CONVERT A CUBE INTO A HARD-SURFACE MODEL

Discover how Navid Ahmadi turns a basic shape into a complex, Star Wars-inspired hybrid creation using Blender's toolset

- Navid Ahmadi

I got the idea for this model from watching the Star Wars movies. In my mind I tried to imagine the frame of a bird, but in the shape of a wolf. In the first step, I tried to turn this idea into reality by using a cube in Blender as my starting point. I edited the vertices and faces, and came up with the design that I wanted for the final build.

After I had completed the modelling process, I got started on creating the materials to match the concept, which I felt should be a reflective metal. Next up came the lighting stage. I wanted to create interesting reflections from the material, and the combination of the metal bump and reflection gave me the idea to create a hybrid model of a wolf and a bird. As well as the exterior lighting, I also used lights within the body of the machine, and made the scene almost foggy in order to show off the light better.

01 CREATE A CUBE

To get going we need a cube, which is easily made by pressing Shift+A and selecting Mesh>Cube. The cube is created in the centre of the workspace and is ready for you to easily begin editing. Work with parts and faces as vertices, and transform the shape into different volumes. Apart from the cube, you can use other ready-made meshes and make modifications, but in this tutorial I'll use the cube.

02 TURN ON THE MIRROR SETTING

At this stage, we should use the Mirror tool to help make changes and build the character quickly and easily. Select the cube and then pick the Mirror option in the Add Modifier section. Within the Axis section of the Mirror options, select the X axis so that any changes we make to one half of the cube will also be made to the other. If you want to mirror across other axes, you can do this too.

03 AMEND THE CUBE