# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Modeling a Gingerbread Man

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In this tutorial you will learn how to make a simple gingerbread man. In
a later tutorial you will be able to make an animation with this
gingerbread man.

In this tutorial we will tie together everything we\'ve talked about up
to this point, including extruding, subdividing and rendering, and throw
in basic lighting.

## Modeling

First, start Blender. You should see the usual top view of a cube in the
3D window, surrounded by a grid \'floor\'.

:   Review--- Zoom in or out with **SCROLL** or **CTRL+MMB**. Pan with
    **SHIFT+SCROLL** and **CTRL+SCROLL**. Make sure you are in
    orthographic view. Press **NUM5** to toggle between orthographic
    view and perspective view. You can tell you\'re looking at an
    orthographic view while looking down from the top (**NUM7**) of the
    cube: wherever you pan the window, you never see any part of the
    cube except the top.

-   Display editing controls in the buttons window by clicking on the
    Editing context button ![](Editing.png "Editing.png") or by pressing
    **F9**.

### Adding Vertices

-   Select the cube by clicking **RMB** on it. (It may already be
    selected.) Remember, selected objects are outlined in pink.
-   Switch from object mode to edit mode by pressing **TAB**, which
    toggles between object and edit modes. In edit mode, at first,
    you\'ll see colored dots at the vertices of the cube. Selected
    vertices are highlighted in yellow. Unselected vertices are pink.
    (You\'ll see the dots when editing in vertex select mode. In edge
    select or face select mode, you\'ll see colored edges and faces
    instead.)
-   Select all vertices of the cube. Press **AKEY** once. If the
    vertices are yellow, you\'ve selected all of them. If they are pink,
    you\'ve deselected all of them. If necessary, press **AKEY** again
    so that all vertices are selected/yellow.

![](BlenderCubeEdit.png "BlenderCubeEdit.png")

-   Subdivide the faces of the cube, using any of the following methods.
    (All vertices of the cube should still be selected.)
    -   Click the Subdivide button in the Mesh Tools panel in the
        buttons window.
    -   With the mouse pointer in the 3D window --
        -   Press **WKEY** to display the Specials menu, then choose
            Subdivide.
        -   Press **SPACE** to display the toolbox, then choose Edit →
            Edges → Subdivide.
    -   Click the 3D window\'s Mesh menu, and choose Edges → Subdivide.
-   Your cube now has more vertices. **Subdividing** edges adds vertices
    so you can create more complex shapes.

![](BlenderSubdividedCube.png "BlenderSubdividedCube.png")

### Selecting a Subset of Vertices

We\'ll select six vertices on the upper half of one side of our cube,
where we\'ll extrude an arm.

-   Deselect all vertices by pressing **AKEY**.
-   View the cube from the front (**NUM1**).
-   Select the six vertices on the top half of the left side of the cube
    (see below) using one of the following methods.
    -   Press **BKEY** and drag a rectangle around the top left and
        middle left vertices (viewing from the front).
    -   Press **CKEY** to see a circle around your mouse pointer.
        **SCROLL** to change the size of the circle. Position the circle
        around the top left and middle left vertices, together or one at
        a time, and click **LMB**. Click **RMB** to finish.

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-   Take a closer look at the selected vertices by viewing the model
    from a different angle (drag with **MMB**).
-   If you find that you have only selected two vertices and not six,
    make sure the \"Occlude Background Geometry\" button is off. That
    button is the right-most of the selection mode buttons, below.
    (It\'s called \"Limit selection to visible\" in Blender 2.45 and
    earlier. It doesn\'t appear if Blender is drawing in wireframe
    style.) Try selecting the vertices again.

![](BlenderSelectionModesInSolidMode.png "BlenderSelectionModesInSolidMode.png")

-   If you still selected just two vertices, change to a wireframe
    drawing by pressing **ZKEY**, which toggles between wireframe and
    solid drawing types. Try selecting again.
-   Yet another way to select the six vertices is to select the two
    faces they define. Click the Face Select button from the selection
    mode buttons (above), or press **CTRL+TAB** to display a Select Mode
    menu and choose Faces. Rotate the cube to view the left side and
    click **RMB** in the center of one of the two upper faces. Hold
    **SHIFT** and click **RMB** in the center of the other upper face.

