Hey all! Just wanted to introduce myself to the Blender community here.  Name's Harry.  I've been Blendering for several years now.  I'm using Blender 2.71 on the Windows OS.  My love for Blender runs deep, but I will, on occasion, exhibit interest also in some sculpting software, like Sculptris or 3D Coat, but I'm hardcore dedicated to Blender. 

Just wanted to get my first post out of the way, and hopefully learn some new things here.  I don't participate much in forums elsewhere, although I do lurk often on other Blender-oriented websites, and modeling forums.  I see there is also a modeling forum here.  Do we post modeling questions there usually, or can they be posted here, if they are related to Blender?

Glad to meet you all!

Welcome.  There are a few modelling questions posed but I imagine that folks usually scour the more established Blender-specific forums.  Here, the emphasis is on model building for use in Poser & Daz3D.  What kind of modelling do you favour?  Is your avatar one of your builds?  

Quote - Welcome.  There are a few modelling questions posed but I imagine that folks usually scour the more established Blender-specific forums.  Here, the emphasis is on model building for use in Poser & Daz3D.  What kind of modelling do you favour?  Is your avatar one of your builds?  

Thank you, (Bob?)!  It's not actually my model, it was a freely distributed mesh from which I had been studying topology and enjoyed learning scene construction and rendering.

My primary interest has always been largely in creation of realistic architectural scenes, and modeling hard surface objects, although I've been experimenting lately with organic modeling, and the combination of the two artforms.

Actually, I'd been using Blender for several years, but discovered something new today!  While reading through the threads in the 3D Modeling forum for the last several hours, I found a very interesting tutorial that appears orginally intended for 3dsmax use, but translated quite well to Blender!  This I didn't think would be quite as simple as it was, and the results were absolutely lovely.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2883818

I don't know if that will display correctly, but hopefully you will be able to click on it?  Anyway, some of the tricks done in the 3dsmax tutorial required a few workarounds, but honestly, i had no idea a shape like that was possible without curve editing!  Fascinating.

I look forward to hanging out here quite often.

Oops.  The link didn't work that way.  Let me try it again...

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2883818

That should work now.

Hello Harry

Welcome to our forum. I think you will find a very knowledgeable bunch here who are very willing to share in any way possible. You can post questions here or in the modeling forum if you wish. Our focus is on Blender and its many uses in relation to Poser or Daz but we also discuss its uses for any number of possiblities. I have found that many 3Dsmax tutoirals can be translated into Blender with yes a few work arounds and have found those tutorials usually translate to Blender easier but thats just my opinion. Here is a rather easy one that I have been able to accomplish in Blender without much diffculty http://www.3dm3.com/tutorials/noobs/stool/index.php Again welcome and look forward to getting to know you.

 

Welcome

Thank you, Lobo!

There's so many tutorials out there for Blender, I never actually considered looking at any other application for tips.  This tutorial I attempted today, along with another Blender enthusiast apparently, was a real eye-opener, and quite simple, once I understood a few tricks to get through certain parts.

I feel Blender has some of the best modeling tools of any software out there, but seeing as how the 3dsMax artist was able to breeze through certain operations effortlessly, I concede there may still some room for improvement, particularly in the area of insetting polygons and planting edge loops anywhere without sliding them.  All in all, I'm extremely satisfied to know that Blender can be used to produce the same exact results as a software priced upwards of $3000!!  To me, that's simply amazing!  Long live Blender!

I'm in the midst of creating a scene from this model I created today.  I'll post it to my gallery when it's done.  Can something from the galleries be linked to appear in the forums?  I know how to attach a file to a post, but if it's in my gallery, is there a way to display it here as well?

You can add a smaller version and add that the full size version is in your Galleries. I agree I do find Blender has many wonderful tools and learning it now compared to before the new UI introduction in 2.5 I had given up on it as a whole. One of the features i hope to grasp more is Cycles render which I think can give as good or better output compared to Reality or Octane which you have a price so having an internal render within Blender is a plus. Sometimes you have to jump threw a few hoops when using it with Poser or Daz but there are some good tools and scripts and allot of help from this comunity to make what you want come to light. Look forward to seeing some of your renders projects soon.

