Make a house

View the SILENT four minute video above and/or follow the text below... The video was made with Blender 2.5(?).

  • Select the cube (right-click it)
  • Scale the cube to double its width in the X direction (S, X, 2, Enter)
  • Switch to Edit mode (press Tab or use the Mode menu)
  • The whole cube should be selected. If not, select all by pressing A until the whole cube is selected.
  • Subdivide all the selected faces by clicking the Subdivide button in the Toolbox at the left. Each face is split into four faces.
  • Switch to edge select mode, as shown below left.
  • Select one of the top central edges as shown above right:
  • Hold down Shift and select the other top central edge as well.
  • Move the selected edges up in the Z direction until you have the basic house shape (G, Z, drag, left-click or Enter)
  • Select all the faces by pressing A (twice if necessary), still in Edit mode
  • Subdivide the selected faces TWICE
  • Switch to Front Ortho view (NumPad 1, then NumPad 5 ONLY IF NECESSARY)
  • To avoid accidentally selecting faces on the back of the house, choose to hide faces in the background (Occlude Background Geometry ). See image at left.
  • Choose Face Select Mode - see image above right.
  • Select these lower 8 faces (see image right) which will become the doorway (hold down Shift to select multiple faces):
  • Delete these faces with X or by pressing the Delete key.
  • In a similar way, select faces for the windows as shown and delete them.
  • Now we will make a chimney. On the back of the house, select the four faces shown here.
  • Extrude the selected faces up in the vertical direction (Press E, Z then drag up and confirm with a left-click or press Enter). You may need to press Z more than once to lock the extrusion to the Z axis.
  • With the faces still selected, switch to a Right Ortho view (press Numpad 3 and 5 if necessary) and rotate (R) the selected faces until they are horizontal.
  • Scale (S) the selected faces until the sides of the chimney appear vertical in this view.
  • Save your work. (It's always a good idea to save your work before attempting to render.)
  • Render an image (F12) and note that it is dim (as shown) since we have only one lamp. To close a rendered image press F11.
  • Add two more lamps by duplicating the first (you can also add lamps using the Add menu.). Here's how:
  • Switch to Top Ortho view (Numpad 7), select the lamp and duplicate it (Shift-D). Place the lamp as shown below left :
  • Click the Object Data button as shown above, then increase the Energy (brightness) to 2 and choose the colour you want by clicking the 'Light Colour' chooser just above the Energy adjuster.
  • Duplicate this lamp (Shift-D) and place the new lamp inside the house. Turning on the 3D manipulator by pressing this button (image right) at the bottom of the 3D View window may help you place the lamp more easily.
  • Choose a new colour for the lamp inside the house, and also for the original lamp.
  • Render an image (F12)and notice that it is much nicer now (see below). To close a rendered image press F11. Note that we have worked with coloured lamps in this lesson but have not coloured the house itself. This will be discussed in another lesson.
  • Save your work!