Blender3D

This is an outline of knowledge necessary to be proficient at using Blender3D. This page is intended as a learning path, not as a comprehensive learning resource.

Primary sources

Please help to improve these primary sources.

• Blender3D Documentation Wiki
• Blender3D: Noob to Pro

User Interface

Grid Floor

You can change the grid size by going to

 Properties panel > Display

Look for the Grid Floor settings

• X, Y, Z axes origins
• Lines - number of lines to draw
• Scale - how large the grid cells are
• Subdivisions

Change Windows

Quad View

Shortcut: Ctrl-Shift-Q

3D Cursor

Cursor for performing objects such as adding geometry.

Select

Select individual objects using the right mouse button.

All

Shortcut A

Selects everything visible.

Box Select

Shortcut B

Draw a box to select objects. Any object that touches the box will be selected.

Circle Select

Shortcut C

Brings up a circle that you can use to draw a selection.

The radius of the circle can be changed by:

• Scrolling the mouse wheel
• Pressing '+' or '-' on the numeric keypad.

Viewport Shading

Viewport shading determines how Blender displays objects. It also has an effect on how you interact with objects in certain contexts. There are several viewport shading modes:

• Texture - shows objects with their associated textures (high detail)
• Solid - shows objects with shaded surfaces and shadows (moderate detail)
• Wireframe - shows the basic geometry of objects (low detail)
• Bounding box - shows rectangular boxes indicating the maximum extents of objects (lowest detail)

Manipulating Objects

Origin

Object menu > Transform >

• Geometry to Origin
• Origin to Geometry
• Origin to 3D Cursor

Further Information

• Blender 2.6 Manual: Object Centers

Pivot center

When Scaling and rotating, especially multiple selected objects, you can toggle between several pivot centers.

• Active Element
• Median Point
• Individual origins
• 3D Cursor
• Bounding Box Center

Further Information

Blender 2.6 Docs: Pivot Point

Translate

• Move objects in 3D space
• constrain (x,y,z keys).

discreet numbers

• properties panel
  • Transform
    • Location (X, Y, Z)

Note: Right click will cancel.

Transform Handles

3D Manipulator

Rotate

• Rotate Tool (R key)
  • Constrain (X,Y,Z keys)
• Hit R a second time, trackball rotation

Rotation Options

• properties panel
  • Transform
    • Rotation (X, Y, Z)

Note: Right click will cancel.

Rotate Manipulator

• 3D Manipulator -> Rotate Manipulator

Scale

Keyboard shortcut (s)

• Constraint (X, Y, Z keys)

Note: Right click cancels scale operation

Scale Options

• properties panel
  • Transform
    • Scale (X, Y, Z)

Scale Manipulator

• 3D Manipulator -> Scale Manipulator

Flip or Mirror

To invert an object, simply scale past the origin. This will mirror the object.

Transform Orientation

The Transform Manipulator can be set to multiple orientations:

• Global - overall scene orientation. Global X, Y, Z
• Local - per object, relative orientation. May differ from Global X, Y, Z
• Gimble - working with bones
• Normal - aligned to the mesh surface normal.
• View - move relative to view perspective

These options affect transforms, using different X, Y, and Z axes.

Snapping

You can precisely align and place objects using snapping.

Snap Elements

When manipulating objects, you can snap objects to various other elements. This is useful for modeling and alignment.

You can select which aspect of an object will do the snapping:

• Volume - snap to bounding box
• Face - snap to face
• Vertex - snap object to verticies
• Edge - snap object to edge
• Increment - snap to grid

Objects

You can snap 3D objects to the grid or cursor.

Object > Snap

• Selection to Grid - snap selected object(s) to the nearest grid division
• Selection to Cursor - snap selected object(s) to the 3D cursor

3D Cursor

You can also choose to snap the 3D cursor.

 Object > Snap

• Cursor to Selected
• Cursor to Center
• Cursor to Grid
• Cursor to Active

Modeling

Mesh Primitives

shift + a will bring up the add menu. The following geometries are available.

