
Welcome to the first tutorial of the Low-Poly Modeling for Beginners series. In this tutorial, we will be modeling a low-poly compass.
Blender Reference Manual – https://docs.blender.org/manual/ja/dev/index.html
Blender Hotkeys Reference – https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.4/Reference/Hotkeys/All
HOUSING
- Change the Renderer to Cycles
- Go into Orthographic View (5 on the Numpad) and Front View (1 on the Numpad)
- Select the Cube and delete it (X)
- Add a Cylinder (SHIFT + A)
- Resize the Cylinder along the X-Axis (S + X + 4)
- Resize the Cylinder along the Y-Axis (S + Y + 4)
- Go into the Top View (7 on the Numpad)
- Tab into Edit Mode
- Go into Face Mode (CTRL + TAB)
- Select the top face of the Cylinder
- Inset the face (I + 0.1)
- Go into Front View (1 on the Numpad) and Wireframe Mode (Z)
- Extrude the face down along the Z-Axis (E + -1)
- Go back into Solid Mode (Z)
DECORATION
- Add a Cube (SHIFT + A)
- Go into the Top View (7 on the Numpad)
- Resize the Cube along the Z-Axis (S + Z + 0.1)
- Resize the Cube along the X-Axis (S + X + 0.3)
- Resize the Cube along the Y-Axis (S + Y + 3)
- Go into Edge Mode (CTRL + TAB)
- Add a horizontal Edge Loop (CTRL + R) in the center of the Cube
- Select the right and left top edges of the Cube
- Merge the edges in the center (ALT + M)
- Select the right and left bottom edges of the Cube
- Merge the edges in the center (ALT + M)
- Select the Cube (L) and duplicate it (SHIFT + D + ENTER)
- Rotate the duplicated Cube around the Z-Axis 90o (R + Z + 90)
- Select both Cubes (L)
- Duplicate the two Cubes (SHIFT + D + ENTER)
- Rotate the Cubes around the Z-Axis 45o (R + Z + 45)
- Resize the duplicated Cubes (S + 0.8)
NEEDLE HOLDER
- Go into the Front View (1 on the Numpad)
- Add a Cylinder (SHIFT + A)
- Go into Wireframe Mode (Z)
- Resize the Cylinder along the X-Axis (S + X + 0.1)
- Resize the Cylinder along the Y-Axis (S + Y + 0.1)
- Resize the Cylinder along the Z-Axis (S + Z + 0.3)
DIRECTION
- Go into Solid Mode (Z)
- Add a Cube (SHIFT + A)
- Resize the Cube along the Z-Axis (S + Z + 0.1)
- Go into the Top View (7 on the Numpad)
- Resize the Cube along the X-Axis (S + X + 0.05)
- Resize the Cube along the Y-Axis (S + Y + 0.2)
- Move the Cube to the top of the compass
- Duplicate the Cube (SHIFT + D + ENTER)
- Move the duplicated Cube to the right of the original Cube about 2/10 of a Blender Unit
- Duplicate the Cube (SHIFT + D + ENTER)
- Rotate the duplicated Cube around the Z-Axis 45o (R + Z + 45)
- Move the duplicated Cube between the two original Cubes to form the letter “N”
- Select all three sections of the letter (L) and center them
NEEDLE
- Go into the Top View (7 on the Numpad) and add a Cube (SHIFT + A)
- Resize the Cube along the Z-Axis (S + Z + 0.05)
- Resize the Cube along the X-Axis (S + X + 0.3)
- Resize the Cube along the Y-Axis (S + Y + 3.5)
- Move the Cube up along the Z-Axis until it is about 90% of the way up the middle Cylinder
- Go into Edge Mode (CTRL + TAB)
- Add a horizontal Edge Loop (CTRL + R) in the center of the Cube
- Add a vertical Edge Loop (CTRL + R) in the center of the Cube
- Select the right and left top edges of the Cube
- Merge the edges in the center (ALT + M)
- Select the right and left bottom edges of the Cube
- Merge the edges in the center (ALT + M)
- Select the entire Cube (L) and rotate it around the Z-Axis 10o (R + Z + 10)
GLASS
- Select the inner ring of the Housing (ALT + RIGHT-CLICK)
- Fill in this section (F)
- Separate this new face from the rest of the compass (P > SELECTION)
- Deselect everything (A)
- Select the new face in the Outline (Cylinder.001) and Tab back into Edit Mode
- Go into the Materials Tab and click on the New button
- Click on Surface (the small circle to the right of “Diffuse BSDF” and select Glass BSDF
- Change the IOR to 1.2
LAMP
- Tab into Object Mode
- Select the Lamp and change it to a Sun Lamp (Lamp Tab)
- Change the Size to 0.5
- Move the Lamp so the center of the Lamp is above and centered over the compass
COLOR
- Hide the glass in the Outliner (click on the eyeball next to Cylinder.001)
- Select the compass and Tab into Edit Mode
- Go into Face Mode (CTRL + TAB)
- Open the Materials Tab and click on the New button
- Assign the default material to the entire compass
- Click the Plus Button and the New Button and change the color to a dark gray (#525252)
- Click the Plus Button and the New Button and change the color to a lighter gray (#a0a0a0)
- Click the Plus Button and the New Button and change the color to a light green (#70c24b)
- Click the Plus Button and the New Button and change the color to a bright red (#e71800)
- Click the Plus Button and the New Button and change the color to a white (#ffffff)
- Select the top faces and the very bottom face
- Select the dark gray material and click Assign
- Select the rest of the housing and the needle holder
- Select the lighter gray material and click Assign
- Select the decorations
- Select the light green material and click Assign
- Select the top of the needle
- Select the bright red and click Assign
- Select the “N” and the bottom of the needle
- Select the white and click Assign