Hi, Everyone~

I am currently following a tutorial from BlenderGuru.com @ http://www.blenderguru.com/videos/create-an-underground-subway-scene-part-1-of-2/. It consists of a subway tunnel that uses an arrasy modifier for length and a NURBS path so that a curve can be added to the tunnel using a curves modifier. I have tried many different combinations to get this to work, but nothing I do comes out right. I am pretty sure I am following the instructions in the tutorial correctly. Here is what happens in Object mode when I apply the curves modifier along the Y axis:

When I tab into Edit mode, this is what I am getting:

In the tutorial, he does not apply the array modifier before adding the curve modifier. I have ensured that the origin points for the floor, cylinder and NURBS path all are the same. I did all rotation and scaling in Edit mode as I have been taught. I am using Blender 2.66. I've scoured the Web for tutorials on the NURBS path and Curves modifier without a lot of help.

This is very discouraging to me. I am trying my best to learn Blender but always run into these situations when following various tutorials. I have been working in Blender for over a year, concentrating strictly on Blender for modeling, but not having much luck when it comes to situations like this. I've started this over about 10 times and referred to the tutorial as I went along. What am I missing here?

TIA

C~

Have you asked at blenderartists.org? Not sure if that link transfered correctly, but just enter NURBs path curves modifier on the Avanced Search page, Search Single Content Type tab and see what you get...

I can understand your frustration have been learning Blender myself manly from tutorials and documents and trust me it is worth it in the long run. Blender has becoem so much more user friendly than it use to be and it is easy to perhaps miss something. I watching and doing the tutorial as well and just wondering if you might have forgotten to set the object in the curve modifier seems something real easy to miss since the author of the tutorial seems to be going a tad fast in the video.

Lobo3433

Quote - ...seems something real easy to miss since the author of the tutorial seems to be going a tad fast in the video. Lobo3433

As they do. :bored: Which is one reason I much prefer PDFs. There are some really good videos out there, but really, nothing beats a good PDF for transportability, flexibility, search-ability and clarity.

I have to agree a good PDF does go along way shame there arent to many out there I know of two one is BlenderBasics_4thEdition and Blender Course Basic V2 both are good starting points and are in PDF format 

Lobo

Quote - > Quote - ...seems something real easy to miss since the author of the tutorial seems to be going a tad fast in the video. Lobo3433

As they do. :bored: Which is one reason I much prefer PDFs. There are some really good videos out there, but really, nothing beats a good PDF for transportability, flexibility, search-ability and clarity.

@RobynsVeil - Spent some time there this afternoon and didn't get much info I could use. Useful site, though...

@Lobo3433 -- Totally agree on Blender being much more user friendly. I tend to download every new release. It is a very powerful app, but as you say has a very high learning curve. I correctly set the NURBs path in the curve modifier.  I am having no luck in resolving this. It is mostly a matter of rotation that I am running into. I see in your screenshot that you have the X axis set as the Deformation Axis. In my example, I am using the Y axis as deformatin axis. I also see you have it working properly. No such luck here. I am still getting the cylinder or plane at the wrong rotation after setting the curve modifier. And in Edit mode, they change to a different rotation than in Object mode. I obviously am doing something wrong here. And yes, Andrew does talk a bit fast. I have the same trouble at CGCookie. These guys are good, but I think they assume that the end user has their knowledge, and therefore leave out bits of information that means success or failure. Andrew is using 2.59 and I am usimg 2.66. Could this be part of the problem?

Thanks to both of you for your input. It's back to the drawing board for me...

