Blender (software)

Blender is an open-source 3D modelling software.
It can be used for creating 3D models for games, creating 2D/3D animations, and even creating video games.

Getting Started

Installation

Windows

Direct Download
From chocolatey:

choco install blender

Ubuntu

Blender is available on the Snap store

sudo snap install blender --classic

Modelling

Geometry Nodes

Geometry nodes allow you to procedurally modify the geometry of the object.
Some things it can do include instancing of objects, moving vertices, and arithmetic.

See some references:

Animations

Rendering and Compositing

Press <key>F12</key> to render.

Denoising

In the view layer properties, check Denoising Data
Switch to the compositor layout.
Add a denoise node, under filter.
Attach the denoising normal, denoising albedo, and denoising depth.

Scripting

Blender Python API

Getting Started

Blender supports scripting as an alternative means of interaction. Most things are available in the bpy module.

See one of the following resources to get started:

Python Crash Course for Blender! by Curtis Holt

Meshes

vertices = [(-1, -1, 0), (1, -1, 0),
            (-1, 1, 0), (1, 1, 0)]
edges = [(0,1), (1,2), (2,3), (3,0)]
faces = [(0,1,2), (1,2,3)]
uvs = [(0, 0), (1, 0),
       (0, 1), (1, 1)]

# Create a new mesh
new_mesh = bpy.data.meshes.new(mesh_name)
new_mesh.from_pydata(vertices, edges, faces)
new_mesh.update()

# Add UVs
uv_layer = new_mesh.uv_layers.new()
for face in new_mesh.polygons:
  for vert_idx, loop_idx in zip(face.vertices, face.loop_indices):
    uv_layer.data[loop_idx].uv = uvs[vert_idx]

Materials

# Create a new material
my_material = bpy.data.materials.new("My New Material")
my_material.use_nodes = True

# Add material to an object
my_object.data.materials.append(my_material)

Saving scripts outside

See using external ide and run external scripts.

By default, everything is stored in the .blend file including your custom scripts. If you want to store your scripts outside or use another IDE, you will need to have the script inside Blender call the script outside:

import bpy
filepath = bpy.path.abspath("//myscript.py")
exec(compile(open(filepath).read(), filename, 'exec'))

Compiling Blender

See https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Building_Blender/Linux/Ubuntu,

Note that Blender has a github mirror which may be faster to clone.

Resources

Blender 2.8 Beginner Tutorial by Blender Guru
- This is an updated version of the famous donut tutorial
- See https://www.reddit.com/r/BlenderDoughnuts/
Complete Blender Creator: Learn 3D Modelling for Beginners (Udemy, $20)