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Blender Documentation Volume II - Reference Guide

Last modied July 08 2004 S68


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Claudio Andauer

Manuel Bastioni

Alejandro Conty Estevez

Karsten DambekalnsFlorian Findeiss

Alex Heizer

Tim van Howe

Wouter van Heyst

Joeri Kassenaar

Martin Kleppman

Lyubomir Kovacev

Johnny Matthews

Reevan McKay

Kent Mein

Martin Middleton

Jason Oppel

Willem-Paul van OverbruggenTon Roosendaal

Bastian Samela

Stefano Selleri

Bart Veldhuizen

Chris Williamson

Carsten Wartmann


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Blender Documentation Volume II - Reference Guide: Last modied July 08 2004 S68 by Claudio Andauer, Manuel Bastioni, Alejandro Conty Estevez, Karsten Dambekalns, FlorianFindeiss, Alex Heizer, Tim van Howe, Wouter van Heyst, Joeri Kassenaar, Martin Kleppman,Lyubomir Kovacev, Johnny Matthews, Reevan McKay, Kent Mein, Martin Middleton, JasonOppel, Willem-Paul van Overbruggen, Ton Roosendaal, Bastian Samela, Stefano Selleri, BartVeldhuizen, Chris Williamson, and Carsten Wartmann

Copyright 2002 by Stichting Blender Foundation. Permission is granted to copy, distributeand/or modify this document under the terms of the Open Content License. A copy of thelicense is included in the appendix.

This is the Blender Documentation project ofcial Guide. Feel free to add or modifyyour changes and send them clearly marked to the Blender documentation board([email protected]).


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Table of ContentsI. Reference........................................................................................................................... ??

1. Blender windows - general introduction............................................................ ??The Mouse .........................................................................................................??

2. HotKeys In-depth Reference ................................................................................??Window HotKeys .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .........??Universal HotKeys ...........................................................................................??Object Mode HotKeys......................................................................................??Edit Mode HotKeys - General.........................................................................??EditMode Mesh Hotkeys.................................................................................??EditMode Curve Hotkeys................................................................................??EditMode Surface Hotkeys .............................................................................??EditMode Metaball Hotkeys...........................................................................??EditMode Font Hotkeys...................................................................................??Armature Hotkeys............................................................................................??VertexPaint Hotkeys.........................................................................................??FaceSelect Hotkeys .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. ......??

3. Windows Reference ...............................................................................................??The InfoWindow...............................................................................................??The FileWindow................................................................................................??The 3DWindow............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............??The IPO Window ..............................................................................................??The SequenceWindow......................................................................................??The OopsWindow.............................................................................................??The Action Window .........................................................................................??The Non Linear Animation Window............................................................. ??The Text Window..............................................................................................??The Audio Timeline Window .........................................................................??The ImageWindow.............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. ......??The ImageSelectWindow.................................................................................??The Animation playback window ................................................................. ??

4. Buttons Reference...................................................................................................??The ButtonsWindow ........................................................................................??

Logic Context ....................................................................................................??

Script Context....................................................................................................??Shading Context................................................................................................??Object Context...................................................................................................??Editing Context .................................................................................................??Scene Context ....................................................................................................??Out of Context Panels ......................................................................................??

A. Command Line Arguments................................................................................. ??Render Options.................................................................................................??Animation Options:..........................................................................................??Window Options...............................................................................................??Other Options....................................................................................................??

II. Appendices ..................................................................................................................... ??B. Hotkeys Reference ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............??

Symbols..............................................................................................................??TAB .....................................................................................................................??NUMPAD...........................................................................................................??NUMBERS.........................................................................................................??Specials...............................................................................................................??Arrow Keys........................................................................................................??Arrow Keys - Grab/Rotate/Scale behaviour ............ ............... .............. ...... ??Mouse.................................................................................................................??A ..........................................................................................................................??B...........................................................................................................................??C ..........................................................................................................................??

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D ..........................................................................................................................??E...........................................................................................................................??F...........................................................................................................................??G ..........................................................................................................................??H..........................................................................................................................??I............................................................................................................................?? J.. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .........??K ..........................................................................................................................??L...........................................................................................................................??M .........................................................................................................................??N..........................................................................................................................??O..........................................................................................................................??P...........................................................................................................................??Q..........................................................................................................................??R ..........................................................................................................................??S...........................................................................................................................??T...........................................................................................................................??U ..........................................................................................................................??V ..........................................................................................................................??W .........................................................................................................................??

X ..........................................................................................................................??

Y ..........................................................................................................................??Z ..........................................................................................................................??

C. Supported videocards...........................................................................................??Windows .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .........??Linux...................................................................................................................??Mac OSX.............................................................................................................??Graphics Compatibility Test Results.............................................................. ??

D. The Licenses ...........................................................................................................??Open Content License......................................................................................??Blender Artistic License...................................................................................??GNU General Public License ..........................................................................??

E. The Blender Documentation Project ................................................................... ??About the Blender Documentation Project................................................... ??

How to contribute.............................................................................................??

F. Troubleshooting (-).................................................................................................??

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Chapter 1. Blender windows - general introduction

Relevant to Blender 2.33This section describes the general functions of the mouse and keyboard, both of which work uniformly throughout the Blender interface. Each Blender window alsooffers a number of specic options. These options are described in the following sec-tions.

The MouseEach time you place the mouse cursor over the edge of a Blender window, the mousecursor changes shape. When this happens, the following mouse keys are activated:

LMB (hold-move)

Drag the window edge horizontally or vertically. The window edge always moves inincrements of 4 pixels, making it relatively easy to move two window edges so thatthey are precisely adjacent to each other, thus joining them.

MMB or RMBA PopupMenu prompts for Split Area or Join Areas or No Header .

Choosing Split Area , Blender splits the sctive window in two and allows you toindicate the exact split point. To cancel the split press ESC . Split creates an exact copyof the original window.

ChoosingJoin Areas

, Windows with a shared edge are joined if possible. The activeWindow remains.If there is no Header in the Window, the PopupMenu contains the item Add Headerrather than No Header .

The Window Header

Blender window headers offer the following extra options in combination withmouse keys:

LMB on the header

The entire Blender window pops to the foreground.

CTRL LMB on the header

The entire Blender window pops to the background.

MMB (hold-move) on the header

If the Blender window is not wide enough to display the entire header, the MMB keycan be used to horizontally shift the header.

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Chapter 1. Blender windows - general introduction

RMB on the header

A PopupMenu appears asking for Top , Bottom or No Header . That way the headercan be moved to the top or the bottom of the Blender window or can be hidden.

You can add a header to a Window by pressing the middle Mouse over an edge of aheaderless Window.

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Chapter 2. HotKeys In-depth Reference

Window HotKeysRelevant to Blender 2.33Certain window managers also use the following hotkeys. So ALT-CTRL can be sub-stituted for CTRL to perform the functions described below if a conict arises.

CTRL-LEFTARROW

Go to the previous Screen.

CTRL-RIGHTARROW

Go to the next Screen.

CTRL-UPARROW or CTRL-DOWNARROW

Maximise the window or return to the previous window display size.

SHIFT-F4

Change the window to a Data View

SHIFT-F5

Change the window to a 3D Window

SHIFT-F6

Change the window to an IPO Window

SHIFT-F7

Change the window to a Buttons Window

SHIFT-F8

Change the window to a Sequence Window

SHIFT-F9

Change the window to an Oops Window

SHIFT-F10

Change the window to an Image Window

SHIFT-F11

Change the window to a Text WindowSHIFT-F12

Change the window to an Action Window

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Universal HotKeysRelevant to Blender 2.33The following HotKeys work uniformly in all Blender Windows, if the Context al-lows:

ESC

This key always cancels Blender functions without changes. or: FileWindow, DataView and ImageSelect: back to the previous window type. or: the RenderWindow is pushed to the background (or closed, that depends on the

operating system).

SPACE

Open the Toolbox.

TAB

Start or quit EditMode.

F1

Loads a Blender le. Changes the window to a FileWindow.

SHIFT-F1

Appends parts from other les, or loads as Library-data. Changes the window to aFileWindow, making Blender les accessible as a directory.

F2

Writes a Blender le. Change the window to a FileWindow.