C~

Hi Charlie 

Hate to disappoint that is actually a screen shot of the actual video i try to watch the full video first before doing the steps so  the first thing I noticed was a mistake I often make when working with the curve modifier is forgetting to set the object to the Nurbs so perhaps that is where the step you might have missed since this was maybe the one thing I notice perhaps 5 or so minutes into his discription. I agree the videos on Guru and Blender Cookie are good but I know I had to rewatch many of them a few times before getting close to their results. Also as far as him using 2.59 and you using the latest that usually is not an issue but be aware that on occasions they do move some features to other locations which can be maddening. try using the X axis instead of the Y and see what happens it can be something that simple. I know he mentions the Y but he might have missed it himself in doing the discription that is why I freeze videos often to match up what I see on my screen with what is on theirs including the that axis he might have just made a simple opps in what he said compared to what was actually on the screen. 

Hope it helps 

Lobo3433

All excellent points, Lobo, and you mirror exactly what I do as well. Nice thing about CGCookie is that the video-tutorial makers are generally pretty approachable, so you can generally leave a message in the comments section. I've found Kent Trammell probably the quickest -- and most personable -- at responding.

Having sent you that link to blenderArtists.org, Charlie, I do find the likelihood of response-to-questions a bit lacking, unlike here in the Renderosity forums. When they do answer, the answers are going to be a lot more qualified than merely pointing you to another site, though (like I just did... sorry ).

Blender will grow on you. I've been going back and forth between that and Poser, and at the moment, from a purely technology standpoint, Blender is head and shoulders above Poser. Mind you, with the new Octane-Poser plug-in, that's changed a bit now.

first off did you apply scales/rotations (ctrl+a)? doing all scales etc in edit mode isnt the best way cos it can mess up origins should ALWAYS do ctrl+a !! it solves a lot of problems

over at BA they will ask for a blend file ;-) could try to post it here if you want to "stay in family" lol

@ RV blender to octane aint that hard

Oh, and what Hedd said makes me wonder about where the cursor is located. Isn't it [CTRL] [S]... brings that cursor to the middle of what you're doing so that would influence how things deform?

I dunno... don't mind me. :blink: I'm just remembering vaguely issues with deforming stuff and it seems the cursor position had something to do with it.

cursor affects bend (spin forgot what its called) an a few others but I dont think it matters with curve ps its shift + s ;-)

lol when I started with blender I hated that cursor!!! last time I went in poser was looking for the likkle bu99er not to worry poser crashed when I tried some of the other blender shortcuts (insert blush here)

I don't work with curves very often but it appears this may well be a rotation issue. The cursor position appears to be in the right place just that the 'tunnel' has rotated.

 I would make sure that all the rotations/translations/scale on the tunnel and nurbs path show zero on everything. Check that the nurbspath actually deforms the tunnel the way you expect. Save a copy of the file and then apply the modifier. You should get a better idea of whats happening then.

A screenshot of the properties panel would help as well.  Check also that all objects are in the same space (world or local) as this can produce similar results

Hi, Everyone~

I appreciate all the informative input. With your suggestions I have succeeded in getting this to work for me.

@Lobo3433 - you fooled me on using the screen shot from the video. It is often hard for me to follow due to failing eyesight. No vision in left eye and right getting dimmer due to cataracts and glaucome. Uncle Sam isn't ready to remove the cataracts yet - guess I am not blind enough! A 40-minute video takes me about 3 weeks to complete due to this, and I really struggle with viewing the screen in the video because of size restrictions. I was certain that I used the NURBs path as the object to conform to as you suggested.

@RobynsVeil - I often find that other forums are not good at replying or giving good advice to newcomers. I have always found the needed info here at the forum on Rendo. In the past, I had the habit of jumping from one app to another - Lightwave, Wings, 3DS Max and even Modo 301. I came to realize that in doing so I was learbning and then unlearning the different aspects of each a[[. Yes, Blender grows on you! Many don't like it, bt I find that being an open source (read free!) software, there is mucho support and improvements on a very regular basis. I like that. To be honest, I am not overly impressed with Poser. It is difficult, like a drama queen, and getting things to work peoperly is a hair-tearing experience. This year, I have been using Daz 4.5 Pro, and the difference is astounding to me. (Dodging the stinkeye from the Poser afficondios!) I guess it is all in what works for you.

