6 key principles for 3D modeling

[@cg_cookie]

🍪 Hungry for more Blender tutorials? Start your FREE 7-day trial of CG Cookie 👉 bit.ly/2SH3wAf (100s of Blender tips and tutorials)

[@rade0flier]

@Mathew Phillips I've worked in Maya, 3DS Max, Autocad, etc - principles are your best friend. If you start with any of the apps (Blender is free + CG Cookie is great) and model a few things you'll have a better sense of what you eventually want to use or purchase regarding software. CG Cookie is great because they're always reminding you of industry standard modeling and art principles so you can take the knowledge beyond the app. I spent too much $$$ on a degree from a major art university and am still constantly going back to CG Cookie to refresh principles that I learned at school from industry professionals. Blender Guru and the broader blender community are great (great forum responsiveness), but CG Cookie is a great value if you have a few bucks to spend. Good luck and happy modeling!!!

[@sorrowinchrist3387]

Cookie if i become a member can i ask for help from you?

[@TheZiiFamily]

Wait this is blender?

[@blackyonbi]

{ayo dude. Perhaps you could check your links? They do not seem to be workin.

[@StormBlessedxo]

works for me ez

[@3DPDK]

20 years ago ... well ... 16 years ago (I shouldn't age myself more than necessary) when I first started working in 3D, I had an accomplished modeler (guaranteed 85% of you have seen his work) gave me the most valuable piece of advice that has saved my sanity in the years since. - " *Your model details need only fit the use of the model. If a deck of cards will only sit on the table in a stack, why model all 52 cards* ?" Sometimes we get caught up in the challenge of modeling highly detailed models. If you model strictly for the challenge then by all means model every single card in the deck. But if your model has a purpose, such as an animation prop, a game content prop, or detail for a "still" then consider how much detail is actually necessary for that model to fulfill it's purpose. If a car rumbles past in the background, you don't need to model the interior. You probably don't need to detail a lot of the trim of the car and let the applied texture do most of the work. Maybe you will know the car doesn't actually have chrome trim around the windows included in the mesh, but no one else will know that.

[@Powermeta11]

Lol, production schedule will teach that lesson too. If you’re modelling out things all day that wont be rendered then your production coordinator will show you out the door pretty quick.

[@3DPDK]

@@Powermeta11 {D

[@bobrew461]

Those principals have been applied to movies for many years; If it ain't on camera, don't build it! Some of the spaceships in Star Wars / A New Hope / Whatever, were only painted on one side. The one facing the camera.

[@yrussq]

This is also called "Keep it fast and dirty" :)

[@gimbily3823]

Oui

[@arson_carson]

Finally! A tutorial with no obnoxious intro, no "WhAtS uP guYs ItS yA bOy hERe TodAY wE arE LeaRninG X" And no screaming into the mic. Just a chill, straightforward tutorial. Thank you!

[@the_average_turtle]

Benny Gurov who starts their tutorial with “... its ya boy...”?!

[@gabosome3195]

@@the_average_turtle r/woooosh

[@mahmoud-quran]

Dude which blender youtubers do you watch

[@byoungpk]

I think you might be watching Xbox hacking tutorials instead of Blender tutorials

[@JBGameplay]

i dont know were you find those tutorials but in kinda 8 years years ive never found something like that beside gaming channels lol

[@liambuffat3731]

Always helpful. I'm just a hobbyist but remain addicted to Blender. Your tutorials are always the best. Thanks

[@Roadman3D]

Thats the best addiction ive ever seen

[@ckat609]

Ha! Loved the rendering transition!

[@simonerz2070]

Same😅

[@davidroddick91]

Reuse is an excellent tip. I finally got sick of creating a mesh with proper face topology and a rig (I prefer to use my own) every time I create a new character. So I made a blender file with a topologized face mesh that I can shrink wrap to a sculpt. It also has a basic body mesh which I can modify as needed, and a full rig with IK and bone shapes. There are two different styles of teeth -- cartoony and more realistic. I combine everything together and apply the rig, getting rid of anything I'm not using. Now I can make a new character, fully rigged, in about half the time it used to take, because I've eliminated all the repetitive tasks.

[@hyperian_one]

Been involved in this for 25 years now, and just wanted to say your video tutorials are extremely well done.

[@ayo4773]

Bros been doing 3d modeling before blender existed 💀💀💀

[@kovra1305]

Well said, I am a begginer to 3d and it can get way to complicated very fast. Keep it simple and don't give up. Thank you.

