Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Introducing Meshes

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Contents 1 Welcome! 2 The View 2.1 Identifying the 3D-View 2.2 The View's Options 3 Edit View 4 Add More Detail 5 The Beginnings are Over?! Nope, you're just Beginning!

[edit] Welcome!

First of all, we will learn what a model is. Make sure you first complete the "Thinking in 3-D" and "Beginner Tutorials" tutorial chapters before this one--you will need it here.

This tutorial was made with Blender 2.48, at a later date than many beginner tutorials here, so it is more up-to-date but may refer to methods not existent in earlier versions of Blender. Keep this fact in mind as you learn.

[edit] The View

So, can you tell me what you're looking at? Of course not! How can you be expected to model if you have no clue how the software performs such a task!? So let's break everything down step-by-step. Identify each object as described.

[edit] Identifying the 3D-View

• Red-White 3D Cursor (Crosshairs): This is your first important artifact. This object is the Blender-user cursor. It is where objects are spawned when you "Add" an object. Also, it will be used with all references Blender uses for actions relating to "Cursor". If you ever see anything referring to "Cursor" this is the object being referenced.
  • In the Blender-World, it is non-interactive/non-existent -- it will not interact with any objects, emit anything, or show up in Renders.
  • This artifact can be placed (by default settings) by left-clicking anywhere on the 3D-view window. It will move from whichever (X,Y,Z) coordinates it had initially and will move to the (X,Y,Z) coordinates your mouse cursor is pointing to. Now when you click an area on the 3D view in an attempt to move the cursor, remember the screen is only 2D, so you will only be able to move the cursor on the 2D plane that you have in viewing the scene. This means that the cursor will retain it's "Window "Z"" coordinate--you will only move it in 2-coordinates. If you want to change that third coordinate, remember to change views (e.g. move from top-view to side-view).
• Camera (displayed as a black, lopsided pyramid in above picture): This is the view Blender uses to "View" the world. It is not discussed in this tutorial.
  • In the Blender-World, it is limited-interactive/non-existent -- it will not initially interact with objects, emit anything, or show up in Renders.
• Lamp (displayed as a yellow orb with a yellow circle around it): This is the light Blender uses to make objects visible. It will be discussed in very little detail in this section.
  • In the Blender-World, it is limited-interactive/non-existent -- it will not initially interact with objects or show up in Renders, but does emit "light" to make objects visible/"lit" within the distance set.
• Mesh (displayed as a gray box with a red dot at the center): This is the "default cube", the initial model Blender loads when you first load Blender. It will be discussed in this tutorial.
  • In the Blender-World, it is interactive/existent -- it will interact with objects, show up in Renders, and be registered in the Blender universe in many different ways.

[edit] The View's Options

So now you're familiar with the view, next let's look at your different options. In this view, the Camera, Lamp, and Mesh are selectable. Selecting them will cause an outline to appear around the object or change its color altogether. You just have to remember which objects do what when you select them.

Each object has its own set of options when you select it. To select an object, move the mouse cursor over the object in the 3D-View and Right-Click. It should then be outlined with a pink color.

The 3D-View has a lower border which houses its own set of options. It is visible directly below the 3D View in the snapshot above as well as in the thumb to the right. Identify the given overview of each option (each option is listed from left-to-right):

• 3D-View (only described by a drop-down menu with a grid in it):This option is in the border of every window. The drop-down menu changes the category in which this window is working. The Grid in the menu means the window will be displaying 3D View. The other selections will be discussed in later tutorials.

Of the following options, the next 3 are only visible as long as the little gray arrow next to the "Current Window Type" is pointing down (if pointing right, click it to change)

