Organic modelling

Hello.

My name's Mr. Coxhead, and today, we're gonna be going through a lesson called organic modelling.

In this lesson, we're gonna learn all about the techniques we can use to create organic, natural-looking models.

I'm really looking forward to this lesson.

I hope you are too.

Let's get started.

The outcome for this lesson is: I can create and modify organic models.

And here are the keywords.

Organic modelling: a 3D modelling technique used to create free-flowing shapes, usually found in nature.

Proportional editing: a way of modifying elements, such as vertices, while having an effect on nearby elements.

Subdivide: to split an object into smaller sections by adding more vertices, edges and faces.

There are two parts to this lesson.

The first part, we're going to look at how to use proportional editing, and in the second part, we're going to look at using the knife tool.

Let's get started in looking at how to use proportional editing.

Take a look at the images below.

What makes the real palm tree look more realistic than the model? Pause the video and have a think.

So there are many features that make the real palm tree look more realistic.

For example, it has a wider variety of colours and shades.

It has a range of surface textures.

Each leaf has unique detail and shape.

The diameter of the trunk varies along its length.

And it's not perfectly symmetrical.

Real-life objects, such as landscapes, plants, and animals, have irregular and imperfect shapes.

They are said to be organically shaped.

Creating realistic 3D models of organic objects, such as plants, animals, and landscapes, can be hard to do with basic shapes.

The cylinder used for the trunk is symmetrical and looks unnatural.

The leaves are made from flat plains and lack detail.

The sand and ocean in the landscape are flat and look unnatural.

Organic modelling techniques can be used to create more natural-looking 3D models.

Which beach do you think has a more natural and organic look? In organic modelling, vertices, edges and faces are modified to give a model a more natural and realistic look.

And proportional editing is a useful technique to give a 3D model a realistic organic feel.

Proportional editing is a way of modifying selected elements while having an effect on other nearby elements.

When a vertex, edge or face is moved, others within a radius will move proportionally.

And proportional editing creates smoother natural-looking 3D models.

In Blender, proportional editing can be enabled by clicking on this icon from the top toolbar.

Edit mode must be enabled to proportionally edit vertices, edges or faces.

Settings for proportional editing can be accessed by clicking on this icon.

The way in which the tool affects other elements can be selected.

And the size of the tool's effect can be adjusted.

Proportional editing can be used to model an organically shaped island.

Here's a video clip showing how this can be done.

<v Instructor>Add a 2D plane.

</v> Scale the plane to make it larger.

Enter edit mode.

Select loop cut.

Adjust the number of cuts.

Subdivide the surface.

Turn on proportional editing.

And adjust settings.

Select and move vertices.

Increase the proportional size to smooth the surface.

Select and move the vertices.

Create a sand coloured material.

Select all faces and assign the material.

Enter object mode.

Add a new plane and scale.

Create a sea coloured material.

Move the new plane to surround the island.

Right-click and select shade smooth.

Make any final adjustments.

<v ->Proportional editing and other tools can be used to model</v> an organically shaped palm tree trunk.

A simple cylinder is added in object mode and scaled to form the trunk.

You can use the scale tool by clicking on the scale icon or by pressing the S key.

The loop cut tool is used in edit mode to subdivide the trunk into 11 sections.

You can select the loop cut tool by clicking on the icon or by pressing Ctrl and R together.

The base of the trunk is made wider by scaling out a loop of vertices.

First, select a vertex, then press Alt or Option, and click on the same vertex to select the loop.

Press S, then Z to scale.

Loops of vertices around the trunk are rotated and move slightly to give an organic look.

You can move a loop by clicking on the icon or by pressing G for grab and moving the mouse.

The top face is selected and rotated.

Switch to face select mode by clicking on the icon or press one, two, or three to switch between vertex, edge and face select mode.

Organic modelling techniques can create much more natural looking and realistic 3D models.

We started with a primitive shape and we finished with an organically modelled shape.

And here's the first check for understanding in this part of the lesson.

True or false? Loops of vertices can be moved, scaled and rotated.

Pause the video and think of your answer.

Welcome back.

Let's take a look at the answer.

And is of course true.

And the second check for understanding question here.

Which icon is clicked on to enable proportional editing? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video and think of your answer.