[@ChristopherHemsworthCreative]

Well said on YOUR part as well. I'm in the same boat and I totally agree.

[@616Metalhead616]

Haha, yeah me too, after 8 years of learning.😂 Perfectionism can be a pain sometime! 😅

[@nottinghasm]

Brilliantly straightforward tut with really valuable information.

[@jordz4281]

Thanks for putting all the extra info in the description and breaking down each part of the video into chapters

[@MrMcJazzhands]

I'm actually working on learning 3d modeling with the hopes of getting a degree in character modeling, so these points are really helpful! I'm relatively familiar with them already thanks to the course work I've done, but seeing them in action in a condensed video really helps drive it home. So thanks for that! I'll have to look into the mesh modeling bootcamp after I get home from work.

[@raytry69]

Your intro anim is so professional! Simple. Short. No annoying long music. Half of the youtuberts could learn such simple basic things from you. Your contents also one of the bests.

[@saikopiratos]

"DO YOU WANNA LEARN HOW TO DRAW AND BLOW PEOPLES MIND?"

[@imdone8243]

Get a pencil. Push it to the paper. Done

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

Install adblock plus for no ads.

[@ethicalrevolution3294]

No I want to make a baby chicken in Blender. I got the hair part done pretty good on a sphere. Next part is challenging. Then I am going to make an animation where the baby chick gets ground up in a blender. Do you think that's weird. Well it's a true story. In the egg industry baby male chicks are ground up alive, because male chickens don't lay eggs. The same thing happens to baby male calves in the dairy industry. They are killed at a few days old.

[@animatrix1490]

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE AMAZING OHRT!?

[@idiocracy10]

@@ethicalrevolution3294 so? you are really gonna crap your pants when you hear what happens to unwanted human babies!!!

[@VeryTori]

I just started learning 3d modeling yesterday. I tried learning it once but got overwhelmed. There’s an open world game jam I found on the internet that I’m using as a way to learn the basics to unity and blender and to make my first 3D game, even if all I can do is walk in it. So far I have followed a tutorial for a basic road, and I made the basic structure of a simple house by myself last night. I still have so much to learn, but as a gamer, I’m excited to be able to make my own worlds and stuff

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

6:53 Design for adaptation can apply to materials, too. For example, using shared node groups for related materials. So for example if you want to change the shininess for all those materials, you can do it just once in the node group and have it immediately take effect everywhere that node group is instanced. So the next time you select a whole bunch of nodes and go shift-D, consider turning it into a node group instead.

[@ernestj8000]

Excellent lesson and great pacing. I've followed your tutorials since the early 2000s through your Digital Tutors era and this best practice video is amongst the best.

[@cg_cookie]

Wow, thanks so much Ernest!

[@XanderZ0ne]

Been doing this for 4 years but this is still helpful thanks lol!

[@f.d.6667]

3D modeling for 24 years but watched (almost) the whole vid. It never hurts to listen when pros are sharing their insights.

[@Fxnarji]

Can we all just take a minute to admire the detail in 8:28?

[@Anvarynn]

Both it, and the wall from 4:26 to 5:02 had me HURT

[@udbhavshrivastava]

I would sooo love a tutorial for that

[@denno445]

3 million faces. Woah.

[@Fxnarji]

honestly, its actually not THAT hard its just a lot of work. I found for me that seeing every part of a model as an individual asset helps a lot. For example when making a bike, (after you do the Block out) you dont do a bike, you do a pedal, then you do the chain and later you merge them all together into a bike. Also imagening it being SUPER large, like if you make a gun try and see it from the perspective of an ant.

[@Nerdfightarial]

Crazy how Justin Timberlake got into 3D modeling

[@quattrocity9620]

I was looking to see if anyone else thought that...

[@sid98geek]

Hahahaha OMG!

[@kaikim8341]

He got time but he don't mind 🌐✨

[@Capris4EveR]

Music industry is not worth anymore 🤣🤣

[@arealious25]

Lol

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

It's interesting how many of these tips apply to to just drawing itself. There is a lot of overlap between all art forms, from traditional to 3D.

[@WinterElectro]

Brief and to the point, good stuff.

[@constantinosschinas4503]

more like universal creativity/problem solving principles. very well done. thanks for sharing.

[@tiagon697]

Even though I don't do 3d modeling, this video still helps a lot with traditional art, hell maybe I'll try learning it

[@WildAnimalChannel]

1.Form 2. Detail 3.Scale 4. Adaptation 5. Reuse 6. Surface Quality

[@蔣烱隆]

Blocking=Form

[@BillZebubproductions]

I just subscribed. My path has just started. Years ago I learned Poser and Bryce and was going to graduate to Maya and Lightwave but I had to choose other areas of learning. I recently learned about Blender and I finally have time to learn it. Your teaching style is perfect. Thanks for making it free.

