Blender3D guide

Blender 3D Guide: A streamlined path from beginner basics to creating and exporting avatars for use in Three.js. This guide focuses on essential workflows, linking directly to high-quality YT tutorials for each step—no fluff, just actionable learning.

Step-by-step instructions

Tools

• Blender (free, open-source) - blender.org

• Three.js (for self-hosting)

1. Blender Basics

   • Learn navigation, object manipulation, and interface layout.

   • Watch: Blender Guru’s Beginner Tutorial (Donut) – covers core tools, modeling, shading, and rendering.

   • Alternative: Grant Abbitt’s Blender 3.0 Beginners Guide – structured, project-based learning.

2. Create an Avatar

   • Use Rigify to generate a humanoid rig and build your character around it.

   • Start with a base mesh (e.g., MakeHuman or manual sculpting).

   • Watch: Josh Gambrell’s Introduction to Hard Surface Modeling for clean mesh techniques.

   • Rig with: Grant Abbitt’s Rigify Guide.
     
     
     

3. Create a 3D Face from Your Photo Using FaceBuilder in Blender

FaceBuilder (by KeenTools) is a powerful Blender add-on that turns your photo into a 3D face model using AI-assisted alignment and texturing. 

Install FaceBuilder

1. Create New Head

   • Open the N-panel → FaceBuilder tab → click Create New Head

   • A default 3D head appears in the scene.

2. Add Your Photo

   • Click Add Images → load your face photo (single image works)

   • FaceBuilder auto-detects the face and aligns the mesh roughly.

3. Align Mesh to Face

   • Use Auto Align to refine positioning

   • Drag red pins (reference points) to match facial features (eyes, nose, chin)

   • For non-neutral expressions (smile, raised brows), enable Allow Facial Expressions

   • Toggle mesh visibility with Tab to check accuracy

4. Generate Texture

   • Go to the Texture tab → click Create Texture

   • FaceBuilder bakes the photo’s colors directly onto the 3D model

   • Adjust source views or resolution via the gear icon if needed

5. Finalize & Export

   • View result in Solid or Material Preview mode

   • Export as .obj, .fbx, or use for rigging, animation, or GLB export

Continue on, Exporting

1. Export as GLB

   • Select your avatar, go to File > Export > glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf).

   • Check: Selected Objects, Apply Modifiers, Include Armatures & Shape Keys.

   • Watch: Daniel Krech’s “How to Export GLB Correctly” – covers settings for web use.

2. Self-Host on Three.js

   • Use GLTFLoader to load your .glb file.

   • Set up a basic scene with camera, lights, and animation mixer.

   • Host locally or via GitHub Pages.

   • Watch: Three.js Fundamentals – Loading GLB Models – official guide for integration.