• Plane - two dimensional plane
• Cube - three dimensional cube
• Circle - two dimensional circle
• UV Sphere - sphere with a grid similar to longitude and latitude. See [[w>UV mapping]]
• Icospehere - sphere made out of triangulated surfaces
• Cylinder - three dimensional 'tube', with end caps.
• Cone
• Grid
• Monkey - Suzanne the monkey
• Torus - basically a doughnut

Edit Mode

Edit mode will enable you to work directly with mesh geometry.

Press Tab to enter edit mode.

Selecting elements

There are three primary ways to select mesh components:

• Vertex select
• Edge select
• Face select

Press control + tab to toggle between the selection modes.

Vertex Select

Vertexes are points of intersection.

You can move vertexes individually. Control handles will allow you to move the vertex relative to the world by default.

Select Normal on the Orientation menu. Normal will allow you to move a vertex relative to the surface normal of the object.

Edge Select

Edges are boundaries between faces.

Edge Loops

alt + right click to select entire rings of edges. These are called edge loops.

Loop Cut and Slide

You can add additional edge loops using the Mesh Tools toolbox.

1. Press the Loop Cut and Slide button and hover the mouse over the mesh. A purple line will indicate the approximate loop cut.
2. Left click to accept the approximate loop cut. The loop will turn yellow and you can slide the mouse to the precise location for the loop cut.
3. Finally, left click to accept the loop cut.

Lasso Select

Hold ctrl + left mouse button and draw a lasso around the elements you want to select.

Limit selection to visible

This button will toggle the ability to select geometry elements in two modes:

1. only geometry on the visible surface
2. include geometry on hidden sections of the mesh (the mesh will become semi-transparent)

Select More

Shortcut ctrl + "+"

Grows a selection to nearby elements.

Select Less

Shortcut ctrl + "-"

Shrinks a selection.

Proportional Editing

Proportional editing affects geometry elements that surround the selection. This creates smoother transitions along the edit boundary.

To enable proportional editing, use one of these methods:

• Mesh menu > Proportional Editing > Enable
• On the 3D View header, select a proportional editing mode

Vertex Groups

You can save selections as vertex groups. This enables you to quickly select previously selected vertices.

The keyboard shortcut is ctrl g

Sculpt Mode

Sculpt mode allows you to affect the mesh in a way that simulates sculpting.

Sculpt Tools

Various sculpt tools can be found under the Brush > Sculpt Tool menu.

• Blob
• Clay
• Clay Strips
• Crease
• Draw
• Fill
• Flatten
• Grab
• Inflate
• Layer
• Mask
• Nudge
• Pinch
• Rotate
• Scrape
• Smooth
• Snake Hook
• Thumb

Subdivision

In edit mode, you can add detail to a mesh by subdividing its geometry.

Select the mesh, and then click Subdivide in

 Mesh Tools > Add 

Number of Cuts

Adjust the number of cuts carefully. Each time you cut the mesh, you quadruple its complexity.

Smoothness

Smoothness will give the mesh a more natural, or organic feel.

Fractal

The Fractal settings will produce somewhat chaotic results. This can be useful for organic surfaces. The Random Seed will change the kernel that the fractal function uses, and may produce more or less desirable results.

Modifiers

Modifiers allow you to change an object mesh, and adjust your parameters at a later time. This flexibility is useful so that you do not have to alter your geometry until you are ready to apply the transformation. There are many modifiers in Blender, and describing the functionality of all of them may be beyond the scope of this curriculum.

Modify

• UV Project
• Vertex Weight Edit
• Vertex Weight Mix
• Vertex Weight Proximity

Generate

• Array
• Bevel
• Boolean
• Build
• Decimate
• Edge Split
• Mask
• Mirror
• Multiresolution
• Remesh
• Screw
• Skin
• Solidify
• Subdivision Surface
• Triangulate

Deform

• Armature
• Cast
• Curve
• Displace
• Hook
• Laplacian Smooth
• Lattice
• Mesh Deform
• Shrinkwrap
• Simple Deform
• Smooth
• Warp
• Wave

Simulate

• Cloth
• Collision
• Dynamic Paint
• Explode
• Fluid Simulation
• Ocean
• Particle Instance
• Particle System
• Smoke
• Soft Body

See also

• 3D modeling
• Computer graphics
• Digital art
• Software