Is Blender OK for turning 3D models into 2D blueprints ?

[Noumcea]

While looking at a few threads today I found out about a program called Blender. After looking at the website and the animations that can be created I want to know, can the 3D redering of say a spaceship be turned into 2D images for using as plans to create a physical model ?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Dave

 

[darthviper107]

Sure--you just render from an orthographic view, which means like a top view where things don't get smaller the further away they are (no perspective).

 

[Noumcea]

Many thanks for the info Viper. Now I just have to learn how to use the program, I only downloaded it yesterday.

Dave.

 

[daverep]

Amazon has some good books for Blender. I have it as well, but haven't had the time to sit down and use it. If it's anything like Newtek's Lightwave, it should be easy to learn. You've inspired me to create the time to learn it! Didn't even cross my mind to use it for model making. Good idea!

 

[GeorgeC]

I've got the Blender for Dummies book myself and a book or two written by developers of the program.

Expect a steep learning curve for the interface. This is not all like a video editing program or Photoshop that's for sure!

However, its capabilities are fantastic and won't sink you $2,000 or more into debt like most professional programs do... and it can do most, if not all, the same things Maya, Lightwave, etc. do basically.

It has been used a lot for European productions not so much in the US... I think the entertainment industry in the USand software developers/schools have a very cozy relationship with each other and want to keep things that way in spite of the existence of freeware like Blender.

There was just recently a story that came out about Digital Domain and how they were taking advantage of student interns that were part of an academic program linked to that company.

I'm telling you, education in North America is very crooked right now. You have to be very careful about schools and their affiliations. They're for profit even if they're state school institutions. Education is just as crooked as the government is right now...

 

[Canadianghandi]

I've got the Blender for Dummies book myself and a book or two written by developers of the program.

Expect a steep learning curve for the interface. This is not all like a video editing program or Photoshop that's for sure!

However, its capabilities are fantastic and won't sink you $2,000 or more into debt like most professional programs do... and it can do most, if not all, the same things Maya, Lightwave, etc. do basically.

It has been used a lot for European productions not so much in the US... I think the entertainment industry in the USand software developers/schools have a very cozy relationship with each other and want to keep things that way in spite of the existence of freeware like Blender.

There was just recently a story that came out about Digital Domain and how they were taking advantage of student interns that were part of an academic program linked to that company.

I'm telling you, education in North America is very crooked right now. You have to be very careful about schools and their affiliations. They're for profit even if they're state school institutions. Education is just as crooked as the government is right now...

Glad I could learn that US schools won't use blender because it's european. And here I just thought it was a complete POS that no one worth noting uses.

On a side note, you know you can get a full version of Autodesk Inventor, Autocad, etc by going on the website and saying your a student?

 

[daverep]

I've seen a few animation shorts from artists who've used Blender and looks like an amazing piece of software.

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

First, there is a plethora of free software out there.

If you don´t have a clue about using 3D software to build a 3D model, then the learning curve will be quite steep.
For downloading a 3D model and turning it into a blueprint, i.e. sideviews, top views, sections etc. you will only need very basic skills. You could also look into using Sketchup. But in the end it´s all the same, you will have to invest time to learn the software. And that´s pretty easy, there are plenty of tutorials out there and dedicated forums much better suited to help you in your quest than the general modeling forum.

...

It has been used a lot for European productions not so much in the US... I think the entertainment industry in the USand software developers/schools have a very cozy relationship with each other and want to keep things that way in spite of the existence of freeware like Blender.

...

That is not entirely true. Companies won´t look at freeware or even think about using it for their production pipeline since they have completely different needs for their software. Blender is very powerful, but most companies have a long history of using one software, a lot o them customize that software. Integrating a freeware program that has no official support is just too risky in today´s production environments.
I don´t know one professional production house that actually matters in the market that uses Blender.
I use C4D, and even that software, which is not a newcomer in the market, but a professional production package, is only just now becoming a bigger player in the international market. But still, the main software packages by Autodesk, be it 3DSMax or Maya, dominate the market.
It´s pretty simple, sometimes you have to spend money to make money

 

[darthviper107]

I don't know of anyone other than hobbyists that use Blender either. There's still plenty of things that the professional programs can do that Blender can't. But, as a free program it can still do quite a bit.

If you are a student though, you can download all Autodesk software for free, that gives you an educational license for 3 years.

 

[Aurora]

Well I can help been using blender for 4ish years ever since 2.4 release

You can create blueprints from the ortho or by rendering. Best instructions are through blendercookies find they give great instruction through video very easy to fallow. More then happy to help

To the open vs paid debate all down to preference there is times where I hate using blender crappy bugs sometimes will drop out an I will loose a lot of work. How ever it's free I didn't pay the 5000 for maya plue the yearly upgrade but that is what I personally would like to us but money better spent else where not making any income with it.

But blender you are still able to creat fairly high meshes an just bring it to another render pipeline. That what it matters just on how it looks in the end. The customer doesn't matter what program it made up from

 

[Noumcea]

Thanks all for your comments folks. They are very informative. At least I know I am on the right track. When I get a spare 4 or so hours I will start seriously looking at how to use the software.

I will of course be asking questions if I get stumped.

Happy modelling.

Dave.