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[edit] Table of Contents

[edit] Learn to Model

• Learn to Model
  • Beginning Tips
  • Quickie Model
  • Quickie Render
  • Mesh Modeling
    • Modeling a Simple Person
    • Detailing Your Simple Person I
    • Detailing Your Simple Person II
    • Creating a Simple Hat
    • Putting Hat on Person
    • Mountains Out Of Molehills
    • Creating Models With Photo Assistance
    • Modeling a Gingerbread Man
    • Penguins from spheres
    • Die Another Way (dice modeling)
    • Die Easy (dice modeling — revised Die Another Way)
    • Model a Silver Goblet
    • Simple Vehicle
      • Simple Vehicle: Wheel
      • Simple Vehicle: Seat
      • Simple Vehicle: Rocket Launcher
      • Simple Vehicle: Body
      • Simple Vehicle: Some Assembly Required
    • Model a Low Poly Head
    • Edit Mode HotKeys Review
    • Object Mode HotKeys Review
  • Curve and Path Modeling
    • Intro to Bezier Curves
    • 2D Image (logo) to a 3D Model
    • 2D Image (logo) to a 3D Model Part 2
    • Modeling a picture
    • Using Bones
  • Materials and Textures
    • Quickie Material
    • Quickie Texture
    • Procedural Textures
      • Creating Basic Seawater
      • Texturing Basic Seawater
      • Mountains Out Of Molehills 2
      • Light a Silver Goblet
      • Basic Carpet Texture
      • Procedural Eyeball
    • Image Textures
      • The Rusty Ball
      • Creating Pixar-looking eyes
    • UV Mapping
      • Quickie UV Map
      • UV Map Basics
    • Every Material Known to Man
  • Modeling Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Beginning Modeling Final Project

[edit] Lighting

• Beginning Lighting
  • Adding Lamps
  • Shadows

[edit] Rendering

• Render Settings
  • Output Format Options
    • OSA
  • Looking All Around - Panorama Settings
  • Other Important Render Options
  • Yafray Render Options

[edit] Animation

• Basic Animation
  • Lattice Deformer
  • Bouncing Ball with Lattice
  • Creating Basic Water animation

[edit] Particles

• Particle Systems
  • Making Fire
  • Furry
  • Rug

[edit] Soft Body

• Soft Body Animation
  • Simple Cloth Animation

[edit] Blender Game Engine(BGE)

• Game Engine Basics
  • Your First Test
  • Build a skybox
  • A simple basic mouse pointer
  • How to make a .exe

[edit] Other

• Match Moving
• High Dynamic Range imaging (HDRi)
  • Creating a Light Probe
• Create a Clayman
• Organic Modeling
• Blender FAQ

[edit] Beginner Tutorials

So you've come to learn the Blender, eh? You've made a great choice. This is one of the most powerful 3D animation and 3D creation tools out there, especially if you're short on cash. Learning how to use Blender can be a daunting task, so don't give up! But with the help of this wikibook, you can someday become a power user and put those Maya folks to shame.

If you ever get stuck for some reason in a tutorial, there are a number of places you can turn for help. The best way to get help is with an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client such as X-Chat. Connect to irc.freenode.net and talk to blender users in the following channels.

• #blenderwiki
• #blender
• #blenderchat
• #blenderqa
• #gameblender

If you can't get help there, click the "discussion" tab at the top of the page that you're having trouble with, and explain your problem on that page. Wait at least 24 hours for some help.

If you're still not getting help, try asking for help in the BlenderArtists.org forums.

Tutorial Syntax

As you go through these tutorials, you will find yourself running into cryptic codes quite often. These codes refer to keys you need to press on the keyboard and buttons on the mouse you need to press. They are pretty standard throughout the Blender community at this point. You may wish to print this page for quick reference throughout this book.

[edit] Keyboard

There is a big difference between the numbers on the number pad of your keyboard, and the numbers along the top of the keyboard: In Blender, they're actually different keys! There is no relation between the two and confusing them will be largely unpredictable. If you don't have a Numerical Keypad (numpad) see Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Beginner Tutorials/Non-standard equipment. There you will find further information on emulating that functionality.

[edit] Mouse

If you don't have a three-button mouse, see Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Beginner Tutorials/Non-standard equipment. That includes those with an Apple one-button mouse. There you will find further information on emulating that functionality.

[edit] Path menu

SPACE → Add → Mesh → UVsphere

means:

hit SPACE, and, in the menu that comes up, choose Add, then Mesh, then UVsphere.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^  On an Apple keyboard, the key with the Apple logo, and on a Windows keyboard, the key with the Windows logo on it.
2. ^  FN is generally found only on laptops, and often in the lower left corner of the keyboard. (Some "ergonomic" keyboards use the laptop-style pseudo-numpad to reduce the distance between the normal keys and the mouse. On these, the FN key is often in the top row.)

