Blender 2.7 Tutorial #58: Extruding a Path & Bezier Curves Video Lecture | Learn and Master: Blender (English) - Professional Skills

welcome to park fifty a new video series
on how to use thunder 2.7 in this video
we show you how to use a Bezier curves
and Bezier handles to make custom shapes
and how to make a cord or a wire with
any custom shape that you like that
actually has thickness let's go ahead
and jump in look at my splash screen
here it if it and we're not gonna be
using meshes pretty much anywhere in
this video so go ahead and I'll click on
X with the cube selected and click on
delete to get rid of that default cube I
will press shift a on my keyboard to
bring up the add menu though but this
time we're not gonna be adding meshes
we're gonna be adding curves now you
might have seen a curve or earlier in
the series when I made a video on how to
make a camera or an object follow up
half like a rollercoaster and I'll put a
link to that video in the top right card
on the screen right now but in that
video I used not Bezier curves but paths
and there is between a path and Bezier
curve is the Messier curve gives you
much more control because of those
Bezier handles but you can set different
types of and really precisely control
the amount of curve or whether or not
each part of the curve or line or shape
as a soft corner or hard corner and what
the slope and angle and the Karina's of
the shape is so under the add menu I'll
add a curve and a Bezier curve and by
default it's not very impressive but if
you press tab to go into edit mode you
actually see a few new things here you
see each end of the line these are
called notes and you see these tangent
lines kind of skimming the edge of the
curved line and these are Bezier handles
and by default of course you can right
click to select the ends of the handles
you can actually press G to move them
around in 3d or of course you can use
your gizmo handles and drag the arrows
around to move around the handles you'll
see that when you move the handles the
curve actually changes and this is how
you can very precisely control the shape
of your line now the best demonstrate
how to actually use the different types
of handles that there are and have a
best
actually make a shape that you want is
not gonna press tab to go back into
object mode I'll press shift a and I'm
gonna add a piece of text and I'll show
you how to duplicate a letter or piece
of text manually using a Bezier curve
itself so with the text object selected
I'll press tab to go into edit mode and
I'll pass backspace a few times and I'll
press shift G will duplicate a G so I'll
press tab to go back into object mode
I'll select the Bezier curve again this
time I'm gonna press 7 to go into my top
view and I'll switch from perspective
into ortho with a 5 key on my keyboard
or of course you can use view and top
and then you purse or that little toggle
between perspective and orthographic
views let's go ahead and with the curve
object selected I'll press tab to go
into edit mode now when you right-click
to select one of these node points you
can tap S and that will make both the
handles at the same time smaller thereby
making the current amount or slope much
less big or curvy and that's great
because most of the corners most of the
points in this G are not very curvy or
don't they don't have much curve coming
away from them except for two big inner
and outer curves so I guess like this
one next to do the same thing I'll tap s
on my keyboard and move my mouse to
scale that inwards and now I'm gonna
move these points of course I can select
each one and press G to match some of
the points on my capital letter G's all
right click it's like this one I'll
press G to grab and I'll move that one
there now you'll notice these arrows or
sort of diagonal lines coming off of
your curve and those are called normals
so purpose and to bring up this side
panel and I scroll down to the bottom I
can actually turn off the normal display
of my curve display right there so now I
can only see the line and by the way if
you're watching this video in low
resolution you might not even see this
line so I don't this is just watching it
in 1080p or 1440p so you can see these
lines on your screen best I'm not gonna
worry too much about the curve this line
right now but I will press G to correct
that just a little bit but I'm gonna
make the rest of my shape too
a longer in line you can select either
end of your line and tap II to extrude
out and they'll actually make more line
and another node or control point so
I'll put that one right there I'll tap
II again to extrude but this time I'm
only gonna put the point at the next
corner so I'm gonna ignore this curve
because that's what the power of these
Bezier curves are for we can make that
curve using these handles and not any
points around the curve I'll tap again
to extrude enough with the next point
right there again to extrude up with the
next one right there II again and II to
extrude one last time
and so we've gone all the way around
except we have a gap between there and
there and we can easily fill that gap by
going to curve and toggle cyclic that
will make sort of a temporary line
between them that you can undo otherwise
you can select both ends and you can go
to curve and make segments with the F
keyboard shortcut and that will fill it
in but in this case I'm just going to
undo that with control Z I'll just
toggle cyclic to get that edge for me
now my curves are really really wrong
here they don't match at all and that's
because I want to show you how to
actually control what types of handles
that you use so I'll press tab to go
back into edit mode I'm gonna select
I'll say that corner right there that
node and I'll press V to go into the set
handle type menu again you select a
control point or a node and you press V
and we're gonna select vector and that
means that at this point when I go to V
and select vector that the handles will
now point in two different directions
and then actually point at the next node
or control point in the curve so now you
can see this handle has pointed towards
this node and this handles point towards
this node and you can select all of your