SHIFT-F2

Exports the scene as a DXF le

CTRL-F2

Exports the scene as a VRML1 le

F3

Writes a picture (if a picture has been rendered). The leformat is as indicated in theDisplayButtons. The window becomes a File Select Window.

CTRL-F3 (ALT-CTRL-F3 on MacOSX)

Saves a screendump of the active window. The leformat is as indicated in the Dis-playButtons. The window becomes a FileWindow.

SHIFT-CTRL-F3

Saves a screendump of the whole Blender screen. The leformat is as indicated in theDisplayButtons. The window becomes a FileWindow.

F4

Displays the Logic Context (if a ButtonsWindow is available).

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F5

Displays the Shading Context (if a Buttons Window is available), Light, Material orWorld Sub-contextes depends on active object.

F6

Displays the Shading Context and Texture Sub-context (if a ButtonsWindow is avail-able).

F7

Displays the Object Context (if a ButtonsWindow is available).

F8

Displays the Shading Context and World Sub-context (if a ButtonsWindow is avail-able).

F9

Displays the Editing Context (if a ButtonsWindow is available).

F10

Displays the Scene Context (if a ButtonsWindow is available).

F11

Hides or shows the render window.

F12

Starts the rendering from the active camera.

LEFTARROW

Go to the previous frame.

SHIFT-LEFTARROW

Go to the rst frame.

RIGHTARROW

Go to the next frame.

SHIFT-LEFTARROW

Go to the last frame.

UPARROW

Go forward 10 frames.

DOWNARROW

Go back 10 frames.

ALT-A

Change the current Blender window to Animation Playback mode. The cursorchanges to a counter.

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ALT-SHIFT-A

The current window, plus all 3DWindows go into Animation Playback mode.

IKEY

Insert Key menu. This menu differs from window to window.

JKEY

Toggle the render buffers. Blender allows you to retain two different rendered pic-tures in memory.

CTRL-O

Opens the last saved le.

QKEY

OK? Quit Blender . This key closes Blender. Blender quit is displayed in the con-sole if Blender is properly closed.

ALT-CTRL-T

TimerMenu. This menu offers access to information about drawing speed. The resultsare displayed in a pop-up.

CTRL-U

OK, Save User defaults . The current project (windows, objects, etc.), includingUserMenu settings are written to the default le that will be loaded every time youstart Blender or set it to defaults by pressing CTRL-X .

CTRL-W

Write le. This key combination allows you to write the Blender le without openinga FileWindow.

ALT-WWrite Videoscape le. Changes the window to a FileWindow.

CTRL-X

Erase All. Everything (except the render buffer) is erased and released. The defaultscene is reloaded.

Object Mode HotKeysRelevant to Blender 2.33These hotkeys are mainly bound to the 3D Viewport Window, but many work onObjects in most other windows, like IPOs and so on, hence they are summarizedhere.

HOME

All Objects in the visible layer are displayed completely, centered in the window.

PAGEUP

Select the next Object Key. If more than one Object Key is selected, the selection isshifted up cyclically. Only works if the AnimButtons->DrawKey is ON for the Object.

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SHIFT-PAGEUP

Adds to selection the next Object Key.

PAGEDOWN

Select the previous Object Key. If more than one Object Key is selected, the selection isshifted up cyclically. Only works if the AnimButtons->DrawKey is ON for the Object.

SHIFT-PAGEDOWN

Adds to selection the previous Object Key.

ACCENT

(To the left of the 1KEY in US keyboard) Select all layers.

SHIFT-ACCENT

Revert to the previous layer setting.

TAB

Start/stop EditMode. Alternative hotkey: ALT-E .

AKEY

Selects/deselects all.

CTRL-A

Apply size and rotation. The rotation and dimensions of the Object are assigned tothe ObData (Mesh, Curve, etc.). At rst glance, it appears as if nothing has changed, but this can have considerable consequences for animations or texture mapping. Thisis best illustrated by also having the axis of a Mesh Object be drawn (EditButtons->Axis). Rotate the Object and activate Apply. The rotation and dimensions of theObject are erased.

SHIFT-CTRL-AIf the active Object is automatically duplicated (see AnimButtons->DupliFrames orAnimButtons->Dupliverts), a menu asks Make duplis real? . This option actuallycreates the Objects. If the active Mesh Object is deformed by a Lattice, a menu asksApply Lattice deform? . Now the deformation of the Lattice is assigned to the ver-tices of the Mesh.

SHIFT-A

This is the AddMenu. In fact, it is the ToolBox that starts with the ADD option.When Objects are added, Blender starts EditMode immediately if possible.

BKEY

Border Select. Draw a rectangle with the LeftMouse; all Objects within this area are se-lected, but not made active. Draw a rectangle with the RightMouse to deselect Objects.In orthonormal ViewMode, the dimensions of the rectangle are displayed, expressedas global coordinates, as an extra feature in the lower left corner. In Camera View-Mode, the dimensions that are to be rendered according to the DisplayButtons aredisplayed in pixel units.

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SHIFT-B

Render Border. This only works in Camera ViewMode. Draw a rectangle to render asmaller cut-out of the standard window frame. If the option DisplayButtons->Borderis ON, a box is drawn with red and black lines.

CKEY

Centre View. The position of the 3DCursor becomes the new centre of the 3DWindow.

ALT-C

Convert Menu. Depending on the active Object, a PopupMenu is displayed. This en-ables you to convert certain types of ObData. It only converts in one direction, every-thing ultimately degrades to a Mesh! The options are:

Font -> Curve

MetaBall -> Mesh The original MetaBall remains unchanged. Curve -> Mesh

Surface -> Mesh

CTRL-C

Copy Menu. This menu copies information from the active Object to (other) selectedObjects.

Fixed components are: Copy Loc : the X,Y,Z location of the Object. If a Child is involved, this location is

the relative position in relation to the Parent. Copy Rot : the X,Y,Z rotation of the Object. Copy Size : the X,Y,Z dimension of the Object. DrawType : copies Object Drawtype. TimeOffs : copies Object time offset. Dupli : all Duplicator data (Dupliframes, Dupliverts and so on) Mass : Real time stuff. Damping : Real time stuff. Properties : Real time stuff. Logic Bricks : Real time stuff. Constraints : copies Object constraints.

If applicable: Copy TexSpace : The texture space. Copy Particle Settings : the complete particle system from the AnimButtons.

For Curve Objects: Copy Bevel Settings : all bevelling data from the EditButtons.

Font Objects:

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Copy Font Settings : font type, dimensions, spacing. Copy Bevel Settings : all bevelling data from the EditButtons.

Camera Objects: Copy Lens : the lens value.

SHIFT-C

CentreZero View. The3DCursor is set to zero (0,0,0) and the viewis changed so that allObjects, including the 3Dcursor, can be displayed. This is an alternative for HOME .

DKEY

Draw mode menu. Allows to select draw modes exactly as the corresponding menuin the 3D viewport header does.

SHIFT-DAdd Duplicate. The selected Objects are duplicated. Grab mode starts immediatelythereafter.

ALT-D

Add Linked Duplicate. Of the selected Objects linked duplicates are created. Grabmode starts immediately thereafter.

CTRL-D

Draw the (texture) Image as wire. This option has a limited function. It can only beused for 2D compositing.

ALT-E

Start/stop EditMode. Alternative hotkey: TAB .

FKEY

If selected Object is a mesh Toggles Face selectMode on and off.

CTRL-F

Sort Faces. The faces of the active Mesh Object are sorted, based on the current viewin the 3DWindow. The leftmost face rst, the rightmost last. The sequence of faces isimportant for the Build Effect (AnimButtons).

GKEY

Grab Mode. Or: the translation mode. This works on selected Objects and vertices.Blender calculates the quantity and direction of the translation, so that they corre-spond exactly with the mouse movements, regardless of the ViewMode or view di-rection of the 3DWindow. Alternatives for starting this mode:

LMB to draw a straight line.

The following options are available in translation mode:

Limiters:

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CTRL : in increments of 1 grid unit. SHIFT : ne movements. SHIFT-CTRL : in increments of 0.1 grid unit.

MMB toggles: A short click restricts the current translation to the X,Y or Z axis.Blender calculates which axis to use, depending on the already initiated mousemovement. Click MiddleMouse again to return to unlimited translation.

XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY constrains movement to X, Y or Z axis of the global reference. a second XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY constrains movement to X, Y or Z axis of the local

reference. a third XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY removes constraints. NKEY enters numerical input, as well as any numeric key directly. TAB will switch

between values, ENTER nalizes, ESC exits. ARROWS :These keys can be used to move the mouse cursor exactly 1 pixel. Grabber can be terminated with:

LMB SPACE or

ENTER: move to a new position.

RMB or ESC : everything goes back to the old position.

Switching mode: GKEY : starts Grab mode again. SKEY: switches to Size (Scale) mode. RKEY: switches to Rotate mode.

ALT-G

Clears translations, given in Grab mode. The X,Y,Z locations of selected Objects areset to zero.

SHIFT-G

Group Selection

Children : Selects all selected Objects Children. Immediate Children : Selects all selected Objects rst level Children. Parent : Selects selected Objects Parent. Shared Layers : Selects all Object on the same Layer of active Object

IKEY

Insert Object Key. A keyposition is inserted in the current frame of all selected Objects.A PopupMenu asks what key position(s) must be added to the IpoCurves.

Loc : The XYZ location of the Object. Rot : The XYZ rotation of the Object. Size : The XYZ dimensions of the Object

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LocRot : The XYZ location and XYZ rotation of the Object. LocRotSize : The XYZ location, XYZ rotation and XYZ dimensions of the Object. Layer : The layer of the Object. Avail : A position is only added to all the current IpoCurves, that is curves which

already exists.

Mesh , Lattice , Curve or Surface : depending on the type of Object, a VertexKeycan be added

CTRL-J

Join Objects. All selected Objects of the same type are added to the active Object. Whatactually happens here is that the ObData blocks are combined and all the selectedObjects (except for the active one) are deleted. This is a rather complex operation,which can lead to confusing results, particularly when working with a lot of linkeddata, animation curves and hierarchies.

KKEY

Show Keys. The DrawKey option is turned ON for all selected Objects. If all of themwere already ON, they are all turned OFF.

SHIFT-K

A PopupMenu asks: OK? Show and select all keys . The DrawKey option isturned ON for all selected Objects, and all Object-keys are selected. This function isused to enable transformation of the entire animation system.

LKEY

Makes selected Object local. Makes library linked objects local for the current scene.

CTRL-L

Link selected. Links some of the Active Object data to all selected Objects, the follow-ing menu entry appears only if applicable.

To Scene : Creates a link of the Object to a scene. Object IPOs : Links Active Object IPOs to selected ones. Mesh Data : Links Active Object Mesh data selected ones. Lamp Data : Links Active Object Lamp data to selected ones. Curve Data : Links Active Object Curve data selected ones. Surf Data : Links Active Object Surf data selected ones. Material : Links Active Object Material to selected ones.

SHIFT-L

Select Linked. Selects all Objects somehow linked to active Object.

Object IPO : Selects all Object(s) sharing active Objects IPOs. Object Data : Selects all Object(s) sharing active Objects ObData. Current Material : Selects all Object(s) sharing active Objects current Material. Current Texture : Selects all Object(s) sharing active Objects current Texture.

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MKEY

Moves selected Object(s) to another layer, a pop-up appers. Use LMB to move, useSHIFT-LMB to make the object belong to multiple layers. If the selected Objects havedifferent layers, this is ORed in the menu display. Use ESC to exit the menu. Pressthe "OK" button or ENTER to change the layer seting. The hotkeys ( ALT -)(1KEY,2KEY, ... - 0KEY) work here as well (see 3DHeader).

CTRL-M

Mirror Menu. It is possible to mirror an Object along the X, Y or Z axis.

NKEY

Number Panel. The location, rotation and scaling of the active Object are displayedand can be modied.

ALT-O

Clear Origin. The Origin is erased for all Child Objects, which causes the ChildObjects to move to the exact location of the Parent Objects.

SHIFT-O

If the selected Object is a Mesh toggles SubSurf onn/off. CTRL-1 to CTRL-4 switchesto the relative SubSurf level for display purpouses. Rendering SUbSurf level has noHotKey.

CTRL-P

Make selected Object(s) the child(ren) of the active Object. If the Parent is a Curvethen a popup offers two coiches:

Normal Parent : Make a normal parent, the curve can be made a path later on. Follow Path : Automatically creates a Follow Path constraint with the curve as

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If the Parent is an Armature, a popup offers three options:

Use Bone : One of the Bones becomes the parent. The Object will not be deformed.A popup permits to select the bone. This is the option if you are modeling a robotor machinery

Use Armature : The whole armature is used as parent for deformations. This is thechoiche for organic beings.

Use Object : Standard parenting.In the second case further options asks if Vertex groups should not be created, should be created empty or created and populated.

ALT-P

Clears Parent relation, user is asked if he wishes to keep or clear parent-inducedtransforms.

Clear Parent : the selected Child Objects are unlinked from the Parent. since thetransformation of the Parent disappears, this can appear as if the former Childrenthemselves are transformed.

... and keep transform : the Child Objects are unlinked from the Parent, andan attempt is made to assign the current transformation, which was determined inpart by the Parent, to the (former Child) Objects.

Clear Parent inverse : The inverse matrix of the Parent of the selected Objectsis erased. The Child Objects remain linked to the Objects. This gives the user com-plete control over the hierarchy.

RKEY

Rotate mode. Works on selected Object(s). In Blender, a rotation is by default a rota-tion perpendicular to the screen, regardless of the view direction or ViewMode. Thedegree of rotation is exactly linked to the mouse movement. Try moving around therotation midpoint with the mouse. The rotation pivot point is determined by the stateof the 3DWiewport Header buttons. Alternatives for starting this mode:

LMB to draw a C-shaped curve.

The following options are available in rotation mode:

Limiters: CTRL : in increments of 5 degrees. SHIFT : ne movements. SHIFT-CTRL : in increments of 1 degree.

MMB toggles: A short click restricts the current rotation to the horizontal or verticalview axis.

XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY constrains rotation to X, Y or Z axis of the global reference. a second XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY constrains rotation to X, Y or Z axis of the local refer-

ence. a third XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY removes constraints.

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NKEY enters numerical input, as well as any numeric key directly. ENTER nal-izes, ESC exits.

ARROWS :These keys can be used to move the mouse cursor exactly 1 pixel. Roration can be terminated with:

LMB SPACE or ENTER : move to a new position. RMB or ESC : everything goes back to the old position.

Switching mode: GKEY : switches to Grab. SKEY: switches to Size (Scale) mode. RKEY: starts Rotate mode again.

ALT-R

Clears Rotation. The X,Y,Z rotations of selected Objects are set to zero.

SKEY

Size mode or scaling mode. Works on selected Object(s). The degree of scaling is exactlylinked to the mouse movement. Try to move from the (rotation) midpoint with themouse. The pivot point is determined by the settings of the 3D Viewport header pivotMenu. Alternatives for starting scaling mode:

LMB to draw a V-shaped line.

The following options are available in scaling mode:

Limiters: CTRL : in increments of 0.1. SHIFT-CTRL : in increments of 0.01.

MMB toggles: A short click restricts the scaling to X, Y or Z axis. Blender calculatesthe appropriate axis based on the already initiated mouse movement. Click MMBagain to return to free scaling.

XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY constrains scaling to X, Y or Z axis of the local reference. a second XKEY, YKEY, ZKEY removes constraints. NKEY enters numerical input, as well as any numeric key directly. ENTER nal-

izes, ESC exits. ARROWS :These keys can be used to move the mouse cursor exactly 1 pixel. Scaling can be terminated with:

LMB SPACE or ENTER : move to a new position. RMB or ESC : everything goes back to the old dimension.

Switching mode: GKEY : switches to Grab.

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SKEY: starts Size mode again. RKEY: switches to Rotation.

ALT-SClears Size. The X,Y,Z dimensions of selected Objects are set to 1.0.

SHIFT-S

SnapMenu:

Sel->Grid : Moves Object to nearest grid point. Sel->Curs : Moves Object to cursor. Curs->Grid : Moves cursor to nearest grid point. Curs->Sel : Moves cursor to selected Object(s). Sel->Center : Moves Objects to their barycentrum.

TKEY

Texture space mode. The position and dimensions of the texture space for the se-lected Objects can be changed in the same manner as described above for Grab andSize mode. To make this visible, the drawingag EditButtons->TexSpace is set ON. APopupMenu asks you to select: "Grabber" or "Size".