Become Familiar with the Blender Interface

The Blender Windowing System is a treat. I know, it looks like some sort of space-ship control panel and you have never seen anything like it. Once you learn it, however, you'll wish all your programs worked this way. Move on to the next page to learn more.

Learn the Blender Windowing System

[edit] Before You Begin

Most readers will run Blender while reading this book, and the book is intended to be used this way. You may be surprised the first time you run Blender: on some systems, it runs in "full-screen" mode by default, and many experienced users prefer this mode. But with Blender in full-screen mode, you cannot see this book or any other window! Don't panic, as there is a solution. To minimize Blender in full-screen mode, use the following key combination: CTRL+ALT+D. Alternatively, use ALT+TAB to make another window (this book) visible "in front of" Blender. You can now move between Blender and the book. If you prefer, you may instead run Blender in a separate window by invoking Blender from the command line with the "-w" option.

[edit] An Interface, Divided, Will Surely Stand

The Blender interface can be a bit intimidating at first, but don't despair. We will explore the power and flexibility of the Blender windowing system, and how to adapt it to suit your needs, one step at a time. First, we're going to talk about manipulating the 3D Viewport and the Buttons Window.

Go ahead and open Blender if you haven't already. You'll hopefully be presented with something that looks a lot like this. You should be able to see two major divisions. There are actually three, but the third one is hidden. We'll talk more about the hidden one later.

3D Viewport

This top larger portion is the 3D Viewport window. It allows you to see and manipulate the 3D objects in your 3D scene.

Buttons Window

This section on the bottom is the Buttons Window. The buttons in the Buttons Window will allow you to manipulate the 3D objects you see in the 3D Viewport in many different ways.

The 3D Viewport's grid represents Blender Units (BU). A BU can be as large as you would like it to be: an inch, a centimeter, a mile, or a cubit. A BU lets you decide the scale.

[edit] Window Headers

Every window has a window header. The window header can be at the top of a window, at the bottom of a window, or hidden. Let's take a look at the window headers for our 3D Viewport and our Buttons Window.

The header for the 3D Viewport is highlighted in red. Notice that it's actually at the bottom of the 3D Viewport, and not at the top.

The header for the Buttons Window is highlighted in blue.

The active window is the window that will respond to what you type on the keyboard when you're using keyboard shortcuts. One of the windows in Blender will be active at all times.

Making another window active is simple: simply move the mouse over one of the windows to make it active! Try changing the active window by moving your mouse rapidly between the 3D Viewport and the Buttons Window now. You'll notice that the window's header lights up when it becomes active.

[edit] Changing the Window Type

There are many window types other than the 3D View and the Buttons Window, and you can easily switch any window to any other window type at any time.

To change window types, simply click the leftmost button on the window header (highlighted here in red) and a menu will appear. Choose the Buttons Window from the list. You will now have two Buttons Windows on the screen!

At this point, having two Buttons Windows will not do us any good (but it will be useful later). Click the button again to change the window back to 3D View.

[edit] Resizing Windows

Resizing windows is easy and fun.

step 1

Hold your mouse over the border between the two windows that is indicated by the red box below, and the mouse pointer will change to up/down arrows (or a hand on Mac OS X).

step 2

Click (and hold) the border with the LMB (meaning Left Mouse Button) and drag up and down.

step 3

Once you've decided where to resize to, release the LMB.

You'll notice that as you increase the size of one window, you decrease the size of the other. Blender does not allow the windows to overlap, as they may in other programs. This is why Blender's interface is known as a non-overlapping window interface.

[edit] Splitting Windows

Splitting windows is just as simple as resizing them, and will give you two windows of the same type.

step 1

Click the same border that you did last but this time with the RMB (Right Mouse Button).

step 2

A menu will then appear. Choose Split Area from the menu.

step 3

You'll see a preview line appear that will follow your cursor. Try dragging your mouse over both the 3D Viewport and the Buttons Window. You'll notice that this preview split line will follow you from window to window.

step 4

You can finalize where you want to split by simply pressing the LMB. You should then have two windows where before there was only one!

Splitting a window on a vertical division will give you two windows stacked vertically. Splitting on a horizontal division, as we have done, will give you two windows side-by-side horizontally. While in step 3, to comute between vertical and horizontal division, just use the TAB key.

[edit] Joining Windows

Rejoining two split windows is just as easy as splitting them. We'll rejoin the window we just split.

step 1

Click on the border you just created with the RMB, and choose Join Areas from the menu.

step 2

An arrow will then appear so that you can indicate in which direction you would like to join the windows. As you move your mouse from the left window to right window, the arrow will change directions.

Join the windows in either direction for now with the LMB.

