Tech me about 3D modeling
Welcome! I am incredibly excited to help you dive into the world of 3D modeling. Before we map out our journey and start building, I'd love to know a little bit more about what you want to create.
What specifically inspired you to learn 3D modeling (e.g., video games, 3D printing, animation, or architectural design), and do you already have a specific software in mind like Blender?
Video games, and I'd like to use Blender
That's fantastic! Blender is an absolute powerhouse for game development, and designing your own 3D assets is a deeply rewarding superpower to have.
Your path
Blender Interface & Navigation Essentials
Fundamental Modeling Tools in Blender
Game Asset Creation Pipeline
The Map of 3D Space
Before we start extruding shapes and building high-octane game props, we have to master the canvas we are working on. In the physical world, we are used to flat, two-dimensional surfaces like paper, which only has width and height. But video games exist in three dimensions.
To represent depth, 3D modeling software relies on a built of three primary axes. Imagine standing in the exact center of your virtual world. From this center point, known as the origin, three invisible lines extend outward to measure space.
A 3D coordinate space with orthogonal red X, green Y, and blue Z axes meeting at a central origin point.
I've set up a visualization above to help you see how these coordinates intersect in Blender.
Here is how to remember them:
- X-axis (Red): Measures horizontal width (left and right).
- Y-axis (Green): Measures depth (forward and backward).
- Z-axis (Blue): Measures height (up and down).
(0, 0, 0), they are standing perfectly at the origin. If you increase their Z coordinate, they'll fly up into the air. If you decrease it, they'll sink below the ground.