CTRL-T

Makes selected Object(s) track the Active Object. Old track method was Blender de-fault tracking before version 2.30. The newmethod is the Constrain Track, this createsa fully editable constraint on the selected object targeting the active Object.

ALT-T

Clears old style Track. Constraint track is removed as all constrains are.

UKEY

Makes Object Single User, the inverse operation of Link ( CTRL-L ) a pop-up appearswith choices.

Object : if other Scenes also have a link to this Object, the link is deleted and theObject is copied. The Object now only exists in the current Scene. The links fromthe Object remain unchanged.

Object & ObData : Similar to the previous command, but now the ObData blockswith multiple links are copied as well. All selected Objects are now present in thecurrent Scene only, and each has a unique ObData (Mesh, Curve, etc.).

Object & ObData & Materials+Tex : Similar to the previous command, but nowMaterials and Textures with multiple links are also copied. All selected Objectsare now unique. They have unique ObData and each has a unique Material andTexture block.

Materials+Tex : Only the Materials and Textures with multiple links are copied.

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SHIFT-O

Toggles between Smooth and Sharp Proportional Editing.

PKEY

SeParate. You can choose to make a new object with all selected vertices, edges, facesand curves or create a new object from each separate group of interconnected verticesfrom a popup. Note that for curves you cannot separate connected control vertices.This operation is the opposite of Join ( CTRL-J ).

CTRL-P

Make Vertex Parent . If one object (or more than one) is/are selected and the activeObject is in Edit Mode with 1 or 3 vertices selected then the Object in Edit Mode becomes the Vertex Parent of the selected Object(s). If only 1 vertex is selected, onlythe location of this vertex determines the Parent transformation; the rotation and di-mensions of the Parent do not play a role here. If three vertices are selected, it is anormal Parent relationship in which the 3 vertices determine the rotation and loca-tion of the Child together. This method produces interesting effects with Vertex Keys.In EditMode, other Objects can be selected with CTRL-RMB .

CTRL-SShear. In EditMode this operation enables you to make selected forms slant. Thisalways works via the horizontal screen axis.

UKEY

Undo. When starting Edit Mode, the original ObData block is saved and can be re-turned to via UKEY. Mesh Objects have better Undo, see next section.

WKEY

Specials PopupMenu. A number of tools are included in this PopupMenu as an al-ternative to the Edit Buttons. This makes the buttons accessible as shortcuts, e.g.EditButtons->Subdivide is also WKEY, 1KEY.

SHIFT-W

Warp. Selected vertices can be bent into curves with this option. It can be used toconvert a plane into a tube or even a sphere. The centre of the circle is the 3DCursor.The mid-line of the circle is determined by the horizontal dimensions of the selectedvertices. When you start, everything is already bent 90 degrees. Moving the mouseup or down increases or decreases the extent to which warping is done. By zoomingin/out of the 3Dwindow, you can specify the maximum degree of warping. The CTRLlimiter increments warping in steps of 5 degrees.

EditMode Mesh Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33This section and the following highlight peculiar EditMode Hotkeys.

CTRL-NUM+

Adds to selection all vertices connected by an edge to an already selected vertex.

CTRL-NUM-

Removes from selection all vertices of the outer ring of selected vertices.

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ALT-CTRL-RMB

Edge select.

EKEY

Extrude Selected. "Extrude" in EditMode transforms all the selected edges to faces. If possible, the selected faces are also duplicated. Grab mode is started directly afterthis command is executed.

FKEY

Make Edge/Face. If 2 vertices are selected, an edge is created. If 3 or 4 vertices areselected, a face is created.

SHIFT-F

Fill selected. All selected vertices that are bound by edges and form a closed poly-gon are lled with triangular faces. Holes are automatically taken into account. Thisoperation is 2D; various layers of polygons must be lled in succession.

ALT-F

Beauty Fill. The edges of all the selected triangular faces are switched in such a waythat equally sized faces are formed. This operation is 2D; various layers of polygonsmust be lled in succession. The Beauty Fill can be performed immediately after aFill.

CTRL-F

Flip faces, selected triangular faces are paired and common edge of each pairswapped.

HKEY

Hide Selected. All selected vertices and faces are temporarily hidden.

SHIFT-HHide Not Selected: All non-selected vertices and faces are temporarily hidden.

ALT-H

Reveal. All temporarily hidden vertices and faces are drawn again.

ALT-J

Join faces, selected triangular faces are joined in pairs and transformed to quads

KKEY

Knife tool Menu.

Face Loop Select : (SHIFT-R ) Face loops are highlighted starting from edge un-der mouse pointer. LMB nalizes, ESC exits.

Face Loop Cut : (CTRL-R ) Face loops are highlighted starting from edge undermouse pointer. LMB nalizes, ESC exits.

Knife (exact) : (SHIFT-K ) Mouse starts draw mode. Selected Edges are cut atintersections with mouse line. ENTER or RMB nalizes, ESC exits.

Knife (midpoints) : (SHIFT-K ) Mouse starts draw mode. Selected Edges inter-secting with mouse line are cut in middle regardless of true intersection point.ENTER or RMB nalizes, ESC exits.

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LKEY

Select Linked. If you start with an unselected vertex near the mouse cursor, this vertexis selected, together with all vertices that share an edge with it.

SHIFT-LDeselect Linked. If you start with a selected vertex, this vertex is deselected, togetherwith all vertices that share an edge with it.

CTRL-L

Select Linked Selected. Starting with all selected vertices, all vertices connected tothem are selected too.

MKEY

Mirror. Opens a popup asking for the axis to mirror. 3 possible axis group are avail-able, each of which contains three axes, for a total of nine choices. Axes can be Global(Blender Global Reference); Local (Current Object Local Reference) or View (Current

View reference). Remember that mirroring, like scaling, happens with respect to thecurrent pivot point.

ALT-M

Merges selected vertices at barycentrum or at cursor depending on selection madeon pop-up.

CTRL-N

Calculate Normals Outside. All normals from selected faces are recalculated and con-sistently set in the same direction. An attempt is made to direct all normals outward.

SHIFT-CTRL-N

Calculate Normals Inside. All normals from selected faces are recalculated and con-sistently set in the same direction. An attempt is made to direct all normals inward.

ALT-S

Whereas SHIFT-S scales in Edit Mode as it does in Object Mode, for Edit Mode afurther option exists, ALT-S moves each vertex in the direction of its local normal,hence effectively shrinking/fattening the mesh.

CTRL-T

Make Triangles. All selected faces are converted to triangles.

UKEY

Undo. When starting Edit Mode, the original ObData block is saved and all subse-quent changes are saved on a stack. This option enables you to restore the previoussituation, one after the other.

SHIFT-U

Redo. This let you re-apply any undone changes up to the moment in which EditMode was entered

ALT-U

Undo Menu. This let you choose the exact point to which you want to undo changes.

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WKEY

Special Menu. A PopupMenu offers the following options:

Subdivide : all selected edges are split in two. Subdivide Fractal : all selected edges are split in two and middle vertex dis-

placed randomly. Subdivide Smooth : all selected edges are split in two and middle vertex displaced

along the normal. Merge : as ALT-M . Remove Doubles : All selected vertices closer to each other than a given threshold

(See EditMode Button Window) are merged ALT-M . Hide : as HKEY . Reveal : as ALT-H . Select Swap : Selected vertices become unselected and vice versa. Flip Normals : Normals of selected faces are ipped. Smooth : Vertices are moved closer one to each other, getting a smoother object. Bevel : Faces are reduced in size and the space between edges is lled with a

smoothly curving bevel of the desired order.

XKEY

Erase Selected. A PopupMenu offers the following options:

Vertices : all vertices are deleted. This includes the edges and faces they form. Edges : all edges with both vertices selected are deleted. If this releases certain

vertices, they are deleted as well. Faces that can no longer exist as a result of thisaction are also deleted.

Faces : all faces with all their vertices selected are deleted. If any vertices are re-leased as a result of this action, they are deleted.

All : everything is deleted. Edges and Faces : all selected edges and faces are deleted, but the vertices remain. Only Faces : all selected faces are deleted, but the edges and vertices remain.

YKEY

Split. This command splits the selected part of a Mesh without deleting faces. Thesplit parts are no longer bound by edges. Use this command to control smoothing.Since the split parts have vertices at the same position, selection with LKEY is recom-

mended.