Joining to the left means that the window on the left will be erased, while joining to the right means that the window on the right will be erased. Keep this in mind when joining different window types.

The User Preferences Window

[edit] Showing the User Preferences Window

The first window we'll teach you in detail is the User Preferences window. This window is mostly hidden by default, because most of the time you won't need all of its contents. Only the header at the top of the main window, (outlined in red) is visible here.

step 1

To make the User Preferences window visible, you just need to resize it. You do that the same way that you resized the other windows in the previous tutorial. Click with the LMB on the border along the top of the 3D Viewport, and drag.

step 2

Release the LMB to resize the windows. You should then have the entire User Preferences window visible!

[edit] Configuring and Saving Your Preferences

[edit] Setting Up Auto Save

The first thing you'll want to do is enable Auto Save. Auto Save will help you avoid the loss of important work in case Blender crashes, your power is cut off, etc.

step 1

To show the Auto Save options, click the Auto Save button (outlined here in blue).

step 2

Next, adjust the Auto Save Settings:

• Auto Save Temp Files - enabled by default, this turns the Auto Save system on and off. Leave it on.
• Minutes - how often should your work be auto-saved? (recommended 15 to 30)
• Open Recent - use this to recover your work if Blender crashes.
• Save Versions - how many versions of the file should Blender auto-save? (recommended 1 to 3 for space reasons)

[edit] Adjusting The Theme

As with other programs with a graphical user interface, Blender has a way to customize or modify many aspects of the user interface itself. Each collection of customizations is called a theme. Clicking LMB on the "Themes" button will show a drop-down menu in the top left of the user preferences window which can be used to select different themes. Below this are buttons labeled "Add" and "Delete" that can be used to (surprise!) add and remove themes. Note that the delete button does not appear for the default theme. The other controls that appear in the user preferences window while the themes button is active are to adjust the parameters that are specific to the current theme. Many more than the default 2 themes exist, check out the Blender Theme Repository at http://www.graphicall.org/themes/

This book presents all screen shots using the default theme. If you are new to Blender, you should continue to use the default theme as you progress through the book.

[edit] More Undo Levels

The next thing that we want to do is take a look at the Undo Settings. By default, Blender will remember 32 of your previous actions in memory and allow you to undo all the way to that point. If you have a good computer with a lot of memory, you might want to increase that limit (up to 64), while if your computer is old and sickly, you may consider decreasing it to 10 or 20.

step 1

To show the Undo Settings, click the Edit Methods button.

step 2

The Undo Settings will then be visible. Use the slider to change the number of steps to any number (between 0 and 64). Keep in mind the amount of memory your system has, as we discussed above. Too many undo steps can slow your computer down, but the more you have, the easier it is to go back to a previous spot.

[edit] Emulating the Numpad

By default the Numpad keys control the 3D viewport, while the normal numeric keys change the view layers. Emulating the Numpad, in effect, allows the user to control the 3D viewport using the normal numeric keys on the keyboard. This replaces the default function of the keys, but does not affect the Numpad.

This is useful for computers/laptops where there is no physical Numpad available.

step 1

Navigate to the 'System & OpenGL' tab (outlined in blue) to open the menu.

step 2

Click on the 'Emulate Numpad' button (outlined in red) to enable it. If it is already in this darker shade of green, it is already enabled.

[edit] Saving Your Preferences

Finally, you may want to keep your preferences as the default preferences whenever Blender starts up, unless you prefer to set them up everytime.

step 1

Expand the File menu. To do so, click on the File button on the User Preferences window.

step2

Click on the Save Default Settings button in the File menu to save your preferences.

alternative

Alternatively, you may press the Ctrl+U keys' combination to achieve the same purpose.

The Buttons Window

[edit] What's with all the buttons?!

The Buttons Window is one of the most powerful tools that Blender has. When you have objects selected in the 3D viewport, there will be a number of operations you can perform on the objects by pressing the buttons in the Buttons Window. For example, suppose you have modeled a person. People have different skin colors, eye colors, hair colors, and more, so you will create a material to make the person appear as you would like him to appear. The Buttons Window also handles sky color, render settings, animation, and a whole lot more.

There are many groups of buttons available to you in the Buttons Window. The buttons outlined here in red allow you to change the type of the buttons that are currently being displayed. Click several buttons and notice that the entire Buttons Window changes when you choose a different type.

You can only display one type of buttons at a time in your Buttons Window. This may seem like a limiting factor, but keep in mind that you can create as many different Buttons Windows with your interface as you would like and they can all be displaying different buttons, giving you quick access to anything you need to do.

[edit] Mini-Windows

You'll notice that within the Buttons Window there are Mini-Windows (i.e., panels) such as those outlined here. Many manipulations can be performed with these windows, but for now we will only teach you the most important two.

