You may not use AI for this assignment. (There
is no coding, and you should create your own scene.)| CPSC 424 | Computer Graphics | Fall 2025 |
This lab is the second of four "application labs" introducing Blender. The four Blender labs will be grouped together, counting as two (regular) labs.
This lab covers using some of Blender's more advanced modeling capabilities to create custom objects.
Successful completion of this lab means that you can do more advanced modeling tasks in Blender, including
Much of the material for this lab was originally written by David Eck.
This is an individual lab. You may get technical help from others, but the effort and ideas that go into producing solutions should be yours.
You may not use AI for this assignment. (There
is no coding, and you should create your own scene.)
Hand in your work by copying your ~/cs424/blender2 folder into your handin folder (/classes/cs424/handin/username, where username is your username).
Check that the result is that your files are contained in /classes/cs424/handin/username/blender1 — if not, fix it!
Create a directory blender2 inside your ~/cs424/workspace directory.
Make sure that all of the directories are named exactly as specified and end up at the same (top) level in your workspace directory.
Sections B.1 and B.2 in the textbook should be your first stop for how-to-use-Blender questions for this lab. Note that the book covers Blender 2.93, but it should still be fairly accurate for Blender 3.0.1.
Additional resources:
A number of keyboard shortcuts in make use of the number pad. If you don't have a numpad (some laptops with small keyboards omit it), you can configure Blender so you can use the regular number keys instead — choose Edit → Preferences..., then go to the Input section and select "Emulate Numpad" under "Keyboard".
For simple text extrusion, select the text object, then go to the Object Data section in the Properties Editor. Expand the "Geometry" section and use the "Extrude" control. For full-fledged extrusion possibilities, first convert the text to a mesh — use the Object menu (outside of Edit mode, select the object and right-click) and select Convert To → Mesh.
To toggle whether a curve is open or closed, go into Edit mode but then select the two endpoints of the curve before pressing Alt-C. Depending on your keyboard, you may need to use right-Alt (the Alt key on the right side of the spacebar) rather than left-Alt.
If you have trouble finding the button for turning on proportional editing while in Edit Mode, try switching to the Modeling workspace — look for "Modeling" in the menu bar at the very top of the window, just to the right of the Help menu. Switch back to the Layout workspace when you are done.
You can find light configuration in the Data section in the Properties Editor.
You can use the "Track" feature to aim a light at one of the objects in the scene. (Select the light, then go to the Constraints section of the Properties Editor. Click "Add Object Constraint" and choose "Track To" (under Tracking), then click on the eyedropper in the Target item and click on the desired object in the scene to aim the light at it.) Note that this is only meaningful for lights that can be aimed, such as spotlights. Tracking an object is an easy way to point a light at a specific thing; it also means the light will be re-aimed if the object is moved.
You can also use tracking to aim the camera at an object, or you can manipulate the camera directly (see the "camera positioning" section of the Blender manual, linked in the Reference section above). It is a good idea to save a copy of your scene before you start adjusting the camera so you have something to fall back on if you get hopelessly bogged down.
Make sure you have read sections B.1 and B.2 in the text, as they contain essential information on using Blender. It is not a bad idea to make yourself a one-page quick reference sheet summarizing the various commands and operations.
If you use image textures, make sure you turn on the "Automatically Pack Resources" options (see Blender lab 1) so that the images are packaged with the Blender file you hand in.
Start with Blender's default scene (a cube) and save it with the name scene-2.blend in your ~/cs424/workspace/blender2 directory.
Create an interesting scene with several objects created using some of Blender's modeling capabilities. Your scene can be as realistic or as whimsical as you want, but it should be recognizable as something — shapes should be deliberately created and objects deliberately placed, with some sort of theme tying the elements together. The goal is to use Blender's tools to create something you have in mind, not just arbitrarily apply them.
In particular, your scene should contain:
At least one hierarchical object made up of several subobjects joined into a unit using parenting. (Section B.1.6 covered parenting.)
At least one object created using extrusion and the subdivision surface modifier. Start with something simple like a cube, cylinder, plane, or circle, use extrusion to create an approximate shape, then use the subdivision modifier to smooth the surface.
At least one 3D object created from a curve or text by extruding to give it thickness.
At least one object created using another technique. For example, you might use proportional editing on a mesh, another modifier (such as Array, Screw, or Mirror), or Sculpt mode.
An interesting use of a texture, such as using it as a displacement map or using it to modulate the transparency or reflectivity of a surface.
Appropriate lighting. The scene should be well (but not overly) illuminated — usually 2-3 lights are sufficient. Use at least one directional light or spotlight, and modify the color and power of a least one light so that they aren't all using the default settings.
A camera set up with a good view of the scene. (This refers to what you see in the final rendered view, visible with F12.) Make sure that the scene is contained within the view volume.
In addition, materials should be set for all objects — don't just use the default!