Who can say they are a "Blender Modeler"?

[pwillard]

I was thinking about this yesterday... How many of us here consider ourselves "Blender Modelers"? I know a lot of people are not ready to give up on their muscle memory with Train Sim Modeler or GMAX and such, but I'm really curious how many have made the switch to Blender. Like when I update the export tool, create a new tip or script, or update the Content Creation Notebook... what is the size of the crowd that cares?

[pgroenbaek]

I'm probably a bit of an oddball when it comes to this. I've never used GMAX, TSM or any other modeling tools.

Only started poking around with modeling last year, and it's been with Blender right from the start.

And awesome that you are continuously maintaining the Blender exporter btw. That is greatly appreciated from my side.

[scottb613]

Hi Pete,

When I started modeling (20 years ago) - I tried GMAX (free), TSM (purchased), and 3DC (purchased) - I thought 3DC was - by far - the best for me - especially with the Train Sim specific tools by Paul Gausden.

When I started with Blender (post Blender 2.8) - I was truly BLOWN AWAY by how much EASIER everything is in in Blender - once you take a little time to learn it.

I think there are very very few of us who model anything anymore - especially for US content.

Always willing to help new modelers get started.

Regards,
Scott

[pwillard]

I think there are very very few of us who model anything anymore - especially for US content.

Honestly, this is my secret fear.


BTW:
My history is similar, I tried Gmax (hated it), TSM (also hated it), tried 3D Canvas (Used it for many many years) and attempted Blender starting around 2.53 and was not "getting" the user interface, but didn't give up. When V2.8 landed... it just clicked and never looked back at 3D Canvas.

I've been considering sharing more tools and such, but I'm really not sure its worth the trouble. (I'm only a marginally OK coder anyway, so don't expect much). The situation does make me wonder, though, with Blender being such a good, and getting better... tool, I had hoped more people would start modeling.

I do plan on continuing to make models, but I don't really have the energy to finish things like rolling stock as the last 10% of content creation is a real drag (unlike it was for me when I was younger and had better mental acuity).

[eric]

I'm still only 25% Blender. With around 5,000 SKP building models, its a lot easier to reskin one of those.

If there were a SKP to Blender importer that didnt require conversion to an interim format... that might change.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[pwillard]

SketchUp always bothered me with how it was provided and licensed, and I never felt it was well-suited to the kind of modeling we do for sim content. And my fears came true when, with each release, they seemed more hostile to the Hobbyist and Maker communities. In the end, I was happy I didn't stick with it more than a testing period.

I'm not bad mouthing it, I know so many others love it... It just keeps rubbing me the wrong way, in the same way GMAX bugs me. The fact that older versions were a free tool and newer releases cost money made it a difficult choice for me, as it would be for hobby use.

---

I'm really not clear on the interim format issue. Do you mean you need to convert to a format like OBJ or FBX, then import that file into Blender? This is pretty typical, since I had to do the same for all of my 3D Canvas models... and often, I would have to redo the UV Maps totally.

There is an add-on that allows the importing of Sketchup into Blender (It remains an unnoficial add-on currently). Its located here: https://github.com/RedHaloStudio/Sketchup_Importer/releases

https://github.com/RedHaloStudio/Sketchup_Importer

Note: I haven't tried it... I don't have any SKP files. The reason is that it is not an official "extension" because it relies on an external executable, which means it's not cross-platform, and that is an issue for the Blender team.

...and... follow-up -- I found this: https://youtu.be/YKcKjOVsl5c

[superheatedsteam]

I normally spend several hours a week in Blender, so I'm reasonably comfortable with mesh modelling so I guess I'm a “Blender Modeller”.

I also appreciate your work in maintaining the .S export tool but I don't use the scripts you created as those are not time savers for me. For me, UVPackmaster3 and the Rectify tool in the free TexTools addon that Scott recommended, are the addons that have really speed up the UV mapping process for me to the point it is no longer a chore for me.

Cheers,

Marek.

