Blender is used in a variety of places and has features (benefits and disadvantages) that can be used in various ways. The difficulty of finding standardized usage and tutorial at the time of initial introduction also seems to affect the initial running curve. However, getting used to the basics, using them consistently, and feeling the philosophy of the tool ‘Blender’ can greatly improve the efficiency of various tasks, cost savings, and processes after the beginning and mid. I wrote in the hope that other people would not experience the time and hardships that I spent in the process of challenging and giving up many times. Since there are many tutorials and manuals made under the assumption that they have become somewhat basic, I would like to share important and essential basics that pass by quickly and how to easily solve the direction of tools that penetrate various functions.
(As we deal with open source programs, there may be parts that are wrong or different at any time, so if you read the relevant parts, let me know what I missed, I’ll learn and refer to it in the posting!)
The Man in the High Castle (2015, Amazon Prime Video) – A video that illustrates the commercial adoption of Blender, an open source, instead of a major process.
Download and Interface Setting
Blender is a open-source program. Besides, it is one of the few rock-solid software that has survived the open-source philosophy for a long time. Thanks to its unique profit structure that has been able to withstand a long time, it is steadily creating an integrated platform that satisfies user needs and diverse people in various fields. It provides UX consistent with a variety of interfaces as needed, such as modeling, rendering, animation, image editing, physics, engineering, mathematics, etc. Therefore, I think it is desirable to familiarize yourself with the most basic standard interface first, and then customize or addons if you feel uncomfortable with repeated tasks.
Download
As the top standard of open source software, a forum that can contain various people’s opinions and a schedule and roadmap to be applied among the contents are provided on the website. In addition, various experts open their professional projects for free and it is good to learn the blender to open up their projects and check the know-how.
Interface Setting
The first thing to do after installing the blender is to set up the user interface. Let’s set the setting that meets the most standard and is the basic for professionals.
I usually use the basic setting that the following order was used without any problems with modeling/scutting/shading/animation/riging/video editing.
- Set the Spacebar Action to ‘Search’ (You will usually use ‘Play’ for later animation works, it is easily change the key function at Edit > Preferences > Keymap)
- Edit > Preference > Interface > Editors > Status Bar Check all items (Show the useful informations at the bottom right for ex. polygon counts, memory and etc.)
- In Edit > Preferences > Input, you need to check the Emulate 3 Button Mouse in the Mouse Section to make double-click selections available when modeling (loop selection). (For laptops or mini keyboards, it’s also convenient to check Emulate Numpad)
(Make selections more or less to press the -/+ keys)
(Alt, Alt + Shift, Alt + Ctrl input settings for easy view control Orbit/Pan/Zoom for Pen Tablet) - Check the Global Undo (global undo/redo system, normally the memory only remember at the sections work) at Edit > Preferences > System
- Edit > Preferences > Addon, Enable ‘Pie Menu’ UI (Search Addons with name by “Pie” and optionally download and add at Addon the great Pie interface Machin3Tools)
Selects ‘Search’ for Spacebar Action is useful for ‘General’ and Modeling when Users are not get used to remember proper Shortcut Keys.
Go to Preferences and select all items from Interface > Editors > Status Bar
(The information about polygons and memory on the bottom right is useful.)
This information is important information for professional rendering, animations, physics simulations, exporting to game engines and other developments.
Additional 1. Blender Fundamental Addons
- Loop Tools (Fundamental Aids for Mesh Modelling)
- F2 (“F” Key Functionality Upgrade at Edit Mode)
- Tiny Cad (Fundamental Tools for Product Designers)
- Bool Tool (for Boolean Operations)
- Carver (Cut and Boolean objects directly in the 3D Viewport)
Additional 2. 3D Viewport Navigation & Short-cut Key
- Shift + B or “.” Key for Orbit Selection (during 3D Viewport Control)
- Short-cut Key Inforgraphy (It is very helpful to print and put around your workspace) : https://www.giudansky.com/illustration/infographics/blender-map
