Blender Discussion

Extending SketchUp
#288

Ive been using 2.9 for the whole of my 8 week course has been very stable only crashed once (and autosaves every 3 mins anyway) @BYCT. The main problem is most add-ons dont work with 2.9 yet so I have 2.8 running alongside if I need to use Substance, Quixel, Boxcutter or anything else.

On that note ive finally come to the end of my 8 week crash course, its been great and pretty sure I know Blender (for modeling) very well now. I wrote up some words and posted my progress over the past 8 weeks in an article here:

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#289

I have dowloaded the last build (17th july) of the 2.90 under development. Unfortunately the interface has bugs on my mac… but it seems that they are improving the User Interface. It is details but very accurate and nice. It is more intuitive and this is a good news !

I am more and more enthusiast about Blender + Rhino Grasshopper…

#290

Hello all,

Kinda late to the party, but I’ve been learning Blender recently as well, deciding to model what I can and use it for learning on some recent projects. I’ve been watching some excellent videos online, many thanks to Grant Abbitt’s tutorials (really got me started), Imphenzia’s 10 minute modeling sessions (in case you are actually hanging onto the idea that SketchUp is somehow faster to model), BlenderGuru and a host of others! I’ve started with and stuck with 2.9.0a - yes the alpha version - and the crashes, but I think as a programmer it is part of the adventure.

In Blender I’ve gone from complete frustration (extrude does what?) – to wow - this is soooo cool (extrude can do WHAT!!). Now that I’ve gotten used to what is where and how to do things, I’m quite impressed. That this is software that is free to operate at this level is just plain amazing. The organic modeling capabilities, and PBR material renderings, the two rendering engines, (I love Eevee) and other things have been fun to learn and get into the details. You can do a lot of damage (to that lonely awesome cube/sphere/plane) in a small amount of time.

Is Blender going places? I think so - check out the “Principled BSDF” shader. That was a gift from Pixar/Disney and is amazing. I’ve purchased the Pro Lighting Skies from Poliigon and made my own materials in several ways as well.

This is not a competition with SketchUp, but of necessity. I’m upgrading to Catalina soon, and SU Make 2017 won’t run. Beyond that, the free Blender does everything I’ve dreamed of, so I am jumping over for better or worse at the end of the month. If I need a simple model or a sketch, maybe I’ll hit web SU, but really there is no point. I’ll spend more money on amazing assets from places like Poliigon (check out the procedural brick/wood/tile renderers) than SketchUp over the long run, so money was not, is not, nor will be the issue for me, and I suspect others as well.

My motto for Blender is now “Simple things seem more complicated than necessary, but what you thought was impossible a few minutes ago is only a click and a few modifiers away from being reality.”

A few models …

This was a sphere, pushed, pulled, extruded, rotated, and … 3 minutes later. It is either a spaceship or a bushing. No clue.

bushing
bushing1920×1080 148 KB

This a racer, or an airvent, or maybe a toy. I learned how to “Rip” and Paint Vertices on this model . HELP!

plastic-toy-thingy-e
plastic-toy-thingy-e1920×1080 169 KB

My new bunker in progress. Supplies, ventilation, and plumbing arriving soon. Maybe an elevator.

bunker-e
bunker-e2560×1440 802 KB

This is the same bunker, minus a few walls and with a rougher sandy floor.

bunker-wall-01 - empty - e
bunker-wall-01 - empty - e2560×1440 662 KB

Cheers all and thanks for the SU support over the years.

3 Likes
#291

Later on in the thread she claims that producing this was faster than SketchUp or AutoCad!

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#292

Well that’s a bold statement and I’d have to act like that I’m from Missouri and she’d have to “show me” that! :wink: Acad and SU are pretty darn fast at doing what they do.

#293

Helicopter work in progress

1 Like
#294
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#295

Thank you for finding and posting this.

1 Like
#296

PARAMETRIC OBJECTS !