The first thing you can do is click the top of the Mini-Windows with the LMB and drag them around. Try it! Also, try dragging and dropping them onto other Mini-Windows to make them join together (as tabs). You can separate the tabs into individual windows again by dragging the active tab over to an available space. Also if there are too many mini windows and you can't see a certain one, use the MMB (or the mouse wheel, SCROLL) to pan across until the desired window is visible.

[edit] Button Types

[edit] Logic Buttons

Here we have selected the first buttons type, the Logic Buttons. We won't be using these buttons much for a long, long time. They are for use with the Game Engine. Pressing F4 will activate this panel.

[edit] Script Buttons

These permit connecting various events in Blender to scripts, thus extending Blender's functionality. Scripting itself is an advanced topic and the scripts are necessary for good-quality animations.

[edit] Shading Buttons

The Shading button set allows you to apply and manipulate colors and textures on your objects, and control lights and world settings. When you press this button (or the F5 key) you will see five additional buttons appear. These are for lights, general material settings, textures, radiosity, and world settings (handy for giving your renders a quick background). Pressing the F5 key will cycle through these buttons.

[edit] Object Buttons

You can press F7 to cause the Object Buttons to appear. It should be noted that these are not the same buttons that appear when you choose Object Mode in the 3D Window. Some tutorials may refer to pressing the F7 key to change to "Object Mode," and some will say you should press the Tab key to change to Object mode.

The Tab key changes from Edit Mode to Object Mode in the 3D Window, and F7 changes the Buttons Window to show the Object Buttons.

[edit] Edit Buttons

These are buttons used to edit objects in edit mode. You can press F9 to get the edit buttons. To get to edit mode (in the 3D View window) press TAB.

[edit] Scene Buttons

Basically these are for rendering (taking pictures) and animating (making movies). You can press F10 to get the scene buttons. We'll get back to these later.

The 3D Viewport Window

Blender's 3D Viewport Window (3d Viewport) gives you total control of how you visualize your world. You'll spend most of your time in this window, so here are a few things to know about the 3d Viewport.

[edit] Rotating

Here you'll be able to fly around your 3D scene, rotating the planes as you see fit. You'll see that the default object is actually a cube, and half of it lies above the X-Y plane, and half below it.

Make the 3D Viewport active by placing the mouse pointer anywhere inside it.

• To free-form rotate (any way), while holding down the MMB, move the mouse
• To rotate around a vertical axis (sideways), leaving objects' vertical orientation unaltered, use CTRL+ALT+SCROLL, or using the keyboard, NUM4 and NUM6
• To rotate around a horizontal axis (upward), leaving objects' horizontal orientation unaltered, use SHIFT+ALT+SCROLL, or using the keyboard, NUM8 and NUM2

If you have your own setting for the MMB in mouse configuration, you must reset this to use the MMB as a real Middle Mouse Button (no Doubleclick or something else). Otherwise you must use the alternate ALT+LMB for the same effect.

It's a cube! Holding down the MMB is the quickest and easiest way to rotate your view and get a new perspective on things. Right now you're looking at the cube in what's known as Wireframe Mode. Pressing ZKEY (yes, on your keyboard, the 'Z' key) will toggle back and forth between Wireframe Mode and Solid Mode. Pressing NUM5 while NUM LOCK is on will toggle between Orthographic and Perspective (perspective looks more natural). This does not affect how your final product will appear, only the way you see your scene while you're creating it.

As you move the view around, you will see the following three objects:
Camera, Lamp, and Cube.
We'll get into more in depth details about these later.

Object Icon	Name	Description
	Camera	The camera location and rotation will determine what you will see at render time. To see in your 3D viewport what the camera will see, activate that window by pressing the NUM0 key. (Remember the 0KEY is different.) You may need to make sure NUM LOCK is on on your keyboard. To switch out of the camera view, drag the MMB.
	Lamp	A lamp is simply a light source. It will not be rendered, but the light it provides to the scene will be rendered.
	Cube	This object will be rendered. The camera should be pointing at the cube so that you will see it at render time, if the camera is not pointing at the cube, or if it is somehow partially out of frame, the picture will reflect this.

Numpad

Here is a table of some simple key combinations that will result in a perfect view.

The object the viewport orbits around (the object you see) can be changed to a new object by first selecting it with the RMB and then pressing NUM. (the period key on the numpad) or NUM, (the comma key on the numpad) on some keyboard layouts.

[NOTE: selecting an object with the RMB will only work if your viewport is set to 'Object Mode.' Press the TAB key to toggle between 'Edit Mode' and 'Object Mode.']

In Blender there is a big difference between the number keys on your numberpad (numpad) and the number keys along the top of the keyboard. For example, NUM7 refers to the number 7 on the numberpad, while 7KEY refers to the number 7 that's above the YKEY and UKEY on the standard US keyboard.