EditMode Curve HotkeysRelevant to Blender 2.33

CKEY

Set the selected curves to cyclic or turn cyclic off. An individual curve is selected if atleast one of the vertices is selected.

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EKEY

Extrude Curve. A vertex is added to the selected end of the curves. Grab mode isstarted immediately after this command is executed.

FKEY

Add segment. A segment is added between two selected vertices at the end of twocurves. These two curves are combined into one curve.

HKEY

Toggle Handle align/ free. Toggles the selected Bezier handles between free or aligned.

SHIFT-H

Set Handle auto. The selected Bezier handles are converted to auto type.

CTRL-H

Calculate Handles. The selected Bezier curves are calculated and all handles are as-signed a type.

LKEY

Select Linked. If you start with an non-selected vertex near the mouse cursor, thisvertex is selected together with all the vertices of the same curve.

SHIFT-L

Deselect Linked. If you start with a selected vertex, it is deselected together with allthe vertices of the same curve.

MKEY

Mirror. Mirror selected control points exactly as for vertices in a Mesh.

TKEY

Tilt mode. Specify an extra axis rotation, i.e. the tilt, for each vertex in a 3D curve.

ALT-T

Clear Tilt. Set all axis rotations of the selected vertices to zero.

VKEY

Vector Handle. The selected Bezier handles are converted to vector type.

WKEY

The special menu for curves appears:

Subdivide. Subdivide the selected vertices. Switch direction. The direction of the selected curves is reversed. This is mainly for

Curves that are used as paths!

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XKEY

Erase Selected. A PopupMenu offers the following options:

Selected : all selected vertices are deleted. Segment : a curve segment is deleted. This only works for single segments. Curves

can be split in two using this option. Or use this option to specify the cyclic positionwithin a cyclic curve. All : delete everything.

EditMode Surface HotkeysRelevant to Blender 2.33

CKEY

Toggle Cyclic menu. A PopupMenu asks if selected surfaces in the U or the Vdirection must be cyclic. If they were already cyclic, this mode is turned off.

EKEY

Extrude Selected. This makes surfaces of all the selected curves, if possible. Only theedges of surfaces or loose curves are candidates for this operation. Grab mode isstarted immediately after this command is completed.

FKEY

Add segment. A segment is added between two selected vertices at the ends of twocurves. These two curves are combined into 1 curve.

LKEY

Select Linked. If you start with an non-selected vertex near the mouse cursor, thisvertex is selected together with all the vertices of the same curve or surface.

SHIFT-L

Deselect Linked. If you start with a selected vertex, this vertex is deselected togetherwith all vertices of the same curve or surface.

MKEY


SHIFT-R

Select Row. Starting with the last selected vertex, a complete row of vertices is se-lected in the U or V direction. Selecting Select Row a second time with the samevertex switches the U or V selection.

WKEY

The special menu for surfaces appears:

Subdivide. Subdivide the selected vertices Switch direction. This will switch the normals of the selected parts. Mirror. Mirrors the selected vertices

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XKEY

Erase Selected. A PopupMenu offers the following choices:

Selected : all selected vertices are deleted. All : delete everything.

EditMode Metaball HotkeysRelevant to Blender 2.33

MKEY


EditMode Font HotkeysRelevant to Blender 2.33In Text Edit Mode most hotkeys are disabled, to allow text entering.

RIGHTARROW

Move text cursor 1 position forward

SHIFT-RIGHTARROW

Move text cursor to the end of the line.

LEFTARROW

Move text cursor 1 position backwards.

SHIFT-LEFTARROW

Move text cursor to the start of the line

DOWNARROW

Move text cursor 1 line forward

SHIFT-DOWNARROW

Move text cursor to the end of the text.

UPARROW

Move text cursor 1 line back.

SHIFT-UPARROW

Move text cursor to the beginning of the text

ALT-U

Reload Original Data (undo). When EditMode is started, the original text is saved.You can restore this original text with this option.

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ALT-V

Paste text. The text le /tmp/.cutbuffer is inserted at the cursor location.

Armature Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33

CTRL-TAB

Toggles Pose Mode on/off.

EKEY

Extrude Armature. An extra Bone is added to the selected Bone. Grab mode is startedimmediately thereafter.

LKEY

Select linked bones in a chain.

VertexPaint HotkeysRelevant to Blender 2.33

SHIFT-K

All vertex colours are erased; they are changed to the current drawing colour.

UKEY

Undo. This undo is real. Pressing Undo twice redoes the undone.

WKEY

Shared Vertexcol : The colours of all faces that share vertices are blended.

FaceSelect HotkeysRelevant to Blender 2.33

TAB

Switches to EditMode, selections made here will show up when switching back toFaceSelectMode with TAB .

RKEY

Calls a menu allowing to rotate the UV coordinates or the VertexCol.UKEY

Calls the UV Calculation menu. The following modes can the applied to the se-lected faces:

Cube: Cubical mapping, a number button asks for the cubemap size Cylinder: Cylindrical mapping, calculated from the center of the selected faces Sphere: Spherical mapping, calculated from the center of the selected faces

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Bounds to x: UV coordinates are calculated from the actual view, then scaled toa boundbox of 64 or 128 pixels in square

Standard x: Each face gets default square UV coordinates From Window: The UV coordinates are calculated using the projection as displayed

in the 3DWindow

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Chapter 3. Windows Reference

The InfoWindow

Info Toolbar

Window Type

As in all Blender window headers, the rst button allows you to congure the win-dow type.

Menus

The hide/shows the menus. With the menus you can easily access common com-mands, like saving and loading.

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The menu entries are very common and do the things they are labelled. They gener-ally exhibit "Blender wide" functions.The pack items in the File Menu deserves some more explanation: With Pack Datayou can pack Images, Fonts and Sounds into the Blend-le, allowing you to easilydistribute your les as a single le. As a sign that your le is packed, a little icon of aparcel appears in the menu-bar.Unpack Data unpacks packed data within the le into the current directory on your

harddisk. It creates directories for textures, sounds and fonts there. It opens a popupwhose entries should be self-explanatory.

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Delete Scene

"OK? Delete Current Scene". This button deletes and releases the current Scene with-out deleting Objects. Objects without users are not written to a le.

The information text

The standard text is:

www.blender.org: the location at which the software can be obtained. 2.30: the version of Blender. This book is applicable to the V2.x series only. Ve: 4 Fa: 1: the number of vertices and faces in the current 3DWindow. If in doubt,

use NUM9 to count the vertices and faces again.

Ob: 2-1: the number of total Objects and of selected Objects in the current 3DWin-dow. La: 0: the number of lamps in the current 3Dwindow. Mem: 2.03M: the amount of memory in use in Megabytes, not including frag-

mented memory. Plane (or similar): the name of the active Object.

Changes in EditMode:

Ve: 0-4 Fa: 0-1: The rst numeric value is the number of selectedvertices, the secondis the total number of vertices. The numeric values for the second variable apply to faces and have the same signicance.

Plane (or similar): the name of the active Object.

During and after rendering:

The values for the totals are changed to reect the rendered picture. These valuesmay be different from the totals displayed in the 3DWindow.

Time: 00.01.56 (00:44): the pure rendering time for the last picture rendered inminutes/seconds/hundredths of a second and the actual extra rendering time inseconds/hundredths of a second. Excessive swap time or poor le accessibility cancause high extra rendering time.

The Maximize button

Clicking the Maximize button will switch Blender in/out of full screen mode.

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The Info ButtonsThe Info Window allows you to congure personal settings. These settings are au-tomatically loaded from the le $HOME/.B.blend each time Blender is started. Per-sonal settings cannot be written to a le other than .B.blend. The HotKey CTRL-Ucan be used to overwrite the le .B.blend.The bottom line of buttons selects the various settings:

View and Controls:

ToolTips - Switch Tooltips on and off. ObjectInfo - Shows Object name and frame in 3D viewport. Grab,Rotate,Size - Makes relevant action take place in steps, as if CTRL were

pressed. Global Scene - Forces the current scene to be displayed in all windows. Auto Open, ThresA:, ThresB: - Forces the menus to open even without a click,

it the mouse stays still on them more than ThresA: tenth of seconds. Submenus areopened after ThresB: tenth of seconds.

