Table of Contents

BLENDER

Most of the basics are from

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Modeling_a_Simple_Person

http://cgcookie.com/blender/2009/12/01/box-modeling-an-alien-character-in-blender-2-5-alpha-0/

Blender Links

General UI

Command Result
Tab toggle between edit and object mode
Numpad 1/3/7/0 choose view (top/left/front/cam)
Numpad 5 toggle ortho/perspective
Z toggle wireframe (easy to see all verts)
Ctrl+up toggle maximized window
F12 render
F11 toggle between render view and 3d view
Mouse3 rotate view
Shift + Mouse3 pan view
T toggle tool shelf (the menu on the left side of the 3d-view)
N toggle properties (the menu on the right side of the 3d-view)
Ctrl+Space toggle X+Y+Z drag handles
Space Search for a command by name
Ctrl+U Save current UI layout
Bottom left Context menu with tons of options for the current mode
M Move selection to a layer (select multiple with shift, object can be on many layers)
Ctrl+M Change currently visible layer (select multiple with shift)
Number keys Change currently visible layer (select multiple with shift)

Object Manipulation

Command Result
Shift+D duplicate (copy)
Alt+D linked duplicate (instance)
Alt+C Convert curve/text to mesh etc

Vertex+Face Selection

Command Result
A select all OR deselect all (used a lot to deselect)
B select box
C “paintbrush” select - drag over objects, use mouse wheel to adjust size
Right click select single object
Ctrl+drag mouse lasso select
Ctrl+tab or toggle at bottom switch between vertex/face/edge selection
toggle at bottom switch between select-through or not
Ctrl+L select single unconnected object
Shift+S move cursor to selection or selection to cursor
Alt + Right click select loop. Click again to choose the other loop.
O toggle soft selection (aka proportional editing), choose curve at bottom.
Mouse Wheel while soft selecting, this changes the range of the selection.

Vertex+Face Manipulation

Command Result
E extrude
R rotate
S scale
G move
Alt+S scale from normals (fat/skinny)
G/S/R, X/Y/Z constrain to a specific axis (ex. G,Y will move only in the Y axis)
Shift+X/Shift+Y/Shift+Z constrain scale to everything EXCEPT a specific axis
S, 0.5, ENTER scale by 0.5 (this is just an example)
Shift+D duplicate
W - > subdivide subdivide
W - > switch direction change which end of the bone is the pivot (essentially changes parent for the child)
Alt-m merge vertices (usually choose merge in middle)
dropdown in bottom left choose sculpt mode (grab/smooth/etc)
Select 3/4 verts, F create a new face
Ctrl+R Create/slice loop
P “punch” - separate selected verts/faces into a new mesh
Ctrl+J Merge - join selected objects into a single mesh (last object stays)
Ctrl+F Tons of face manipulation options
Ctrl+E Tons of edge manipulation options

Rigging Commands

Command Result
W subdivide bone
Shift+A add bone
Ctrl+R rotate bone on axis
Ctrl+Alt+S Scale bone thickness
R,R Switch from “viewport space rotation” to “point at mouse rotation”
Bone properties → Xray show bones through mesh
Set bone parent, turn on “Connected” attaches bones
Alt+R Clear rotation from pose
Alt+G Clear position from pose
Ctrl+N Reset the roll of all the selected bones. Only works in edit mode
Ctrl+Shift+C Add constraint, such as “stretch to”. Only works in pose mode.

Rigging Tips

Animation Tips

Rendering and Texturing Tips

Other Tips