Blender Modeling Walkthrough (3.6.1)

This page is actively undergoing a major edit.
As a courtesy, please do not edit this while this message is displayed.
If this page has not been edited for at least several hours to a few days, please remove this template. This message is intended to help reduce edit conflicts; please remove it between editing sessions to allow others to edit the page.

The user who added this notice, should you wish to contact them, is: Lawlypops tr = idir.

This tutorial covers creating a model in Blender and exporting it to the Source Engine. The model we will make is a soda can.

This tutorial was created on version 3.6.1 of Blender for Windows. If you still need the old 2.48 version, you can find it here:
Blender Modeling Walkthrough (Outdated)

Tools Used

The tools used for this tutorial are as follows:

Blender for creating a mesh and texture mapping.

Blender Source Tools for exporting the model from Blender.

Crowbar for compiling the model into a .mdl for source games.

VTFEdit for converting textures into VTFs for source games.

Key Reference
	Left Mouse Button
	Middle Mouse Button
	Right Mouse Button
MW	Mouse Wheel
MWUp	Mouse Wheel Up
MWDown	Mouse Wheel Down
9	9 on the number row
Num9	9 on the number pad

Quick Overview

Now, if you haven't already, open Blender. You should have the default screen, seen below.

For a brief overview, Blender's workspace is divided into different areas called viewports. Each viewport contains a different "Editor Type" that can be changed by clicking on the Editor Type icon. Also, every "Editor Type" has a header that can be relocated to the top or bottom of the window, or be removed entirely by clicking on it with the RMB and unchecking "Show Header". This can be undone by clicking the small down arrow icon that appears at the top-right of the viewport. Blender starts with four viewports open by default:

   1. 3D Viewport
   2. Outliner
   3. Properties
   4. Timeline

These will be covered in more detail as we use them.

Cleaning Up the Workspace

To get started, we will need to delete the "Default Cube". This is the first critical step in any 3D modeling adventure. First, select the cube with , then press X to delete it.

Since we will not be needing the camera or the light objects for making a Source model, we can delete those too. Pressing A will select everything in the scene. Then press X to delete them as well.

Todo: Images of deleting the cube, camera and light, and resulting workspace

Now we should have a clean workspace to start creating our model.

Adding the Starting Cylinder

Now we need a cylinder to create our can from. We can add prefab objects to the scene with Ctrl+A

Hover your mouse over the "Mesh" category at the top of the opened menu, then click the "Cylinder" option to add one to the scene.

Todo: Image of object addition menu

Now we have a wonderful cylinder that does most of our work for us. However, cans are a little more detailed than what we have, so next is to add some detail.

Editing the Cylinder

First order of business is to align our model with the standard of source engine by having the object origin at the bottom. The origin is indicated by the orange dot in the middle of the cylinder. We don't want to move the origin from the center of the scene, but rather move the object upwards.

Your cylinder should be selected already, as shown by the orange highlight around it. If not, select it with . Now we can enter "Edit Mode" with Tab ⇆. This will allow us to select each vertex that makes up the mesh. Each vertex is connected to each other with an "edge", and 3 or more edges can form a "face"

Todo: Image of object in edit mode

In edit mode, we can hit A to make sure we have all the vertices selected. Next, press G to "grab" the vertices and move them.

While we can freely move the cylinder how we want, we should keep it centered, and only move it upwards. By pressing Z, we can snap our movement to the "Z" (Up and Down / Blue) axis.

To align the bottom of our object perfectly with the origin, we can press 1 to move it 1 unit along the currently selected axis. Confirm your changes with either or ↵ Enter. If you need to cancel an action, you can press .

Todo: Image of object in new position

If you have a cylinder that looks like the above photo, congrats! Now we can move on to making it more soda can-shaped.

Forming Our Soda Can

Currently our cylinder is a little too stubby to be a good soda can, so let's increase its height to a more reasonable number. Source Hammer Units are typically a 1:1 scale for blender units,

Todo: Verify the unit conversion.

though some games vary. A typical can has a height of 12.3cm, and a diameter of 6.6cm. We can achieve these dimensions quite easily in Blender by adjusting the dimensions directly. The first step is to exit "edit mode" by pressing Tab ⇆. Next, turn your attention to the context panel in the right of your 3D view (Shown below). If you can't see it, press N to toggle its visibility.

Todo: Image of context panel

At the bottom is the "Dimensions" category. Change the X and Y axes to 2.6 for the diameter, and the Z to 4.83 for the height. If you see apostrophes for imperial/feet next to the numbers, please see "Changing the Blender Units."