[@evolionbot]

oh my god that Neil Blevins link. Perfect exactly what I wanted super helpful Thank you

[@cg_cookie]

Yay, glad it helped!

[@katamas832]

I tried the tip of first making a rougher draft and then going into the details and made my previous horrible attempt into a pretty good looking one, this video is really helpful, thanks ^^

[@micah2936]

5 years of being a construction engineer has prepared me for this 3D art and using it for game development I started off with blender as a beginner but had to watch intermediate level tutorials because I was at an awkward stage where I have experience in CAD in other softwares for other purposes

[@BingBangPoe]

I think reuse is one of the most valuable lessons here.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Blender should bring back randomize in the array modifier. I remember some build couple years back and it was way easier to make a tile floor have a big of randomization :)

[@rich1051414]

I wrote a java program YEARS ago that randomly offet the vertexes of a model by a set amount, as I needed it to generate rocks. I have no idea where it is but it was quite a simple program, as long as you use a simple model format. Surely someone has written a python script for that in blender.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

@@rich1051414 Yep thats is true and BLender already has Randomize in its menu's. But this was in the modifier, which was super handy

[@Mr.Sozzled]

you can basically do anything like that and more with geometry nodes, ive been trying to learn it (although slowly as im very busy) because it is a very powerful tool that ik will be very useful once i get it down more (its already been very useful with creating environmental details that need randomization like grass, rocks, trees, etc). And geometry nodes is modifier based so you can play around with your details later down the line!

[@jweinrub]

Great video. That really helps. Keep up the good work.

[@5Gazto]

Excellent tips

[@lonecolamarine]

I've gotten so used to Blender's new UI that the old 2.79 one made me jump

[@dogol284]

I got so used to blender 2.91... imagine my horror when I saw that blender 2.92 came out... I have to install... a whole new version??!!? Absolutely unacceptable.

[@Aaron-xr7oc]

@@dogol284 just wait until 3.0 comes out

[@ChristopherHemsworthCreative]

I really appreciate this video, thanks for putting it together!

[@wadeeliason969]

I decided to use the basic blockout approache on a model recemtly. Its helpfull to get the shape and idea out and not worrying about the topology that will come after tge idea and form is solidified

[@wojt3d415]

GOOD VIDEO, and it's good there are informations in description, so it's easy to remind!

[@Gatz3D]

Excellent video!! It’s aways great to see videos like this. Its so important to have a base-line for fundamentals and practices. Especially if you’re new to 3D. Thanks for the great advice! 👍

[@knight_link7082]

thanks for the modeling advice, it really helped me identify a few steps i was missing

[@jonlampel]

I'm so glad it helped!

[@Tbrekke]

Neat, this is inspiring me to try getting into blender again.

[@chiefcaptn1922]

2.8 is awesome! Very tablet friendly, please do!

[@StormBlessedxo]

do it! I downloaded blender last year couldn't get into it got frustrated, this year I challenged myself to learn it slowly at my own pace but get into blender each day. 6 months later I have learned a lot and created cool things following tutorials but in the future I know I will create something awesome.

[@lucascsg9401]

Starting 3D modeling for 2 weeks now and just discovered this video, I did everything wrong 😂 Thanks for the wise advices!

[@rgergazas]

Very informative and well presented, thank you! Extra kudos for the transition:-)

[@jonlampel]

Thanks Gergely! 😊

[@Cali_jpeg]

This transision its so much awesome! 1:00

[@3dcadtutorials610]

One of the best videos for newbies! No one explained to me exactly just how much detail is too much and I encountered queite a few problems because of that ^^

[@CommissarChaotic]

Thank you Steve

[@darrennew8211]

I must say that every time you have the blender-render scene transition, it cracks me up.

[@ivantodorov]

Great job and content. Thanks for sharing.

[@warpingrealities]

For the first three seconds I thought I got one of those ads with "Coding your own games is easier than you think" lol

[@sagarmore4968]

Thank you 😊😊

[@deepatterson1894]

Thank you for the advice, going to apply these principles in my future modeling!

[@JordanSeymour]

Can we appreciate how good this man sounds on a SNOWBALL???

[@cheaterman49]

Excellent! I particularly like your advice about "poles" (is that what you said? Vertices joining 5+ edges) and tris/ngons. Your geometry/topology can be weird, as long as the justification is good and it doesn't have visual impact.