points in fact I'll press a a few times
select all of my nodes and I'll press V
and change them all into vector points
and as you can see now most of our g
matches but all of the handles now point
to the next one
on the path that's great for most of it
except for of course our two big Kurt's
so if I go ahead and grab by
right-clicking of course that point and
I'll press G to grab it I can now move
that handle independently of the other
handle and I'm gonna pull it way out if
I Kyle zoom out and I'll select this one
and press G as well and pull that one
way out and as you can see we're
actually making these have curves again
I'll press tap to go back into edit mode
I'll do the same thing on the bottom of
the G I'll select this handle I'll press
G to move it around and as you can see
if you can see that on your screen that
inside curve is starting to look like
the inside curve of it G I'll keep going
I'll go back into edit mode I'll zoom in
that's the handle that I need to move so
I'll pull that way out and if I adjust
them and this takes practice by the way
if you're familiar with using vector
graphics programs like Inkscape or adobe
illustrator
you'll be fairly at home here let's keep
going let's see if I can match these
quite precisely there we go I spent that
part of the video up so I could get a
fairly accurate if I press tab to go
back into object mode you can see that I
got fairly accurate G but the curve is
quite jagiya that's because of its
interpolation or resolution so with the
curves selected I can go over to the
properties window and under the object
tab it looks like a triangle when you
have a mess elected but we have a curve
so it looks like that I can change the
resolution of this curve and right now
it's set to 12 so I turned that number
up in fact I'll click in there and type
36 and press Enter
you can see that the G is now much much
more smooth or the path that I made is
much more smooth and that's great I'm
gonna duplicate this path though so I'll
press shift D on my keyboard duplicate
and move this one over here I want to
show you a few more things about these
handle types I'll press tab to go into
edit mode and I'll select this point if
I press V to bring up that set handle
type menu and I select aligned
what that will do is make us so that
each handle is in a straight line with
the other handle on the other side of
the point so if I select this node and
press
viii and then a line you can see that be
and if I move this one around just like
at the beginning of this video this
Bezier handle set is in a straight line
and that will ensure that your curve is
very very smooth all you can make each
side or each handle longer than the
other to make the curve a different
shape on each side but again it'll
always stay in a straight line with the
aligned type if I select that note again
and I press of V if I select free that
connects similarly although now if I
select each handle and move it around
you can actually make a corner or a
point this way so I can make each
direction of the curve from this point
be rounded but also move in a different
direction from the other ones will not
be a smooth curve necessarily but you
can make a corner this way if I select
that note again I press V again and I
select vector this time again it'll
point each handle independently so not
in a straight line at the next node or
control point in the curve so this
handle points to this control point and
way down here this handle pointed at
this control point which tends to work
better if you don't have a curve like in
all of these cases we have all these
unknowns set to vector type if you want
to quickly switch between handle types
if I select this one you can press V and
then you can press a or V or F or a so
if I press V and then V again it'll set
that node type to vector if I press V
and then a it'll set the types of
automatic and by the way with an
automatic type it'll actually try to
make the curve as smooth as possible
and if you grab it and move either one
of the handles it'll change into a line
let's go ahead and press tab to go back
into object mode and I'll delete that
now I messed up G if I want to change
this path into a mesh now I can do that
by with it selected if I press alt C on
my keyboard alt C brings up the convert
to menu and I can select mesh from curve
serve or text and now I press tab to go
into edit mode of the mesh like
impressed 8 a few times now select all
the vertices and I can press F to fill
in the enclosed area and now of course I
could go into face like mode and I can
press e to extrude out and I have a
custom 3d better that I made from a
Bezier curve and then I turn it into a
mesh before I extrude it out great let's
go ahead and talk about how to make a
extrude or thick cord and how to give a
cord a custom shape and some tapering
I'll bleep both of these curve and the
text object and I'll press shift a and
I'm gonna add another curve Bezier curve
and so we get our default curve again if
I want to make this into let's say a
wire or a corn in a 3d scene that I'm
making right now if I how to render this
out it's not gonna render as anything
because it has no volume I can change
that by it having it selected and under
the object tab I can give it some bevel
depth so I'll turn this value up a
little bit you can see that that's now
basically extruding it out and it looks
kind of funny it looks like it's just
sort of a V coming off of the original
curve and that's because we have only
half-filled that if I change this half
to full it will become sort of a square
or daimond off the original shape if I
change the resolution from 0 up higher
you can see that you can make a rounded
cord of your simple curve and if you
press tab to go back into edit mode you
can still edit the original curve you
can still even extrude it to making a
longer cord and then press tab to go
back into edit mode and then of course
at this point you could press alt C and
turn this into a
mesh I'm not going to though because
there's lots of powerful features here
if I press shift a on my keyboard and I
add a curve circle and by the way this
will not work with a mesh circle so
we'll have to use a curve circle if I
want to make a custom shape or even
