CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #5 (Feb 1, 2018): The class is officially closed! Thanks to all who participated. Be sure to check page 43 for the closing "statement" and commendations.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #4 (Jan 30, 2018): The timing worked out where this week's homework stretch is 10 days instead of the usual 7. So you've got extra time to complete the assignment! I'll look for submission through tomorrow, the 31st, and then I'll do a final post to close out the class.
BTW week 4's live event is archived if you missed it.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #3 (Jan 15, 2018): Week 2 is done - We're halfway through the class! Today WEEK 3 begins where the focus is digital sculpting. This is a far more artistic method of shaping 3D models, so if you struggled in week 2, week 3 should be refreshing.
- Only 1 course to watch this week: Fundamentals of Digital Sculpting
- Live Event tomorrow at 2pm EST
- Please submit homework anytime between Jan 15 - Jan 21 with "BC1-1801 Week 3 Homework Submission" at the top of your post.
Keep up the awesome work, Class! So much creativity and hard work being contributed from everyone 🤘
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #2 (Jan 8, 2018): Week one is accomplished! Today WEEK 2 begins. We're moving forward from basic viewport interaction and into mesh modeling; into Edit Mode and the modifier stack.
- Reminder that you have 2 courses to watch this week: Mesh Modeling Fundamentals and Modeling with Modifiers.
- Live Event tomorrow at 2pm EST
- Please submit homework anytime between Jan 8 - Jan 14 with "BC1-1801 Week 2 Homework Submission" at the top of your post.
As always, don't hesitate to ask questions in this thread!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #1 (Jan 2, 2018): The class has officially started! Today we held the first live event to kick things off. The recording will be published by tomorrow at the latest is now available in "Past Events".
That means it's now up to you to watch the Blender Basics Course and submit your homework to this thread. Please add a big, bold title to your homework submission reply so I can easily tell. Like this:
"BC1-1801 Week 1 Homework Submission"Also don't hesitate to ask questions along the way. I'll be checking this thread daily to answer questions, give advice, check homework.
This thread is for CG Cookie Citizens that are participating in the "Getting Started with 3D Modeling and Blender" class! Its purpose is to serve as central communication for all participating Citizens (excluding Hobby plan Citizens) to ask me and each other questions and to post homework. As the instructor of the class, I will be monitoring this thread on a daily basis (especially Mon-Thurs) throughout the month of January to review homework and answer questions.
This thread is intended only for Citizens who are participating in the class. Free members are welcome to observe the thread but please respect that communication is reserved for Citizens.
Welcome to the CGCookie Class: Getting Started with 3D Modeling & Blender! This is the first "Class" format where Citizen members are invited to focus together on a particular topic/skill together for a month. Participation is this:
It will take place from January 2nd through January 31st and the topic is for beginners that want to get into 3D modeling. The class is based on pre-recorded courses that students are expected to watch each week along with weekly Live Events.
Download the latest official version of Blender and watch the Blender Basics course. The goal this week is to simply get familiar with the application. We’ve all been there: Opening Blender (or any 3D package), gazing at all the crazy UI, trying to orbit in the viewport, crying...Ok, maybe you were stronger than me and didn’t cry. But the reality is 3D software is daunting. There’s SO MUCH to digest especially when you’re a beginner.
This first week we’re going to overview Blender and 3D from an absolutely beginner perspective. What is Blender for? What can it do? Wait, this isn’t a juicing seminar?
During the Live Event we're also going to open the floor, ask me anything (AMA) style, so I can answer all your questions about getting started with Blender.
HOMEWORK: Create a scene out of primitive shapes. It can be anything from a landscape to a spaceship to a character. Just get comfortable with creating and positioning mesh objects. Here's an example:
Take a screenshot of your scene and post it in a reply to this thread *during the week of Jan 1-6*.
Enter the world of mesh modeling! The oldest form of building objects in 3D, in the computer. We’ll discuss the technical art of “pushing and pulling verts” as modelers often call it. First, watch the Mesh Modeling Fundamentals and Modeling with Modifiers courses to be introduced to this wild, geometric world.
Practice makes perfect here and during this week's Live Event we’ll be mesh-modeling a few objects to demonstrate tools and workflow available with Blender. It’s ideal if you practice along with me!
HOMEWORK: Model either 1, 2, or 3 unique objects using mesh-modeling techniques. They can be as simple or as complex as you like, but they can't be primitives. I want to see that you've used mesh tools to significantly customize your shapes. For example, you could model a hammer, a cell phone, a keyboard, a game controller, a picture frame, a coffee cup - choose something fun!
Take a screenshot of your shaded model + wireframe-over shaded (as pictured above) and post it in a reply to this thread *during the week of Jan 7-14*.
Digital sculpting is the more artistically intuitive method of 3D modeling. If pushing and pulling verts felt like the hard way of doing things, sculpting will be a welcomed alternative! Watch the Fundamentals of Digital Sculpting course this week.
During the Live Event, we'll discuss the pros and cons of digital sculpting as well as how it compares to mesh modeling. Again, practice makes perfect with any craft, and we will also practice sculpting. Be sure to have your pen and tablet ready!
HOMEWORK: *Submit during the week of Jan 15-21*
There’s still much more to learn about modeling with Blender. Remember, it’s a craft. Time + practice is the only way to develop your modeling skills.
This week your challenge is to dive into the Modeling in Blender Learning Flow. While the class gives you a boost, the Flow takes you further into intermediate and advanced modeling techniques/workflows. Test the waters and see how far you can go this week.