[@jonlampel]

Exactly!

[@jenniethrockmorton5660]

After many years of illustration and a very short time in 3D modeling I agree with everything you said. I have not been using sculpt because I like to block out the model with cubes, using subdivision to work in detail. This is working for me except when I need a round shape combined with a flat one. At this point I am duplicating the file and then appending the needed part into the master file. That seems to work but maybe there is a better way? minor point, paint the wall under your background under the black and red square black, that will keep the white areas from showing.

[@janein6491]

Excellent video.

[@ameyagupta7285]

8:43 WHAT THE HELL THATS SO DETAILED HOW LONG DID THAT TAKE HOLY GOD

[@ricardobonilla7529]

Thank you!

[@OfficialVeteranMusic]

what a GREAT video. thank you.

[@3DPDK]

20 years ago ... well ... 16 years ago (I shouldn't age myself more than necessary) when I first started working in 3D, I had an accomplished modeler (guaranteed 89% of you have seen his work) give me the most valuable piece of advice that has saved my sanity in the years since. - " *Your model details need only fit the use of the model. If a deck of cards will only sit on the table in a stack, why model all 52 cards? * " Sometimes we get caught up in the challenge of modeling highly detailed models, and if you model strictly for the challenge then by all means model every single card in the deck. But if your model has a purpose, such as an animation prop, a game content prop, or detail for a "still" then consider how much detail is actually necessary for that model to fulfill it's purpose. If a car rumbles past in the background, you don't need to model the interior. You probably don't need to detail a lot of the trim of the car and let the applied texture do most of the work. Maybe you will know the car doesn't actually have chrome trim around the windows included in the mesh, but no one else will know that.

[@motionbug7059]

Thank you so much very helpful

[@coolcatgamestudio]

Thanks for all the good tips!

[@brandoncyoung]

That transition is great

[@paulomoreira5268]

Thank you for the tips.

[@Alzexza]

Excellent video.. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@visualmon3000]

Yes, I need to improve my modeling skills before moving to pbr shading.

[@vive335]

Thank you! This helped massively :)

[@kloakovalimonada]

Superb video, very concrete tips

[@kraftdinna5650]

this was tight. Thanks

[@reinantewhisper9333]

Thanks Justin T!!!!

[@NikkaTiel]

This is exactly what I was looking for

[@CIorox_BIeach]

I work out a series of simple, quick technical drawings before modeling.

[@johnnywhite1681]

Thank you.

[@Aethelvlad]

I love the aesthetic of blenders random color visualizer

[@tdrawsa]

Excellent tutorial. Tx.

[@olyna]

Clear presentation style, I know it's only five things to keep in mind but is there's only one thing just one to keep in mind what would it be for you? Once again your presentation style and knowledge are impressive.

[@pass36]

nice eye contact

[@HeBeGeeBee6846]

Great quality video. The information provided and how its communicated is perfect. Thanks bro

[@רפאל-ב]

thank you thank you thank you!

[@titouchose6534]

One of the main concept to fully understand how to get your modeling right: vertex normals and how shading interpolate from them.

[@Sh-hg8kf]

Could you simplify that?

[@titouchose6534]

​@@Sh-hg8kf Usually people focus on face normals. But vertex normals are the real nerve for understanding where to put your flows and how to handle smoothing groups or soft/hard edge. Or even why "vertex normal match face" fonctions can be so usefull. Actually, projected into 2D, vertex/vertex Normal and shading behave like point and bezier curves. You must see your vertex as bezier curves's points with vertex normal being their orientation and shading being the resulting curve. The curve is an interpolation result between you points. If you add more details (meaning one more point) to a bezier curve, you will have more define shape and you can even craft edgy corners. By thinking this way you can identify were to add vertex where you need them to mold your shape.

[@Sh-hg8kf]

@@titouchose6534 I'm more confused now

[@titouchose6534]

@@Sh-hg8kf Just bezier curves in 3D. If you have a software that allow you to play with 2D bezier curves, you will see how vertex normal can influence shading by tweaking the bezier point orientation and adding/removing points (photoshop vector tool allow for curve edition and create bezier curves with the ability to cut the smoothness using ctrl if I remember well). If you don't know what a bezier curve is search on internet. You can look up for vertex normal too and the idea of splitted normals (for hard edge) going along with sub vertex. It is not that complicated actually. Once you get the overall concept, you have a usefull tool to assess modeling.

