In this tutorial, we create an interesting spherical abstract shape that can be used in 3d printing or motion graphics design, using Blender 2.8 or higher. However, there's nothing here that couldn't be done in earlier versions of Blender, but obviously the hotkeys and shortcuts will be very different.

Ohhhh, that certainly looks interesting. I may just have to try it out.

BTW, I don't think I mentioned, but I tried the Merkaba tutorial and it came out nice. My only problem is it's so high poly, I'm having a problem getting it UV'd, but I'll persist.

Miss B posted at 10:38AM Fri, 18 October 2019 - #4367510

Ohhhh, that certainly looks interesting. I may just have to try it out.

BTW, I don't think I mentioned, but I tried the Merkaba tutorial and it came out nice. My only problem is it's so high poly, I'm having a problem getting it UV'd, but I'll persist.

I think I have two tutorials for the Merkaba on my channel. Which one did you use? I didn't include a UV tut with my videos back then, but the trick is to UV unwrap the model while it's still low poly. In fact, I don't think you actually need to subdivide the merkaba at all unless you're going to 3d print the model and want to have soft edges. If you're just using it for rendering or motion graphics, you can just keep it low poly and use the bevel modifier to create rounded edges. Just unwrap the model while it's low poly (before you apply the subdivide modifier). The UV's will get subdivided with the modifier.

LuxXeon posted at 12:43PM Fri, 18 October 2019 - #4367547

Miss B posted at 10:38AM Fri, 18 October 2019 - #4367510

Ohhhh, that certainly looks interesting. I may just have to try it out.

BTW, I don't think I mentioned, but I tried the Merkaba tutorial and it came out nice. My only problem is it's so high poly, I'm having a problem getting it UV'd, but I'll persist.

I think I have two tutorials for the Merkaba on my channel. Which one did you use? I didn't include a UV tut with my videos back then, but the trick is to UV unwrap the model while it's still low poly. In fact, I don't think you actually need to subdivide the merkaba at all unless you're going to 3d print the model and want to have soft edges. If you're just using it for rendering or motion graphics, you can just keep it low poly and use the bevel modifier to create rounded edges. Just unwrap the model while it's low poly (before you apply the subdivide modifier). The UV's will get subdivided with the modifier.

I have the one you posted back on Dec. 29, 2015 for modeling the Merkaba in version 2.76 bookmarked, so that must be the one I tried. This is in Blender with Cycles, so not what I would call a "final" render.

That's looking really good, Miss B! Can't wait till you do the final render! There's a couple of options here. First, you can mark seams and do an unwrap on the low poly version just before adding the subdivision surface modifier as I mentioned, so probably at the stage it is in around the 19:32 mark of the video. Once you unwrap the low poly, you can add the subdivisions surfaces modifier and it should maintain the UVs. Another option, if you have already applied the Subdivision Surfaces modifier and don't have the option to unwrap low poly, is to simply add a UVW > Box mapping to the model for a very quick and dirty UV application. You could select and scale down the result in the UV editor after you create the box map. A Cube Projection map is similar to this and would also work as a dirty fix.

Looking back at that tutorial, I really need to update it for Blender 2.8. There are much easier methods I could add to an updated video which would have probably saved you a lot of time. You did a great job though, so no worries there.

Here's some examples of how the Cube Projection mapping would turn out on a merkabah which had already been subdivided. It would apply very quickly without any previous UV seams.

It doesn't do a "perfect" job, and it does create overlapping UV islands, but as long as you don't need perfect UV boundaries for some reason, it will render and tile just fine as you can see below:

Ohhhhh, very interesting indeed Lux. I'll definitely have to try that. Needless to say, next time I try it, I'll be unwrapping before subdividing. I should've realized that myself, but wasn't thinking in terms of uv mapping it while I was creating it. Oh well, lesson learned.

Miss B posted at 1:40PM Sat, 19 October 2019 - #4367649

Ohhhhh, very interesting indeed Lux. I'll definitely have to try that. Needless to say, next time I try it, I'll be unwrapping before subdividing. I should've realized that myself, but wasn't thinking in terms of uv mapping it while I was creating it. Oh well, lesson learned.

That's my fault, Miss B. My older videos never addressed UV editing, unfortunately. I was always just focused on showing how to create manifold mesh for 3d printing (which often doesn't require UV coordinates), but I should have included that step. I apologize for neglecting that. My latest videos and all videos going forward will include some form of UV editing. Great work, Miss B. Please follow up with your final render too. Would love to see it.

Oh, I will post it when I'm happy with the final render.