All course materials and instructions are available in Canvas this year.

Blender Quick Reference

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abbreviations

* assuming you set up your mouse to select with [RMB]

[LMB] - Left Mouse Button

this places the 3D cursor and confirms actions *

[MMB] - Middle Mouse Button

this changes your view (orbit, zoom, pan)

[RMB] - Right Mouse Button

this selects items / cancels actions *

VIEWS

change view

1) orthographic/perspective view

2) camera view

3) pan 4) zoom

5) see through view 6) wireframe view

7) solid view

8) color view (look dev) 9) rendered view

10) viewpoint gimbal (click XYZ circles for ortho views)

using the MMB

ORBIT (rotate) user perspective: [MMB] click wheel & drag

ZOOM in / out: [MMB] scroll wheel

PAN (move) user perspective: [Shift MMB]

special views

ZOOM IN on selected object: [numpad .]

quad view: [Ctrl Alt Q]

camera

snap CAMERA TO VIEW: [Ctrl Alt numpad 0]

LOOK THROUGH camera - (toggle on/off): [numpad 0]

selecting & snapping

selecting

select: [RMB]

select multiple objects: [Shift RMB]
select the shortest path: [Ctrl RMB]
to select in a loop (connected): [Alt RMB]
select in a ring (parallel lines): [Ctrl Alt RMB]

select ALL: [A]

select NONE: [AA] or [Alt A]

box select: [B]

circle select: [C]

select: [LMB]
deselect: [MMB] click wheel
size the selector [MMB] scroll wheel
exit: [RMB] or [ESC]

select an entire mesh in Edit Mode: [L]

often used with [P] to separate a mesh

snapping

snap menu: [Shift S]

snap 3D cursor to center: [Shift C]

set origin

In Object Mode, select the object and find the Object menu.

Set Origin --> Origin to 3D Cursor

place the 3D cursor, select the object, and use the menu to set the origin of the object to wherever the 3D cursor is

Set Origin --> Origin to Geometry

select the object then use the menu to set the origin to the center of the object

common Object Mode tools

In Object Mode, we can manipulate entire objects.

MOVE (translate / grab): [G]

ROTATE: [R]

SCALE: [S]

ADD a mesh object: [Shift A] or use the Add menu (Add --> Mesh --> choose mesh)

COPY / paste object: [Ctrl C] [Ctrl V]

DUPLICATE object: [Shift D]

JOIN meshes into one object: [Ctrl J]

PARENT parts: [Ctrl P] or use the Object menu (Object --> Parent --> Object)

select child(ren) first, then the parent

SET THE ORIGIN of an object using the Object menu (Object --> Set Origin --> Origin to...)

common EDIT Mode tools

In Edit Mode, we can add and subtract parts and use the move, rotate, and scale tools to distort the geometry of meshes based on its vertices, edges, and faces.

In Edit Mode, set your selection mode to vertex, edge, or face in the upper menu. [Shift] click to set multiple selection modes.

Quickly change selection modes:

[1] = vertex select
[2] = edge select
[3] = face select

Use the tools in the left menu to transform the selected part(s).

Some common tools:

MOVE [G]
ROTATE [R]
SCALE [S]
extrude [E]
inset face [I]
bevel [Ctrl B]
loop cut [Ctrl R]
knife [K]

If you activated a tool with the keyboard, you can often:

type an axis -- [X], [Y], or [Z] -- to constrain to that axis
type [Shift axis] to constrain to a perpendicular plane
type a number (positive or negative, whole number or decimal) to set the amount

Other tools and techniques:

DELETE vertex, edge, or face: [X] or [Delete] (select part)

DISSOLVE vertices, edges, or faces: [Ctrl X]

EXTRUDE: [E]

extrude by increments: [E] [Ctrl LMB]
extrude exact distances: [E] # [enter]
extrude out in a circle: [Alt E]

When making faces, select ALL vertices/edges you want connected to the face(s), then:

fill with a single FACE: [F]
fill with triangular faces: [Alt F]

MERGE vertices: [Alt M]

SELECT: [A] all, [B] box, [C] circle, [L] entire mesh

SEPARATE selection: [P]

special techniques

knife project

You can make cuts in one object based on another object.

in Object Mode, add a mesh object that you will use as the cutting tool (often a circle)
select
go to Edit Mode
in the Mesh menu, select Knife Project

parent objects

To parent parts together but still let individual parts move, repeat this process for each level of parenting:

select the child part(s)
select the PARENT part LAST
[Ctrl P] or use the Object menu (Object --> Parent --> Object)

Set the origin (center) of the object:

in Object Mode, place the 3D cursor where you want the center of the object to be
select the object
in the Object menu, find Set Origin --> Origin to 3D Cursor

To clear parenting:

[Alt P] or the Object menu (Object --> Parent)
select Clear Parent or Clear and Keep Transformation

separate joined parts

in Edit Mode:

[AA] to deselect everything
[L] to select an entire mesh (hover mouse near a vertex)
[P] to separate the Selection

in Object Mode:

SET THE ORIGIN of the separated object using the Object menu (Object --> Set Origin --> Origin to...)

clean up extra vertices

If you have extra vertices (like maybe you extruded/escaped on accident), you can merge vertices that are close together.

in Edit Mode, [A] to select everything
find the Mesh menu

collections

create a collection in the upper right hand pane
select objects and drag them into the collection ([Shift] to select multiple)
collapse or expand the collection using the little triangle
right click the collection for options like selecting

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