• View: This option will yield a massive amount of options which you can use to change how you are viewing the scene in the 3D view. Do not mess with it much now or you may not be able to get out of an odd view and might even have to restart Blender to restore view.
• Select: This option will yield a massive amount of options which you can use to change which objects are selected in the 3D view. Many options will be discussed in later tutorials.
• Object: This option will yield a massive amount of options which you can use to change certain properties of the object which is selected. It is visible if the next drop-down menu is in "Object Mode" and will change with respect to the Mode selected in that drop-down. Many options will be discussed in later tutorials.
• ______ Mode (Menu): Depending on the selected type of object, this menu will yield anywhere from 1 to n options. When a mesh is selected, there are 5 options to start with in this menu. The two options you will be taught in this section are "Object Mode" and "Edit Mode".
• Draw-Type Menu (shown only as a tan box next to the "______ Mode" Menu): This option displays the objects in the 3D Viewport in different ways. For example, it can show them shaded or textured. (Note: called the "Viewport Shading" button in version 249.2)
• Pivot Type (shown only as a menu directly right of the Draw-Type Menu, usually with assorted dot symbols): Changes where the rotation/scale pivot point will be located for the selected object(s) when transformed.
• 3D Transform Manipulator (shown as a button with a hand pointing, which also has a drop-down menu connected to the right and, when depressed, will yield 3 more buttons): Very Important--The triangular button will create 3 colored arrows at the pivot-point of the selections. These colored arrows can be selected to change the location of the the selected objects. The circle button creates 3 colored rings with an outer "window-facing" ring which can be selected to rotate selected objects at the pivot point. The block button will change the scale (size) of the selections at the pivot point along the 3 colored blocks presented in the 3D view. In each case, you can LMB-drag the guide arrows, circles or lines to effect the transformation. The menu next to that is used to determine on which axes these transformations will take place.
• Layer Buttons (shown as rows of buttons to the right of 3D Transform Manipulator): Changes the layer you are viewing (when objects are created they are set on a layer).
• Magnet Button (shown as a button with a magnet picture on it): When selected will snap transformations of object(s) to selected numerical values instead of "free" (multi-decimal) values.
• Render Image Button (shown as a button with a scene picture on it): Will take a picture of the 3D scene as you currently see it from your view.

Oh yes, it is a lot to review, but don't fret--all we are doing now is working with modeling an object. We will only really utilize the transforming aspects and, in the buttons window below, the Editing View.

[edit] Edit View

So, first you will want to deselect everything, so you will not accidently edit something you don't want to. Hit A-key to deselect everything if anything is selected. If nothing was selected, then everything will be selected, in which case simply hit A-key again. Next, zoom in and change the camera angle to your desire, preferably one in which the cube is in a 3D view and is almost encompassing the whole screen. Next, switch to the Edit Mode either by hitting Tab or by selecting it from the "----- Mode" Drop-down. Now the cube will have a black outline and new options will be available.

If you view the bottom border in this example, you will clearly see 4 new buttons to the right of the "magnet" button. As you saw in the previous section, a mesh has "Vertices", "Edges", and "Faces". Each button corresponds with the button's picture. In Edit Mode, you may manipulate and transform these 3 types as you wish using the transformation buttons. Give it a shot. That's right, just start out free-wheeling it for now, making sure to select with the mouse R-Click (right-click). Now RMB-drag to move the selected feature around. (You can let go of the RMB once you start the movement action. Finally, LMB-click to choose to keep the change, or RMB-Click to ignore the change. Change the selection types by pressing the "Vertices", "Edges", or "Faces" buttons in the bottom border area so you can choose which parts of the cube you want to select. Also you can select with these different ways, so practice with them:

• Shift + R-Click -- Can select or deselect multiple objects, vertices, edges, or faces. Just hold and click what you want to.
• A-key -- Select/Deselect all objects, vertices, edges, or faces.
• Ctrl + Z-Key -- Undo your last action.

So now that you can transform a given face or edge, I bet you want to work with something more complex than a six-sided cube. If you want to add more detail (more faces, pretty much), then check out the window directly below the 3D View -- it is called the buttons window.

[edit] Add More Detail

Using the controls in the Buttons Window, you can revise the mesh to make it more detailed by subdividing and extruding, somewhat like a sculptor would cut away or add clay to a starting, undefined lump.

Let's try subdividing first. Select the face(s) or edge(s) (R-Click,Shift(Hold) + R-Clicking, or just A-Key) that you want to work with. Next, hit the subdivide button in the "Mesh Tools" tab (located on the right side of the picture above in the Buttons Window). The selected face should be split into many new, smaller faces. These new faces can now be selected and subdivided and so on. Play around again by selecting another face and subdividing it. Remain calm as the giddiness of this feat consumes you, do not despair when the rapture wears off and you realize all you've got is a square with a bunch of lines in it. Hit Ctrl-Z to Undo back to the square we started out with.

Another method for adding detail is to use the "Extrude" function. Select the top face of the cube and either hit the Extrude button in Mesh Tools, or you can just hit the E-Key. Without pressing anything else move your mouse upward. You should see your selected segment pull out from the rest of the surrounding mesh, in this case turning a square into a rectangle. Hitting the LMB will finalize the extrusion, hitting the RMB will cancel the extrusion and send the face back to where it was.

Subdividing and extruding in this way allows you to transform shapes as you wish. Try it and see what happens!

[edit] The Beginnings are Over?! Nope, you're just Beginning!

Done playing already? Well, have you at least an understanding of how modeling works now? If not, don't worry--this is a very basic overview, and more explanation will be given in the next sections. And also, while it may seem like it would be super time-consuming to model this way, you will learn how to model better soon, and more efficiently. Just master how to do these techniques for now.