Blender-4.1/C3/Creating-a-Road/English

Title: Creating a Road

Author: Sejal Dhiman & Arthi Varadarajan

Keywords: blender 4.1, object mode, edit mode, loop cut, material, bezier curve, array modifier, curve modifier, solidify, video tutorial.

Visual Cue	Narration
Slide Number 1 Title Slide	Welcome to the Spoken tutorial on Creating a Road in Blender 4.1.
Slide Number 2 Learning Objectives	In this tutorial, we will learn to create a road using the options given here: Add and edit a plane Use Loop cut Use Viewport Shading modes Add Material to an object Use Array, Curve and Solidify modifiers
Slide Number 3 Software and System Requirement	To record this tutorial, I am using Mac OS version 14.5 Blender version 4.1 It is recommended to install Blender version 4.1 or higher.
Slide Number 4 Pre-requisites	To follow this tutorial The learner must know to add objects in Blender.
Blender interface	I have already opened Blender.
Video editor: X Click on Delete. The cube has to be selected.	Let us start creating the road. First we will delete the cube. Press X and select Delete from the shown menu.
Cursor on the 3D view port.	Next, let us add a plane for creating the road.
Video editor: Shift and A Mesh >> Plane	Press Shift and A keys together to open the Add menu. Select Mesh and then click on Plane .
Video editor: numpad 7	Let us go to the Top view to work further. For this, press numpad 7 to show the top view.
Go to the Toolbox. Click on Scale Drag the green handle upward	Next, let us resize the plane. Go to the Toolbox and click on Scale . Click on the green handle of the gizmo and drag it upwards.
Hover over Resize option	To set the exact dimension, go to the bottom left. Observe that, Resize option is available as the Scale tool is used. This option may vary as per the action performed on the 3D viewport.
Click on the Resize. Change the value of Y to 3.5	Click on the Resize option. Change the value of Y to 3.5. Press Enter. Observe the change in the plane.
point to the plane.	Note that we are currently working in the Object Mode. To edit the object, we need to go to Edit mode.
Hover over the top left slide corner Click on Object mode drop down. Click on Edit mode Press Tab key twice	Go to the top left corner. Below the Menu, locate the dropdown named Object Mode. Click on it and select Edit mode. Tab key also helps to switch between Object mode and Edit mode.
Point to the 3 icons.	Next to the Edit mode option, observe the three icons.
Click on Vertex selection mode	In Vertex selection mode, we can edit the vertices of the object.
Click on Edge selection mode	In Edge selection mode, we can edit the edges.
Click on Face selection mode Click on Edge selection mode	Face selection mode allows to work and edit the faces of the object. For now, I will select Edge selection mode.
Hover over the plane	Now let us add loop cuts to the plane.
Go to Tool box. Click on Loop Cut	For that, go to the Toolbox and click the Loop Cut. Move the mouse onto the plane.
Click when yellow line appears vertically on the plane	You can see a yellow line appearing over the plane. When it appears vertically, click on it. Observe that an edge is created in the middle of the plane.
Hover over the plane	Now, we will add another vertical edge.
Hover over the bottom left corner Click on Loop Cut and Slide Set the Number of Cuts to 2	To do so, go to the bottom left. On the Loop Cut and Slide option, set the Number of Cuts to 2. Press Enter. I will minimize this option. Now you can see two vertical edges on the plane.
Go to Tool box. Click on Scale. Drag the red handle towards the right side.	Let us move these edges towards the corner of the plane. Go to the Toolbox and click on Scale. Click and drag the red handle towards the right side.
Release the mouse button	Once the lines move to the corner of the plane, release the mouse button.
Hover over the plane Click on Loop Cut	Next, let’s add horizontal edges to the plane. Go to Toolbox. Click on Loop cut.
Click to create horizontal loop cut	Move the mouse on the plane. When the yellow line comes horizontally, click on it. Let us add 3 more edges to the plane.
Go to the bottom left corner Click on Loop Cut and Slide Set Number of Cuts to 4	Go to Loop Cut and Slide option. Change the Number of Cuts to 4 and press Enter. We see four horizontal edges created to the plane.
Go to Toolbox. Click on the Select Box.	Let us align these edges now. Go to Toolbox, Click on the Select Box.
Click and drag on the first edge	Click and drag the mouse on the first horizontal edge and select it.
Hold Shift key. Click and drag on the last edge	Hold the Shift key and drag the mouse over the last horizontal edge as shown.
Hover over the selected edges	Let us now move these edges towards the corner of the plane.
Go to Tool box. Click on Scale. Select and drag it vertically upward	Go to Toolbox, Click on Scale. Click on the green handle of the gizmo and drag it vertically upwards as shown.
Click on Select box tool. Select the second and third created edges of the plane	Let us align the other 2 edges. Click on the Select box tool. Click and drag to select the second edge of the plane. Hold the Shift key and select the third edge.
Click on Scale tool. Move the edges closer	Click on the Scale tool. Move them close to each other using the green handle as shown.
Only narration	Next, let’s add some colors to the plane to make it look like a road.
Video editor: Z	To preview the changes, we will make use of the Viewport Shading Modes. Press Z key to open the Viewport Shading Modes.
Hover over Solid mode Click on Material preview	Currently, Solid mode is active. We will change it to Material Preview mode. Let us add materials to the plane now.
Go to Properties	Go to the Properties panel on the right. Keep the cursor near the left corner of the Properties panel. A double headed arrow appears
Click and drag on the double headed arrow. Click on Materials.	Click and drag the double headed arrow towards the left. Like this we can resize the panels in Blender. Click on the last circular icon called Material.
