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

|previous=Keystroke, Button, and Menu Notation
|subcat=Background
}}
```
This module is applicable only to users with non-standard input devices.
If you have both a three-button mouse and a keyboard with a numpad, you
can skip this module.

\_\_TOC\_\_

### Keyboards lacking a numpad

Most modern laptops have a
, a set of keys in the
main keypad which double as a numpad. The keys typically used for this
purpose are:

+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          |
| :N2P/Do|7key}} | :N2P/Do|8key}} | :N2P/Do|9key}} | :N2P/Do|0key}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          |
| :N2P/Do|Ukey}} | :N2P/Do|Ikey}} | :N2P/Do|Okey}} | :N2P/Do|Pkey}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D:N2P/     |
| :N2P/Do|Jkey}} | :N2P/Do|Kkey}} | :N2P/Do|Lkey}} | Do|SEMICOLON}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D:         |
| :N2P/Do|Mkey}} | :N2P/Do|,Key}} | :N2P/Do|.Key}} | N2P/Do|SLASH}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
|                |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+

When used as a pseudo-numpad, these keys typically act as the following
keys from a true numpad:

+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          |
| :N2P/Do|Num7}} | :N2P/Do|Num8}} | :N2P/Do|Num9}} | :N2P/Do|Num/}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          |
| :N2P/Do|Num4}} | :N2P/Do|Num5}} | :N2P/Do|Num6}} | :N2P/Do|Num*}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          | {{B3D          |
| :N2P/Do|Num1}} | :N2P/Do|Num2}} | :N2P/Do|Num3}} | :N2P/Do|Num-}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | `              | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          | {{B3D:N2P      | {{B3D          | {{B3D          |
| :N2P/Do|Num0}} | /Do|NumENTER}} | :N2P/Do|Num.}} | :N2P/Do|Num+}} |
| ```            | ```            | ```            | ```            |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
|                |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+

The numpad functions of these keys can often be toggled with
 or
on PCs or with  on Macs. Alternatively,
you can often temporarily activate the numpad behavior by holding down
.

If your keyboard has the alternate labellings but you don\'t know how
they work, consult your laptop owner\'s manual.

As a last resort, you can use the \"Emulate Numpad\" feature of Blender.
This will allow you to use the normal numeric keys as if they were
numpad numerics. Instructions for enabling this feature may be found in
.

Blender uses the numeric keypad quite a bit. If you envision using your
laptop for this kind of work, it may be worth investing in a *USB
Numeric Keypad*. On eBay, prices for simple external numpads start
around \$10 USD.

### Non three-button mouse

For single-button mouse users, make sure that *Input* for Blender 2.79
(under \"User Preferences\" on the left-most drop-down menu) → *Emulate
3 Button Mouse* is enabled.

On many computers with two-button mice,
can be emulated by simultaneously clicking
 and .
On Windows machines you\'ll need to enable this in the mouse settings in
the Control Panel. On a Mac, open the *Keyboard and Mouse* preference
pane and enable *Use two fingers to scroll*. Alternatively, by selecting
*Emulate 3 Button Mouse* under *User Preferences*,
 can be emulated by simultaneously
clicking  and
.

Recent IBM Thinkpad laptops allow you to disable the \'UltraNav\'
features of the middle mouse button in order to use it as a \'normal\'
third button. Alternatively, some laptops allow areas (called gestures)
on the movement pad to act as  or
, and these can be set up in the Control
Panel in the Mouse Pointer options, selecting gestures and editing
features there.

#### Apple single-button mouse

+--------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Notation           | Single-button         | Description           |
|                    | Substitute            |                       |
+====================+=======================+=======================+
| -   Input devices (version
    2.7x)


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Operating System specific notes

|previous=Non-standard equipment
|subcat=Background
}}
```
This tutorial covers user-interface issues that are specific to
particular operating systems or window managers. Read the section that
applies to your computer; you may skip the rest.

## GNU/Linux

is used for changing the angular view on two angular axes of the 3D View
window, if  moves the current
window, then there\'s a conflict with your window manager. You can
resolve the conflict or use  or
 instead. (Also, you may have activated
Compiz-\>Rotate Cube. Default configuration for rotating the Cube is
also ; you may have to change
this binding to an alternative configuration.) If you are running KDE
this can be resolved by:  on the title
bar of the main Blender window → select *Configure Window Behavior* → go
to *Actions → Window Actions* → in the *Inner Window, Titlebar and
Frame* section → select the Modifier key to be
 and set all the select boxes beneath it
to *Nothing*. An alternate method within KDE might be to
 click on the title bar of the main
Blender window; then select *Advanced* → *Special Application
Settings\...* → *Workarounds* and then click *Block global shortcuts*
with *Force* selected and checked.

In Gnome, Click *System → Preferences → Window Preferences*. Look for
the last three options *Control*, *Alt* and *Super*. Select *Super*. Or
in Xfce, click *Whisker → Settings → Window Manager Tweaks*, and in the
*Accessibility* pane, change *Key used to grab and move windows* to
*Super*. Now you can press and hold  or
 to drag windows around, and use
 and
as normal.

### KDE

Under KDE,  through
 are by default configured to switch
to the corresponding one of the first four desktops, while
 brings up Plasma settings. You can
change these in System Settings.

Alternatively you can suppress global shortcuts while inside blender by
adjusting the kwin rules for this application, which you can access with
a  click on the title bar of the window
and pressing more actions-\>add program rule.

### Gnome

You\'ll want to disable the *Find Pointer* functionality in Gnome, which
will impair your ability to use certain functions such as *Snap to grid*
and the lasso tool. If your mouse pointer is being highlighted when you
press and release , go to: *Mouse* in
Gnome\'s *Desktop Settings* and uncheck the box *Find Pointer*.

### Ubuntu

As of Ubuntu versions prior to about 09.10 ("Karmic Koala"), there was a
known incompatibility between Blender and the Compiz Fusion accelerated
(OpenGL) window manager used in Ubuntu. By default, Compiz Fusion is
enabled in Ubuntu, causing the problems to manifest themselves in
Blender as flickering windows, completely disappearing windows,
inconsistent window refreshes, and/or an inability to start Blender in
windowed mode.

The fix for this is simple. Install compiz-switch (might be in
universe). Go to *Applications → Accessories → Compiz-Switch*. This will
disable compiz temporarily. Do the same to turn compiz back on when
you\'re done using Blender.

This is no longer needed for current releases of Ubuntu.

## Mac OS X

You may need to press  in order to use
the  through
 keys.

To expand a section in Blender, you would usually press
. On a Mac, if "Spaces" is
enabled, you may have to use
.

## Microsoft Windows

### Two Ways to Launch Blender

Blender requires a console for displaying error messages, so if you
launch Blender by means of an icon, two windows will appear: the
graphical user interface plus a console window. Closing either window
will terminate Blender. These windows are indistinguishable in the
Windows taskbar in versions of Windows before Windows
7, which leads to confusion. Also, launching
this way does not provide any way to pass command-line arguments to
Blender.

Launching Blender from a command prompt is extra work, but it overcomes
these issues:

1.  *Start → Run\...*
2.  enter `cmd`
3.  enter `cd c:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender`
4.  enter `blender`

Blender version 2.6 onwards doesn\'t have this problem, and hides the
console window by default. You can show it by clicking Window \> Toggle
system console

### Sticky Keys

Pressing  five times in a row may
activate , an accessibility
option which alters how the computer recognizes commands. If a
StickyKeys dialog box appears, you should
 the \"Cancel\" button.

If you don\'t need the accessibility features, you can disable sticky
keys:

1.  *Start → Control Panel* (**OR** search for \"Accessibility Options\"
    on the Start menu/Search)

2.  double-click on *Accessibility Options (Ease of Access Center in
    Windows 10)*

3.      the *Keyboard* tab

4.  for each of the options *StickyKeys*, *FilterKeys*, and
    *ToggleKeys*:
    1.  clear the *Use ...* checkbox

    2.          the *Settings* button

    3.  uncheck the *Use Shortcut* checkbox in the settings

    4.          the *OK* button for the settings

5.      the *OK* button for *Accessibility Options/Ease of Access Center.*

### Multiple Keyboard Layouts

On systems with multiple keyboard layouts, pressing
 can alter the layout. (For
instance, it might change from QWERTY to AZERTY or vice versa.) Because
of this issue, *Noob to Pro* avoids
 hotkeys.

If you find your keyboard layout altered, press
 again to change it back.

