Blender's user interface
topGeneral view
When you first open Blender, you'll see something like in the image below. There are three windows in default view (yes, there are three windows). The window type of the top most window is User Preferences and only the header part of the window is visible. In the middle is 3D-window and the lowest window is Buttons window.
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Objet/Edit mode
You can change between edit and object modes by selecting from dropdown menu from the bottom of the 3D-window. (shorcut is Tab)
3D-transform widget
With this helper tool it is easy to move, rotate or scale objects. It looks like this:
You change between different actions from these buttons in the bottom of the 3D-window:
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3D-cursor
3D-cursor is another helper tool. It can be used for example to assist on snap or overriding object origin in rotation. It also defines where new objects are created. It looks like this:
3D-cursor is placed by default with left-mouse click.
topWindow management
The interface of Blender is very flexible duo the window system. Every window has a type and possible header. By splitting and joining it is possible to adjust interface freely.
topWindow type
From the menu on the left, you can change the window type.
Splittign/joining window
Window can be splitted by right clicking on the border of the window (when cursor is double arrow) and selecting Split Area from menu. After that line appears in the window and left-clicking splits the window.
If you select Join Area, the arrow appears inside the window so you can choose join direction.
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Context panels
- Scene: rendering setting
- Editing: editing tools for geometry
- Objects: settings for objects (draw-settings and constraints)
- Shading: materials, textures, background settings
- Script: scriptlinks
- Logic: logic for game engine
http://download.blender.org/documentation/htmlI/ch03.html#interface_concept_buttypes
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Layers
Layers are extremely usefull. With layers it is possible to locate objects in different layers and then show only layer that has
- Click any rectangle in order to show that layer (you can also use numbers 1-9).
- By holding Shift it is possible to select multiple layers (if there are several layers selected, then new objects are created to the layer which was selected last)
- You can move objects to different layer by pressing M and selecting new layer.
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Tools menu
This tool menu can be accessed by pressing space in 3D-window.
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Draw type
Draw type defines how the scene is drawn (shortcut between Solid and Wireframe is Z).
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Navigating in 3D space
3D-window is the most important window and managing it
Panning
- Press and hold middle mouse button and drag.
Zooming
- rotate middle mouse button when cursor is over 3D-window
or
- press and hold CTRL and press and hold middle mouse button and drag
or
- (zoom to selected) Press comma on numpad.
Rotating view
- Pres and hold Shift and press and hold middle mouse button and drag.
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Resetting view
- Select View -> Side/Front/Top/Camera
or
- press 1 (front), 3 (side) or 7 (top) on numpad.
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Opening and saving files
Opening:- Valitse File -> Open.
or - press F1
- P means parent directory (same as ../ ) and it takes you one step higher in directory tree.
- Find file and click it with middle mouse button
or - select file and press enter or click Open.
Saving:
- Valitse File -> Save.
- write filename with prefix and click Save as or press enter twice.
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Window presets
From the header of the user preferences window you can find some presets for views. These are just stored GUI combinations. You can create new ones by selecting add new.
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Start Blender with window borders
When Blender starts, it doesn't show window borders (at least in Linux). You can enable those by start Blender with -p option. The size of the window can be set as follows: ./blender - p 0 0 800 600