If you accidentally pressed 1KEY, 3KEY, or 7KEY during this step and it appears that everything disappeared, you have been changing the layer that you are viewing instead, press the 'key (backtick key -- on US keyboards, this is the key to the left of the 1KEY) to return to viewing all the layers, or press the 1KEY to get back to viewing layer 1 which should have been originally active. The 1KEY through 0KEY and ALT+SHIFT+1KEY through ALT+SHIFT+0KEY switch layers.

[edit] Panning

To pan is to move the camera on its X axis or Y axis. This results in the user being able to view more, or more aptly, to view something else. Think of a side-scrolling video game, such as any classic Mario or Sonic, the effect that your character's avatar always stays on the viewable screen while giving you the illusion it's running off the screen is because the character runs at the same pace the camera pans. This is evident in the background's continuous motion relative to the static avatar and camera which remain relatively synchronized.

To pan in Blender press SHIFT+MMB. Make sure to press and hold shift before the MMB, or your view will rotate instead. If you have a scroll wheel you can use SHIFT+Scroll to pan up and down, and CTRL+Scroll to pan left and right.

You also have choice of keyboard alternatives:

          CTRL+NUM8                NUM:      Up
CTRL+NUM4           CTRL+NUM6          Left      Right
          CTRL+NUM2                         Down

Panning is an important skill to master; try it now.

[edit] Zooming

Blender offers you several ways to zoom in and out:

• If your mouse has a scroll wheel, scroll it.
• CTRL+ALT+LMB and move up and down (not left or right)
• CTRL+MMB and move the mouse up and down (not left or right)
• MMB
• NUM+ and NUM-

[edit] Placing the 3D cursor

As with an ordinary text cursor (the vertical line that indicates where you type), the 3D cursor is the insertion point for new objects. It is represented as a red and white circle. It is just an 'editing point' in the 3D environment.

Click the LMB to the right of the cube, half-way between the edge of the window and the cube. The red and white circle (the 3D cursor) moves to where you clicked. Orbit the view again and notice that the 3D cursor marks a point in 3D space. "So I can move the 3D cursor, but what if I want to put it back in its original spot?" you may be asking. To do that, just press SHIFT+C and the cursor will jump back in place.

In any given rotational perspective, the set of possible 3D points where you can place the cursor is defined by the plane of your screen. If you're looking at the standard plane straight-on (meaning the standard plane is exactly parallel to your screen), you will place the cursor at the same height above or below the standard plane no matter where you click. Think of a square sheet of glass, you view the '3d world space' through it, clicking on a part of that square places the cursor there, like placing chess pieces. Don't worry, you'll understand this point soon enough.

A more interesting experiment is to rotate the standard plane so the left end is farther away from you (and thus farther away from the plane of your screen) than the right. In this view, placing the cursor on the left will put it more toward the front of the plane, and placing it on the right will put it more toward the back.

Make sure the 3D View is in "Orthographic" mode by clicking "View" and selecting "Orthographic" (or NUM5), and then try the following exercise: put the 3D cursor inside the camera (the pyramid-shaped object situated to the bottom left from the cube by default in top view). Be sure to view the scene from different angles to make sure the cursor is in fact inside. Now put the cursor back inside the cube. Make sure you are in object mode and that the '3d Transform Manipulator' is off. This ensures we can move the '3D Cursor' into the cube without selecting the cube by accident. To toggle the '3d Transform Manipulator', click the small index finger button in the 3d View Window/Bar, or use the keyboard, CTRL+SPACE. Toggle it a few times to get the hang of the difference.

If you're finding this difficult, try this: Press NUM7 to get to the top view and click on the position at which you want to place the 3D cursor. This will set two of the axes of the cursor precisely (X and Y), but the Z could be above or below the point you want. To fix this, press NUM1 to get to another view, and click again on the position to place the cursor at. With these two clicks, Blender will have all the 3 coordinates of the cursor position and you will have placed it exactly.

[edit] Layers

In the 3d viewport window, both in edit and object modes, everything you create is assigned to a visibility layer. This system has several uses:

1. Divides up different elements of a scene, so you can put scenery, characters, particles and lights all in different layers. They can then be viewed separately or in various combinations to simplify your screen.
2. When rendering, only the currently visible layers will be included. You can use this to render your scene in separate bits to review how they look.
3. Lights can be set to illuminate only objects that are in the same layer as they are, giving you more control over them. (This can also be done with grouping, but layers are faster to use at this stage).

To control layer visibility, the number keys on a standard keyboard will switch you to viewing the layers numbered 1-9 and 0 (0 being the rightmost layer). Holding ALT while using the keyboard numbers will give you access to the second row of layers.

Alternatively, there is a grid of buttons at the base of the viewport that does the same thing.

