Blender Tutorial

Bowl

This tutorial describes how to create a bowl. Features used:

• Vertex selection.
• 3D Cursor pivots.
• Extrude technique.
• Vertex Groups.
• Multiple materials (on the same object).

Create Bowl Model

1. Press Del then Enter to delete the 3D box.
2. Press NUM7 to change to the top view (might already be set).
3. Press SPACE.
4. Add » Mesh » UVsphere.
5. Change 32 to 64, then click OK.
6. Change 32 to 64 (again), then click OK.
7. Press NUM1 for a side view.
8. Press a to deselect the sphere.
9. Press NUM+ several times to zoom into the sphere.
10. Press b for a vertex selection tool.
11. Select the top half of the sphere.
12. Press Del then Enter to delete half of the vertices.
13. Press a to select all vertices.
14. Change the Pivot to 3D Cursor.

    

    Pivot Menu

15. Press e then Enter to extrude the half-sphere.
16. Press Enter again, without moving the mouse, to leave the extrusion at the same location as the original half-sphere.
17. Click New to create a new Vertex Group.

    

    Prelude to new Vertex Group

18. Provide a name for the Vertex Group (e.g., Bowl.Inside).
19. Press s to scale the inner bowl.
20. Hold CTRL while moving the mouse to scale it in jumps.
21. Press Enter when it looks as follows:

    

    Inner Bowl

22. Click the Limit Selection to Visible icon:
23. Press CTRL-Tab then 3 to change to Face selection mode.
24. Hold SHIFT then click RMB on a face. Repeat three more times, out from the centre.

    

    Preparing to Flatten Bottom

25. Press SHIFT-G then 4 to select the similar perimiters.
26. Press NUM8 several times to reveal the bottom of the outside.
27. Repeat the selection.
28. Press s then x then 0 to scale all selected vertices.
29. Press s then y then 0 to scale all selected vertices.
30. Click Rem Doubles.
31. Click OK to acknowledge the removed 504 doubles message.
32. Press Tab for Object mode.
33. Click Set Smooth.
34. Press F12 to render.

    

    Simple Bowl

35. Press ESC to return to Blender.

Bowl Colours

1. Press NUM1 then NUM8 to see the inside and outside of the bowl.
2. Press F9 for the Editing buttons.
3. Press Tab for Edit mode.
4. Click Select below the Vertex Group to select the bowl's inside vertices.
5. Press F5 for the Materials buttons.
6. Choose Material from the Link to Object selection list.
7. Change the material's colour: R 0.333, G 0.533, B 0.867.
8. Select » Inverse.
9. Press F9.
10. Click New under Material within the Link and Materials panel.
11. Press F5.
12. Choose ADD NEW from the Link to Object selection list.
13. Press F9.
14. Click Assign under Material.001 within the Link and Materials panel.
15. Press F12 to render, then ESC when finished viewing.

    

    Two-toned Bowl

16. Press F5.
17. Rename Material.001 to Bowl.Outside.
18. Rename Material to Bowl.Inside.

    Click an arrow on either side of the 2 Mat 1 (or 2 Mat 2) to change which material is currently selected.

19. Change the Bowl.Outside's colour: R 0.188, G 0.188, B 0.267.

Bowl Materials

Optional step; adjust the Shaders and Textures until you find something appealing. Download the .blend file to see the speckled texture settings for the inside of the bowl.

Reflective Plane and Ambience

Optional step; use whatever you like for a setting. I like a subtle, reflective black plane.

1. Press NUM7.
2. Press SPACE.
3. Add » Mesh » Plane.
4. Press n then Tab to display the Transform Properties panel.
5. Change ScaleX to 10.
6. Change ScaleY to 10.
7. Press NUM1.
8. Click RMB on the bowl.
9. Press g, then z, then .981 to move the bowl above the plane.
10. Press NUM0 to view what the camera sees.
11. Click RMB on the plane.
12. Repeatedly press F5 until the Links and Properties Panel appears.
13. Click Add New.
14. Change the colour (Col) to: R 0.000, G 0.000, B 0.000.
15. Change the specular colour (Spe) to: R 0.000, G 0.000, B 0.000.
16. Click the Mirror Transp tab.
17. Click Ray Mirror.
18. Change RayMir to 0.60.
19. Change Fresnel to 1.00.
20. Change Depth to 5.
21. Click the World buttons icon.
22. Click Blend.
23. Click Ambient Occlusion.
24. Press F10.
25. Click 50%.
26. Press F12 then ESC when finished viewing.

    

    Bowl on Obsidian Plane

THE END - Download