You can also disable the hotkey:

1.  *Start → Control Panel*

2.  double-click on *Regional and Language Options*

3.      the *Languages* tab

4.      the *Details* button

5.      the *Key Settings* button

6.      the *Change Key Sequence* button

7.  uncheck the *Switch Keyboard Layout* checkbox

8.      the *OK* button

### Additional Resources

-   Input method editor keyboard shortcut (CTRL+SHIFT+0) switches the
    input language in Vista ---
    Microsoft Support Knowledge-Base

-


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Blender Interface

|previous=Operating System specific notes
|subcat=Background
}}
```
\_\_TOC\_\_

Here\'s a preview screenshot of Blender\'s interface, after a new
installation.

!Blender initial startup
display{width="800"}

For those familiar with older versions of Blender, this will look very
different. The redesign makes it much easier to find things.

For a detailed rationale explaining the redesign, read
this.

## Why does Blender use its own windowing system instead of the operating system\'s?

Blender follows its own user interface conventions. Instead of making
use of multiple windows as defined by your particular OS/GUI, it creates
its own "windows" within a single OS/GUI window, which is best sized to
fill your screen. Many people accustomed to how applications normally
work on their platform of choice, get annoyed by Blender's insistence on
being different. However, there is a good reason for it.

The essence of the Blender UI can be summed up in one word: *workflow*.
Blender was originally created by a 3D graphics shop for their own
in-house use. Being a key revenue engine for them, they designed it for
maximum productivity, speed and smoothness of operation. That means
avoiding "bumps" that slow down the user. For example, windows never
overlap, so there's no need to keep reordering them. You don't have to
click in a window to make it active, just move the mouse. There is a
minimum of interruption from popups asking for more information before
performing some action. Instead, the action is immediately performed
with default settings, which you can adjust afterwards and get immediate
feedback on the results.

Blender may not be "intuitive" to start learning, in that you cannot
simply sit down in front of it and figure out things on your own,
especially from a position of knowing nothing at all. But once you have
picked up some basic conventions, you will find it starts to make sense
and *then* you will be free to experiment and discover things on your
own.

## \"Save changes on exit\" prompt

As of Blender version 2.79, you are prompted on exit when there are
unsaved changes. You can change this behaviour in *Edit → Preferences →
Save & Load → Save Prompt*.

Prior to that version, Blender was not asking about unsaved changes.
Instead, Blender saved changes, when it closes, to a file called
\'quit.blend\'. The next time you use Blender, you had to select *File →
Recover Last Session* to resume right where you left off.


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Blender Windowing System

|previous=Blender Interface
|subcat=Background
}}
```
The Blender user interface may appear daunting at first, but don\'t
despair. This book explores the interface one step at a time.

In this module, you\'ll learn about Blender windows:

-   recognizing windows and their headers,
-   the different types of windows,
-   how to activate and resize windows,
-   how to split and join windows.

You\'ll also practice launching and leaving Blender.

## An Interface Divided

Blender\'s user interface is divided into rectangular areas called
 (or sometimes,
). The overall arrangement of
windows is called a .

If you haven\'t already launched Blender, go ahead and do so. You should
soon see something that resembles the following.

Blender has had some major changes to its user interface (UI) since
version 2.4x. Some of these changes include moving buttons and changing
the space bar hot key from the "add menu" to the "search menu"
( is now the \"add menu" hot
key). This is important to know when trying to follow tutorials.

Other changes include the addition of the tool bar and window splitting
widget. The shelf widget (indicated by a plus sign) opens hidden tool
shelves. The object tool shelf can be toggled on and off by pressing
. The properties tool shelf can be
toggled on and off by pressing the .
The split window widget allows you to split and join windows. Blender
2.69 is shown below.

![](Blender269DefaultView.png "Blender269DefaultView.png"){width="800"}

-   You may be running a different version of Blender - perhaps a newer
    version. The screenshot was made using the 2.69 release.

:

    :   If you\'re running an older version, you should probably
        upgrade. Download instructions are in the
        Introduction.

-   The user-interface settings on your computer may have been changed.

    :   Try resetting the user interface with *File → Load Factory
        Settings*.

:

    :   To take a video in Blender, press
        , and click *Make
        Screencast*. This will record what\'s on your screen until you
        click the red *Close* button on the info header. The screencasts
        will be saved in the *tmp* folder. In Microsoft Windows, the
        *tmp* folder is located at \'C:\\tmp\'.

## Window Headers

Did you find all five headers?

Every Blender window has a header. A header can appear at the top of the
window, at the bottom of the window, or it can be hidden. Let\'s take a
closer look at the headers.

If you click with  on the header, a menu
pops up which lets you move the header (to the top if it's at the
bottom, or vice versa), or maximize the window to fill the entire
workspace:

![](Blender269HeaderMenu.png "Blender269HeaderMenu.png")

To hide the header completely, move the mouse to the edge of the header
furthest from the edge of the window (i.e. the top edge of the header if
it is at the bottom of the window, or vice versa); it will change into a
vertical double-headed arrow. Now click with
 and drag towards the window edge, and
the header will disappear. In its place, you will see the following
symbol appear at the corner of the window:
![](Blender274RevealShelfIconBrightened.png "Blender274RevealShelfIconBrightened.png").
Click this with  to bring the header
back.

## Window Types

Blender has many types of windows (there are 16 of them in Blender 2.69)
and a Console for the Python programming language. You\'ve just
encountered the Info, 3D View, Properties, and Outliner windows. The
rest will be introduced as needed in later modules.

Every window header in Blender has an icon at the left end to indicate
the window type. For instance:

-   ![](Blender_2.59_Info_ico.png "Blender_2.59_Info_ico.png") = Info
-   ![](Blender_2.59_User_Prefs_ico.png "Blender_2.59_User_Prefs_ico.png")
    = User Preferences
-   ![](Blender_2.59_3d_view_icon.png "Blender_2.59_3d_view_icon.png") =
    3D View
-   ![](Blender_2.59_Outliner_ico.png "Blender_2.59_Outliner_ico.png") =
    Outliner
-   ![](Blender_2.59_Properties_ico.png "Blender_2.59_Properties_ico.png")
    = Properties

If you  on the icon, a menu will pop up.
(If you don\'t know what  means, please
review the Keystrokes, Buttons, and Menus
Notation module.)

If you\'ve changed any window\'s type, please change it back (or reload
the factory settings with *File → Load Factory Settings*) before
continuing with this tutorial.

## The Active Window

The **active window** is the one that will respond if you press a key.
Only one Blender window is active at any given time.

The active window is usually the one containing the mouse pointer.
(Blender uses a \"focus follows mouse\" user interface model. When a
hotkey fails to work as expected, it is often because the mouse pointer
has strayed into a neighboring window.) To change the active window,
simply move the mouse pointer into the window you wish to activate.

Practice changing the active window by moving your mouse between the 3D
View and the Timeline windows. The Timeline window is directly below the
3D View header. At this point, it\'s worth mentioning that the header
for the 3D View window and Timeline window is at the BOTTOM of its own
window instead of the top as the name \"header\" implies.

## Resizing Windows

Resizing windows is easy.

### Dragging on a Border

Whenever you increase the size of one window, you decrease the size of
another. That\'s because Blender has a
:
unlike many other programs, it does not permit windows to overlap.
Neither does it move windows; it just resizes them. If you find that you
cannot increase the size of a window (e.g. the Info window) any further
although there seems to be enough space to do so, it may be because you
decreased the size of another window (e.g., the Outline window) to its
minimum size (i.e, just the heading).

### Maximizing a Window

Another way to resize a window is to maximize it. When Blender
 a window, it makes the
window as large as possible. The previous window configuration is saved.

-   To maximize the active window, press
     ,
     or
    . On a Mac, if "Spaces" is
    enabled, you may have to use
    .
-   When a window is maximized, use
     ,
     or
     to restore the previous
    (unmaximized) window configuration.

Practice maximizing and un-maximizing the 3D View and Timeline windows.

## Shelves

You will notice that the 3D View
![](Blender2693DViewIcon.png "Blender2693DViewIcon.png") window (the
largest window in the screenshots above) has several buttons down the
left side. This rectangular portion is called the *Tool Shelf*. This is
like a window within a window - you can drag the boundary between it and
the main part of the 3D View to resize.

If you drag all the way to the window boundary, the shelf will
disappear. In its place, the following symbol will appear:
![](Blender274RevealShelfIconBrightened.png "Blender274RevealShelfIconBrightened.png").
Click it to bring the shelf back.

## Too Much To Fit

If a window or shelf contains too much information to fit within its
display area, scrollbars will appear along the bottom or right edge. You
can scroll the contents by dragging these with
; alternatively you can drag with
 directly within the contents.

A window header may also contain more than fits within its displayable
area. There is no explicit visual clue for this (though some of the
widgets at the right edge might not be visible), but if that happens,
you can drag sideways within the header with
 to scroll its contents.

## Splitting And Joining Windows

At the top right and bottom left of every window, you will see something
like this: ![](Blender254WindowWidget.png "Blender254WindowWidget.png").
If you move the mouse over the icon, you will see the pointer turn into
a cross. At that point, you can do one of the following by clicking and
dragging with :

-   Split the window into two copies horizontally by dragging
    horizontally away from the edge.
-   Split the window into two copies vertically by dragging vertically
    away from the edge.
-   Join the window to the adjacent one horizontally (getting rid of it
    and taking over its space) by dragging towards it.
-   Join the window to the adjacent one vertically (getting rid of it
    and taking over its space) by dragging towards it.