![](BlenderGingerBreadManExtrudedCube3D.png "BlenderGingerBreadManExtrudedCube3D.png")

### Extruding Arms

-   View from the front by pressing **NUM1**.
-   Extrude the selected vertices/faces by pressing **EKEY** to display
    an Extrude menu, then choosing Region. Hold **CTRL** to snap your
    position to the grid, then move your mouse left to put the new
    vertices on the adjacent gray line of the grid one unit to the left.
    Click **LMB**.
-   Repeat so that your model looks like below (from front view,
    **NUM1**).

![](ExtrudedCube1.png "ExtrudedCube1.png")

-   Deselect all vertices/faces with **AKEY**.
-   Perform the same extrusion on the right side of the cube, selecting
    six vertices and extruding twice as explained above.
-   The gingerbread man\'s arms are in place, as in the illustrations
    below.

```{=html}
<center>
```
![](ExtrudedCube2.png "ExtrudedCube2.png")  ![](BlenderGingerBreadManExtrudedCube3D.png "BlenderGingerBreadManExtrudedCube3D.png")

```{=html}
</center>
```
### Extruding Legs

-   Make sure all vertices are unselected, using **AKEY** once or twice.
-   View from the front (**NUM1**).
-   Select the six vertices on the left half of the cube\'s bottom.
    Extrude them downward to a point in between the first and second
    heavier gray lines beneath the cube. (The gray lines in the grid
    represent Blender units.) Holding down **CTRL**, the extruded region
    may snap to the heavier gray lines---hold down **CTRL+SHIFT** and
    the region will snap to tenths of Blender units. Click **LMB** to
    finish.
-   An alternative to positioning the extrusion with the mouse is simply
    typing the distance. Enter 1.5 to extrude 1 1/2 units out. On a Mac,
    enter the number 1, press fn with the key that is right under
    **LKEY** and **MKEY** on Azerty (the one with /:,), and press the
    number 5.

```{=html}
<center>
```
![](BlenderGingerbreadManLeftLeg01.png "BlenderGingerbreadManLeftLeg01.png")  ![](BlenderGingerbreadManLeftLeg02.png "BlenderGingerbreadManLeftLeg02.png")

```{=html}
</center>
```
-   Extrude the same region again, to the third gray line (1.5 again).
    It should look like this:

![](BlenderExtrudedLeg.png "BlenderExtrudedLeg.png")

-   Shift the lower leg to the outside as follows.
    -   Select the bottom 12 vertices of the leg (which look like 4 from
        front view), using **BKEY**.
    -   Grab the selection with **GKEY**. Press **XKEY** to limit
        movement to the x axis. Move the vertices to the left by half a
        square, holding **CTRL** or **CTRL+SHIFT** to snap to the grid,
        and click **LMB**.

```{=html}
<center>
```
![](Oneleg-ginger.png "Oneleg-ginger.png")  ![](BlenderGingerBreadManOneLegGinger3D.png "BlenderGingerBreadManOneLegGinger3D.png")

```{=html}
</center>
```
-   Create a second leg on the right side, in the same fashion.

![](twoleg-ginger.png "twoleg-ginger.png")

### Dropping the Groin

Lengthen the groin (where the two legs join):

-   Deselect all vertices by pressing **AKEY**.
-   Select the 3 vertices at the groin (which look like 1 from front
    view), using **BKEY**.
-   Grab the vertices by pressing **GKEY**. Press **ZKEY** to limit
    movement to the z axis. Move the vertices down 1/2 of a square, or
    type -0.5 to specify the distance. (Older versions of Blender
    require **NKEY** before typing -0.5.)

```{=html}
<center>
```
![](twoleg-ginger-pulled.png "twoleg-ginger-pulled.png")  ![](BlenderTwoLegsGingerPulled3D.png "BlenderTwoLegsGingerPulled3D.png")

```{=html}
</center>
```
### Adding a Head

-   Switch the 3D window from Edit mode back to Object mode by pressing
    **TAB**.

