The Mushroom

Welcome back, everyone! Today, we'll be discussing a new Blender project *drum roll* THE MUSHROOM. And this isn't one of your ordinary mushrooms, folks. We're making A SUPER MARIO MUSHROOM! Hopefully .__. I have yet to finish the project so I hope it'll turn out great. (Praying that my Blender skills get me a legit looking Super Mario Mushroom)

With that, let us begin! And no, this will not be an interview because Jim is already on Spring Break. Lucky.

Question numero uno:
What are the following: Triangle Fan, XYZ Points, UV Points, UV Wrap, UV Image Editor?

- Triangle Fan: This was added to our cylinder to change its top, making it easier to distort and manipulate. The new top had triangular faces that all met at one point. Later, we used this Triangle Fan to create our mushroom's cap.

- XYZ Points: XYZ points are used for 3D objects. Obviously, with a 3D mushroom, we had to change these points to 0 so our mushroom would look more authentic.

- UV Points: I have come to believe that this is XYZ's alter ego. UV points are used when you convert a 3D object to a 2D image. In fact, we did this - which, by the way, was pretty legit to me. I won't spoil it for you so don't worry! That part is coming soon.

- UV Wrap: Wow, this basically dismantled our object in another window (Again, I will not spoil it). This part scared the fudge out of me! I thought I lost the object. Anywho, UV Wrap dismantles your object in "said window" so you can see the whole object! It's just that the parts are all splayed out like a dinner table on Thanksgiving.

- UV Image Editor: THIS is "said window"! We used this to convert our 3D object into an image, thus creating those UV points. And, we manipulated this object through this editor by messing around with the UV Wrap.

Awesome looking mushroom in the process!

Question #2:
How do you use the lamp? Like really, how?

- First of all, Blender must be open and you MUST be at the part I'm talking about. From there, you can start placing your lamps! Simply, switch on over to Object mode, hover your mouse pointer on the right screen (literally the right screen), and hold down Shift + A. There, you'll see some options. Go down to lamp, and select the "point" lamp. You can put as many as you want!

Question of all Questions:
What are two methods of wrapping you used in creating this model?

- Like everyone else, I used Smart UV and Cylinder Projection. According to wiki.blender.org, Smart UV "breaks the mesh into islands based on an angle threshold". Cylinder Projection, on the other hand, "projects UVs onto a cylindrical surface" (I mean, that was pretty obvious. The name was derived from it)

That's all for today, folks!