LMB:, RMB: - Time, in 1/10 of seconds in which a LMB or RMB pressed on 3DViewport opens the Toolbox.

Trackball, Turnable - Sets the behaviour of 3D window rotation method Rotate View, Pan View - Sets MMB functionality. Emulate 3D buttons - Makes ALT-LMB equivalent to MMB Scroll Lines: - Controls wheel mouse scrolling

Invert Wheel Zoom - toggles the Wheel direction to zoom in/zoom out

By default, the following limiters apply to grabbing rotating and scaling (press the keysafter click and hold with the mouse):

(no key): uid change SHIFT : ner control CTRL : large grid steps SHIFT-CTRL : small grid steps

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The following alternatives can also be used (when the corresponding toggle buttonis ON):

(no key): large grid steps SHIFT : small grid steps

CTRL : uid change SHIFT-CTRL : ner control

Edit Methods:

ObData, Object - Toggles where Material data is linked to. Steps: - Sets the number of Undo steps to be stored. Action, Object - Toggles auto key framing for objects and actions. Duplicate with object: - This series of button species which data is really du-

plicated, and which is merely linked, when a object is duplicated ( SHIFT D

One of Blenders most advanced features is its use of object-oriented functions.Blender allows you to reuse (i.e. link) data blocks to construct compact and efcientstructures.When one of these buttons is pressed, the indicated DataBlock is duplicated insteadof linked when using SHIFT-D . The ALT-D command always makes a copy of theselected Objects with all other data linked.The most commonly use of links is when activating the Duplicate commands: ALT-Dcreate a copy of the selected Objects, reusing (i.e. linking to) all other data, includingMeshes and Materials. SHIFT-D create a copy of the selected Objects, using these button settings to determine whether links to other data are created or duplicates of other data are created.

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Language and Fonts:

International Fonts - Toggles the usage of international, antialiased, fonts. Select font - Allows for font customization Font size: - Sets UI font size. Language: - Sets the language. Tooltips, Buttons, Toolbox - Sets which part of the UI is to be translated.

Themes:

Theme menu- Selects the Theme to applyto the interface. Add - Creates a new Theme Delete - Delete current Theme

When a theme is selected two menu buttons allow to select one UI context ( 3D View,UI and buttons and so on) and an UI item in that context ( Background, Text,Grid and so on.The neighbouring R,G,B sliders allows color denition for current item. Some items(Vertex Size , for example) are not dened by colors but by appropriate Num But-tons.A copy/paste pair of buttons allow to set the same color to more items easily.

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Auto Save:

Blender can save temp les at regular intervals as a temporary backup or as extraprotection against disasters. The les are identical to Blender les saved in the nor-mal manner. If Blender is in EditMode when this function is used, only the originalData are saved, without saving the Data with which you are working. Blender savestemp les in the specied temp directory with the name ".blend". Thisresults in unique names for all temp les, allowing multiple Blenders to simultane-ously write temp les on the same computer. When Blender is closed down, the leis renamed "quit.blend", making it easy to retrieve work in progress if the user inad-vertently quits Blender. Blender writes les very quickly, which means that waitingtime is kept to a minimum, allowing the user to continue working within a split sec-ond after saving les of 1-2 Mb.

Auto Save Temp Files - Enable saving temporary .blend les. Minutes: - Time in minutes between auto saving Open recent - Opens last saved temporary le Versions - Sets how many .blend# les are to be kept as history every time a reg-

ular save is performed.If Versions has a value of 2 and the le rt.blend is being written:

rt.blend2 is deleted rt.blend1 is renamed to rt.blend2 rt.blend is renamed to rt.blend1 rt.blend is rewritten.

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System and OpenGL:

Light# Menu - Selects one of the three possible OpenGL lights for solid view. On,Vec,Col,Spe - Sets the Light selected in the aforementioned menu on or off

(Light1 cannot be off) and dene the context (Position, Color and Specular color)

of the three Num Buttons below. X,Y,Z - Sets the three components of the vector pointing to the OpenGL light. R,G,B - Sets the three components of the OpenGL light color. sR,sG,sB - Sets the three components of the OpenGL light color for specular high-

lights. Enable all Codecs - Enables all available codecs for rendering. Mxing buffer: - Sets the dimension of the Audio mixing buffer Emulate Numpad - Forces regular 0 to 9 keys to act as NumPad 0-9 keys (if you are

on a laptop...) Disable Caps Lock - Disables caps lock when entering Text. Disable Sound - Disables sound from being played. File Filter Extensions - Makes only le with extension to appear in image

select windows Mipmaps - Turns OpenGL MipMapping ON/OFF VertexArrays - Turns OpenGL vertex arrays to ON/OFF

File Paths:

Denes all the directory where items are to be looked for/ saved by default, theirname is self-explanatory.

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The FileWindow

FileToolbar

WindowTypeAs with every window header, the rst button left enables you to set the windowtype.

Full WindowThe second button expands the window to full screen or returns to the previous win-dow display size; returns to the original screen setting ( CTRL-UPARROW ).

Sort AlphaFiles are sorted alphabetically. Directories are always sorted rst.

Sort TimeFiles are sorted by creation date.

Sort SizeFiles are sorted by size.

Action typeIndicates what type of FileWindow this is. It is extremely important to continuallyverify that the correct Open or Save option is selected.

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File list formatIndicates whether the le names are displayed in long or short format.

Hide dot-les

The ghost button hides dot-les (lenames with a leading dot).

InfoThe header provides extra information about the status of the selected directory.

Free: 81.106 Mb: the free disk space available Files: (0) 72: the number of selected les between parentheses, followed by the

total number of les. (0.000) 8.600 Mb: the total number of bytes in the selected les between parenthe-

ses, followed by the total for the entire directory.

FileWindowThe FileWindow is generally called up to read and write les. However, you canalso use it to manage the entire le system. It also provides a handy overview of theinternal structure of a Blender le, since it is the window used to browse a .blend lecontent when an append action SHIFT-F1 is called for.There are 4 modes for the FileWindow

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FileManager: the standard mode. FileSelect: the FileHeader shows the action to be performed (Load, Save, etc.). DataSelect: display the Blender data system as les. DataBrowse: like DataSelect, but now as an alternative to a PopupMenu.The FileWindow is optimised for reuse. The second and subsequent times the samedirectory is called up, the le system is not re-read. This saves considerable time, butcan sometimes cause confusion if other processes have written les to the directory(the directory is always read again after Blender writes to it). If you have any doubtsabout the validity of the current display, press DOTKEY .

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buttonDisplays the parent directory. You can also use: PKEY.

Directory Name

The text right to the shows the current directory. You can also create a newdirectory. When you leave the text line (with LMB or ENTER ), you will be asked:"OK? Make dir".

Preset DirectoriesThe le $HOME/.Bfs contains a number of presets that are displayed in this menu.If a le is read or written, the directory involved is temporarily added to the menu.

File NameThe le name can be entered here. This text line can also be used to select les usingwildcards. Example: enter *.tga, then press ENTER . All les with the extension .tgaare selected.

FileSelectBlender commands such as F1 (read le) and F2 (write le) invoke a FileWindow inFileSelect mode. This mode is used to indicate a single le, i.e. the le in the FileName button. Press ENTER to initiate the action, e.g. read a Blender le. Use ESC to cancelthe action. The FileManager functions also work in FileSelect mode. These only workon selected les. Standard functions in this window:

LMBIndicates the active le. Its name is placed in the FileName button.

MMBIndicates the active le and closes the FileWindow with the message OK.

RMBSelect les. For functional reasons, a RMB Select here does not indicate the active le!

ENTERCloses the FileWindowperforming the desired action, returns with an OK message.

ESCCloses the FileWindow with no further action.

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displays the internal Blender structure. Now you can select any number of blocks youwish using RMB and append them to the current structure with a simple ENTER .The complete underlying structure is included: thus, if an Object is selected, theassociated Ipo, ObData, Materials and Textures are included as well. If a Scene isselected, the entire Scene is appended to the current structure, Objects and all.

You can specify how you want this to be appended in the FileSelect Header:

AppendExternal blocks become a normal part of the current structure, and thus of the leas well, if the le is saved. Appending a second time causes the entire selection to be added again in its entirety. Since block names must be unique, the name of theappended blocks will differ slightly from the existing name (only the number in thename).

