# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Penguins from spheres

|previous=Modeling a volcano
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Note: Some Pictures are outdated.

## Setup

Start with the default
scene: it should
contain a selected cube. Delete this cube by pressing
 → *Delete*.

![](Blender_3D-cursor.png "Blender_3D-cursor.png") Put the 3D cursor at
the scene center by pressing
+.

:   ***Note:** after deleting the cube you must be in*Object Mode*. If
    not, Press CTRL-Z and switch with 
    and redo the operation.*

## Creating the body

!Z-scaled sphere

**Noob note:** to ensure that you don\'t become confused, make sure that
your viewport is set up in the same direction you see in these pictures.
The colored arrows are red, green, and blue and they control the *x*,
*y*, and *z* axes, respectively.)

-   We start by creating our main body from a sphere. Press
    + *→
    Mesh → UVSphere*, then choose 16 segments and 16 rings.

We\'re going to make it look like a penguin body:

-   Press  to enter Edit mode
-   press  to switch to the front view,
-   with all the vertices selected (if not,
    ), choose the scale tool
    (),
-   restrict scaling to the Z-axis (),
-   and move the mouse away from the 3D cursor while holding down the
     key (this snaps the scale values
    to whole numbers),
    -   \'**\'Note:** Make sure the mouse cursor is not too far away
        from the sphere when hitting the 
        or else you may not be able to reach a 2.000 scale value. The
        scaling steps are proportional to the distance from the 3D
        cursor when calling the scale tool.
-   the current scale shows in the lower left corner of the viewport,
    click when you\'ve reached 2.000 ).
    -   ***Note:** You can also do this by typing in 2 after starting
        the scale and restricting movement to the Z-axis*: S -\> Z -\> 2

This is our main body!

## Shaping the head

We're going to shape the penguin head from the top of the sphere.

![](Blender3D_Limit_selection_to_visible.png "Blender3D_Limit_selection_to_visible.png"){width="200"}
Start by selecting the top-most single vertex as well as the top two
smallest circle segments.

:   ***Note:** Selection has been explained in a previous
    tutorial.
    Here, the easiest methods are either box selection
    ) in the front view
    ) and*Limit selection to
    visible*off, or lasso selection
    (+)
    in the top view () and*Limit
    selection to visible\'\' on. You can also switch to top view, center
    your mouse on the topmost vertex and use the circle tool. Don\'t
    forget to deselect all first ()

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:   **Noob note:** You can also select the top vertex and press
    +
    twice to select the circle segments.

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:   **Noob note:** Make sure the *Limit selection to visible/Occlude
    background geometry* button is in the right state each time you
    select vertices, edges or faces. When it\'s off, selection affects
    any item, visible or not.\'\'

### Building the neck with the 3D transform manipulators

To turn on the 3D transform manipulator, either push down its button
![](Blender_Handicon.png "Blender_Handicon.png") or use
+ and
choose *Enable/Disable*.

#### Moving the two selected circles up

![](Blenderpenguin2a.png "Blenderpenguin2a.png"){width="200"} Go to the
front view (). Drag the blue arrow
while holding the  key down to move the
selected vertices 0.3 units up.

:   **Noob note:** you may not be able to snap the extrusion lengths to
    tenths of units.  snaps to the grid
    size by default: if you can only translate by one unit (1.0), zoom
    in until the grid divides itself into tenths (**SCROLL**). Some
    Blender versions allow to snap to one tenth of the current step by
    holding both the  and
     keys while moving the mouse.

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:   **Noob note:** instead of the *Transform* manipulator, you can use
    the  and constraint the movement to
    the Z axis ().\'\'

#### Rotating the neck

![](Blenderpenguin2b.png "Blenderpenguin2b.png"){width="200"} Now switch
to the side view () and make sure that
the rotation/pivot point is set to \"median point\" either by selecting
it from the third drop down menu right of the \"Mesh\" menu, or by
pressing  +
. Choose the *Rotate* tool
(). Move the mouse with the
 key down to rotate the selection 30
degrees counter-clockwise. Use  to
validate the rotation.

![](Blenderpenguin2c.png "Blenderpenguin2c.png"){width="200"} Select an
additional ring of vertices by expanding the selection
( + 
(*Note:*NUM+*Refers to the addition symbol on the NUM Pad,*KEY+*will not
do.*). You can contract the selection by pressing
 + .
Move these vertices an additional 0.3 units up, then rotate them as
previously 30 degrees counter-clockwise in the side view.

![](Blenderpenguin3c_-_2.png "Blenderpenguin3c_-_2.png"){width="180"}
Repeat those steps (selection expansion, translation and rotation) two
more times and you\'ll end up with the body seen in the below.

That doesn't really look like a penguin, yet! 

![](Blenderpenguin3c.png "Blenderpenguin3c.png"){width="200"}

Now move all of the selected vertices to the left 0.4 units by pulling
the manipulator\'s green arrow (and of course holding the
 key down). This straightens out the
neck as seen in the next picture.

