Blender 3D is an excellent tool for building 3D models. It is a free alternative to professional 3D modelling softwares like 3DS MAX and MAYA. I personally found it to be easier to use and more efficient than 3DS MAX. Its shortcuts are easier to remember and the workflow is much more streamlined than 3DS MAX.
There are plethora of superbly written tutorials out there on Blender3D so I am not going to go into that. People who are interested in some tutorials can look at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Subject:Blender_3D
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~kapu/
And here is one simple scene that I composed in blender3D. The UV Unwrap was done in a hurry, so the checkered map did not align very well. But I focused mainly on the radiosity blend of the raytraced lighting.
There are plethora of superbly written tutorials out there on Blender3D so I am not going to go into that. People who are interested in some tutorials can look at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Subject:Blender_3D
I would start with a list of useful keyboard shortcuts which makes the Blender3D experience all the more enjoyable. The following are not a complete list of keyboard shortcuts for Blender3D but they are most useful ones in my opinion.
BLENDER shortcuts
Manipulate view
select -> right click
pan : middle mouse + shift
zoom middle + ctrl
rotate view : middle click + drag
select multiple object : shift + right click
or press b -> then draw a rectangle around them.
join multiple object : ctrl + J -> merge
to injoin or unmerge : select object -> goto edit mode TAB -> P -> split by material and split by loose parts.
move object -> select . g to grab. then just move the crusor.
Objects
add objects -> space -> add -> mesh -> cube etc.
Transform
Shift+D on a selected object in object mode will duplicate it. Shift+D in edit mode will duplicate the selected verticies in the same object.
e = extrude
s = scale
s x = scale along x -axis
e x = extrude along x-axis
etc. e y , e z , s y , s z
object mode editmode switch = tab
always extrude edges otherwise wireframe do not render to solid
editing (F9) -> set smooth , set solid to remove blockines while rendering ...
TEXTURING
add material
F5 -> link to object -> add new
add texture
texture -> add new
map input -> UV
click bimage of texture after the sphere (small icons) -> texture -> add new -> image
goto the last tab -> load image
UV unwrap -> tiling ... ]
right-click divider -> split
set view mode of right window to UV
goto left window
select object -> editmode tab-> u -> unwrap
goto UV window -> scale the object so that the texture wraps around it .
Useful resource
And here is one simple scene that I composed in blender3D. The UV Unwrap was done in a hurry, so the checkered map did not align very well. But I focused mainly on the radiosity blend of the raytraced lighting.
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