Of course, the last two are only possible if there *is* in fact another
window in that direction. Note: you can only join windows horizontally
that are the same height, and windows vertically that are the same
width.

## The Default Workspace

If you look at the above screenshot of the default workspace, you will
see the following window types:

-   The menu bar at the top (outlined in green) is actually a window,
    called Info ![](Blender269InfoIcon.png "Blender269InfoIcon.png"). In
    previous versions of Blender, you could resize this to reveal the
    User Preferences, but in 2.5*x* they have been moved to their own
    window type. Instead, all you can see here if you enlarge the window
    are some debug messages, which may be removed in a future version of
    Blender. As of 2.70, the debug messages are still present in this
    menu.
-   The largest window on the screen is the 3D View
    ![](Blender2693DViewIcon.png "Blender2693DViewIcon.png"). This is
    where you work on your model.
-   The Properties
    ![](Blender269PropertiesIcon.png "Blender269PropertiesIcon.png")
    window is the tall area on the right; this is where most of the
    functions are located for performing operations on models, materials
    etc. In previous versions of Blender this was called the Buttons
    window. Over time, it evolved into a disorganized area that made it
    difficult to find things. It has been cleaned up significantly in
    2.5*x*. Note that it defaults to a vertical layout, rather than the
    horizontal one of previous versions. The new design prefers a
    vertical layout, which better suits today's widescreen monitors.
-   The Outliner
    ![](Blender269OutlinerIcon.png "Blender269OutlinerIcon.png") (at the
    top right) gives you an overview of the objects in your document. As
    your models get more complex, you will start to appreciate the
    ability to quickly find things here.
-   The Timeline
    ![](Blender270TimelineIcon.png "Blender270TimelineIcon.png") (across
    the bottom) becomes important when you're doing animation.

The default layout may not be optimal. For example, if you're doing a
static model or scene, not an animation, you can get rid of the
Timeline. If you're doing heavy script development, you'll probably want
the Console available to try things out. And so on.

## Workspace Presets

In the Info window/titlebar, you will see a menu with an icon like this
![](Blender267ScreenLayoutIcon.png "Blender267ScreenLayoutIcon.png").
Clicking on it with  will show the
following menu:

![](Blender255WorkspaceMenu.png "Blender255WorkspaceMenu.png")

Selecting from this menu lets you quickly switch between various
predefined workspace layouts, tailored to various workflows. Try it and
see. You can return to the default layout by selecting "Default" (but
note that any changes you make to the layout are immediately associated
with the name being displayed here). The menu has a search box at the
bottom. Typing text here will restrict the menu to showing items
containing only that text. It might not appear to have much use, but in
a complicated project that needs dozens of different layouts, the search
function could become very useful indeed!

The name of the currently selected item appears to the right of the menu
icon. In the illustration above, this is \"Default\". Blender allows you
to rename the current menu item by clicking on it with the
 and typing a new name, so take care not
to do so unless you actually want to rename the menu item. For example,
if you replace the name \"Default\" with \"MyDefaults\", you will
subsequently see that \"MyDefaults\" appears in the list of menu items.

Note also the "+" and "X" icons to the right of the menu; clicking "+"
creates a new entry which is a duplicate of the last-selected entry,
while clicking "X" gets rid of the currently-selected entry. You will
see these conventions appear consistently in menus elsewhere in
Blender's new, revamped interface.

## One Document At A Time

Blender can only work with one open document at a time (this does not
apply to blender 2.79, which allows multiple instances of blender to run
concurrently). To save changes to the current document, select one of
the Save options from the File menu (or press
 to save under the last-saved name).
To open a new document (actually load a copy of your last-saved user
preferences), select "New" from the File menu (or press
), and select "Reload Start-Up File"
from the popup that appears, but be aware *this will not automatically
save any changes to the previous document*.

## Scenes

A *scene* is like a separate Blender-document within-a-document.
Different scenes within the same document can easily share objects,
materials etc. You can define them once and make different renderings
and animations from them. You create, delete and switch scenes using the
scene ![](Blender267SceneIcon.png "Blender267SceneIcon.png") menu in the
info header. A new document starts by default with just one scene,
called "Scene".

## Leaving Blender

To exit Blender:

1.  If there\'s a tool active, press  to
    exit the tool.
2.  Press . This brings up an *OK?*
    menu.
3.  Confirm *Quit Blender* by clicking
    or pressing .

## Additional Resources

-
-
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-
-


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/User Preferences Windows

|previous=Blender Windowing System
|subcat=Background
}}
```
!A screenshot of the Blender Preferences window in Blender
2.80

In this module, we\'ll take a closer look at the Blender Preferences
window.

## Accessing Blender Preferences

To open the Blender Preferences window click *Edit → Preferences\...*

In Blender 2.79, you will find it under *File → User Preferences\...*

## Configuring Your Preferences

In order to get to modeling and rendering sooner, this tutorial will
cover only a few of the many user-settable preferences.

If you ever need to restore Blender to its factory settings, click *File
→ Defaults → Load Factory Settings*

### Save & Load → Auto Save

As the name suggests, Auto Save automatically saves the current .blend
after a specified period of time. You can turn this on and off using the
checkbox labelled \"Auto Save\". You can also adjust the amount of time
between each save, by adjusting the \"Timer (Minutes)\" field.

### System → Undo Steps

By default, Blender remembers your last 32 actions and allows you to
undo them one at a time by either pressing
 or by selecting a frame under *Edit
→ Undo History*. However, you can change the number of *Undo Steps*
stored to remember more or less actions, in case you want to conserve
memory or simply stay on the safe side. You can also use the *Undo
Memory Limit* slider to specify the amount of RAM (in megabytes) used
for storing the undo levels. In case you\'re not too worried about
memory, you can set the *Undo Memory Limit* field to 0 to remove the
memory limit.

### Input → Numpad Emulation

Blender uses numberpad keys (such as )
to control the 3D View and ordinary numeral keys (such as
) to change layers. If you are working on
a laptop or if you find the numberpad inconvenient, you can select
*Emulate Numpad* to reassign the 3D View controls to the ordinary
numeral keys.

### Input → Emulate 3 Button Mouse

Blender makes significant use of all three buttons on a standard
computer mouse. If you do not have a mouse with three buttons, enabling
this setting will let you perform
-related actions with

### Keymap

In Blender 2.79 and earlier, Blender used right click for selection.
However, in Blender 2.8, this was changed to left click on default,
along with some changes to keyboard shortcuts for efficiency. To stay
compatible with different users\' preferences, three keymap presets are
provided on installation: \"Blender\", the new default keymap, \"Blender
27x\", which includes very few changes compared to earlier versions, and
\"Industry Compatible\", designed to be used by those coming from other
3D software, such as Maya and ZBrush

Since much of this book was written before the 2.8 update came out, you
may find pages that still use the old \"right click to select\" option,
along with some outdated keybinds. If you\'re following a lot of
tutorials for Blender 2.79 or earlier, you can go into *Keymap* and
select *Blender 27x* under the presets list. You can always switch back
if needed.

## Additional Resources

-   The Blender manual pages on
    Preferences
-   The tutorial on Non-standard
    Equipment describes other
    workarounds for numpad issues.


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Properties Window

The properties window lets you change many settings and properties
relating to the current scene and selected objects. You can edit many
options, including customizing materials and textures, controlling how
your scene is rendered and at what quality, among many other things.

The properties window is divided into categories, which themselves group
individual tabs. Each tab, in turn, groups a selection of properties and
settings. For example, the *World Properties* tab, under the *Scene*
category, lets you control the color and texture of the background of
the scene (i.e. the sky), and allows you to add volumetric effects to
the scene (i.e. fog or mist). Each tab has their own, unique, icon. Some
tabs will even change depending on the type of object selected!

## Active Tool and Workspace settings

### Active Tool and Workspace settings

As the name suggests, this simply configures the active tool (for
example, the move tool) and various workspace settings (such as
switching to object mode when a workspace is opened).

## Scene

### Render Properties

This tab lists settings that control the how the resulting render of a
scene is displayed, such as performance-related settings, color
management settings, and effects like motion blur. These settings will
change depending on the render engine used, which can also be edited
from this tab

### Output Properties

This tab controls various settings that determing the output of a
render. This includes resolution, frame rate, file format, among other

### Scene Properties

This tab lets you choose which camera to use for rendering, change the
units and edit the gravity settings for the current scene.

You can also select another scene to be a "background" for this scene.
That is, all renders of this (foreground) scene will also include the
contents of the background scene, as though they had been copied into
this scene. While the background appears in the 3D viewport when editing
this scene, none of its contents are editable, or even selectable; that
has to be done in the background scene itself.

### World Properties

This lets you change the environment of the scene. In this tab, you can
edit the background color and texture (i.e. the sky color), and add
volumetric effects such as fog or mist.

## Collection

### Collection Properties

This tab lets you control various collection settings, such as whether
its contents are selectable, or whether it can be seen in render.

## Object

### Object Properties

This tab lets you control general object properties, such as
transformations (i.e. location, rotation, scale), parent-children obejct
relationships, collections, and other. Note that even if you have
multiple objects selected, these properties only control the active
object, which is usually the last object selected.

### Modifier Properties

This tab lets you add, edit, and remove modifiers. Object modifiers are
operations that affect your object in a non-destructive way (i.e. it can
always be reversed later). For example, adding the bevel modifier to a
cube applies a bevel to the geometry of the cube, but you can adjust the
bevel or remove the bevel whenever you like. Some object types, such as
lights and cameras, can\'t have modifiers.

### Visual Effects Properties

This tab lets you add visual effects to grease pencil objects, such as
pixelation and blur effects. These effects treat the object like an
image. Unlike modifiers, these can not be applied to the object.

### Particle Properties

This tab lets you add particle systems to objects, which can let you
create effects such as smoke, flames or sparks. Particles in Blender can
also be used to generate hair or fur. Particles can be set to custom
objects, to produce effects like blades of grass, water droplets on a
wet surface, or even entire buildings to make up a large cityscape!

### Physics Properties

This allows you to simulate real-world physics, such as simulating solid
dice colliding with each other, or simulating how water in a cup reacts
when you move it.

### Object Constraint Properties

Constraints limit various object properties, such as the location,
rotation, and scale of the object. These are usually to set animate
objects, such as making the wheels of the bus rotate together.

## Object Data

### Object Data Properties

These control settings specific to the object type such as text font,
lamp settings, and camera settings. This is reflected in the icon, which
changes according to the type of object selected.

## Object Shading

### Material Properties

The material settings for an object control its appearance, e.g. its
colour, whether it has a shiny or dull surface, how transparent it is,
and so on.

You can also control the material of an object using shader nodes.

### Texture Properties

Textures in Blender used to control the surface of an object, alongside
the materials. Nowadays, it has been replaced by the shader nodes, and
is only used for texture painting.


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/3D View Windows

|previous=Properties Window
|subcat=Background
}}
```
3D View ![](Blender2693DViewIcon.png "Blender2693DViewIcon.png") windows
are used to visualize 3D scenes. You'll do a lot of work in these
windows, so you will need to learn your way around.