During the Live Event we'll discuss the journey of becoming a skilled modeler as well as the potential for turning it into a career. Finally, I’m going to sift through homework submissions to commend my favorites and offer critiques!
HOMEWORK: Model and/or sculpt something challenging this week! Try tackling a character or a complex vehicle, etc. Show me what you've learned; what you're capable of!
Take a screenshot of your shaded model and post it in a reply to this thread *during the week of Jan 21-31*.
Nonsense!! What's this about things being askew. If I tilt my ead just a tad to the left everything is fine. lol. Darxval, it tells a story, it looks nice. You've found the materials to add to the scene and had fun scaling stuff. I dare say that railing on top of the lighthouse was tremendously putzy and time consuming.
Ditto what LJ said - love the story. The details on the raft drew me in. I know you said the headkerchief was the hardest, but the ingenuity of the ropes around the logs caught my eye.
Kent please find the headcount of the class, that seems already 27 on the first week!
Hopefully you are proud, also some keywords to remember to the homeworks easier :)
1) Nuha Mahdi - "chicken" -> A+;
2) Grant Reid - "interior" -> A+;
3) Tony Smith - "bridge to island" -> A+;
4) Nathan Garduno - "UFO" -> A++;
5) Grady Pruitt - "horses" -> "passed with flying colors";
6) motsu - "steps" -> A+;
7) Yannis Sayeh - "car on the road" -> A+;
8) rcdavis4 - "pool" -> A+;
9) jellevandepitte - "skyscraper" -> A+;
10) Paul Haynes - "house in the forrest" -> A+;
11) Matthew Ullrey - "Sir Polygon and the monstrous beast" -> A++;
12) tanya gendreau - "big fish" -> A++;
13) Tom Hulme - "rocket" -> A+;
14) Andreia Schemid - "pair in the nature" > A+;
15) Alice Hart - "rabbit" -> A+;
16) Kaj Suominen - "motorcycle" -> "pretty awesome";
17) deadly_cicada - "winter forrest scene" -> "very cool";
18) nico_animation - "Disney's castle" -> A++;
19) Tomaz Jonatan Leonardis - "pool in the house" -> A+;
20) James Cooper - "houseboat" -> A;
21) Anne CH Postma - "snowman" -> "looking good";
22) LJ Simpson - "A Grand Day Out" -> A;
23) Oleksandr Serbin - "lake in the night" -> A+;
24) Scott McClellan - "Gandalf" -> A++;
25) darxval - "lighthouse" -> A+;
26) Zsolt Cseh - "shipwrecked" -> A+;
27) Thore - "instrument" -> A+;
Shoot the statistician if someone is missed, but it should be complete (hopefully someones will post yet to reach the 30 :-) )
UPDATE at 01.07 22:00 CET - having the 30 in the class and maybe someone drops the homework yet in the last minutes :-)
28) Katerina Novakova - "isometric room" -> A+++;
29) Alexis Mayfield - "camp fire" -> A+;
30) John Sanderson - "windmill" -> A+;
UPDATE at 01.07 22:30 CET - the class headcount is 31, Kent also your grades are added so you can remember easier to your favourite :-)
31) Matt Dickun - "monkey";
UPDATE at 01.08 07:00 CET - that is fun the class has 34 members with their homework submitted!
32) jmac05 - "castle in the night" -> A+;
33) sparkes983 - "Mario" -> A+;
34) Matthew Gayton - "alien robot" -> A+
UPDATE at 01.08 22:00 CET - 3 more homeworks so 37 students in the class :-)
35) abuttigieg - "Modo robot" -> A;
36) Panos Karouzakis - "whale" -> A;
37) monaloren - "frog"
UPDATE at 01.08 23:00 CET - students tracker created in Excel for the 4 weeks to find concrete homeworks easier in column Page (it also follows the grades, where that is empty there did not find in Kent's answer)
UPDATE at 01.13 08:00 CET
Love the inginuity of the wrap-around torus as wings and the tail feathers. Cool
Where are the aliens taking that poor cube??? Love the story being told here.
Tells a story with primitives and the foundation of materials. Cool work. I echo Zsolt's comment - nothing to be disappointed about here. Kudos
HOMEWORK SUBMISSION, BC1-1801, Week I
Ahh, I'm probably late with my first submission, yay me. :-) (I somehow assumed the deadline was until the next live session. Oh well, I'll post it here anyway).
Because I have been using Blender for about 9 months now, I decided to push myself and create the most complex scene I could without ever going to Edit mode. And to only use Plane, Cube, IcoSphere, Cylinder, and Torus objects. Quite happy with the result - it was nice to look back at my low-poly beginnings.
Just wow! This obviously took a ton of time and putzy time at that: the parquet flooring; the picture on the wall; the detail in the furniture (although that pillow doesn't look at all comfortable to sleep with. lol). Very homey looking.
Now if only the computer screen would've had this picture on it's screen. In all seriousness, fantastic work.
Wonderful job here, fflowizard! It's a very thorough scene. Excellent use of primitives. A+
I feel this was a really good assignment for getting really comfortable and proficient with interacting with objects. I think it was simple, yet challenging enough.
Very glad to hear that :) Though I'm bummed to hear that Tuesdays don't work for you. I've mentioned it several times already, but the timezone thing is a major buzz kill with streams/classes. It drives me crazy that there's no ideal answer for a stream time. Do you have any suggestions for helping that situation? Should streams be at different times each week? Or do classes per time zone?
Well done 
jcooper. Easy A to me. Thanks for submitting! I'm glad to hear you found it challenging as opposed to being boring :)