One thing I noticed today, which was never much of a thought before, was how to straighten curved or uneven edges along a loop.  I noticed the 3dsmax artist using "Loop Tools" (which we also have in Blender!), with a function called Straighten, which automatically made the edges along an edge loop planar with an axis.  I tried several methods to reproduce this function in Blender, but our version of Loop Tools does not have the same Straighten feature.

I ended up using snaps, then scaling the selected edges along an axis, which required some precision and patience, until they were straight.  This worked, but wasn't exactly easy to accomplish.  Some research on Youtube showed that other options involved using the Flatten feature in Loop Tools, set to View.  This also worked (sort of), but wasn't exactly accurate in all cases, and required a lot of orbiting and precision.  The only other option I found seems to be using Relax in the Loop Tools, on the vertex path of the edges you wish to straighten.  Change the Interpolation to Linear, and increase the iterations to a high number, then enable "Regular".  Lots of steps there.

Does anyone know a faster, yet precise, way to do this operation?

nice trick (wonder if I'll remember it lol )

have a look at these tools for blender

http://www.ewocprojects.be/scripts.html

all the good ones are in one zip ;-)

or you can grab them all one at a time if you like

welcome and have fun

Welcome to the forum Hmorton. :) 

You could also use the shrinkwrap modifier with vertex group and  a flat surface to flaten an edege loop.

 

 

 

Quote - My primary interest has always been largely in creation of realistic architectural scenes

I'd like to pique your interest with the following links to collections of amazing architecture..                                                                                                               http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=466143. (follow any of the links on the right side for details of each room).                                                           http://www.asnaghi.com/   (I really, really, really wanna make rooms like these some day)

   You might also check Jack Tomalin's stuff over at Daz3D.  He makes beautiful and highly detailed interiors.  I use his 'Baroque Grandeur' set for everything.

The workflow from Blender to Poser has also been cracked.  Just ask.  

 

 

 

 

That's a great technique, Cybermonk!  Thank you!  I got the scale/snap technique to work while following that tutorial, but I noticed today, when I tried it on arbitrary curved geometry, it wasn't as easy or predictable.  The edge loop simply didn't want to become straight, and it took a lot of tweaking to make it so.  I think your suggestion is the best way to do it natively.

Meanwhile, I was really wishing for an easy, automated solution for this kind of  modeling task, and HeddHeld's link to the EWOCprojects tools was the trick!!!

It has an addon called "StraightenPlus" (see my attach screenshot .  This addon tool does exactly what I needed, automatically!  It appears to work exactly the same as the tool used in the 3dsmax video!  Again, proof positive of the power of Blender, and it's community!

I wonder why the Foundation hasn't integrated these wonderful addons yet!?  They definitely elevate Blender's modeling tools to levels which rival 3dsmax, or any high end modeling software!  Amazing stuff!  I'm just jazzed beyond belief for these FREE  EWOCprojects addons!

Thank you, Heddheld, and Cybermonk.  The last 24hrs on this website have been a really incredible time!

Just an update to say that I'm still amazingly fond of the EWOCprojects addons!  I can't say enough about how they have enhanced my work flow, and made creating objects so much easier!  The only thing I will warn is that they have caused Blender to crash several times since I started using them, and have sometimes caused it to freeze up to the point where I had to restart.  A couple times, this caused me to lose my work.

Overall, I will say that having these tools loaded in the modeling UI is well worth it, and I love them.  They really bring some professional level tools to Blender that simply weren't there before, and can shorten the time it takes to make complicated models.  Just be careful, and save your work often while using them, because activating the wrong tool, or accidentally screwing up while using the tool can cause stability problems, in my experience the last couple days.

Thanks, guys, for the incredible help, and I'm so glad I found this site.