In this module, you\'ll learn:

-   to recognize 10 things commonly seen in viewports
-   to tell which mode Blender is in
-   how to change viewport options and viewpoints
-   how to position the 3D cursor

You\'ll also learn the fundamentals of:

-   visibility layers

## The Viewport and its Contents

Aside from its header, the remainder of a 3D View window is its
. You use viewports any time
you need an up-to-date view of the scene you\'re working on.

Viewports are busy places. Go on a scavenger hunt and see what you can
find in a simple viewport.

1.  Launch Blender.
2.  Just so we\'re all looking at the same scene, load the factory
    settings using *File → Defaults -\> Load Factory Settings*.
3.  Confirm the "Load Factory Settings" popup with
     (or
    ).
4.  If the NumLock indicator on your keyboard is unlit, press
     so that numpad hotkeys will
    work properly.

(If you\'re unsure what  means, please
review the Keystroke, Button, and Menu Notation
module.)

You should see something like this:

### A Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Look at the default scene and find the following eight items:

In the Center

1\.
![](Blender-2.5_cube_object_mode.PNG "Blender-2.5_cube_object_mode.PNG"){width="60"}
a solid gray cube with orange edges.

:\* This is the , your
first Blender object!

2\.
![](Blender_3D_Manipulator_screenshot.png "Blender_3D_Manipulator_screenshot.png"){width="60"}
Three arrows, one red, one green and one blue, their tails joined to a
white circle

:\* This is not an object (part of your model/scene), but part of
Blender's user interface for manipulating objects. It is the
, also known as the
.

:\* The arrows represent the directions of the ,
 and  axes of the
currently chosen
 coordinate
system. Initially this is the
.

:\* The circle represents the center of the selected object (the cube).

:\* If you don\'t know what the \"global coordinate system\" is, please
review the module on Coordinate Spaces in
Blender.

-   It\'s possible that a tool is active. Press
     to cancel any tool action.
-   Another possibility is that the manipulator has been disabled:
    -   Toggle it on or off with
        .

3\. ![](Blender_2.49b_cursor.png "Blender_2.49b_cursor.png") A
red-and-white striped circle with black cross-hairs

:\* This is not an object. It is the **3D Cursor**, which indicates
where newly-created objects will appear in the scene.

:\*The cursor is similar to the insertion point in a text editor, which
indicates where new text will be inserted in a document.

In the Lower Left Corner

4\.
![](Blender_3D_mini_axis_screenshot.png "Blender_3D_mini_axis_screenshot.png")

:\* This is not an object. It is the **mini axis**, and its orientation
matches that of the global coordinate system, with the usual
conventions: red for X, green for Y and blue for Z. Think of it as a
little compass, reminding you which way is left/right, front/back and
up/down. 5. The notation \"(1) Cube\"

:   This is not an object. It is
    , indicating that:
    -   You\'re viewing the first frame of an animation.

    :   and

    -   The current or most recently selected object is named \"Cube\".

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

In the Upper Left Corner

6\. The notation "User Persp"

:   This is not an object. This tells you which mode the viewport is in.
    The first word will change if you select one of the *perfect* views
    or the camera view (see below), otherwise it just says "User", and
    the second word is "Persp" or "Ortho" to indicate whether this is a
    perspective or orthographic view.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

To the Right of Center

7\. ![](Blender_2.49b_lamp_icon.png "Blender_2.49b_lamp_icon.png") A
black round thing that resembles a sun symbol

:

    :   This represents a **lamp**, a light source for the scene. (It is
        an object.)

8\.
![](Blender_2.49b_camera_icon.png "Blender_2.49b_camera_icon.png"){width="50"}
A pyramidal wireframe item

:

    :   This represents a **camera**, a viewpoint that can be used for
        rendering. (It too, is an object.) The camera is looking at the
        base of the pyramid. The solid triangle attached to one side of
        the base is to remind you which way is up in the image that the
        camera takes.
    :   On a small display, the camera might initially lie outside of
        the viewport and thus be invisible. In that case,
         to zoom out until it becomes
        visible.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

Throughout

9\. A dark gray background, divided into squares by lighter lines. This
is the , which you can (but
don't have to) use as a ground plane for positioning your models.

:

    :   Each grid square is one **blender unit** (or **BU**) on a side.
        A BU can be whatever you wish, e.g. an inch, a centimeter, a
        mile, or a cubit. Blender lets you choose your scene scale in
        the Scene tab of the Properties Panel.

10\. Three mutually perpendicular coloured lines associated with the
grid floor: the red and green ones lying horizontally in the floor and
the blue one running vertically. These are the global coordinate axes
for orienting your scene. Red is the X-axis, green the Y-axis, and blue
the Z-axis.

-   In Blender 2.67a, you can\'t see the blue line for Z-axis here, but
    you **can** see it in Front or Side view.

## Modes

Blender has many **modes**, i.e. settings that affect its behavior, and
this is especially true of the 3D View window.

Sometimes it\'s not obvious which mode is active. This leads to **mode
errors** where Blender will do something you didn\'t expect because you
thought it was in one mode and it was actually in another.

The function performed by a hotkey or mouse button can depend on:

-   what mode the user interface is in,
-   whether the keyboard is in NumLock mode,
-   which window is active,
-   the mode the active window is in,
-   which item or items are selected,
-   whether you\'ve initiated a hotkey sequence.

It helps to recognize the common modes and how to get out of them.

### Object Mode vs. Edit Mode

The 3D View windows are normally in Object Mode. In this mode:

-   -   The mouse pointer is the default arrow normally used on other
        programs.

    -           is used to select objects in the scene.

    -   In versions 2.8 and above Use
        to select objects in the scene

If there are objects in the scene, you can get into five other modes:

-   Edit Mode: used to edit the shapes of objects
    -   The mouse pointer is a thin inverse-video cross.

    -           is used to select vertices, faces or edges of the current
        object.

    -   Press  to enter/exit this mode.
-   Sculpt Mode/Vertex Paint/Texture Paint/Weight Paint
    -   The mouse pointer is now a thin, orange (white in Texture Paint)
        circle.

These modes are also indicated by a menu in the 3D View header. You can
use this menu to change modes.

![](Blender-2.5_mode_menu.png "Blender-2.5_mode_menu.png")

These modes are a setting shared by all 3D View windows. In other words,
when you change the mode in one window, any other 3D View windows change
mode also.

