Journocoders: Making 3D shaded relief maps with Blender

​This month we'll be learning how to make 3D shaded relief maps with Blender.

​Blender is free 3D graphics software, which can be used to make 3D models of things, set up virtual lighting for those things, adjust how their surfaces appear, including how they reflect the light, how they cast shadows, etc. It's a powerful piece of software which is capable of a lot, you could even make a whole 3D animated film for example. However we're going to use it to make a map.

​These maps can be beautiful, but they can also be important to help a reader understand the topology of a place, especially in stories where the mountainous terrain is central, as we have seen recently.

​In this session we'll be following a tutorial that covers importing a digital model containing terrain data for the surface of the Earth. We'll set up the lighting by deciding on the location of the sun, and set the position of the camera from which we'll get our image. You'll learn how to set up all these things, and how to play with all the many options you have that will affect the look of the final image.

​All of our events are suitable for beginners, and no programming experience is required. Bring a laptop along as this a practical, hands-on workshop. Please also sign up for a Dropbox account if you don't already have one so you can edit the shared doc we'll be using during the event. And if you can, please download and install Blender from here beforehand.

​Schedule
7:00 🚪 Doors open
7:30 🗣 Show and tell
7:40 💻 Tutorial
9:00 🍺 Drinks at the Prince Arthur

​If you can't make the main event, you're also welcome to just join us in the pub!

​Our events do often fill up, but if it's full please do join the waitlist as spaces do typically become available. And if you find you can no longer make it, please update your registration so someone else can take your spot.