Another good news… Someone ask if Dynamic Component does exist as equivalent in Blender…

This morning I am starting to learn to create parametric objects in Blender. I buy this book : https://www.blender3darchitect.com/blender-2-8-parametric-modeling/

And find this training : https://www.blender3darchitect.com/lesson/lesson-01-understanding-parametric-modeling/parametric-modeling-blender/

There is no add-on needed, everything is yet inside Blender (it is hidden in properties), and it is not constraints (constraints is another feature…).

Nice ! Nice ! Nice…!

#297

Architecture case duties : Blender + Unreal Engine 4

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#298

Lol - thanks for the link :slight_smile:

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#299

And you can tell people to leave, to stop complaining, call their comments “rants,” etc., etc. and no one will flag you because to them these things aren’t rude, they are truthful. People can’t see their own biases.

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#300

Eevee the real time render engine is amazing and give nice render in seconds.
I just have found this guide to understand the settings of the engine:

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#301

That seems a good summary of Blender.

To me the interesting angle is addressing the “simple things seem more complicated than necessary” part. The power features are already awesome, and probably also beyond the reach of most users. Yes, the super nerds are happy, but most users are probably mostly confused.

The real opportunity for Blender would seem to be all those people who would like to work in 3D, and are drawn to Blender because of the price, but then quickly retreat from an unfriendly interface and never become even confused new users. I’m guessing that for every person who makes it to the confused new user stage there are ten or more who bail right at the start and never return.

All across the video world the solution typically offered here is to lecture new users on how they need to stand up straight, get a haircut, take the pain without complaining like a man, yada yada yada etc. Ok, but that seems a primitive teaching strategy to me.

What we can learn from SketchUp is that the upfront learning curve pain isn’t really necessary. Take the average person off the street, show them one 15 minute video, and ten minutes later they’re having fun in SketchUp. And because they’re having fun, they are motivated to keep learning. That’s the professional way to approach the challenge. Blender could be that friendly to new users too. It’s not obligated to be so, but it is possible.

I wouldn’t hold my breath on this though, as it seems the power users who dominate Blender culture find all such discussion to be offensive for some reason.

#302

No need to denigrate Blender users just because you find it difficult to learn. There are plenty who learn it just fine.

If you actually spent time in the community, you would know there are plenty of long threads, like this one, where users provide input to the user interface designers to help make features simpler and easier to use.

For instance Blender, like many other 3D apps, and unlike SketchUp, has a “Gizmo.” This ultra simple device does away with SketchUp’s transformation modes, and allows users to directly manipulate and move, rotate or scale, instantly. Unfortunately, it takes SU users many clicks of the mouse to do the same.

And the switch to “left-click” was made for the good of new users as those “super nerds” (sad you continue to refer to Blender users that way) acquiesced and changed years long habits to accommodate.

FWIW, I’ve been editing in Blender some of my old models and I just can’t get over how bad the topology is coming out of SketchUp. I now better understand why decent booleans and fillets are not a part of the standard product.

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#303

I didn’t denigrate Blender users. I made a factual statement about nerd culture, which you just verified with your own words. You came charging out of the gate to defend the status quo when that is not how things are made better. Things are made better by identifying weaknesses and addressing them. For Blender, price is not a weakness. For Blender, features are not a weakness. For Blender, accessibility is the weakness.

How did Steve Jobs build the richest company in the world? Not by defending the status quo, but by embracing a state of chronic dissatisfaction.

If you actually spent time in the community, you would know there are plenty of long threads, like this one, where users provide input to the user interface designers to help make features simpler and easier to use.

And if you were actually reading my posts you’d see that all that I’m suggesting is that such efforts are an interesting project, which still has a long way to go. Blender is not a religion. There’s no need to become agitated when someone suggests a simple obvious fact, Blender accessibility could be improved. I can’t recall reading a review of Blender that didn’t make this point in one way or another.

I get that serving newbies doesn’t really interest you, because that’s what you said, and I have no problem with that. Really, I don’t. There is no obligation, this is not a moral crusade.