## Viewport Options

### Solid vs. Wireframe

By default, the 3D View window draws objects using the Solid drawtype,
in which surfaces are opaque. To toggle between Solid and Wireframe
drawtype (edges only, no faces) for a particular viewport:

1.  Activate the 3D View window

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
1.  Press .

Alternatively, you can choose these and other drawtypes from the
\"Viewport shading\" menu in the 3D View window header.

### Orthographic vs. Perspective

By default, viewports draw orthographic views. To toggle a viewport
between orthographic and perspective views:

1.  Activate the 3D View window.
2.  Press .

(If you\'re unsure what the difference is, please review
 and
.)

Note this perspective versus orthographic setting for the 3D viewport is
completely separate from the similar setting in the camera properties.
The former takes effect while you're working on the model, the latter
when you render.

So why have a separate setting for the 3D view? Because certain aspects
of modelling are easier in one view than another. If the final render
will be using perspective, then showing perspective in the 3D view
naturally gives you a better idea of how the final render will look. But
perspective foreshortening can sometimes make it hard to ensure the
model has the proper shape, which is why there is the option to switch
to orthographic view.

\... you should activate the View Name option. This is enabled by
default and causes the name of the current view (\"User Persp\", for
instance) to appear in the upper left corner of every viewport. If there
is no text, then you can enable it by:

1.  Accessing the User Preferences window.
2.  Click on the *Interface* tab.
3.  Enable *View Name*.

## Changing Your Viewpoint, Part One

Each viewport has a **viewpoint**, which takes into account:

-   the location of the viewer in the 3D scene (There doesn\'t need to
    be an object at that location.)
-   the direction the viewer is looking
-   the magnification (or zoom factor) used

Changing your viewpoint allows you to navigate your way through a 3D
scene.

We\'ll start with three very basic techniques:

-   Zooming
-   Orbiting/View Rotation
-   Perfect Views.

Additional techniques will be covered later in this module.

### Zooming

Blender offers several ways to zoom in and out:

-   Use
-   Click and drag vertically with
    .
-   Use  and
     to zoom in and out in small
    increments.

Note the following limitations of Blender\'s zoom feature:

-   If the viewport is in orthographic mode, Blender zooms as if looking
    through a telescope. You can increase the magnification, but the
    viewpoint\'s location doesn\'t change. For this reason, you cannot
    zoom into or through objects in orthographic mode.
-   If the viewport is in perspective mode, Blender zooms to the center
    of the viewport. The viewpoint can pass through objects, but can\'t
    pass beyond this point, no matter what you do. Zooming only gets
    slower and slower and slower. If the center of the viewport is
    somewhere you don\'t expect, zooming may appear to be broken.

### Orbiting and View Rotation

Let\'s fly around the default cube, viewing it from different angles. In
this way you\'ll see that it really is a cube, centered on the origin,
half above the X-Y plane and half below it.

1.  Activate the 3D View window by placing the mouse pointer inside it.
2.  Now you can:
    -   Click and drag with  to orbit
        freely around the center of the view.
    -   Use  to rotate the
        viewpoint vertically around the center of the view.
    -   Use  and
         to rotate the viewpoint
        vertically around the center of the view in 15-degree
        increments.
    -   Use  to rotate the
        viewpoint around the Z axis.
    -   Use  and
         to rotate the viewpoint around
        the Z axis in 15-degree increments.

If this is all very confusing for you, don\'t worry! You\'ll learn as
you get more experience.

When you are finished flying around the cube, you can restore the
original view by reloading the factory settings with *File → Load
Factory Settings*.

You may have pressed number keys above the letters instead of the ones
on the numpad. If you do, the default cube will vanish. This is because
the scene consists of multiple layers. The default cube is in layer 1,
and you\'ve told Blender to switch to the layer of the number you just
pressed. The selected object (the cube in this case) remains in layer 1,
which is no longer visible. For instance,
 tells Blender to switch to layer 2. To
switch to layer 1 again, press . You
can view the different layers by clicking on the little squares on the
layer map: ![](Blender-2.5_layers.png "Blender-2.5_layers.png")

The Shift + Alt + Scroll and Ctrl + Alt + Scroll do not work for me with
factory settings in Blender 2.92.0

### Perfect Views

It\'s often useful to get a **perfect view** of a scene, i.e. to view it
along one of the main axes, with the other two main axes oriented
up-down and left-right.

+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| Hotkey         | View           | Axis Pointing  | Axis Pointing  |
|                |                | Right          | Up             |
+================+================+================+================+
| `              | \"top\"        | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} |                | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          |                | {{Red|+X}}     | {{Green|+Y}}   |
| :N2P/Do|Num7}} |                | ```            | ```            |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | \"bottom\"     | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} |                | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D:N2P/     |                | {{Red|+X}}     | {{Green|-Y}}   |
| Do|Ctrl|Num7}} |                | ```            | ```            |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | \"front\"      | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} |                | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          |                | {{Red|+X}}     | {{Blue|+Z}}    |
| :N2P/Do|Num1}} |                | ```            | ```            |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | \"rear\"       | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} |                | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D:N2P/     |                | {{Red|-X}}     | {{Blue|+Z}}    |
| Do|Ctrl|Num1}} |                | ```            | ```            |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | \"right side\" | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} |                | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D          |                | {{Green|+Y}}   | {{Blue|+Z}}    |
| :N2P/Do|Num3}} |                | ```            | ```            |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | \"left side\"  | `              | `              |
| ``{=mediawiki} |                | ``{=mediawiki} | ``{=mediawiki} |
| {{B3D:N2P/     |                | {{Green|-Y}}   | {{Blue|+Z}}    |
| Do|Ctrl|Num3}} |                | ```            | ```            |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+

: Perfect View Hotkeys

The following screenshot shows all three perfect views plus camera
perspective for the Suzanne primitive:

![](Blender-2.5_perfect_view_quad.png "Blender-2.5_perfect_view_quad.png"){width="600"}

This layout is used so often, it has a keyboard shortcut:
().

## Positioning the 3D Cursor

Positioning the 3D cursor is a very basic operation, yet one that many
beginners find challenging. It touches on an issue common to all 3D
graphics software: \"How do you specify points in a 3D scene when we can
only see two dimensions at a time?\"

### Basic Technique

1.  Go into either Object Mode or Edit Mode.
2.  Move the mouse pointer to the desired position (in any viewport).
3.  Click .

### Two Challenges

**Challenge #1.** Using only tools presented thus far, try positioning
the 3D cursor on the virtual camera.

Try it!

When you\'re done, check your work by orbiting the camera.

Perhaps you thought you were done when you clicked on the camera. But
the moment you changed your viewpoint, you probably found that the 3D
cursor was actually behind (or in front of) the camera.

Hints:

-   Try positioning the cursor in two different perfect views.
-   Use orthographic, not perspective, view.

**Challenge #2.** Using only tools presented thus far, try repositioning
the 3D cursor at the origin (that is, at the center of the cube).

As before, check your work by orbiting the cube. Don\'t spend too much
time on this.

\"I found that I would select the cube when left clicking on it in
object mode, if the **\"Use 3d transform manipulator\"** button was
enabled. To toggle this off, you click on the **gray pointing hand** in
the 3d panel header, or (Ctrl Space).\"

\"When you want the cursor back into the cube, just select the camera
with **RMB**, put the cursor into the cube following the steps above,
and re-select the cube with **RMB**.\"

\"I\'ve discovered it helps a lot if you are in Object Mode and not in
Edit Mode. I wrote the following before discovering this: *The problem
with this exercise, for me, is that left clicking on the cube selects
the cube instead of moving the 3d cursor. If I click on the cube outside
of its central white circle I can get the cursor to move there, but only
to outside of this white circle, and even then this only works
sometimes.*\"

\"I failed at this until I had zoomed in close enough to the cube. When
I was too far zoomed out I kept selecting the cube rather than creating
an edit point.\"

\"I had the same problem and found it was because the cube was selected.
I made sure I was in object mode, right clicked on the camera to select
the camera instead of the cube, and I could then position the edit point
in the cube. However, doing this messed up the next part of the tutorial
because you cannot switch into edit mode with the camera selected!
Perhaps the suggestion of trying to put the 3D cursor in the cube should
be dropped as it raises too many questions at this stage.\"

\"You can deselect all by pressing the AKEY or the select button in the
3D View.\"

\"Use wireframe mode works better to get the cursor in.\"

\"To get it back in the cube: 1) Make sure you\'re in object mode. 2)
Select the cube. 3) Object \> Snap \> Cursor to selection (cursor refers
to the 3D cursor here) so it puts it right in the middle of the cube.\"

\"I think it\'s an essential point to note that *in order to place the
cursor inside the cube, the cube must NOT be selected*. AKEY was
probably the best way to deselect the object.\"

\"If I remember correctly, undo history gets cleared when you switch
between object and edit mode.\"

\"I wasted a lot of time here. *Thank you* to the reader who suggested
(on the 3D view header) Object \> Snap \> Cursor to selection. It was
the only thing that worked to get the cursor visible again and placed
where clicked.\"

\"I missed the point of the exercise first time around. You can\'t set a
3D point on a 2D screen without technique. Orthographic views are
crucial. I am just learning, but take that, at least, away from it.\"

\"Positioning the 3D cursor in othographic views always made it snap to
the cube surface, making it impossible to center precisely. Fix this by
disabling \"Cursor Depth\" on the \"interface\" tab under \"User
Preferences\".

