Ultimate character creation in Blender: From beginner to pro

The complete guide on how to model, texture and rig professional 3D characters with Blender!

Created by: Monica 3D
3D Artist

What Will I Learn?

• How to navigate in Blender and recognize the workspace.
• Be able to identify the different 3D modeling techniques.
• How to place reference images which will serve as a guide to model 3D characters.
• Use the box modeling technique to create a hard surface character with primitive shapes.
• Use the polygon modeling technique to create a simple organic character.
• How to use modifiers that will affect an object's geometry in a non-destructive way.
• How to model a professional looking human character with the polygon modeling technique and the curves modeling method.
• Create and assign materials to the model.
• Understand how to unwrap a 3D mesh into a UV map.
• How to organize and export a UV layout to later use it as a guide for painting textures.
• Recognize how to use the shader editor and identify certain nodes.
• Apply texture images and PBR maps in order to create different materials.
• Generate procedural textures combining nodes to compose new shaders.
• Modify the 3D mesh with shape keys in order to give facial expressions to the character.
• Develop a rig (add bones) which will allow the character to move.
• Use drivers to adjust the values of the shape keys and give some constraints to the bone controllers.
• Identify the difference between forward kinematics and inverse kinematics.
• Design shapes to make the control bones more appealing and intuitive.
• How to assign automatic weights to the mesh and how to manually paint weights.
• Be able to pose and animate the character once the rig is finished.

Requirements

• Be able to work with a computer that is capable of running Blender version 2.9 or above.
• It's recommended to work with a three-button mouse, but it's not mandatory.
• Basic knowledge of Blender or any other 3D software is desirable, but it's not completely necessary. You will learn all of the tools that will be needed for this course.

Target audience

• People who are curious about the world of 3D modeling and animation.
• People who are willing to learn how to create professional looking 3D characters.