Blender Basics
This doc goes over the basics of learning Blender if you have never used a 3D Creation tool before.
Last updated
This doc goes over the basics of learning Blender if you have never used a 3D Creation tool before.
Last updated
This tutorial will go over the basics of creating a low polygon asset in Blender and use simple materials to add some colour.
If you already have experience creating assets in Blender, you can skip this tutorial.
This asset type is a good asset to start with in order to learn the basic tools for modelling in Blender. Game assets however usually have more advanced materials in order to be more performant and this will be covered in the Palette Texturing tutorial and beyond.
Install and open Blender.
Select 'New File > General' to open a new scene.
Blender is made up of many windows that allow you to do countless things from 3D Modelling, sculpting, Animation, and even compositing to name a few. The main layout we will use is the 'Layout' tab, found in the pink category at the top of the Blender window.
Each layout is defined to quickly access the tools for that skill set such as UV Editing or Shading which we will get to later.
The Yellow box has all the standard menus.
The Green box is the 3D Viewport. This is where you will spend most of your time creating assets.
At the top is the 'Mode' and Menu items for the current mode. Blender uses modes to jump between editing the scene, and editing the asset, among other things. These will be covered more in depth in the next tutorial.
To the left you have your tools such as move, rotate, and scale. These will change according to the mode you are in.
To the top middle you have a number of tools such as Pivot, Snap, and Proportional Editing.
To the top right of the 3D Viewport are a number of tools that help visualise the scene such as visibility, Gizmos, Overlays, Xray, and Viewport Shading such as Wireframe, Solid, Material or Render.
In the default scene you will have a camera (to the left), a cube, and a Point Light.
The Outliner is all your assets in the scene. It is highly recommended to get into the habit of naming your assets as you make them.
Double Click the asset to rename it.
[Return] to lock it in.
A Collection is much like a folder.
Create a Collection with the icon at the top Right of the Outliner.
You can Show or Hide assets in the viewport or the render separately.
Select the Eye or Camera to the right of the Asset.
Hold [Shift] + Eye/Camera Icon to hide all child assets.
Hold [Ctrl] + Eye/Camera to Isolate the asset.
You can also hide or show assets with hotkeys.
[H] will hide selected assets.
[Alt + H] will show all hidden assets.
[Shift + H] will hide all unselected assets.
The properties Window has a number of tabs to the left of the window for different types of properties for Rendering and Output, through to Objects, Modifiers and Materials.
The Timeline is used for animation. This will not be covered in the Crate Series.
Navigation in Blender is very similar to most 3D Asset Creation applications. It is possible to adjust the Navigation in the Settings to be exactly the same as other tools such as 3DStudio Max or Maya, but this is not recommended in order to align with tutorials.
Middle Click to orbit.
Scroll Up/Down or [Ctrl} + Middle click to Zoom In/Out.
[Shift] + Middle Click to Pan Camera.
[Alt] + Middle Click to Snap perspective.
Focus on selection with [Numpad .] or Numpad Period to change the Orbit location.
Use the Gizmo at the top right of the viewport to shift the camera to a specific angle such as Front, Back, left etc.
Select the 'Point light' and 'Camera' with :
Left Mouse Click.
Left Mouse Drag to select multiple assets.
[Shift] + Left Mouse Click to select multiple assets.
Remove them with [Del] key.
You can also delete assets with [X].
Save your scene with 'File Menu > Save' or 'File Menu > Save As...'
Use [Ctrl + S] to Save.
Use [Shift + Ctrl + S] to Save As...
Use [Ctrl + Alt + S] to save Incremental
In this tutorial we looked at the very basics of getting around Blender and covered the basics of Navigation and Assets.
Hotkeys are extremely important in any application and Blender is no different. All hotkeys are displayed when you hover over a tool or to the right of all menu items. It is very easy to learn them as you go.
Double click to rename assets.
[Shift] + Left Click (in Outliner) - Hide all children assets.
[Ctrl] + Left Click (in Outliner) - Isolate selected assets.
[H] - Hide Selected assets.
[Alt + H] - Show hidden assets.
[Shift + H] - Hide unselected assets
Middle Click - Orbit camera.
Scroll Up/Down or [Ctrl} + Middle click - Zoom In/Out.
[Shift] + Middle Click - Pan Camera.
[Alt] + Middle Click - Snap perspective.
[Numpad .] - Focus on selected Asset (and change Camera Orbit).
[Delete] - Delete selected.
[ X ] - Delete Selected.
[Ctrl + S] - Save.
[Shift + Ctrl + S] - Save As...
[Ctrl + Alt + S] - Save Incremental.
With the basics of Blender covered, we can start looking at editing our 3D Assets.