[pwillard]

Yeah, I guess I also wanted to see if we all just had workflows that worked well for us. For UV mapping, I don't use any add-on or helper tool. I keep meaning to try tools like UVPACKMASTER or Textools but I just plug way the "the old way".

I mean, it just took me about 15 minutes to do these rooftop AC units.

image.png

[eric]

Thanks for the links to those SKP importers. I'll have to give that a try.

By interim format, I am referring to saving the Sketchup 8 model in that tool as a Collada file and then importing that into Blender. Unfortunately, textures didn't come over in those types of exports.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Is Blender 5.0 good to go for modeling?

================================================== ================================================== ======

Just one more thought - for anyone considering taking a look at Blender - you have a benefit that most of did not have when starting out.

There're probably around 25 million users of Blender - globally - with hundreds of thousands of video tutorials on YouTube.

The tutorials cover every aspect of modeling - for any skill level off user.

5caa6a7220d81.image.jpg

Regards,
Scott

[pwillard]

I'm currently *using* 5.0. It has some new features. I haven't produced content with it yet (The movie theater scenery object is my first attempt), so the jury is still out. I'm keeping the LTS version 4.5 on my machine for now. I'm particularly keen on the updated ARRAY modifier and the increased quality of Booleans. I'm also spending less time doing UV mapping (Doing it the hard way with no helper add-ons) since I'm finding things like face selection a lot more "successful".

It does seem like I worked out the bugs in the Exporter... but that needs more testing, honestly.

[scottb613]

I'm currently *using* 5.0. It has some new features. I haven't produced content with it yet (The movie theater scenery object is my first attempt), so the jury is still out. I'm keeping the LTS version 4.5 on my machine for now. I'm particularly keen on the updated ARRAY modifier and the increased quality of Booleans. I'm also spending less time doing UV mapping (Doing it the hard way with no helper add-ons) since I'm finding things like face selection a lot more "successful".

It does seem like I worked out the bugs in the Exporter... but that needs more testing, honestly.

Hi Pete,

Appreciate your insights.

Gracias amigo.

Regards,
Scott

[tarrant75]

I use Studio Max (Indie License - not so rich I can afford the full license), but I want to learn Blender, as I understand you can use it to build models for 3D Printing, and now that I am starting to get back into model railroads, this could be quite beneficial.

[pwillard]

I definitely use it for 3D printing miniatures. I play a game called "gaslands" and there aren't a lot of items available unless you make your own.

I've also printed part I designed for 1:25 Model Car modifications... so it's definitely worth learning.

I think it's been used for HO model railroading parts since day 1.

[scottb613]

I use Studio Max (Indie License - not so rich I can afford the full license), but I want to learn Blender, as I understand you can use it to build models for 3D Printing, and now that I am starting to get back into model railroads, this could be quite beneficial.

Hi Chris,

If you load the base Blender - there’s an extension to aid 3D Printing that tests manifold objects and to prep a model for 3D Printing. You need to enable it - it seems to do a bunch of things but I’ve never printed anything - I’d defer to Pete.

It took me a 3 day weekend - with a YouTube tutorial series - to transition to Blender coming from 3DC. Learning the basics of throwing and manipulating polys - mesh modeling - UV mapping.

I don’t think transitioning to Blender - for someone who can model - is as difficult as some may fear. I just started a thread on Elvas and asked a bunch of questions - after a few days with the YouTube tutorial series - and many graciously took the time to patiently answer my newb questions. It helped me a great deal and massively sped my learning progress. I can’t thank those who helped me - enough.

Everything is a keystroke in Blender - but when modeling regularly - I found that the keystrokes become so second nature - they don’t require any real thought - your fingers just remember what they’re supposed to do.

Its certainly free to look.

Here’s my thread from Elvas if you want to see the questions I asked and how I progressed:
https://www.elvastower.com/forums/index.php?/topic/36734-blender-aficionados/page__p__291110__hl__%2Baficionados+%2B__fromsearc h__1#entry291110

Best of luck and we’re here to help.

Regards,
Scott