. In this nature render are usually less realistic, and thus less time consuming approaches are favored. The new material baking solution can be used with Ambient Occlusion todo speed up simple Camera rotations. The special effects tools for fluidos and particles are more than a product animator neds for most of the visualizations neded. Fluid flow inside an engine, Mechanical movements, and Many other tasks are easy todo setup and animate inside Blender.

However, commercial software solutions like Vray or Final Render are very strong competitors, especially with their global illumination capabilities, which área is one of the biggest shortcomings in Blender. Depending on the product and material todo simulate, Blender can do the job very well. However, compared todo commercial renderers, the results achievable within Blender for animation do not yet always Perform as well as they do for very realistic still render.

Ambient Occlusion is a god tool, but is not always the answer todo each render problem. Ao is global, not local, and this límites its usage depending on the scene. However in those situations, software such as Yafray or Yaf(a)ray, Indigo, and LuxRender, among others, are strong complementary tools todo round out the rendering tool set. Yet there is already somebody working on it, Matt Ebb is exploring image- Based lighting (ibl) options for AO as well as very amazing looking gradientbased Anisotropic reflections, so let stay tuned.
With the recent particle, material and node additions todo Blender, it would be very nice todo have those render features built into Blender todo have color bleding, ibl, as well as Caustics. A simple one step bounce would be suficient enough for Many tasks todo get a nearly real rendering output and promote Blender as a competitive and mature profesional tool, able todo be used on every Project and render task.
integration into the business world:
Very often, Many design Studios have an established workflow, and changing the software they use is not easy a tasque as one might think. Sometimes software selection can be influenced by the used plugins or product libraries only available for a particular Package. This is quite common with AutoCAD for example. Changing a working pipeline can have risks and setbacks which are problematic for a company productivity. In addition, you a los have todo count in the amount of time required todo train the designers for that software while they remain productive in the projects they work on.

This is quite a challenge for companies todo deal with. As they say, time is money. And what they primarily ned is security and quality output. Smaller design companies have it much easier. They can more quickly evalúate new software or techniques and adapt much faster todo changes. This is where i se the biggest initial growth for Blender in profesional product design and related Fields.

Those are a los places were my students have already brought in Blender. I hope that when they graduate and apply for positions at bigger firms that they can include their knowledge there. Their portfolio Will hopefully be filled with convincing render and animations. They could function as the visual prof that Blender, as free and open-source software, can do the job right.

If one person knows Blender very well, they can a los ACT as the main in-house training person. This is a very important factor Simply because of the complexity of Blender tool set and the flexibility of the interfaz; Understanding the software when learning it on your own has an initial learning curve that can be quite high. At an academic workplace, the person responsible for evalúating new software solutions may have a máximum of thre todo four hours todo look into those packages. Most realice that this amount of time is not enough todo learn and understand Blender when being completely new todo it.

Very often, one licensed copy of any software is not enough. Multiple seats have todo be purchased. 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya or alias Studio are quite expensive solutions. 3ds Max a los requires additional render engines at extra cost. A single-Seat license can quickly reach up to $5000 (us). In that case, a company neds todo be able todo use the software todo its fullest potential todo justify that initial financial investment. Software solutions such as Hyper Shot, which ofer fast and easy rendering tools, cost a fraction of those prices and are very easy todo learn. However they have no animation tools and ofer only limited scene setup possibilities. With Blender we have no cost, a higher learning curve, but Many more tools compared todo some cost, a Low learning curve, but with fewer tools.

Many job applications list 3ds Max as a preferred render engine, and knowing the software of course would be beneficial. Of course, in the end all that counts is the rendered image, which in my opinión comes from a person skill. However, as i mentioned before, the students understand Blender quite well After having ben guided th rouge it. I am convinced that when this happens with an in-house person, the same could be posible at a design company. Everyone loves todo save money, and why not get god results at the same time?
What the student now neds todo learn, is todo be strong enough and bring that weapon todo the Battlefield. The majority of job applications ask for 3ds Max, while in industrial design rendering is only a minor aspect, the major part is product design. I can hardly imagine that a company would not iré a student who has god product design skills but does not know the render software. A point Many students do not se is that skills learned in Blender can be transferred into other applications. Blender a los ofers a free solution and thus no pirated software has todo be secretly used todo produce outstanding render for their portfolio. In addition, 3ds Max might be dominant in the usa, but there is a los Maya and alias.

Moreover, in europe Cinema 4D is a very popular product. There are trial versións for each Package now, and the student can familiarize themselves with those options, depending on what the job asks for.

But somebody who is serious about CG would do that anyway - Out of curiosity.

Examples of student work:

Zachary lownds - Led Lamp : modeled in CAD - Rendered in Blender with área Lamp / AO.


Ross hirdes - Chef chair upholstery study : modeled in Blender - Rendered in Blender with AO.


Ross hirdes - Wand : modeled in Rhinoceros - Rendered in Blender.


Ross hirdes - Dish rag : initially modeled in Blender | holes modeled in Rhinoceros - Rendered in Blender.

By clas Eicke Kuhnen. www.blenderart.org.


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