Click on New	The Material properties open on the right side. Click on New.
Replace Material001 with Road Click on the Base Color	Change the Material001 name to Road. Press Enter. Click on the Base Color field.
Hover over the color wheel Select black color Move the mouse	A color wheel appears. Drag the mouse and select black color as shown. Move the mouse outside the color wheel.
Hover over the road	You can see that the color of the road changes to black.
Only narration	Let’s now make it realistic by adding more details to it.
Click on Select box tool Select the middle box	Click on the Select box tool. Then drag and select the middle face of the plane.
Go to Properties. Click on “+”. Select New Change the Material001 to Yellow stripe	Go to the Properties. Click on the “+” option. Click on New. In the name field, change Material001 to Yellow stripe. Press Enter.
Click on the Base Color field Select yellow color Click on Assign	Click on the Base Color field. Color wheel opens. Choose the shade of yellow that resembles the yellow lines on a real road. Click on Assign. Observe the color changes to yellow of the selected face of the plane.
Drag and select the horizontal top 3 boxes. Hold the Shift key and select the horizontal bottom 3 boxes too.	Let us now add white lines on the sides of the road. Drag and select the horizontal top faces. Hold the Shift key and select the horizontal bottom faces too.
Go to Properties. Click on “+”. Select New Change the Material001 to White stripe	Go to Properties. Click on the “+” option. Click on New. In the name field, change the Material001 to White stripe. Press Enter. We can keep the default white color here.
Click on Assign	Click on Assign. Now the color changes to white on the selected area of the plane.
Hover over the road	Let us now convert this straight road to a curved road.
Press Tab key	Press Tab key to change the Edit mode to Object mode. Next, let us add a curve to the 3D viewport.
Video editor: Shift and A Select Curve. Click on Bezier	Press Shift and A keys together. Select Curve and then on Bezier. Scroll the mouse wheel inwards to zoom in and view the curve properly.
Click on minus key	Let’s increase the size of the curve. Scroll the mouse wheel outwards to zoom out the view as shown.
Video editor: S Move the mouse	Now let us scale the BezierCurve. Press the S key and move the mouse. Observe that the curve gets bigger. When it covers the whole 3D viewport, click to stop the action.
Hover over the road and curve	Let’s now learn to merge both the road and the curve.
Select the Road Go to Properties Click on the spanner shaped icon	Click on the Select box tool. Select the Road. Go to Properties. Click on the spanner shaped icon. This is the Modifier Properties.
Click on Add and then Array	Click on Add modifier. A drop down appears. Go to Generate and select Array.
Hover on Array modifier	Observe Array modifier opens. It allows us to create copies of an object and arrange them in a pattern.
Change the Fit Type to Fit Curve Select BezierCurve	Click on Fit Type dropdown. Change the Fit Type to Fit Curve. Then click on the Curve field. Select BezierCurve.
Hover over the road	Notice the array pattern on the road is enabled. But the curve and the road are not yet merged.
Click on the Add Modifier and then on Deform Select Curve	To do so we will add another Modifier. Click on the Add Modifier and then on Deform. From the drop down select Curve.
Click on the Curve Object field Select BezierCurve	Curve modifier appears below the Array modifier. Click on the Curve Object field. Select BezierCurve.
Hover over the road	Observe the road is merged with the BezierCurve and appears in a curved shape.
Click the mouse wheel and drag the mouse in different directions	Let's view the road from a different angle. Hold the mouse wheel and drag the mouse in different directions.
Point to the road.	Let's give some thickness to the road.
Go to Properties. Click on Add Modifier. Then on Generate. From the drop down select Solidify Change the Thickness to 0.5	Go to Properties. Click on Add Modifier. Then on Generate. From the drop down select Solidify. Solidify appears below the Curve modifier. Here, change the Thickness to 0.5. Press Enter.
Hover over the road	Notice that the thickness of the road has increased.
Click on File and then Save Change the folder name to Car-animation. Change the untitled.blend as Road.blend. Click on Save blender file	Now the road is created. Let us save the file. Go to File and select Save. Select Desktop. You can choose a different location according to your preference. On the top, click on the folder icon to create a new folder. Change the folder name to Car-animation. In the bottom change the untitled.blend as Road.blend. Click on Save blender file. The file is now saved. We have come to the end of this tutorial.
Slide Number 5 Summary	Let’s summarize. In this tutorial, we have learned to, create a road using the options given here: Add and edit a plane Use Loop cut Use Viewport Shading modes Add Material to an object Use Array, Curve and Solidify modifiers
Slide Number 6 Assignment	As an assignment, please create a zebra crossing. Add a plane Add Material and change the color to yellow Using Array modifier create a zebra crossing on the road.
Slide Number 7 About the Spoken Tutorial Project	The video at the following link summarizes the Spoken Tutorial project. Please download and watch it.
Slide Number 8 Spoken Tutorial workshops	The Spoken Tutorial Project team conducts workshops and gives certificates. For more details, please write to us.
Slide Number 9 Answers for THIS Spoken Tutorial	Please post your timed queries in this forum.
Slide Number 10 FOSSEE Forum	For any general or technical questions on Blender, visit the FOSSEE forum and post your question.
Slide Number 11 Acknowledgement	The Spoken Tutorial project was established by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. This is Arthi along with Sejal from IIT Bombay signing off. Thanks for joining.

Contributors and Content Editors

Arthi, Madhurig, Snehalathak