justifying the circle that I'm using for
the shape of the wire I can make another
path and make sure it's a closed path or
all just viewed in this case use a
circle I'll press s to scale that down
if I want to make this the shape of the
wire in fact I'll go ahead and use my
scale gizmo and make up it have an oval
if I want to make this wire have that
same oval shape I can go down and with
it selected under the bevel object I can
select that fancy a circle that I made
and again its will not work with meshes
and now my wire has that oval shape and
of course I can go back into edit mode
and I can play around with the twist of
the wire and I can also go into edit
mode of this circle and as you can see
it already has a closed shape with some
Bezier curves and I can make it into a
custom shape kind of like that and so
now it does not look like a wire it
looks like a bent gutter let's go ahead
and I'll press X on my keyboard to get
rid of it and of course that will reset
it to that original circle I had to go
ahead and press shift a on my keyboard
I'll add a curved circle I'll scale it
down I'm gonna make this into a star
shape so I'll press tap to go into edit
mode if you want to add more control
points to a shape you can subdivide a
section of the curve by selecting two
control points that define the segment
then you can press W and then click on
subdivide W brings up the specials menu
and so when you subdivide it you get
another control point I'm going to move
that one in there in fact I'm gonna
press 7 to go to my top view and I'll
put that right there I'll press V and
then free so I can actually control
these points and move them around
independently I'm gonna make something
like a four-leaf clover so I'm going to
select that note in that node and W and
subdivide I'll grab this one
I'll press B and then F to make this a
free handle type I'll move that one
let's say right about there I'm gonna
make this the stem I'll press G to move
that right there right there and I'll
move that one there this is gonna be
pretty bad clover I'm gonna select these
two points W and subdivide I'll grab
this one and V at F to make it have
three handles I'll press G and as you
can see if I move these handles I can
make this have interior corner I move
that one around
that's like these two and W and
subdivide and I'll grab this one G and
then the F and then I'll grab this one
and move it around of course I could
spend a long time adjusting this if I
wanted but for the sake of this video
I'm not gonna do that in fact I'm gonna
move the F that one over and I'm gonna
make another side to the stem so I'll
select these two w subdivide and what
I'm doing here is I'm making two points
at the end
oops I pressed H I'll press ctrl Z to
undo that and then V F and I'll make the
clover or the club have a straight
bottom edge in fact if I press V and
then V I can make these handles into
vector handles which means they'll be
perfectly straight 90 degree or almost
any degree angles if I press tap you can
see my shape I could keep on adjusting
it but I'm gonna use this shape for my
club shaped noodle so I'm gonna select
the Bezier curve and under the object
I'm gonna select Bezier circle that's
the name of that clover and so now I
have a club or clover shaped noodle and
if I want to make sure these ends are
actually filled in I can click on fill
caps and that will make sure there's an
end on each one of the ends of my wire
of course I can still press tab I can
still edit this shape like it's still
extrude out I'll be pressing E and there
we go there's a few more things you can
do here you can actually make your wire
or she
tapered if I press tap to go back into
object mode and I add a new curve I'm
gonna add another Bezier curve I can
define this shape but I'll move it up
here so you can see it as the taper
amount of this Club shaped noodle to do
that I'm gonna select this curve and
I'll give it a proper name up here in
the object tab I will call it taper
object just t/o and I'll press ENTER and
now I'm gonna select my original curve
and under the object tab I'm gonna
define a taper object right next to our
original bevel object so I'll click
right here and select t/o what that will
do it is able to find the thickness of
my wire as determined by the amount of
change in this object on its local Y or
green axis right now if I look at this
curve from the top this end slopes
really near down to its origin that
means that this end of this wire is
going to be very very thin but as you
can see from its original origin point
there's a lot of distance right here and
that will make this part portion of my
original wire thicker if I go into edit
mode and of course that tapers back down
to this end
so my breasts have to go into edit mode
now and I move this and up you're gonna
see that this and that's the same
corresponding end of the club shaped
noodle is now getting bigger and thicker
of course I can keep going as you can
see it's sort of following that same
amount or shape of course I can grab
curves I can adjust things if I want to
make it a different kind of a slope I
can select both ends I'll hold shift and
select both ends at office W and
subdivide and now I can make this point
be a different shape so it can really
make a custom shape this end is still
coming to a point because on the local Y
axis of this curve it's still going down
at this end to the origin value if I go
beyond that
it'll get thicker but as you can see
it's crossing over at the other side
which means it'll sort of go in
you and then come back out of zero so
what you might not want to do that if at
any point and also divide these two w
and subdivide any point you move that
point back down to the origin again on
the local y axis you can make it thin
again so this is a quite a powerful tool
you can do things like lathe that means
you could make like a pole that moves in
and out like a coke bottle or a post on
a banister or railing it is really quite
powerful but that will be if this video
please don't forget to Like and
subscribe to see more videos like this
go ahead and check out my facebook page
at facebook.com slash born CG thanks for
watching and I'll see the next one