Character Development in Blender 2.5

Written for experienced animation and game development students, this title shows students how to create believable characters using Blender, a free, open source 3d animation package.

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CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN BLENDER 2.5 provides an introduction to both Blender and character modeling, explaining the various Blender tools and how to use them to create amazing, believable 3D characters. Providing both the how and why behind each new tool or skill presented, the book is written in a step-by-step format so you can easily follow along. Divided into five parts, the book covers box modeling, poly-by-poly modeling, sculpting, retopologizing, normal mapping, and more. You’ll begin by learning the raw basics of Blender, giving you an understanding of how the Blender interface works and how you can manipulate objects in 3D space, as well as how to customize your Blender experience. You’ll then get an introduction to some of the modeling features of Blender and how you can manipulate meshes with Blender’s various modeling tools, modifiers, and sculpting functionality. In part three you’ll move on to the real focus of the book, modeling the character, focusing on the workflow, and various modeling techniques. Part four provides a brief introduction to lighting and rendering characters before the final section of the book walks you through the process needed to prepare the character for complete texturing and how to bake and apply normal maps to a low-resolution version of the character. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN BLENDER 2.5 shows you everything you need to get started as a character modeler and Blender artist.