@heddheld - it WAS a matter of rotation scaling, etc, but also part of it was doing the actions in either Object or Edit mode. I struggle w/ the cursor, also, and also the point of origin, which for me is all over the place. I'm used to using Ctrl A to reset rotation and scale, having lerned that early on. Your suggestions are on target.

@Touchwood - Not so sure it was a rotation issue, but am more inclined to think it was the placement of the geometry origin. It is a fine detail I am slowly learning. My biggest problem seems to be that I keep at it until I get it to work, and when I do, I am not sure why. I appreciate your feedback. I will pay more attention to the location in world or local as you advise from now on. It may be a part of the issue.

My thanks to you all. I am impressed with the folks here on this forum who are always willing to step up and help someone like me who is not quite as experienced as you all are. It is the best way for me to learn.

Much appreciated, folks!

C~

From one Vet to another your welcome and wasn't really trying to fool you it is just that was the first thing that I noticed that is a common mistake I make when working with nurbs and curve modifier Just really glad you got it to work that is the most important and look forward to seeing your Render of your completed project I am sure we would love to see how it came out.

well, I'm a poser 'affectionado', Charlie, but I totally agree: whatever works best for you. mind you, poser is heaps easier than blender!!! so, kudos on your persistence, mate.... good ON ya!

@RobynsVeil - I've been wprking in Poser for about 7 or 8 years and can never master the lighting in that application. Recently, I took a Master Modeling course from Dreamlight. I was taught to use DAZ 3 for testing along with Poser. Using them side by side like that made me realize how much easier it is to obtain good images in DAZ. I have stayed away from it because I could never get content to work right in the app. Still having that issue and it can be maddening at times. Using Blender to create models and testing them in DAZ 3 has moved me forward by lightyears. I think the biggest thing I learned from the course is this - texturing is not tweaked and refined in Blender, but finished off in Poser or DAZ. Kind of like putting a plain white shirt on and then having it embellished by moving it into the studio and adding bump, displacement, specular and glossiness or transperency. After all, what appears in Poser and DAZ is what you are trying to promote. And it is not how pretty you make it in Blender.

I appreciate your input and suggestions.

C~

would agree to a point here, whenever you go from one proggy to another you will need some tweaking to suit the new renderer BUT dont forget blender can bake textures and all the other maps ;-) and then theres texture painting! want some dirt on them jeans?? paint it on bake out textures

ps you cant bake from cycles (well not at the mo' )

Quote - @RobynsVeil - I've been wprking in Poser for about 7 or 8 years and can never master the lighting in that application. Recently, I took a Master Modeling course from Dreamlight. I was taught to use DAZ 3 for testing along with Poser. Using them side by side like that made me realize how much easier it is to obtain good images in DAZ. I have stayed away from it because I could never get content to work right in the app. Still having that issue and it can be maddening at times. Using Blender to create models and testing them in DAZ 3 has moved me forward by lightyears. I think the biggest thing I learned from the course is this - texturing is not tweaked and refined in Blender, but finished off in Poser or DAZ. Kind of like putting a plain white shirt on and then having it embellished by moving it into the studio and adding bump, displacement, specular and glossiness or transperency. After all, what appears in Poser and DAZ is what you are trying to promote. And it is not how pretty you make it in Blender.

I appreciate your input and suggestions.

C~

I guess a lot is what you're used to and who you learned from. I find I can do significantly more sophisticated textures and lighting in Blender and in Octane than I ever could in Poser, and I was able to get reasonably good results in Poser where I wasn't in DS 3 Advanced. Mind you, I probably didn't give Daz Studio a fair shake in terms of rendering only just because it would never stay up long enough to get to that stage. I haven't tried DS4 enough either - after a few crashes I sort-of gave up and went back to what I knew worked for me.  

Here's an example of what textures can be done in Blender... and he didn't just do a video, but a web page too! gotta love Andrew Price!