Holding SHIFT while selecting a layer (by keyboard or mouse) will, instead of making only that layer visible, toggle the visibility. You can use this to select combinations, or to disable individual layers from your current view.

To select all layers at once, press the [' for UK keyboards, ` for US] key on your keyboard. Holding SHIFT and pressing the key will return you to the last set-up you had before making them all visible.

An object you create will automatically be assigned to the layer you are currently viewing, if only one is selected, or the last layer you added to your selection. To move a selected object to a different layer, press the MKEY and select the new layer from the pop-up box.

[edit] Exercise (3D space in 2D output)

Follow these simple steps to get a feel for a 3D representation of space in a 2D output device (your monitor):

1. Change to "Object mode" using the pull down option in the 3d viewport's window header bar. Or, hit TAB to toggle between "Object mode" and "Edit mode".
2. Disable the "Use 3d transform manipulator" option by using the icon located on the 3d viewport's window header (shaped like a pointing hand). Or, hit CTRL+SPACE to toggle.
3. Hit NUM7 to change to top view. This can also be accomplished through the view menu.
4. Click between the cube and camera using the LMB.
5. Choose a different view by hitting NUM1 (front view), or NUM3 (side view). ^[3]
6. Click between the cube and camera with LMB again.
7. Rotate the view around to see how it turned out.

For the part where you are to get your cursor into the middle of the cube, just follow steps 3 through 6 again. Except this time, you'll of course be LMB clicking inside the cube, instead of between camera and cube, during step 4 and step 6.

Notes

1. ^  Because we are working in a 3D space you'll need to have two different views that intersect each other. For instance, viewing from top and then from bottom wouldn't be of much help to figuring how high up from the "standard plane" the 3d cursor is going to be. These views can also be selected through the view menu.

[edit] Adding and Deleting Objects

Make sure you are in Object Mode. If not, press TAB. (When an object is selected in edit mode, the TAB key switches between the edit and object modes. If you are in another mode, TAB toggles between that mode and the edit mode.) A status bar at the top-right of the user preferences window will indicate the current mode by displaying 'Ob' or 'Ed' depending on the currently toggled mode. Another way to check which view you are in is to check the bottom of the 3D view.

Also, remember to reactivate the '3d Transform Manipulator' if it's still toggled off from the previous step.

Make sure you have your cursor in the center of the cube. See the previous section (in the reader's notes) if you don't know how to do this.

Click RMB (Cmd+LMB on Mac) on the cube to be sure it's selected. Press the XKEY or DELKEY to delete it. A window will prompt you to erase object. Click "Erase Selected" (or "Erase All").

The reason for having your cursor in the center of the cube is that any object you add to the scene will be located where your cursor is.

To add an object, use the Add menu located in the menubar above your 3D View window, or press the Spacebar to access the same menu. Why not add a monkey? Choose Add > Mesh > Monkey. [If you prefer the monkey to be facing frontwards, make sure to be in FRONT view (NUM1) before adding the mesh]

A new object will be added, and you will be in what's known as Edit Mode. Press TAB to get out of Edit Mode, then CKEY to center the screen on the cursor (where the monkey appeared). Press the ZKEY to toggle the 3D Viewport between solid and wireframe modes. Zoom in and out for a closer look (SCROLL, NUM+, CTRL+MMB, or ALT+CTRL+LMB).

[edit] Non-standard equipment

Further information: Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Non-standard equipment

[edit] Mouses lacking MMB

For simply rotating around the object, enable the "Emulate 3 Button Mouse" option in the View & Control Preferences, and press Alt+LMB and drag.

[edit] Tablet PCs

In the Viewport, holding the ALT key while dragging your pen around will achieve the same effect as MMB.

Other Windows

Just when you thought that you were getting the hang of the Buttons window and the 3D Viewport window, there are several more windows to learn about. Have no fear; we will gently guide you through this book and teach you about these windows as the need arises. For now, you only need to know one of them to be aware of your many options.

In the 3D viewport window, you'll see a button on the header all the way to the left that has a grid on it (if not, click on a window separator with the RMB or MMB and choose "Add Header"). That button allows you to switch window types. Click on it with the LMB and you will see a number of different window types to which you can change. Try some of the different window types; you will learn about their relevance in time.

Change the window back to the 3-Dimensional Viewport before moving on to the next tutorial.

[edit] Learn to Model

Learn to Model

The most fundamental part of 3D development is modeling, because this is where you create content, or 'models'. Creating 3D models is fun and sometimes challenging.

On the next page, you will take the first step in learning how to model. If you're excited, great! But if you're scared, don't worry; it starts out very easily. Give yourself time and patience; Pixar and Dreamworks will still be in business when you're ready for them!

Beginning Tips

These are some basic tips that are often asked for in one form or another. Sometimes it is in reference to something completely different, but the basic methodology will work.