Noob Note: I found it easier to remain in edit mode while creating the
cube as this makes the cube part of the original mesh. This allows you
to add the subsurf to all parts at once.

-   Click **RMB** on the object to select it then press **SHIFT + SKEY**
    and select *Cursor → Selection*. This will make sure the cube
    you\'ll add next will be near where you want it.

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-   Press **SPACE** and put your mouse on the mesh option and select
    cube. In others versions, you can also hit **SPACE** and , in the
    menu that comes up, choose *Add → Mesh → Cube*.

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-   Press **GKEY** and put your new cube about 1/3 of the way down the
    neck (to achieve this, you can press **GKEY** and **ZKEY** : enter
    1.33).

![](twoleg-ginger-head.png "twoleg-ginger-head.png")

Now we will make it look more like a ginger bread man by making it
thinner.

-   Select all with **AKEY**.

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-   Go to side view with **NUM3**.

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```
-   Press **SKEY** for scale and press **YKEY** for Y-axis and then move
    your mouse to the middle until it is about 0.3 (use **CTRL** for
    fixed values).

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-   Remember X-axis is the Red arrow/line, Y-axis is the Green one, and
    Z-axis is Blue (like RGB video mode).

center

-   Use the **MMB** to spin the view around and examine your handiwork.

At this point, it doesn\'t look entirely like a gingerbread man, does
it? It\'s a bit too \... chunky. For the last bit, we\'ll smooth it out.

-   Make sure you\'ve selected the body in object mode.

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-   Select the editing panel in the buttons window (or hit **F9**).

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-   In the Modifiers tab, Add a \"Subsurf\" modifier.

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```
-   Set the level of the subdivisions to 2, and the number of render
    levels to 3.

**Noob question: When I add the cube for the head, it stops me from
being able to edit the body - it will only select the head to apply
subsurf to, even if the body looks like it\'s selected!**

**Answer: When you created the cube you made a second object. To select
a different object, press tab to enter Object mode. Select the body.
Then enter edit mode again if you want to edit the body.**