Welcome back.

And the answer is of course B.

Well done if you've got those checks for understanding correct, and if you didn't, don't worry.

You can always go back through and look at some of the previous content.

Let's move on.

And here we are on the first task of this lesson.

And we're gonna use proportional editing to create an organic 3D model of a palm tree trunk.

And the second part of the task is to create and add a suitable material for that palm tree trunk.

Remember to turn proportional editing on or off as you need and add variation to the diameter and shape of the trunk at different points to give it that natural organic look.

Good luck with this task.

I can't wait to see what you produce and I hope you have fun creating your palm tree trunk and adding materials to it.

Good luck.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, welcome back.

And let's take a look at an example answer.

So here we have Jacob and he used quite a few tools to make his model, including loop cut, scale, rotate and proportional editing.

And he made the palm tree trunk extra twisty and organic by rotating loops of vertices along the trunk.

So Jacob created a medium brown material and added it to the trunk and he also right-clicked on the trunk in object mode and selected shade smooth to make it look even better.

I hope you enjoyed that task and you've got a really good high-quality palm tree trunk that's got that organic natural look.

Well done.

Let's move on to the next part of the lesson.

And in this part of the lesson, we're going to be looking at using the knife tool.

And this is a really important tool that we can use while we're organically modelling.

Let's get started on this part of the lesson.

Jacob has added several leaves to his organically modelled tree trunk.

He says he tried to add all the leaves to his palm tree, but it still doesn't look quite right.

In Blender, the knife tool can be used to add details and to create more complex objects.

In edit mode, the knife tool is used to subdivide geometry by drawing lines on an object.

You can enable the knife tool by clicking on the icon or by pressing the K key.

Press enter to complete the knife cut.

Faces can then be deleted to leave a more detailed and complex shape.

The knife tool can be used to create a more detailed and organic looking palm tree leaf from a simple plane.

A plane can be added and scaled to size.

You can scale an object by clicking on the scale icon or by pressing the S key.

The knife tool can be selected and used to draw the leaf shape.

You must be in edit mode to select and use the knife tool.

Vertices, edges and faces can be moved to edit and improve the shape.

Enable the correct selection mode to edit vertices, edges or faces.

Faces can be deleted to leave the leaf shape.

Hold Shift while clicking to select multiple faces.

The knife tool can be used to subdivide the leaf again.

Make cuts that will subdivide the leaf into useful faces for your model.

Proportional editing can then be enabled and faces can be moved to shape the leaf.

Enable proportional editing by clicking on the icon.

Leaves can then be duplicated and reused to save time.

Select an object and press Shift and D to make duplicates.

And here we are on a check for understanding question on the second part of the lesson.

Which icon is clicked on to enable the knife tool? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video and think of your answer.

Welcome back.

Let's take a look at the correct answer.

And it is of course C.

So A is the extrude tool, B is the loop cut tool, and C is the knife tool.

In Blender, the knife tool is used to: A, push a 2D shape along a path to create a 3D object; B, move objects in a certain direction; C, subdivide geometry by drawing lines on an object.

Which one do you think is correct? Pause the video and think of your answer.

Welcome back.

Let's take a look at the answer.

And it is of course C.

So well done if you've got those checks for understanding correct.

And don't worry if you didn't.

Remember, the more you practise and the more experience you get, you'll find these things easier.

Feel free to go back over some of the previous content if you need to.

Well done, and let's move on.

And we're on to task B, which is the final task of this lesson.

And in this task, you're going to create and add leaves to the palm tree trunk you created in task A.

First, create a palm tree leaf from a plane using the knife tool.

Second, add a material and then duplicate and position the leaves on the palm tree trunk from task A.

Third, use your modelling skills to add extra details, such as an island, coconuts or rocks.

Create your palm tree leaf in the same modelling space as the trunk you made in task A.

And this will make it easier to add the leaves to the trunk.

Good luck.

I hope you have fun with this task and I can't wait to see the palm trees that you create.

Pause the video and have a go at the task.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you had fun creating and designing your palm trees.

Let's take a look at some example answers.

And so the first part was to create a palm tree leaf from a plane using the knife tool.