LinkThis is the normal use of Libraries. The specied blocks are added to the currentstructure here as well, but Blender remembers the fact that they are Library blocks.When the le is saved, only the name of the Library block and the name of the lefrom which the blocks were copied are saved, thus keeping the original le compact.When you read the le again, Blender reads the original le and then reads all theLibrary blocks from the other le(s). The names of the les and the blocks must not be changed, however. Blender keeps track of what Library blocks have already beenread. Appending the same blocks twice has no consequences.This enables more animators working on a project. Therefore a linked Object cannot be changed from the scene it is imported in.

FileManagerThe FileManager function only works with selected les. The active le does not playa role here. Most of these commands do expect two FileWindows to be open. Com-mands such as RKEY (remove) and TKEY (touch) also work with a single Window.Note: when we say les here, we also mean directories.

AKEYSelect/deselect all les.

BKEYBackup les to the other FileWindow. This allows les to be copied without changingthe le date.

CKEYCopy les to the other FileWindow. (Unix: cp -r) read.

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LKEYLink les to the other FileWindow. (Unix: ln)

MKEY

Move les to the other FileWindow. (Unix: mv)

RKEYRemove les. For safetys sake: only empty directories. (Unix rm -f)

SHIFT-RRemove les recursively. This deletes the entire contents of directories. (Unix: rm -rf)

TKEYUpdate modication times of les. (Unix: touch)

DataView and DataBrowse

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The DataView window can be invoked with SHIFT-F4 . It allows you to view theentire internal Blender structure as a le system. Each DataBlock is listed as a lename. They are sorted by type in directories.Currently, the functions are limited to:

Select Objects by name. Click RightMouse on the le name. A LeftMouse click ona name makes the Object active. Note that an activated Object can also reside in ahidden layer.

Setting and deleting Fake Users. (Press FKEY). A Fake User ensures that a Dat-aBlock is always saved in a le, even if it has no users.

Link Materials ( CTRL-L ). The links to selected Materials are all replaced by a linkto the active Material (LeftMouse, in the FileName button). This link option will beexpanded to other DataBlock types.

PopupMenus that contain more than 24 items and are thus unmanageably large, arereplaced by the DataBrowse windows. Standard functions in this window:

LMBDisplay the active DataBlock. This is placed in the FileName button.

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MMBDisplay the active DataBlock and close the DataBrowse with an OK message.

ENTER

Close the DataBrowse, return with an OK message.

ESCClose the DataBrowse with no further action.

PAGEDNScroll down one page.

PAGEUPScroll up one page.

The 3DWindow

3D Toolbar

WindowTypeAs with every window header, the rst button left allows you to set the window type.

MenusThe triangular button expand/collapses menus. Menus provide a self-explicativeway to access to all Blender functions which can be performed in the 3D Window.They are context sensitive and will change depending on the selected Object andcurrent Mode.Widows with menus, as the 3D Viewport, does not have the standard "Full Window"and "Home" header buttons, actions which have moved to the View Menu.Menu items are in general self-explanatory and the relative functionality has beenexplained in the Chapter 2 exceptfor the View Menu, which is described here.

View Properties

Opens a oating panel allowing to set the properties (Grid Spacing, ClipStart andClip End) of the 3D Viewport.

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Background Pic

Opens a oating panel allowing to load a picture to be used as a background in the3D window. The image can be resized and its opacity determined in the panel

View

Next entry group, taking most of the menu and self explanatory, sets the View-port viewing point, duplicating The Numeric Keypad functions and the CKEY andHOME Keys.Those deserving an explanation are:

Camera View, hotkey NUM0 Top View, hotkey NUM7 Front View, hotkey NUM1 Right View, hotkey NUM3All these views can be seen from the other directionby using SHIFT modier. Viewscan be Orthographic, Perspective . Blender offers this method from every view,not just from the X, Y or Z axes. Perspective is a more realistic view of the 3D scene, but the Ortographic one is more handy for editing (toggle with NUM5 ).Local View/Global View allows the user to continue working with complexScenes. The currently selected Objects are taken separately, centered and displayedcompletely. The use of 3DWindow layers is temporarily disabled. Reactivating thisoption restores the display of the 3DWindow in its original form. If a picture is

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rendered from a LocalView, only the Objects present are rendered plus the visiblelamps, according to the layers that have been set. Activating a new Camera inLocalView does not change the Camera used by the Scene. THese are toggled withthe hotkey NUM/ .Orthographic, Perspective and Camera view. Blender offers this method from ev-ery view, not just from the X, Y or Z axes. Perspective is a more realistic view of the

3D scene, but the Orthographic one is more handy for editing (toggle with NUM5 ).Camera view is the view as will be rendered ( NUM0 ).Viewport Navigation submenu contains menu entries for rotating and zooming theview.

Play back animation

Plays back animation ( ALT-A ).

Mode

Allows to switch Mode among the allowed ones for active Object:

Object Mode Mode (all) TAB toggles. Object Edit Mode (all) TAB toggles. UV Face select (Mesh) FKEY toggles. Vertex Paint (Mesh) VKEY toggles. Texture Paint (Mesh).

Pose Mode (Armature) CTRL-TAB .

Draw Mode

This menu sets the drawing method. Respectively:

BoundBox. The quickest method, for animation previews, for example. WireFrame. Solid. Zbuffered with the standard OpenGL lighting. ZKEY toggles between Wire-

Frame and Solid. Shaded. This is as good an approach as is possible to the manner in which Blender

renders - with Gouraud shading. It displays the situation from a single frame of the Camera. SHIFT-Z toggles, use CTRL-Z to force a recalculation.

Textured.

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Objects can have their own Draw Type, independent of the window setting (see Ed-itButtons>>DrawType). The rule is that the minimum (more economic) DrawMode isdisplayed.

Pivot Point

This menu determine the manner in which the Objects (or vertices) are rotated orscaled or mirrored.

Bounding Box CenterThe midpoint of the boundbox is the center of rotation or scaling. Hotkey: COMMA .

Median PointThe median of all Objects or vertices is the center of rotation or scaling.

3D CursorThe 3DCursor is the midpoint of rotation or scaling. Hotkey: DOT .

Individual Objects CenterAll Objects rotate or scale around their own midpoints. In EditMode: all vertices ro-tate or scale around the Object midpoint.

Layers buttons

These 20 buttons show the available layers. In fact, a layer is nothing more than avisibility ag. This is an extremely efcient method for testing Object visibility. Thisallows the user to divide the work functionally.For example: Cameras in layer 1, temporary Objects in layer 20, lamps in layers 1, 2,3, 4 and 5, etc. All hotkey commands and tools in Blender take the layers into account.Objects in hidden layers are treated as unselected.Use LMB for selecting, SHIFT-LMB for adding/removing to/from the group of se-lected layers.

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Hotkeys: 1KEY , 2KEY , etc. 0KEY for layers 1,2,3,4, etc. Use ALT-1 , ALT-2 , ... ALT-0) for layers 11, 12, ... 20. Here, as well, use SHIFT + Hotkey adding/removing to/fromthe group of selected layers.

Lock

Every 3DWindow has its own layer setting and active Camera. This is also true fora Scene: here it determines what layers - and what camera - are used to render apicture. The lock option links the layers and Camera of the 3DWindow to the Sceneand vice versa: the layers and Camera of the Scene are linked to the 3DWindow. Thismethod passes a layer change directly to the Scene and to all other 3DWindows withthe "Lock" option ON. Turn the "Lock" OFF to set a layer or Camera exclusivelyfor thecurrent 3DWindow. All settings are immediately restored by turning the button backON.

3DWindow

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The standard 3DWindow has:

A grid. The dimensions (distance between the gridlines) and resolution (numberof lines) can be set with the 3D Viewport oating Panel ( View Menu. This grid isdrawn as innite in the presets of ortho ViewMode (Top, Front, Right view). In the

other views, there is an nite oor. Many Blender commands are adjusted to thedimension of the grid, to function as a standard unit. Blender works best if the totalworld in which the user operates continually falls more or less within the totalgrid oor (whether it is a space war or a logo animation).

Axes in colour codes. The reddish line is the X axis, the green line is the Y axis, the blue line is the Z axis. In the Blender universe, the oor is normally formed bythe X and Y axes. The height and depth run along the Z axis.

