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XPS to Blender 2.6 (Internal Rendering Tutorial)

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Since the last time I’ve made a Blender tutorial, my techniques and just the way I do things in general have changed. I’m sure that there are people out there who want to learn how to use Blender, and people that just want to try something new. c: Please keep in mind that this is the way that I do “studio renders”, I do something a bit different (as far as lighting) when I’m using an environment. I’ll try to explain things as clearly as possible. If you have any questions, just leave a comment or a note!

For this tutorial, I’m using Blender 2.68, but it should work with any 2.6 version of the program.

So, obviously, you’ll need XNA / XPS, Blender, and also a program called Python. There’s a link to it on blender.org (I’m running version 2.6.2).

Getting from XPS to Blender:

1.) So what you’re going to have to do first (after posing your model(s) and whatnot) is export the scene as an .obj file. To do that, you have to open the Control Window and go to File > Export scene as .obj ... and create a new folder (on your desktop, for example, so it's easy to find), then save the .obj

2. Copy all the textures for all the models you used in your scene. If you forget any, they'll appear as white.

Blender:

3. When you start up the program, it'll look like this:

Capture 01 by Choshinsei-chan

The cube is already selected, so just press 'X' to delete it.

4. Go to File > Import > Wavefront (.obj), and locate your .obj file.

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(I had to do this twice, to import my backdrop)

5. Okay, so here's how it looks for me:

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I'm going to set up my lights first. So go ahead and delete the default lamp. Then, go to Add > Lamp > Area.

5. Position your lamp so it's something like this:

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(Tip: use CTRL+R to rotate, and use G to grab and move the lamp)

6. The long dotted line is the distance of the lamp. Decrease it by using the "distance" slider, so the line ends right next to the model's head.

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Notice how when the distance was decreased that the intensity of the light was also decreased. But this won't be our main lamp, so we still have to decrease the energy (and do a couple other things).

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6. Our next step is to add a second light. To do that, we're just going to duplicate the one we already made. Press 'Z' to go into Wireframe mode (you don't have to, but it makes it easier to see the axis). Make sure you select the lamp and press Shift+D to duplicate, then position it light this (you're going to have to adjust the position a bit so it hits the model):

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(Front view: before adjusting)

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(Front view: after adjusting)

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7. Okay, next, we'll add our main lamp. Like before, go to Add > Lamp > Area, and position it and make these adjustments:

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8. Next, go to the "World" tab, and enable the "Indirect Lighting".

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9. Okay, now we can finally start editing the model and whatnot. So, obviously, adjust your camera until it's in front of your model.

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10. Select a mesh and press "TAB", then remove doubles and smooth.

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Repeat this for EVERY mesh (including the background)!
(Tip: sometimes there's two or more layers of the same mesh. Just press 'X' to delete them. There's also a mesh over the eyes on Dead or Alive models, called "eyeshadow", which you can just delete.)

11. So, once you get to the eyelashes, this part is pretty important:

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Repeat on the upper eyelashes too, of course.

12. Once you've smoothed out all the meshes, go to the "Materials" tab and start checking the bump maps.

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Repeat on every mesh (that has one).

13. This step is optional, but I always do it once I get to the eyes. The eyes usually have a bump map, but eyes aren't bumpy, so I delete the bump map.

Capture 16 by Choshinsei-chan

(If the eyelashes also happen to have a bump map, I delete that, too.)

14. Once you're finished with the bump maps, it's time to apply the specular maps.

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Repeat on every mesh!

15. Once you finish that, you can change the color of your backdrop.

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16. After that, go to the "Render" tab (the camera / first tab).

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Now, let's try a render (I moved my camera and changed the resolution before rendering):

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Looks pretty good, but it can be better.

17. We don't want those hard, crisp shadows. To make them soft, we need to change the samples.

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Once you're ready to start your final render, double the resolution and hit the render button. For me, rendering like this takes only about an hour. It could take a lot less time for you, or a bit longer. It depends on how fast and how old your computer is (mine is old, so that's why it takes so long). When the render is completed, you have to go to Image > Save as Image

Capture 27 by Choshinsei-chan

And that's it! c: Happy rendering!
Just a little something I made to show you guys how I do stuff now. xD

I hope I explained everything clearly enough. If you don't understand something or are having some problems, please don't hesitate to ask me! c:

Model (Marie Rose C3) provided by xHildegardVonKronex.
© 2014 - 2024 Choshinsei-chan
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Interesting tutorial and a different way to bring XPS figures into blender. One thing I would consider, at the start BEFORE you import the object, turn off the two options at the bottom left hand side. See attached. This will bring the .obj file in as one mesh. 

Importing Obj Files To Blender As One Mesh by BAF-McNab

note. these will open appear once you have gone to 'file - > import obj '  but turn them off before you select the file to import.