-   You can press the **ZKEY** to switch back and forth between
    wire-frame view and solid view.

```{=html}
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```
-   (Noob Note: Easiest way to really get a feel for what is going on in
    the 3d world is to split into four screens and setting each one to
    **NUM7**, **NUM3**, **NUM1**, and **NUM0** to see all angles and
    what it will look like at render.)

**Noob Question: *How?***

**Answer: To split an area move the cursor to an area between two
current areas (e.g. between the 3D view and the buttons), when you see
the double ended arrow (used to move the divide) click RMB and select
*Split Area*, you will then see a line appear dividing the area in two.
Move this to where you want the divide and click LMB.**

-   In the \'Link and Materials\' section, select \'Set Smooth\'.

**Noob question: Where? Assuming this refers to the \'Materials\'
section on the \'Properties\' window, there is no \'Smooth\' setting.**

*(Note that here I had the same problem as before, with superposed
vertices. Select all vertices, then press **WKEY** and select*Remove
Doubles*to clean your model. You will see that it will look much better
after removing the extra vertices with Remove Doubles)*
center

-   Press the **ZKEY** to return to wire-frame view.

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-   Now repeat the process above to smooth the head.

center

Looks a lot more like a gingerbread man now, doesn\'t it?

## Camera Positioning and Rendering

This guide will show you how to intuitively get the best frame of your
3D scene with no effort!

-   Press **TAB** for Object view mode.
-   Press **NUM0** to get the Camera View.
-   Select the camera by clicking **RMB** on the outermost rectangle.
-   Press **GKEY** and move your mouse to adjust the position of the
    camera (**XKEY**, **YKEY**, **ZKEY** and **CTRL** may be useful
    here).
-   In addition, you can press **NUM7** to get the Top View and press
    **RKEY** to rotate the camera to the best angle.
-   After you are happy with the position, press **F12** to render it.

If your render comes out a little dark, try moving the lamp closer to
the gingerbread man.

Noob note: Another way to move around the camera is pressing **SHIFT +
FKEY** after pressing **NUM0** to enter Fly mode. The keys for fly mode
appear in the header of the 3D view pane.

Noob note: **Ctrl+Alt+NUM0** \"teleports\" the camera to your 3d view.

![](BlenderGingerRender.png "BlenderGingerRender.png")

Noob Note: By pressing X, Y or Z twice you will use a local base of the
space, with those it\'s much easier. For example if you are facing the Z
axis from 45 degrees, and you want to go left 1 unit, using the global
base, you will have to go 1.72 (around sqrt(2)) along X and the same
along Y, instead moving by 1 in the local frame of reference.

## Applying Textures

\
This builds on the previous guide: Modeling a
Volcano.\
\
Note: It seems that textures can only be applied to one object at a
time, so this must be done twice (i.e. The head and body are two
separate objects.) The settings that were chosen can successfully be
applied to each object for a consistent result. Some settings can not be
applied equally for consistent results.

N00b Note: if you join the 2 objects before applying the textures you do
not have to do the process 2 times, just select the 2 objects, CTRL+J
and the accept\
\
\*In \"Object Mode,\" select the body (or the head.)

-   Press **F5** to open the shading panel or use the shading panel
    button.
-   In the \"Links and Pipeline\" panel, under \"Link to Object,\" click
    \"Add New.\"

![](LinksPipeAddNew.png "LinksPipeAddNew.png")

-   Press **F6** to open the \"Texture Buttons\" panel or use the
    textures button.
-   In the \"Texture\" panel, click \"Add New.\"

![](TextureAddNew.png "TextureAddNew.png")

-   Change the \"Texture Type\" to \"Stucci.\"

![](StucciType.png "StucciType.png")

-   In the new \"Stucci\" panel, change \"Noise Size\" to something near
    0.025 and leave the \"Turbulence\" at 5.00.

![](SizeTurbulence.png "SizeTurbulence.png")\
Note: When finished with this section of the guide, come back to this
panel and try different combinations of \"Plastic,\" \"Wall In,\" \"Wall
Out,\" and \"Soft Noise\" / \"Hard Noise.\" Press **F12** to render
after each change to see the effect.\
\
\*Press **F5** again or use the \"Material\" button directly on the left
of the \"Texture\" button. Then look for the \"Map To\" panel.
![](LookForMapTo.png "LookForMapTo.png")

-   In the \"Map To\" panel, deselect \"Col*\[or\]*\" and select
    \"Nor*\[mal\]*.\" and change the \"Nor\" Value to approximately
    1.30.
-   In the \"Map Input\" panel, change the texture coordinates to
    \"Object\" by clicking the corresponding button.
-   In the \"Material\" panel, change the \"R*\[ed\]*\" slider to
    approximately 0.400 and the \"G*\[reen\]*\" slider to approximately
    half that, about 0.200. Blue can be set at 0.00.

![](MapToChange.png "MapToChange.png")
![](MapInputChange.png "MapInputChange.png")
![](MaterialChangePreview.png "MaterialChangePreview.png")\
Note: While it is true that textures can only be applied to one object
at a time, textures as well as materials can be shared between objects.
In this case it is best to let both the head and the body share the same
material.\
\*To do this, simply select the object without the materials(head or
body).

-   Press **F5** to open the shading panel or use the shading panel
    button.
-   In the \"Links and Pipeline\" panel, under \"Link to Object,\" click
    the arrow next to(left of) the \"Add New\" button.
-   Select the brown material.

\
The steps in this section give a nicely textured, brown surface to the
\"Gingerbread.\"

![](BlenderGingerTexturedRender.png "BlenderGingerTexturedRender.png")

Now all you need to do is add eyes and gumdrop buttons!

