I have currently been using blender for about 4 months. All the modelling I have done so far are great when used with reference images which otherwise tried turn out to be awful. I was curious if there are good tips to modelling a model without using reference images as my school doesn’t provides us with reference images to work with during competition hours.
Also due to the lack of textures ( Image textures, Photoshop or CrazyBump to make normal maps etc ), I was wondering if there were any good tips or node setups ( Easy ones ) for getting good textures using just the Blender Cycles Engine’s in-built Textures.
I came up with this setup. Its good but still I am not happy with it, so any suggestions are greatly welcomed.
Don’t model without reference images. You might not need a blueprint/character sheet all of the time, but at least have some photos of what you’re trying to model, or some objects that have similar features. Honestly, textures are the same way. Procedurals and hand-painted textures generally look, well, procedural and hand-painted. Obviously you can go a long way to hiding this, people make photorealistic things with procedurals and hand-painted textures all the time. Plus sometimes you actually WANT it to look procedural or hand-painted.
But I’m not really sure what your school expects you to do with no reference at all. Sure, they might not supply a character sheet, but can you not go on Google images and have some pictures up to compare your model against? And what sort of look/textures are they going for? Why don’t you have image textures or Photoshop. How do they expect you to make textures without an image editor?
We have an Internet connection but as its slow it can’t be shared over 40 computers using a LAN. The main computer only has internet and its not to be used in the competition as it contains sensitive information about the school reports etc.
Its unknown as the topic will be given on the spot so I am just relying completely on cycles’s internal built-in Texture settings to get the best.
Yeah, we won’t be given any reference image and it sucks as its hard for me to remember the ratio and proportions but that’s what the competition demands so i came here for tips and help.
Not allowed personal USB or other media storage by IT? That would be the easiest way to bring in a scan if there are network issues. (In my previous experience students usually keep a media library on a memory stick, as you’re typically never guaranteed to know what terminal you’ll be working on. All your textures, projects, previous renders, etc.) Dunno about your school, but most computer labs associated with media also have a flatbed scanner. A few printouts or drawings could be used as a reference if you have access to such.
As for freeform modeling? Learn the box method. I find it easiest to define volume first (which also helps with proportions) and work in details as you go along.