This image is the result of working through a series of tutorials in the project based book "3D Graphics & Animation" by Mark Giambruno, published by New Rider in 1997. My goal here was to recreate the process outlined in the book using similar methods in Blender. The text is, in my opinion, pretty well written and contains a wealth of valuable information on how to develop a good strategy for production work.
Modeling started in 2.65 and finished up in 2.74. I used the internal Blender Render to create the image. The spot light effect is done with a spot lamp and its Halo setting turned on. The gas bag is a 3D curve and cross section where the control points have been adjusted using scaling and handle manipulation. The running lights are made from icosheres with their materials set to Halo.
Several things I took away from this project are; 1) a real need to develop a good naming convention, 2) the use of parenting/grouping, and 3) a good understanding of how materials/textures work in Blender.
Comments Welcome
G F Jarvis III