[edit] Starting with a box

Default cube

Tutorials will often start with the default cube you see right after opening Blender. Here are two ways to reset the scene without quitting the application:

• Ctrl-X (while holding the Ctrl key, press the X key);
• or select File -> New from the menu.

Then, you will see a prompt box asking OK? under your mouse pointer. You can confirm that you want to erase your current scene by clicking Erase All (or move the mouse around to dismiss it).

The cube shows as a square in the 3D viewport. If you rotate the view while holding down MMB (middle mouse button), you'll see it is actually a cube. It is selected by default. Also, the text manual of Blender states "holding down the Alt key and using a left click will simulate the Middle Mouse Button". Navigating in 3d space is assumed, please see the excellent tutorials on Blender about User Interface Tutorial [4] , The Blender Windows[5], and Navigating in 3D Space[6] which are located on the Blender Quickstart page here: http://www.blender.org/education-help/quickstart/

You can change the default scene (and return to a personalized one when clicking on Ctrl-X). Just modify the scene and arrange dialogs to suit your needs, then click File > Save Default Settings. Your current scene will now be used as the default when you click File > New. This is very handy indeed. To return to factory defaults, you can delete the file which contains those settings: .B.blend in your home directory. Starting from version 2.44, a new Load Factory Settings item is available from the File menu.

[edit] Subdivision Surfaces

Subdivision surfaces, or subsurfing, is a common technique in 3D modeling. It uses a mathematical process of simulating a curved plane in space according to the placement of control points, or vertices. What this means is that you can create an object with a smooth surface that is easily controlled by relatively few vertices.

[edit] Adding a Subsurf modifier

The Subsurf modifier

First, select the cube by clicking RMB (right mouse button) on the cube in the 3D window. Now choose the Editing panel set in the "Buttons" (bottom) window:

• click on the icon in the panel list:
• or press F9.

If you're not seeing a bunch of windows in the button view panel, such as Link and Materials, Mesh, Multires, Modifiers, Shapes, then there's a good chance you haven't got the cube itself selected.

In the Modifiers window, click on the Add Modifier button and select Subsurf. Click on the arrow to the right of Levels:1 to increase the subsurf level. With each increment the cube becomes more smooth, and more planes are added. If you hit apply the original form of the cube becomes lost. If you don't apply the changes they remain on the cube as if it was a filter, of sorts.

The remaining examples on this page will be dependent on NOT applying the Subsurf.

Levels set to 1

Levels set to 2

[edit] But I want a box!

Often, you will want to render with your model having some sort of subsurf turned on. Face it, most things in real life just do not have super sharp edges. Unless the object is a knife edge, objects in the real world will have some sort of softer edge on it. It is just this fact that is often overlooked by people starting out in 3D: CG can sometimes look too perfect, resulting from impossibly sharp, clean, and well defined edges.

This effect can be fixed by telling Blender that we want our cube to retain more of its original shape. We'll do this using a tool called Edge Creasing. Each edge in a Blender model has a crease value associated with it, which is used to tell the Subsurf modifier how sharp we want that edge to be. By default, all edges have a crease of 0, which is why our cube has lost all its sharp edges.

[edit] Show subdivision surface's cage

Subsurfed cube in Edit mode

Now, remember what we said about the Subsurf modifier remembering our original cube shape? Press TAB to go into edit mode and you'll see that the original cube has come back to haunt us as a wire frame around the smoothed cube. (unless you're using version 2.45 of Blender)

Before we fiddle with the creasing, set the Subsurf Levels up to "4" so you can see the effect more clearly.

[edit] Choose an edge to crease

Enter face mode by either:

• Placing the cursor in the 3D View → changing to Edit Mode ^[7] → CTRL+TAB → choose Faces
• Changing to Edit Mode → click (Face Mode Icon).

Select one of the sides of our wire cube with RMB by clicking near the dot in the center of the face. You'll know when it's been selected because the other faces will change colour to grey, and the face you've selected will be highlighted.

Note that, although we are in Face mode, it is really the edges that we are creasing; selecting a face is just a quick way of selecting its four edges.

[edit] Crease selected edges

Editing edge creases

Now crease the edges of the selection by either:

• Press SHIFT+E
• Select Mesh → Edges → Crease SubSurf.

Your mouse will be tied to the cube with a dotted line. Move it gently left and right to see the effect it has on the mesh.

In the style of Blender, click LMB to apply the changes, or RMB to cancel creasing.

[edit] Finally build a real box

All edges creased for a bevelled effect

Either cancel the above edge crease or start from scratch to get back to our simple subsurfed cube. Then press the A key twice to select all faces. Crease them with SHIFT+E like before, until your cube looks like the image on the right.

