Blender 3D for Beginners: Learn to Model a Balloon Dog
Hi, my name is 'Harry Helps' and In this class I'll guide you through a fun beginner exercise where we’ll create a 3d balloon dog in Blender. We’ll go through each part of the process step-by-step, so you should find it fun and easy to follow along with me.
We’re using Blender for this tutorial, which is an amazing and totally free 3d software. The only barrier to entry is having a computer to run the software on.
A balloon dog might seem like an odd choice for a beginner project, but it really is a perfect place to start!
You'll learn:
- Modeling - Creating the body of the balloon dog
- Modifiers - Additional modeling effects, such as smoothing
- Shading - Making the balloon dog look like a colorful rubber
- Lighting - Adding lights to illuminate our scene
- Rendering - Positioning a 3d camera and generating a picture of our balloon dog
At the end, we’ll have a cute balloon dog to render to our heart’s content. It’s also a model that can be easily altered into a different animal just by adjusting some proportions or adding a new piece!
Our class project will have you take all of the techniques you learned making the balloon dog, and apply them to make another animal of your choice. You can keep the shape simple and abstract like the balloon dog, or you can go all out and make a balloon masterpiece! Post your balloon animal to the gallery to show off your hard work and imagination to myself and all the other students!
I hope you’ll join me on this fun little beginner’s journey through Blender by making your very own balloon dog!
Instructor bio:
'Harry Helps' is a 3D artist and educator with over a decade of professional experience in modeling, texturing, animation, and post-production. Throughout his career, he has worked across diverse industries—from MMORPG game studios and video production companies to award-winning architectural visualization firms—holding roles such as Studio Director, Lead 3D Artist, and Greenscreen Editor. His work has been featured
Watch on Coursera ↗
(saves to browser)
Sign in to unlock AI tutor explanation · ⚡30
More on: AI Design Tools
View skill →Related AI Lessons
⚡
⚡
⚡
⚡
35 ChatGPT Prompts for Wealth Managers: Strengthen Client Relationships, Sharpen Analysis, and Scale Your Practice
Dev.to AI
I Built an Open-Source AI Tools Directory with 850+ Tools — Here's Why and How
Dev.to AI
Your Tech Stack Has an AI Problem: How to Audit and Fix It in 2026
Dev.to · Lycore Development
If you follow my Linux and DevOps articles — this one is different. I built something. Let me tell you about it.
Dev.to AI
🎓
Tutor Explanation
DeepCamp AI