\"The phrase *check your work by orbiting the camera* needs additional
clarification, such as a referenced section or the precise commands to
use.\"

### More Ways to Position the Cursor

![](Blender-2.5_snap_menu.png "Blender-2.5_snap_menu.png"){width="500"}

Here\'s an easy way to position the cursor at the center of an object:

1.  Make sure Blender is in Object Mode, with the object selected.
2.  Move the mouse pointer to any 3D View window.
3.  Snap the cursor to the selected object using either:
    -           → *Cursor to Selected*

    :   or

    -   *Object → Snap → Cursor to Selected*

Here\'s 2 easy ways to relocate the cursor to the scene\'s origin (0, 0,
0):

1.  Move the mouse pointer to any 3D View window.
2.  Press  to reset the cursor to
    the origin.
    -   Note that this also changes the view location, meaning that when
        you zoom in, you won\'t zoom in to the scene origin.
3.  A better way is to click *Object → Snap → Cursor to Center*
    -   You can also do this by  →
        *Cursor to Center*.

## Changing Your Viewpoint, Part Two

Now you\'ll learn some additional techniques for obtaining the view you
want:

-   Panning
-   Centering
-   Jumping to the camera\'s viewpoint
-   Zooming in on a selected area

### Panning

When you orbited the cube, the viewpoint\'s position and direction both
changed at the same time. You also can shift the viewpoint up-down or
left-right *without* changing its direction. (This is similar to the
side-scrolling effect in the classic Mario and Sonic video games.)

This is called *panning "wikilink")*, and it\'s an
important skill to master. Try it now:

1.  Activate a 3D View window by placing the mouse pointer inside it.
2.  Now you can:
    -   Use  to pan up and
        down.
    -   Use  and
         to pan up and down in
        small increments.
    -   Use  to pan left and
        right.
    -   Use  and
         to pan left and right in
        small increments.
    -   Click and drag with  or
         to pan freely in the
        viewplane.\

\
You will likely find this to be a distraction in some cases. To move the
viewpoint position back to the center, snap the cursor to the center,
then click *View → Align View → Center View to Cursor*. You could also
snap the cursor to the center then press
.\
In versions ≥2.74 you can also use
to center the view to the cursor.

### Centering

When you zoom or rotate the view, you always zoom or rotate around the
center of the view.

To make sure everything in your scene is visible:

1.  Press .

To center the view on an arbitrary point:

1.  Move the 3D cursor to the point of interest.
2.  Verify the cursor position from a second viewpoint.
3.  Press
    +
    to center the view.

To center the view on an object in the scene:

1.  Make sure Blender is in Object Mode.
2.  Zoom out until the object is in the viewport.
3.  If any objects are selected, use  (or
    *Select → Select/Deselect All*) to deselect them.
4.  Select the object of interest by clicking
     on it.
5.  Press  to center the view.

### Jumping to the Camera\'s Viewpoint

To see the scene as the virtual camera sees it, press
. Afterwards, you can rotate, pan, and
zoom normally, but the virtual camera will not follow. To go back to
your previous view, press  again. (In
the latest versions of Blender, the virtual camera can be made to follow
all the changes made in viewpoint while in camera view by checking the
option \"Lock Camera to View\" on the Transform panel. Hit
 on your keyboard to bring up the
transform panel. To disable this option uncheck \"Lock Camera to
View.\")

### Zooming into a Selected Area

Suppose you want to get an extreme closeup of a particular area. Because
there\'s no center mark on the viewport, you might have to pan and zoom
several times to get the desired view.

The shortcut for zooming to an area is:

1.  Activate a 3D view window that contains the area of interest.
2.  Press . A crosshair appears in
    the viewport.
3.  Click and drag with  to draw a
    rectangle around the area of interest.
4.  When you release , the viewport will
    zoom in on the area you selected.

## View Navigation

You can also change your viewpoint in the 3D view by "walking" or
"flying" through it. To activate this, press
. By default in Blender 2.70, this
puts you in "walk" mode. Earlier versions only offered "fly" mode. (In
Blender 2.70 and later, you can choose which one you prefer in User
Preferences, under the Input tab.)

In both modes, helpful prompts appear in the header of the 3D view
window to remind you of the key functions while the mode is in effect.
When you have reached the position and orientation you want, press
 or
or  to end the navigation mode and
stay there, or  or
 to abandon the navigation mode and be
teleported immediately back to your original position and orientation.
(In 2.77+, pressing  will teleport you
to where the cross hairs point towards.)

### Walk Mode

In this mode, you move the mouse to turn your view up/down/left/right,
and , ,
 and  or the
corresponding arrow keys to move forward, left, back or right, and
 and  to
move up or down respectively. Hold a movement key down to keep moving.
Movement stops as soon as you release it. Pressing
 will "teleport" you close to whatever
objects lie within the crosshairs at the centre of the view.

You can also use  to turn on gravity.
Make sure there is a floor or other object under you to land on! With
gravity on, you can no longer use the vertical movement keys, but you
can use  to make jumps. Press
 again to turn gravity off.

### Fly Mode

In this older mode, moving the mouse to change the view works the same
as in Walk mode, but the above direction keys
(, ,
, ,
,  and the
arrows) apply "thrust" in the respective directions, so you keep moving
after releasing the key. Press the key repeatedly to increase your speed
in that direction, or press the key for the *opposite* thrust direction
to reduce your speed. You can roll the mouse wheel up to apply forward
thrust, or roll it down to apply backward thrust.

Your current velocity vector automatically changes direction with you
when you turn. Thus, you can apply a single burst of sideways thrust
while facing an object, then, without applying any additional thrust,
keep turning to face the object, and you will go right around it.

## Visibility Layers

Every object in the scene is assigned to one or more of 20
.

Visibility layers have many uses:

-   You can put scenery, characters, particles, and lamps in different
    layers, to help organize your scene.
-   By changing which layers are visible, you can simplify your view of
    the scene and work with only one or two layers at a time.
-   When rendering, only visible layers are included. You can use this
    to render your scene layer by layer, checking each layer separately.
-   You can configure lamps to illuminate only objects in the same
    layer.

!Left: Viewing layer 1 only.\
Right: Viewing all 20
layers.
In Object Mode, you can tell which layers are visible by looking at the
twenty small boxes located in the 3D View header between the Transform
Orientation menu and the \"Lock\" button. The top row of boxes
represents layers 1 through 10, with 1 being the leftmost and 10 being
the rightmost. Similarly, the bottom row of boxes represents layers 11
through 20.

### Hotkeys

-   To view just one of layers 1 - 9, press
     ..
    .
-   To view just layer 10, press .
-   To view just one of layers 11 - 19, press
     ..

-   To view just layer 20, press .
-   To toggle the visibility of one of layers 1 - 9 without affecting
    the visibility of the other layers, press
     ..
    .
-   To toggle the visibility of layer 10 without affecting the
    visibility of the other layers, press
    .
-   To toggle the visibility of one of layers 11 .. 19 without affecting
    the visibility of the other layers, press
     ..
    .
-   To toggle the visibility of layer 20 without affecting the
    visibility of the other layers, press
    .
-   To make all layers visible at once, press
    . Press
    again to return to your previous layer visibility setting.

On the AZERTY keyboard layout, the standard number keys are the
&é\"\'(-è_çà keys. Do not use  unless
you want to toggle visibility as explained below.

Holding down  while selecting a layer
(by keyboard or mouse) will, instead of making only that layer visible,
toggle the visibility. In this way, you can select combinations or to
hide particular layers.

The key to press to select all layers at once differs by keyboard
layout. It is:

-       (the key under Esc) on UK keyboards,

-       US,

-       German, Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian,

-       Swiss German,

-       Danish,

-       AZERTY,

-       Norwegian,

-       Spanish,

-       Portuguese,

-       Brazilian Portuguese,

-       Italian, and

-       Russian.

After pressing the aforementioned key, holding down
 while pressing it again will restore
the visibility settings you had *before* you made all layers visible.

When only one layer is selected, new objects are automatically assigned
to that layer. When two or more layers are visible, new objects are
assigned to the most recently visible layer.

## Count Your Polys

If you want to count the polygons in your scene, the data is available
in the Info Header.

As you can see in the above image, this scene has 507 vertices and 500
faces (polygons).


# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Object Mode

|nextText=Meshes and Edit Mode
|previous=3D View Windows
|subcat=Basics
}}
```
## Introduction

In this module, you will learn some basics about operating in
. This is normally the
default mode Blender is in when you open a new document. It is the mode
where you operate on whole objects, rather than on their parts.

Many of the conventions involving selection and manipulation of objects
or parts of objects apply to other modes as well, so this is a good
place to become familiar with those conventions.

![](Blender-2.5_mode_menu.png "Blender-2.5_mode_menu.png")

!Cube selected in Object
mode.{width="200"}

Open a new document, then confirm you are in Object mode by checking the
mode menu.

Select the default cube by clicking on it with
. You will see it framed in an orange
outline.

## Object Origin

When you select an object, you will notice a round dot appears, normally
in the middle of the object, the same orange-yellow as the rest of the
selection.

This is the object's *origin*. It is the reference point for the
object's local coordinate system. Certain kinds of edits to the object
can cause this origin to end up at a position well outside the object.
If that happens, operations like transformations applied with reference
to the origin may not behave as expected. However, Blender has
capabilities to deal with this. They will be explained when you need
them.

## Multiple Selections

You can select more than one object at a time. With the cube still
selected, change your view until you can see both the cube and the
default lamp. Select the lamp by clicking on it with
 (
 for versions after 2.8), so both
the lamp and the cube are selected. You will notice that the lamp takes
on the orange-yellow colour, but the cube now has a more reddish
highlight.

The  object is the last one
selected. Other objects can be part of the selection, but the
reddish-orange highlight indicates that they are not active. The
Properties window shows properties for the active object, not the entire
selection, although operations in the 3D view like moving and deleting
objects will affect the entire selection. Some operations (like
parenting, which you will learn about later) set up a special
relationship between the active object and the rest of the selection, so
for these, the order of selection of objects becomes important.

You can remove the active object from the selection with
; the small spot indicating the
origin of the object's geometry stays highlighted in the yellow-orange
colour, even though the rest of the object loses the selection
highlight. If you do this to an inactive object, it will make that
object active.

Pressing  *inverts* the selection.
i.e. it deselects what was previously selected, and selects everything
else instead. It does not change the active object.

## Selecting Obscured Objects

If multiple objects lie under the mouse, you can choose which one to
select by clicking : this will bring
up a menu listing the names of the selectable objects.

Alternatively, you can add an object to the current selection, or remove
it from the current selection, by clicking
 and selecting it from the
menu.

On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, it appears that
 has the same effect as
 on a Window\'s title bar. But
 does the trick of **Selecting
Obscured Objects**.

## Selecting Everything and Nothing

Pressing  does one of two things: if
*anything* is selected, it clears the selection (i.e. selected objects
are no longer selected). But if *nothing* is selected, then it selects
*everything*. You will often see instructions to press
 either once or twice, to ensure that
either nothing is selected, or everything is selected.

## Hiding Things

When working on a complex model or scene, things are likely to get
cluttered, making it hard to see the specific part you're working on. It
is possible to *hide* objects, so they no longer appear in the 3D view.
Select the object(s) you wish to hide, and press
. This is purely a convenience for
working in the 3D view, i.e. hidden objects remain unchanged when you
render them.

Pressing  hides everything
*except* the current selection. This is a quick way to remove the
clutter and narrow the view to the objects of interest.

Pressing  brings back all hidden
objects and selects them. If you lose track of what is hidden and what
is visible, press this to bring everything back.

## Local Versus Global View

is another way of selectively hiding parts of the scene. Pressing
 ( for
emulated numpad) hides everything that is not selected, and
automatically zooms in or out as necessary so the selected objects fill
the 3D view. Pressing  again, restores
the items to the normal .

This differs from simple hiding with
in that a render done in local view only shows the objects currently
visible in that view. In particular, if your lights are excluded from
the local view, you are liable to see black blobs in place of your
objects.

**How do I determine the viewing mode?** Look at the words in the
upper-left corner of the 3D view. They indicate your current view
orientation and perspective settings (e.g. "User Persp"). If the word
"(Local)" appears at the end of the string, you are in local view.
Otherwise, you are in global view.

## Border Select (Box Selection)

A quick way to select many objects at once is with the
. Press
 to activate it. You will see a pair of
dotted crosshairs appear centred at the current mouse position. Drag
diagonally with  to mark a selection
rectangle, then release the . Everything
within the rectangle will be added to the selection. If you didn\'t mean
to engage box-selection mode, pressing
exits border select mode.

Alternatively, to remove things from the current selection, after
pressing , drag the selection rectangle
with . When you release the mouse
button, everything in the drawn box will be deselected.

## Circle Select (Brush Selection)

Another way to select several objects at once is with the
,
engaged by pressing . In this mode,
clicking or dragging on objects with
adds them to the selection, while
*removes* them from the selection. Thus the mouse becomes a brush that
you can use to "paint" objects in or out of the selection.

The circle showing the size of the brush can be adjusted with the mouse
wheel. This allows you to use a broad brush for selection of lots of
objects at once, or a finer one for better control.

Clicking  or pressing
 terminates Circle Select mode.

## The Manipulator

right\|framed\|Manipulator transformation buttons & orientation
menu
left\|framed\|Manipulator---translation
right\|framed\|Manipulator---rotation
left\|framed\|Manipulator---scaling

The manipulator appears in the middle of the selection. There are three
kinds of manipulator as shown in the illustrations. It can be used to
apply translation (position changes), rotation, and scaling (size
changes) to objects. Its appearance changes according to which of these
functions are enabled. You can click on the menu transformation buttons
that appear when the manipulator is visible, to choose a single
transformation, or shift-click to enable more than one simultaneously.
You can toggle the visibility of the manipulator with
, or by clicking the menu button
with the red, green and blue arrows.

If you have troubles selecting the red arcs of the rotation manipulator
select File→ User Preferences\... System → Selection and change it to
\"OpenGL Select\" or \"OpenGL Occlusion Queries\".

**Transform orientations:** the "Orientation" menu governs how the axes
of the manipulator are aligned, with the default "Global" corresponding
to the global coordinate system. Other useful options are "Local", which
corresponds to the local coordinates system of *each object*, and
"View", which is always aligned to your view.

To demonstrate this, click on the camera with
 so that it is the only object selected.
Set the manipulator to do only translations (blue arrow button is
selected in menu), and ensure the orientation is set to "Global". Drag
any of the manipulator\'s coloured arrows with
 to move the camera in the corresponding
direction.

Now switch the orientation to "Local". You will see the manipulator
arrows re-orient themselves. Note that the Z-direction (blue arrow) is
now in the direction of the camera view. The local co-ordinates of the
camera have the optical axis of the camera running along the Z axis. By
default, that is pointing towards the cube object.

The cube, by default, has its own local Z-direction running vertically.

With the manipulator orientation still set to Local, add the cube to the
selection with . You will see the
manipulator move so it is in the centre of the selected objects. It is
now between the camera and the cube. Now if you drag the manipulator Z
axis arrow with , each object will move
along its *own* version of that axis. The camera moves towards or away
from the cube and the cube rises or falls.

Switch the orientation to "Global", and try dragging a manipulator arrow
again. This time, both objects will appear locked together and will move
in the same direction, along the same (global) axis.

## Transformation Hotkeys

The manipulator is not the only way to apply transformations to objects.
That can also be done via keyboard shortcuts.

Hide the manipulator to reduce clutter. Select the cube, and only the
cube, with . Now press
 to `<b>`{=html}G`</b>`{=html}rab the
object. The selection outline around the object turns white, as it did
when you were dragging with the manipulator, except this time, you
didn\'t press any mouse buttons. Now move the mouse without pressing any
buttons, and you will see the object move along with it. Press
 or
to terminate the movement and leave the selected object at the new
position, or  or
 to cancel the operation and leave the
object at its original location.

Similarly, use  to
`<b>`{=html}R`</b>`{=html}otate the object, and
 to `<b>`{=html}S`</b>`{=html}cale it.

You can *constrain* the movement to particular axes by pressing the
appropriate axis key. For example, press
 to start moving the cube again, then
press  and you will see a bright
colored line appear parallel to the global X-axis. Now when you move the
mouse, the cube will move along only that colored line. Similarly
 and
constrain movement to the Y and Z axes respectively. The colored lines
that appear are a brighter reddish, green or blue that correspond to the
red, green or blue lines for the X, Y or Z axes, respectively.

**Transform orientations:** to constrain the transformation to a
different set of axes, press the constraint key twice. The coordinate
system used depends on the selection in the Transform Orientation menu:

-   Local or Global --- the transformation happens in the object's local
    coordinate system.
-   View --- the transformation is aligned to view coordinates.

For example, with the default "Global" selection from this menu, select
the camera with , press
 to move it, then press
 twice, and you will see the coloured
line orient itself along the direction of view of the camera.

The axis constraints also work with scaling, and rotation (which only
happens *around* the specified axis).

You can also constrain movement and scaling to happen along two axes,