Press TAB to cancel out of edit mode. Behold: your smooth cube.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^  You can change to Edit Mode by selecting it from the drop down list on the 3D Viewport's header. Or, you can toggle between the current mode, and Edit Mode by using TAB.

Quickie Model

Your first model is easy.

[edit] Selecting objects

The default scene with the cube selected.

Start with the default scene. It has three objects: a cube, a light source and a camera.

The cube is selected: pink outlines indicate the selected objects. You can select or deselect all objects by pressing A, the mouse pointer being inside the viewport. Select a single object by right-clicking on it (RMB or CMD+LMB on Mac).

AKEY - Toggles between selecting all or selecting none.

RMB - Selects a single object

[edit] Edit Mode

Object Mode button.

Right now you're in what's known as Object Mode. In Object Mode you can move the cube around the 3D environment in relation to other objects. With the cube selected, hit TAB. This puts you in what's known as Edit Mode.

Note: if instead of the cube you've selected the lamp or the camera, you won't be able to go into Edit Mode (Cameras and Lamps are edited differently).

In Edit Mode, you can change the shape and size of the cube. You could turn the cube into a puppy… or at least soon you'll be able to.

TAB - toggles in and out of Edit Mode of the selected, active object.

[edit] Selecting vertices

The cube after editing in edit mode.

Now that you're in Edit Mode, you have access to the individual vertices. Vertices are control points that you can connect to create edges and faces. Edges connect two vertices, and faces connect three or more vertices.

Vertices show up as pink dots when they're not selected, and yellow dots when they are selected. If you change the G.U.I. theme, these colors may change. For example, the Rounded theme uses orange and white for selected and unselected vertices respectively.

If all the vertices are yellow (selected), press AKEY to deselect all vertices (as seen above, this key toggles selection depending on the current mode). Go ahead and hit RMB (CMD+LMB on Mac) over one of the vertices and you should see it change to yellow, which means that it is selected. On the Mac OS X version of Blender (2.4.4) LMB selects. RMB moves the cross-hair. (This setting can be changed under View & Controls in the User Preferences window.)

If all you see is a big blue dot:

• Make sure the 3D transform manipulator is off; if not: depress the hand button on the header. You'll know it's off when the icon showing the 3D axes disappears.

If you cannot select a vertex:

• Hit the ZKEY and make sure you are in transparent mode.
• If you can't get the cursor over the vertex, adjust your mouse/trackpad's tracking speed to minimum.
• Make sure you're in vertex select mode: if you can only select faces or edges, either press CTRL+TAB to select Vertices or click on the Vertex select mode icon as shown below.

Now try rotating the view to see what's actually going on. You can hold ALT key and drag (while holding the left mouse button, move the mouse) to rotate your view. If instead, it moves the Blender window, drag with the MMB (without holding the ALT key).

ZKEY - Toggles between drawing the scene in wireframe and solid mode.

CTRL-TAB - Opens the selection mode menu.

ALT+LMB or MMB - Rotates the view

[edit] Moving vertices

With a vertex selected, use the grab tool:

• Mesh > Transform > Grab/Move,
• click and hold LMB on an empty space and draw a line,
• or just press GKEY.

Move your mouse around: you should see the selected vertex moving with the pointer! Click the LMB to drop the vertex at the current spot, or press ENTER or SPACE key. While moving, you can cancel the move and drop the vertex back where it came from by pressing RMB (CMD+LMB on Mac).

You can also grab a selection using the mouse by holding RMB (CMD+LMB on Mac) and dragging it around: release the button at the desired spot. Then, clicking on the same button cancels the move.

Now use the MMB to rotate the view around to see the incredible impact your small change has undoubtedly made.

GKEY - "Grabs" the current selection and allows you to move it around with the mouse. Use LMB, ENTER, or SPACE to drop it in place. Use RMB or ESC to cancel the move.

[edit] Creating Vertices

While in mesh edit mode, simply hold the CTRL key while left clicking where you wish to create a vertex. Subsequent left clicks will create a series of vertices with connected edges.

[edit] Extra Practice

Video Tutorial on Edit Mode [8]

Quickie Render

Your first quick and dirty render should look something like this.

If you haven't completed the previous tutorial, (the Quickie Model tutorial), do so now. Keep the same file open from that tutorial because we will be using it here.

A render is the creation of a picture from the camera's point of view, taking the environment's effects on your scene into account, and generating a realistic picture based on your settings. This first render will finish very quickly, but you'll find that as your 3D scenes become more complex, the rendering can take a very long time.

[edit] Rendering the current scene

Now that you've created your first model, undoubtedly you'll want to render it. Rendering is quick and easy. Make sure you're in object mode (press TAB if you're not), put the mousepointer in the 3D view window and press F12! On Macintosh OS X 10.4 and Gnome you can use ALT-F12 (or fn-F12 on