:   **Noob note:** you can also use the 
    and translate the selection by -0.4 as displayed in the bottom left
    corner of the viewport. Still do this in the side view
    ().

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:   **Noob note** if you had to pull the red arrow, not the green one,
    then you probably didn\'t switch to side view, and modeled the neck
    in front view. If you realize here that you have this done from
    another view then press AKEY twice, then NUM7, then Space -\>
    Transform -\> Rotate and type 90 or 270

#### Creating the beak

![](Blenderpenguin4b.png "Blenderpenguin4b.png"){width="180"} Switch to
the front view (), and select the
frontmost vertex (the one that originally was the top vertex of the
sphere) with the . Then switch to the
side view () and translate this vertex
to the left by 1.2 units using the manipulator\'s green arrow or the
translate tool.

:   ***Note:** some Blender versions allow moving the vertices from the
    keyboard with the following sequence:
    , ,
    -1.2, .*\

The main body of the penguin is now finished. The next step is to create
some flappers for the poor little guy.

## Extruding the wings

We are going to create the wings by extruding faces on each side of the
penguin.

:   **Noob Note:** You can rotate the whole object by pressing A to
    select all of its vertex and then rotate it pressing R or using the
    Rotate Manipulator until the axis on your screen matches the axis on
    the example image. That way, also, you can practice a little more.

![](Penguin_from_sphere_-_wing_start.png "Penguin_from_sphere_-_wing_start.png"){width="200"}
Choose the side view () and switch to
the *Face select mode*
(+ →
*Faces*, or click on the orange-sided cube icon in the toolbar).


![](Blenderpenguin5b.png "Blenderpenguin5b.png"){width="200"} Now,
select two faces that will make up the penguin's shoulder as shown on
the right (either select the first one with
 and the second one holding
, or use box selection
() to select them both in a single
operation). 

!Wing extrusion{width="200"}
Then switch to front view () and
extrude the selection:

-   choose  → *Region*,
-   constrain to the X axis (),
-   hold  to snap,
-   and move the mouse to extrude the shoulder by 0.2 to 0.3 units.

!Bottom face
selection{width="200"}
We\'ll now extrude the bottom face of this new extrusion. Rotate the
view to show it with:

-   a  drag,
-   or several presses on ,
-   or
    +
    (bottom view).

Press the  to deselect all, and select the
bottom face (), switch to front view
(), extrude by 1.4 units down
( and ).

Now do the same on the penguin\'s other side: use
+ to
view the left side (you can also rotate with
, or press
 several times).

## Smoothing the wings

We're going to smooth out the shoulders and improve the wings. Though
this can be done in many ways, we\'ll only use the merge tool.

![](Blenderpenguin4-04.png "Blenderpenguin4-04.png"){width="200"}

Rotate your penguin so that you can see one shoulder from above. Then
switch to *Vertex select mode*
(+ →
*Vertices*). Press  to deselect all, then
select the two shoulder vertices with 
and .

Press
+,
choose *At Center* from the popup in order to merge the two vertices at
their center. Finally dismiss the message saying *Removed 1 Vertices*.

!Edges to
smooth{width="250"}
Repeat the steps with the two other vertex pairs shown on the right
picture, and smooth the other wing. I'm leaving the middle segments for
now, else the wing tips will be too pointy.

:   ***Note:** if you have troubles merging vertices, it comes from
    vertex duplicates in your mesh. You probably chose*Individual
    Faces*instead of*Region*when extruding the wings, which creates
    duplicate vertices and neighbouring faces. To clean up your model:
    select all vertices () and choose
     →*Remove Doubles*.*

You must do them one by one!

Or, Alternatively, change into *Edge select mode*
(+ →
*Edge*), select the edges to smooth
(+),
press
+,
choose *Collapse*

![](Blenderpenguin6b.png "Blenderpenguin6b.png"){width="200"}

Finish off the wings by selecting the two backmost vertices of the
wings, and moving them up using the blue arrow by 0.1 unit.

!Wings
complete{width="200"}

You should now have something like this:

## Cutting the underside

![](Blenderpenguin5-01.png "Blenderpenguin5-01.png"){width="200"}
![](Blenderpenguin7.png "Blenderpenguin7.png"){width="200"} We\'re going
to cut the penguin\'s lower end, for it to stand up! Select the bottom
vertices (bottom vertex and the first ring above it) as shown in the
picture. There are many ways, this is left as an exercise.

Once they\'re selected, delete them ( →
*Vertices*). Now our penguin is hollow: select all the vertices around
the hole, and fill it using
+.

:   **Noob note:** To quickly select all the vertices around the hole,
    you can enter edge mode
    +-\>
    \"Edges\", and then select one edge that goes around the hole. Now
    press **CTRL+E** -\> \"Edge Loop Select\", which should select all
    edges around the hole. Now go back to Vertex select mode and
    continue with
    +.
:   **Noob note:** For Blender 2.56 In vertex select mode and occlude on
    hold down ALT and select one of the vertices all the vertices in the
    ring will be selected.

