An Introduction To Blender

Blender is a 3D graphics application, released under the GNU General Public License. Blender provides a broad spectrum of modeling, texturing, lighting, animation and video post-processing functionality in one package. Blender can be installed from the package manager KPackageKit; Kickoff Application LauncherApplicationsSystemSoftware Management (KPackageKit)

Blender Basics

Blender is a powerful application that can be used to perform advanced and complex tasks, such as video editing, 3D modelling and animation. This guide is an introduction to the Blender interface, and also covers basic functions like Exporting and Importing an image.

  1. Open blender by going to Kickoff Application LauncherApplicationsGraphics3D Modeller (Blender)

  2. The Blender's splash screen will appear, followed by a window similar to the one below:

    Example 8. Blender Window




  3. The centre of the screen is the main view for creating and viewing 3D models. The bottom portion of the screen is the 'Panel', which has controls to modify mesh models.

  4. By default there is a square in the center of the main view. With the cursor in the main window, the view can be rotated by pressing the middle mouse button and dragging the mouse. As the mouse is dragged, the object can be viewed from different angles. Three arrows represent the three axes: X, Y and Z.

    Example 9. Rotating View




  5. Views can also be changed by pressing the keys in the number keypad. Pressing the "1" key in the number keypad changes the view. Pressing the "7" key returns to the default view.

  6. Objects are selected by clicking the 'Right Mouse Button'. All objects can be selected or deselected by pressing the A key on the keyboard.

  7. Delete the default cube in the main window by pressing the X key on the keyboard and then pressing Enter.

  8. Next, add a new mesh/object in the scene by pressing Spacebar and selecting AddMeshUVSphere Choose the default settings in the dialog and press OK.

    Example 10. Adding a new mesh




  9. To move the new object, first select it (by clicking on it with the Right Mouse Button), and press 'G' on the keyboard. Now drag the mouse in any direction to move the object in that direction. To move the object in a specific direction, press G followed by the axis of that direction. For example: To move an object in the Z axis, press G and then Z.

  10. To rotate the object, press R and rotate using the mouse. The object can be rotated around a specific axis by pressing X, Y or Z after pressing R.

  11. When all objects have been added, the scene can be rendered by going to RenderRender Current Frame or by pressing F12.

  12. Save the finished image by selecting FileSave. or press Ctrl+W. Enter the filename, choose a path and press the OK button.