Why does it bother you that this part of software development interests me?? I have a teaching degree, and have written a ton of software, and built and sold a startup which succeeded by making something obtuse much easier. And so that process interests me. Get it?

Again, what the Blender folks can learn from SketchUp is how to better manage motivation levels. That is done by feeding users success experiences right from the start. We can climb to the top of a 100 story building using the stairs because each stair is only 8 inches high, and leads seamlessly to the next step.

An interesting and productive discussion would focus on how to create such success stairwells in Blender.

3 Likes
#304

I don’t think this is a big Sketchup problem. I have tried Blender and I think it is great, but the number of clicks to rotate, scale or move are similar in both softwares.

Where the number of clicks is too much, in Sketchup, it is when accessing nested groups and components. Maybe Sketchup should copy Blender’s “Collections”, ie groupings in the Outliner but not in the modeling space.

Excuse my bad English.

#305

No one is agitated here. I’m just pointing out the obvious: Everyone has their own best way of learning. For you, SketchUp is very simple and I understand that. For others, not so much. I’ve posted my experiences trying to teach people SketchUp which differ greatly from yours. And, we’ve gone around this issue countless number of times. Please know I respect your point of view. And that is it. It’s just your point of view, just as my point of view is my own. You are welcome to keep posting it over and over and over, but it will not change what I think.

Of course every program can use help in UX and UI. The more complicated and feature rich an application is, the harder it will be to learn. Blender is much different from SketchUp (desktop) as it is a continuous build model-- where new versions are released every day. This allows for quick changes in both the program and the interface. And there are very good forums and threads, like “Blender UI Paper Cuts” where ideas on making the user experience are encouraged and taken very seriously. You should check it out:

2 Likes
#306

Here are your own words.

No need to denigrate Blender users just because you find it difficult to learn. There are plenty who learn it just fine.

Classic nerd man (sorry I mean Technological Professional!!) strategy to shift the focus from the weaknesses of their favorite software to weaknesses of the users. Classic blame the user tactic, seen on every software forum. Note how you’re attempting to make this about me personally, when in fact every article ever written about Blender typically reports that it’s hard to learn.

I’m not taking offense, really I’m not. But I will point out that, from a teaching point of view, “blame the user” is a very primitive perspective. You know, teachers get paid to solve problems, not blame them on their students.

I respect your advanced technical skills, I really do. But knowing how to do something does not automatically equal knowing how to teach that something. The assumption that the two are the same is another classic Technological Professional logical fallacy. Evidence: Blender

I don’t seek or expect to change your point of view, as I’ve already stated a couple of times. And, I’m not “posting over and over” any more than you are.

It does seem true that we don’t share a common interest here. I’m ok with that.

#307

Thats a fun statement: some of your non agitation statements:
"For instance Blender, like many other 3D apps, and unlike SketchUp, has a “Gizmo.” This ultra simple device does away with SketchUp’s transformation modes, and allows users to directly manipulate and move, rotate or scale, instantly. Unfortunately, it takes SU users many clicks of the mouse to do the same.

And the switch to “left-click” was made for the good of new users as those “super nerds” (sad you continue to refer to Blender users that way) acquiesced and changed years long habits to accommodate.

FWIW, I’ve been editing in Blender some of my old models and I just can’t get over how bad the topology is coming out of SketchUp. I now better understand why decent booleans and fillets are not a part of the standard product."

Oh yes, noone is agitating here… :crazy_face::face_with_monocle:
My personal view: since i tried blender 2.49 and 2.8:

  • eye unfriendly color of the UI out of the box -called dark theme without any contrast (light gray letters on a bit darker light gray background…)
  • usability is worst and not easy to learn compared to sketchup
  • overloaded UI with tons of useless functions
    I have more success in learning sketchup as in blender. Mostly caused by the useless GUI and tutorials witch are no longer valid due changes on the “usability” in every release. Again, its my personal view.