## Adding the feet

![](Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_feet_start.png "Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_feet_start.png")
The next step is to provide the little guy with feet. To do this, we're
going to extrude two of the front faces:

-   choose the front view (),
-   switch to *Face select mode*,
-   turn on *Limit selection to visible*,
-   and select the face to the left and right of the middle two faces of
    the penguin.

![](Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_feet.png "Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_feet.png")

Then switch to the side view () and
extrude the selection by -0.6 units ( →
*Region*, restrict to the Y axis: ).

![](Blenderpenguin5-05.png "Blenderpenguin5-05.png"){width="190"}

Keep the selection and look for the *Mesh Tools* in the Tool Shelf. If
you can't see it, press  to make the Tool
Shelf visible. Then click on the *Subdivide* button (under Add in the
Tools tab). Or press  and choose
Subdivide.

![](Blenderpenguin5-06.png "Blenderpenguin5-06.png"){width="190"}

Switch to \"Vertex Select Mode\", Now select the three middle vertices
(or two edges) vertically at the tip of each foot, and drag them along
the Y axis by 0.3 units towards the penguin

:   **Note:** if something goes wrong here, you may need to remove
    double first. As always, to move the vertices, either use the
    manipulator or  and
     sequence.\'\'

![](Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_feet_selection.png "Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_feet_selection.png"){width="200"}
You should end up with what\'s shown in the right picture (minus the
selection).

!\|190px The feet look too thick,
let\'s flatten them a bit. Switch to the front view
() and select the two bottom vertex
rows (*Limit selection to visible* off, use either the lasso or box
selection).

!\|190px Then choose the scale tool
(), limit its action to the Z axis
() and scale down by a factor of 0.4.

The feet still look rather peculiar, so please go ahead and move the
vertices around on your own as you like.

\'**\'Reminder:** you can use the  and
restrict movements to the X or Y axis using the
 or . Try
not to move vertices along the Z axis to keep the penguin\'s bottom
flat.

## Extruding a tail

![](Blenderpenguin5-09.png){width="250"}
![](Blenderpenguin5-10.png "Blenderpenguin5-10.png"){width="250"}
![](Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_tail.png "Blender_-_Penguins_to_spheres_-_tail.png"){width="250"}

To complete the penguin, we have to add a tail (the end of the tuxedo):

-   go to the back view
    (+),
-   make sure you\'re still in *Vertex select mode*,
-   and that *Limit selection to visible*/*Occlude background geometry*
    is on.

Select the three middle vertices in the second row up from the bottom.
Then, switch to the side view () and
extrude the edges 0.3 units away from the penguin and 0.08 units down
( → *Edges*), so that the end of the tail
is at the same level as the bottom of the penguin.

**Noob Note:** Or you can extrude the edges 0.3 units away from the
penguin, then 
 -0.08, 
or .

Press +
to save your work!

## Subsurfing

!Now that\'s what I call a penguin. But then again, there are no
penguins where I live, so I might be
wrong.
Go to *Object Mode* (), and make sure
the penguin is selected. Then check for the *Modifiers* toolkit in the
*Buttons* panel. Press *Add Modifier → Subsurf* (or Press
+).

Look at the penguin now, he's much smoother. You can alter the levels of
the subsurfing if you like, but I'll settle for level one. Under the
*Links and Materials* toolkit, you can press the *Set Smooth* button as
well, which makes the penguin really slick.

:   ***Note:** you may see some weird effects at the bottom and the tail
    after subsurfing the penguin. If so, there is an issue with normals:
    they have to be all pointing outwards. This can be achieved by
    selecting all vertices in*Edit Mode*and recalculating the normals
    outside
    (+).
    Click on the message to confirm. Note that
    ++
    will turn the normals inwards and that
     →*Flip Normals\'\' flips them.

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:   \'**\'Question:** The finished penguin looks fine in Object Mode,
    but when I render it, it looks odd. Quite patchy.
:   \'**\'Answer:** Make sure you adjust the \"Render Levels\" parameter
    (directly under \"Levels\") to be greater-or-equal than \"Levels\".

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## Extra

The penguin can be colored or textured, but that will be part of later
tutorials!

Image:Penguin_orbisonitrum.jpg\|This is what the penguin (sans tail)
looks like, textured and ready.
Orbisonitrum

Image:peng.jpg\|The eyes are there, just not easily visible in the
thumb. At the top of the white part, two faces on the chest were
subdivided to give the white more of a curve at the top. The faces were
selected that were going to be white, and the I used separate (**P**) to
make them a different mesh. I used a white material for the chest, black
for the body, and grey uvspheres for the eyes. Apparently, an easier way
to colour the chest can be found at Multiple
Materials*please
feel free to replace this with your own image of the penguin you made,
with comments on how you put your own style into it*

Image:Penguin.jpg\|A pretty basic picture of a penguin. I subdivided the
stomach and eyes, but then I also added some eyeballs by making a
UVSphere, cutting the top of it off, and then placing it inside of my
penguin\'s head. All the colors have specular colors, giving the penguin
a slight blue glow under the black.