but not the third one, by holding down
 when typing the axis constraint. For
example,  followed by
 will constrain movement to the
global X-Y plane (i.e. any direction *except* along the Z-axis). To
constrain movement to the *local* X-Y plane, type the contraint twice:

.

Here\'s a summary of what the transformation hotkeys do, with and
without constraints:

+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| Key            | without        | followed by    | followed by    |
|                | constraint     | *axis*         | `{{B3D:N2P/Do  |
|                |                |                | |SHIFT}}`{=med |
|                |                |                | iawiki}-*axis* |
+================+================+================+================+
| `              | moves in plane | moves along    | moves in plane |
| ``{=mediawiki} | perpendicular  | *axis*         | perpendicular  |
| {{B3D          | to view        |                | to *axis*      |
| :N2P/Do|GKEY}} | direction      |                |                |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | rotates about  | rotates about  |                |
| ``{=mediawiki} | view direction | *axis*         |                |
| {{B3D          |                |                |                |
| :N2P/Do|RKEY}} |                |                |                |
| ```            |                |                |                |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| `              | scales         | scales along   | scales         |
| ``{=mediawiki} | uniformly      | *axis*         | uniformly in   |
| {{B3D          | along all axes |                | plane          |
| :N2P/Do|SKEY}} |                |                | perpendicular  |
| ```            |                |                | to *axis*      |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+

In addition, the hotkey sequence
 enables *free rotate*, i.e. the object
can rotate around all three axes as you move the mouse.

### Transforming by Numbers

Sometimes you need to position things accurately, using calculated
numbers, instead of estimating by eye. Blender can do that too. Simply
type the number after the transformation hotkeys before pressing
 to confirm the operation. For
example,

 will move the selection by 1 unit in
the positive X direction.

will move by 1 unit along negative X. Decimal points are allowed, thus

 will scale the selection by a factor
of 0.5, or 50%.

Rotation works similarly, using degrees clockwise around the selected X,
Y or Z axis.

### Transformation Menu

![](Blender263TransformPanel.png "Blender263TransformPanel.png") Yet
another way is shown at right, in the Transform panel that appears at
the top of the Properties shelf (press  to
toggle its visibility at the right side of the 3D view). Here you can
see the existing transformations values. You can drag the sliders to
change them, or click on them and enter new values.

## Choosing the Pivot Point

![](Blender263PivotPointMenu.png "Blender263PivotPointMenu.png") When
you do a scaling or rotation operation, you can choose the
, which is the central
origin point that remains unaffected by the operation. By default this
is the "Median Point", or centre point of the selection, but the Pivot
Point menu lets you choose some other options. For example, select both
the cube and the camera, and rotate them
(). By default they will rotate around
their common centre. Now go to the Pivot Point menu and choose
"Individual Origins" and rotate your two selected objects with
 again, and you will see each one now
rotates about its *own* centre, rather than the common one.

Another useful pivot option is "3D Cursor", which places the
transformation origin at the 3D cursor location.

Finally, the button with three dots and a double-headed arrow
immediately to the right of the one that pops up the Pivot Point menu is
titled "Manipulate center points." Selecting this means transformations
do not rotate the actual objects themselves, only their positions. To
see the effect, you need to choose a pivot point that is not the
object's origin. Now try rotating the object. You will see its centre
describes an arc around the pivot point, without changing the object\'s
orientation. Think how the seats in a Ferris Wheel rotate around the
wheel\'s pivot, yet still maintain their orientation.

Similarly scaling will change the distance between the chosen pivot
point and the object's origin, but will not affect the size of the
object itself. A bursting firework scales rapidly in this way.

**Why can\'t I rotate or scale objects?** One pitfall you might
encounter is that you select an object, try rotating with
 or scaling with
, and nothing happens, though moving
with  still works. It\'s quite likely
you have the "Manipulate center points" button active when you didn\'t
mean to. Check if it\'s active, and click it to deactivate if so.

**Hotkeys** --- there are keyboard shortcuts for all the above options:

+---------------------------------+--------------------------+
| Pivot Option                    | Key                      |
+=================================+==========================+
| Active Element                  | ## Basic Camera Technique

The camera view  is very useful for
making adjustments to your camera while getting continuous feedback on
how the render will look. This view shows a framing rectangle covering
the area that will appear in the render, surrounded by a *passepartout*
which gives a darkened view of the surrounding part of the scene. You
can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out, adjusting how much of your
view is the rendered area and how much is passepartout.

In this view, use  on the framing
rectangle to select the camera, and it will show the usual orange-yellow
highlight. The manipulator will not appear even if enabled, so you must
use the transformation hotkeys to perform camera transformations.

Use  to move the camera around parallel
to the view plane. Since the view stays locked to the camera, you will
see the scene move in the direction *opposite* of what you might expect.

The camera's local Z-axis lies along its direction of view. This allows
useful operations like
  to
move the camera in or out without affecting the direction in which it\'s
pointing. Also the X axis runs left to right in the camera view so
rotating around X
  will
adjust the up-and-down *pitch* angle. Rotating around the vertical Y
axis
 will change the *yaw* (left-right)
angle, and you can rotate around the optical axis of the camera using

 to produce an effect of *rolling* the
view around the visual axis.

Another useful technique is to position the 3D cursor at a point of
interest, set the pivot point to the 3D cursor, then rotate the camera
about a global axis, like the global Z-axis
( ),
to adjust the angle of view while keeping the same objects in view, and
without altering the distance of the camera from the point of interest.
In real life you\'d get that effect by walking in a circle around your
subject with your camera mounted on a *Steadicam* rig.

Scaling the camera object changes its size as shown in the 3D view, but
has no effect on the actual render. Regardless of what axis constraints
you try to apply, the camera object will always scale uniformly along
all axes.

You can also use Fly mode  in
camera-view mode to fly around the scene, taking the camera with you.

Another choice for moving your camera in Camera View is to bring up the
Properties panel () and, in the View
section, tick the box next to Lock Camera to View. Now you will be able
to use the  to \"move objects\" just as
you move things around in other views such as the 3D view. Holding down
the  and dragging will rotate,
 will allow you to \"move the
object\" around in the view (panning), and the scroll wheel will allow
you to \"move the object\" closer or farther from the camera. You are
actually moving the camera with these manipulations and not the
object(s) themselves.

## Adding/Removing Objects, Undo/Redo, Repeat

Select the cube with  again. Press
either  or
 and, after confirming the popup, the
cube disappears! It has been deleted from your scene. Unlike mere
hiding, it really has disappeared. Press
 to undo your last operation, and it
reappears.

Click with  to position the 3D cursor
away from the default cube. Press
 to bring up the Add menu, go to
its Mesh submenu, and add another cube to the scene. Again, undo with
, and you are back to a single cube
again.

Now press : this will undo the
undo, and *redo* the last operation you undid, bringing back the second
cube.

Try adding a third cube. Now  should
undo that and take you back to two cubes, and pressing
 again should undo the addition of
the second cube, taking you back to one. Try
 at this point to restore the
second cube, then  again to
restore the third one.

Blender remembers up to the last 32 things you did (depending on the
limit set in your user preferences) in its *undo stack*. You can go
backward and forward through it with
and .

Sometimes you want to perform an action repeatedly. To repeat the last
action, type .

## Assigning Layers

Earlier, you learned about showing and hiding layers in the 3D view. To
assign layers for selected objects, press
. The same keyboard shortcuts apply
here as when choosing which layers to display, i.e.
 for only the first layer,
 for only the second etc,
 to include/exclude the first
layer and so on.

**After assigning an object to a different layer, it disappears!** If
this happens to you, it\'s because the layer(s) you assigned to the
object, and the layer(s) you currently have visible in the 3D view, have
nothing in common. Simply change the visible layers to include at least
one of those you assigned the object to, and it will reappear. For
example, if currently only layer 1 is visible, and you assign an object
to only layer 2, it will disappear, but reappear when you change the
visible layer to layer 2.

## Object, Action, Settings

Bring up the Add menu again ().
This time, add a new cylinder mesh to the scene. Look to the left of the
3D view, in the Tool Shelf (toggle its visibility with
 if it\'s not visible), at the bottom
you should see a new panel has appeared, titled "Add Cylinder". Near the
top of it is the "Vertices" number, initially defaulting to 32, which
gives a fairly round-looking cylinder. Reduce it to 6, and adjust the
view as necessary to get a good view of your "cylinder", and you will
see it is now a hexagonal prism. Change the number of vertices to 3, and
it becomes a triangular prism.

This is an example of an important user-interface convention that runs
right through Blender: first you select the object you want to perform
an operation on as appropriate (not applicable here because we are
creating a new object), then you perform the specified action with some
default settings, and finally you adjust the settings to give the exact
result you want. This way, instead of getting a popup *before* the
action is performed, into which you have to put the right settings and
hope they will give the right result, you get to interactively adjust
the settings and immediately see the results, without having to
continually redo the operation and deal with popups.