[@Sh-hg8kf]

@@titouchose6534 Tbh, I still don't understand the concept of normals. As far as I know, it's like a 3d axis strapped on to the face /vertex of something

[@davidfarley7235]

incredible dude, thank you so much!

[@lucyynwang]

very cool. Any architects or interior designers watching this and feel like these rules just naturally came to us and we don't even need to think about them?

[@ronthehybrid]

very helpful!!

[@3d.artsoul]

Great video. Thanks.

[@ratmilk9260]

As someone who has only recently started working with 3D Modeling, id like to pass some of what ive learned so far onto someone else who is new. Start small. Dont try and model the empire state building and every room. Model low poly stuff first to learn how to use all the tools, then try and do more and more complex stuff as you get further into working in 3D. I started 3D modeling by creating low poly retro game models, then started doing more high poly models when I felt like I was able to. I probably would have quit if I had tried to do high poly stuff from the beginning.

[@davep7176]

I find your videos the best to learn from. A long time ago I did your Blender cookie tutorial and it taught me a lot. Just wondering if you ever make any videos about Maya, and other tools such as Material Designer, Substance, ZBrush, etc?

[@RomboutVersluijs]

What also usefull is check viewport camera focal depth. If its to low your model starts warping so around 50-70 is a nice view i think

[@tvrdy3]

Switching perspective and ortographic?

[@RomboutVersluijs]

@@tvrdy3 Ortho is what he explained, its not always good to stay in that mode

[@ramise5932]

Thanks very helpful.

[@alexdib3915]

thank you!

[@SegaMegaLoh]

Sorry for bad English and some mistakes. I really would recommend everyone the course called Professional tips for modelling complex shapes in maya, well, it's actually 4 courses(4 parts). This course is kinda set of exercises for modeling some pretty interesting and weird geometry with just base tools(primitives, bools, knife tool, etc), so the 3d software is doesn't matter(i do it in blender and everything is ok). So the main idea of that course is: the first is primary shapes, then secondary and then thirdly some little details. It's quite a simple idea, but with this interesting exercises(around 20 videos in each part) and some practice you would feel more comfort with modeling and some very specific geometry problems. That's it:) Btw, great video:)

[@jonlampel]

I'll check that out, thanks!

[@venom1061]

Pretty useful, thanks a lot)

[@Skyefaux]

This is an awesome video!

[@jonlampel]

Thanks Benjamin!

[@MoZaHo]

The alignment of your sound proofing is tickling my OCD... awesome video though. keep it up. SUBSCRIBED!!

[@sumerjacob850]

Thank you so much I'm consistently making all these mistakes you mentioned

[@blasterxt9]

Thanks buddy 🙏

[@data19101988]

update link to Neil's article about details - www.neilblevins.com/art_lessons/primary_secondary_and_tertiary_shapes/primary_secondary_and_tertiary_shapes.htm

[@Warbandit100]

Well, I never heard about all of this, but feel quite shocked to see that I already do all of them instinctively. Thanks, didn't help with my modeling but at least it boosted my morale XD

[@gordrik1591]

Cool tips, thanks i knew about most of them, but still learned very important things ;)

[@MINISWISS1]

Thank you!!

[@klontjespap]

i've become really fond of the old subsurf+extruding & creasing method lately, rolling with 8 segment circles because you're smoothing them out later anyway is quite lovely, it usually cuts the UV maps of the original primitives right for you too besides, extruding then punching in the numbers is a good way to get exact measures in blender, then you just select P separate to make parts a new model as you go along. if only solidify worked on things without faces... skin does work on edges, but the corners don't quite look right so i usually just extrude a skinny plane around, and bridge some loops if i care enough but i usually just overlap them, and abuse merge by distance / remove doubles to stitch things together lol

[@paulmutter8301]

Great advice, many thanks

[@DakotaWester]

We went to school together. I knew I knew the name. I remember being blown away by your “Enforcer” model/render. Congrats on all the success!

[@CIorox_BIeach]

You know what blender needs? A hardware shelf where you can put industry standard fasteners, and chain links, and screw threads, or whatever (grass, leaves) so you can find what you need easily and fast; outside egde measurements instead of just vertex measurements; and a bit in the physics panel, or nodes, or something with real world materials so you can select, say 18-8 stainless steel and it will automatically set the color, texture, weight, strength, etc. I'd pay a fair amount for a pack with these three add-ons.

[@thegrowl2210]

Chocofur has an asset manager addons that you might be interested in.

[@CIorox_BIeach]

@@thegrowl2210 thanks for the info. I'll check it out. 🙂 👍