A 3D cursor. This is drawn as a black cross with a red/white striped circle. ALeftMouse click moves the 3DCursor. Use the SnapMenu ( SHIFT-S ) to give the3Dcursor a specic location. New Objects are placed at the 3D cursor location.

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Layers (visible in the header buttons). Objects in hidden layers are not displayed.All hotkey commands and tools in Blender take the layers into account: Objects inthe hidden layers are treated as not selected. See the following paragraph as well.

ViewButtons. Separate variables can be set for each 3Dwindow, e.g for the grid orthe lens. Use the View Menu entries.

The MouseThe mouse provides the most direct access to the 3DWindow. Below is a completeoverview:

LMB

Position the 3DCursor.

CTRL-LMB

In EditMode: create a new vertex.

Press LMB and drag

These are the Gestures. Blenders gesture recognition works in three ways:

Draw a straight line: start translation mode (Grabber) Draw a curved line: start rotation mode. Draw a V-shaped line: start scaling mode.

MMB

Rotate the direction of view of the 3DWindow. This can be done in two ways (can beset in the UserMenu):

the trackball method. In this case, where in the window you start the mouse move-ment is important. The rotation can be compared to rotating a ball, as if the mousegrasps and moves a tiny miniscule point on a ball and moves it. If the movementstarts in the middle of the window, the view rotates along the horizontal and ver-tical window axes. If the movement begins at the edge of the window, the viewrotates along the axis perpendicular to the window.

the turntable method. A horizontal mouse movement always results in a rotationaround the global Z axis. Vertical mouse movements are corrected for the viewdirection, and result in a combination of (global) X and Y axis rotations.

SHIFT-MMB

Translate the 3DWindow. Mouse movements are always corrected for the view direc-tion.

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CTRL-MMB

Zoom in/out on the 3DWindow.

RMB

Select Objects or (in EditMode) vertices. The last one selected is also the active one.This method guarantees that a maximum of 1 Object and 1 vertex are always selected.This selection is based on graphics (the wireframe).

SHIFT-RMB

Adds/removes from selection Objects or (in EditMode) vertices. The last one selectedis also the active one. Multiple Objects or vertices may also be selected. This selectionis based on graphics too (the wireframe).

CTRL-RMB

Select Objects on the Object-centers. Here the wireframe drawing is not taken intoaccount. Use this method to select a number of identical Objects in succession, or tomake them active.

SHIFT-CTRL-RMB

Adds/removes from selection Objects. The last Object selected is also the active one.Multiple Objects can be selected.

ALT-CTRL-RMB

In Edit Mode: edge select.

SHIFT-ALT-CTRL-RMB

In Edit Mode: add/removes edges from selection.

Press RMB and drag

Select and start translation mode, the Grabber. This works with all the selection meth-ods mentioned.

NumPad

The numeric keypad on the keyboard is reserved for view related hotkeys. Below is adescription of all the keys with a brief explanation.

NUM/

LocalView. The Objects selected when this command is invoked are taken separatelyand displayed completely, centered in the window. See the description of 3DHeader>>LocalView.

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NUM*

Copy the rotation of the activeObject to the current 3DWindow. Works as if this Objectis the camera, without including the translation.

NUM- , NUM+

Zoom in, zoom out. This also works for Camera ViewMode.

NUM.

Center and zoom in on the selected Objects. The view is changed in a way that can becompared to the LocalView option.

NUM5

Toggle between perspective and orthonormal mode.

NUM9

Force a complete recalculation (of the animation systems) and draw again.

NUM0

View from the current camera, or from the Object that is functioning as the camera.

CTRL-NUM0

Make the active Object the camera. Any Object can be used as the camera. Generally, aCamera Object is used. It can also be handy to let a spotlight function temporarily asa camera when directing and adjusting it. ALT-NUM0 Revert to the previous camera.Only Camera Objects are candidates for previous camera.

NUM7

Top View. (along the negative Z axis, Y up)

SHIFT-NUM1

Down View. (along the positive Z axis, Y up)

NUM1

Front View. (along the positive Y axis, Z up)

SHIFT-NUM1

Back View. (along the negative Y axis, Z up)

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NUM3

Right View. (along the negative X axis, Z up)

SHIFT-NUM3

Left View. (along the positive X axis, Z up)

NUM2 NUM8

Rotate using the turntable method. Depending on the view, this is a rotation aroundthe X and Y axis.

NUM4 NUM6

Rotate using the turntable method. This is a rotation around the Z axis.

SHIFT-NUM2 SHIFT-NUM8

Translate up or down; corrected for the view.

SHIFT-NUM4 SHIFT-NUM6

Translate up or down; correct for the view.

HotkeysThe 3D Viewport hotkeys are hundreds and varyes if Blender is In Object or EditModes and on the basys of which object is active. The previous Chapter 2 Containsthem all, hence they are not repeated here.

Fly ModeFly Mode is invoked by SHIFT-F . Works only in Camera ViewMode. The mousecursor jumps to the middle of the window. It works as follows:

Mouse cursor movement indicates the view direction. LMB (repeated): Fly faster. MMB (repeated): Fly slower. LMB and MMB toghether: Set speed to zero.

CTRL : translation downwards (negative Z). ALT : translation upwards (positive Z). ESC: Camera back to its starting position, terminate Fly Mode. SPACE : Leave the Camera in current position, terminate Fly Mode.(Be careful when looking straight up or down. This causes confusing turbulence.)

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The IPO Window

IPO Header

WindowTypeAs with every window header, the rst button enables you to set the window type.

MenusThe triangular button expand/collapses menus. Menus provide a self-explicativeway to access to all Blender functions which can be performed in the IPO Window.They are context sensitive and will change depending on the selected Object andcurrent Mode.Widows with menus, as the IPO Window, does not have the standard "Full Window"and "Home" header buttons, actions which have moved to the View Menu.Menu items are in general self-explanatory and the relative functionality will be ex-plained later on in the hotkeys section. The actions which do not have an hotkey arethe Extrapolation settings:

Extend mode Constant

The end of selected IPO Curves are horizontally extrapolated.

Extend mode Direction

The ends of selected IPO Curves continue extending in the direction in which theyend.

Extend mode Cyclic

The full length of the IPO Curve is repeated cyclically.

Extend mode Cyclic Extrapolation

The full length of the IPO Curve is extrapolated cyclic.

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IPO Type

Depending on the active Object, the various IPO systems can be specied with theseMenu button. These are (note they will not be all present at once):

Object Settings, such as the location and rotation, are animated for the active Ob- ject. All Objects in Blender can have this IPO block.

Material Settings of the active Material are animated for the active Object. A Num-But appears as an extra feature immediately to the right when this button is se-lected. This button indicates the number of the active Texture channel. Eight Tex-tures, each with its own mapping, can be assigned perMaterial. Thus, per Material-IPO , 8 curves in the row OfsX, OfsY, ...Var are available.

World Used to animate a number of settings for the WorldButtons. World too hasseveral texture channels. VertexKey If the active Object has a VertexKey, the keys (Absolute or Relative) are

drawn as horizontal lines. Only one IPO curve is available to interpolate betweenthe Absolute keys, or as many curves as Keys are allowed for Relative Keys.

Constrain If the active Object has a constrain its inuence value can ba animatedvia an IPO. Each constrain has its own IPO. used to display the speed-IPO .

Sequence The active Sequence Effect can have an IPO Curve. Curve IPO If the active Object is a path Curve, this button can be used to display

the speed (time) IPO. Camera IPO The active camera IPO curves are shown.

Lamp IPO If the active Object is a Lamp, this button can be used to animate lightsettings, comprehensive of textures.

IPO Menu

The DataButtons can be used to control which IPO block is shown and control it.

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Pin IPOThe IPO WIndow shows the current IPO even if the linked Object is deselected.

IPO Menu

Choose another IPO from the list of available IPOs. The option Add New makes acomplete copy of the current IPO . This is not visible; only the name in the adjacent button will change. Only IPOs of the same type are displayed in the menu list.

IP:Give the current IPO a new and unique name. After the new name is entered, itappears in the list, sorted alphabetically.

UsersIf this button is displayed, there is more than one user for the IPO block. Use the

button to make the IPO "Single User".

Unlink IPOThe current IPO is unlinked.

Fake UserThe IPO block is saved eve in unused.

Copy to BufferAll selected IPO Curve

Documents

BlenderManualIIen.23