And here we have Jacob and he thinks that it wasn't too hard to use the knife tool once he got used to it.

And he moved a few vertices on the leaf to improve its shape.

In part two of this task, we needed to add a material and then duplicate and position the leaves on the palm tree trunk from task A.

And here we can see the palm tree that Jacob has muddled.

And he says, "Duplicating the leaves saved me so much time and I'm really pleased with the material colours and the organic look of the palm tree." And he's done a great job so far.

In part three of this question, we were asked to use the modelling skills to add extra details, such as an island, coconuts or rocks.

And here we can see that Jacob has had a lot of fun and he's added some detail to his palm tree.

So he's added an island and sea by shaping a plane with proportional editing and he used a few coconuts on the floor to add some extra detail.

So I think that Jacob's done a really brilliant job here of producing his 3D model using proportional editing and organic modelling skills.

I hope you've really enjoyed that task and you've got a great palm tree yourselves.

I'm sure you have.

Let's take a look at the summary for this lesson.

Organic modelling techniques can be used to create more natural-looking 3D models.

Proportional editing can be used to create organically shaped models.

And the knife tool can be used to subdivide geometry by drawing lines on an object.

So I hope you've really enjoyed this lesson on organic modelling and you've learned a lot about how to use the proportional editing tools and the knife tool and you've really started to build your confidence while you're creating your 3D models.

I think you've done a brilliant job this lesson and I can't wait to see you in future lessons.

Model the palm tree trunk

1. Create the trunk

Delete the default cube and add a cylinder:

Add ▷ Mesh ▷ Cylinder

Scale the cylinder along the z axis by pressing:

S + Z and moving your mouse.

Switch to edit mode.

Use loop cut to divide the trunk into 11 round sections, by using the menu in the bottom left, or by repeatedly applying loop cut.

Switch back to select box mode.

2. Edit the base of the trunk

Tree trunks are larger towards the bottom.

While still in edit mode, change to vertex select (or press 1).

Select a vertex on the bottom of the tree trunk.

Now click on it again while holding down Alt, to select a loop of vertices. You might need to attempt this a few times as it might select a vertical loop first.

Enable proportional editing by clicking on the icon in the menu at the top middle of the Blender interface.

Press S to change the scale of the base. You'll notice a small circle, this is the power of your proportional editing. Roll your mouse wheel immediately after pressing S, to change the strength. Left-click to fix the change.

Tip: You can enable/disable proportional editing by pressing O. You can change the strength in the menu that appears in the bottom left of the Blender interface.

3. Use proportional editing to twist the tree trunk

Use loop select (hold Alt when clicking on a vertex, edge, or face) to select a ring around the middle of the trunk.

Press G to move this loop left or right, scroll your mouse wheel to add extra strength to the proportional editing.

Select the top ring of vertices using loop select, or just select the top face.

Use R to rotate the trunk and make sure that proportional editing is on with enough strength to twist the top of the tree.

Adjust other loops of vertices using this technique to give the trunk an organic look.

4. Create and add a material to the trunk

Switch to object mode.

Click on the trunk.

Add a new material and adjust to a suitable colour.

Model the palm tree leaves

1. Add a plane to cut you leaf from

In the same Blender window as your tree trunk, make sure you are in object mode, then:

Add ▷ Mesh ▷ Plane

Focus on this plane by pressing . on the number pad.

Scale the plane along the x axis by pressing S or X

2. Cut a leaf out of the plane

Go into edit mode.

Select the knife tool, or press K.

Click on the plane, then keep clicking to make the shape of a palm tree leaf.

Press Enter to fix the cut (or Escape to try again).

Switch back to select box mode.

Switch to face select mode and click on the faces you don't want, press X to delete them.

Select the knife tool, or press K.

Criss cross the leaf with cuts and press Enter to fix them.

Select a face and use the Move tool to push the middle of the leaf down.

Tip: Make sure that proportional editing is enabled and adjust the strength of it to get the right effect.

3. Make multiple leaves

Return to object mode.

Duplicate the single palm leaf using Shift + D.

4. Position the leaves on the trunk

Position each of the leaves on the top of the tree.

5. Colour the tree in

Tip: Reuse the same colour for each of the leaves and use rendered mode to preview the colours.