Blender Knowledge Base

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Handouts

• ​Modeling Hotkeys
• ​Texturing Tutorial

Blender Tips

• Use reference images or sketches (Front, Top, Side) as background images. ("View" → "Backgroud Image…")
• Use symmetries - mirror your mesh
• Add details very conservative (observe the total number of faces)
• Don't smooth edges with acute angles - subdivide if you want it more round
• Merge useless points at the end
• Mesh → Scripts → Clean Meshes
• Mesh → Scripts → Poly Reducer
• Optimize your edge directions (needs illustration)

Check your mesh for…

• Holes
• Inverted face normals
• Doubled edges and faces
• Faces and pionts inside your mesh
• Overlapping faces in your mesh

Blender FAQ

1. How can I manipulate numeric?

Activate your modificator (e.g. E for extrude) then just input a numeric value. ENTER finalizes, ESC exits.

Alternative: Press N in edit mode to activate the "Transform Properties" menu and then apply your modification (e.g. E for extrude).

2. How can I set back or bottom view?

Holding the mouse over your 3D Viewport and pressing the NUM7, NUM1, and NUM3 buttons will bring you back to perfectly aligned top, front, and side views respectively. Pressing CTRL+NUM7, CTRL+NUM1, and CTRL+NUM3 will result in displaying the bottom, back, and other side views, respectively.

3. How can I manipulate my pivot of my mesh?

Put the 3D cursor where you want the pivot (origin) to be. Then press F9. Then press "Centre cursor" button in the mesh panel (in the menu).

4. How can I render my 3d view (instead of the camera)?

• Switch to Object mode
• Open Render Preview ("View" → "Render Preview") or (Shift+P)
• move/resize the window to you likings,
• right-click the window
• enjoy

5. How can I change the grid distance for the "Snap-to-Grid" function?

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6. Help! 50% of my normals are inverted, it'll take forever to find and change them all!!!

• Select all faces,
• 'Mesh' → 'Normals' → 'Recalculate Outside'
• Also works with 'Ctrl n'
• Relax

Btw. If you don't know wether your normals are inverted,

• Edit Mode → 'F9'
• Under 'Mesh Tools 1', click on 'Draw Normals'
• Those blue lines pointing into your model are bad!
• Those blue lines pointing out of your model are good!
• 'w'→ 'Flip Normals' lets you change them all individually.
• If you don't feel like it, see above.