Wiley 978-0-470-42737-8 Datasheet

Part ICreating a Character with BlenderBefore you do any actual character animation, you need a character to animate. The goal of the first part of t

10n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and Objectsit rotate around the active object by setting the Rotate Around Selection option in the Interfac

Navigating the 3D Space n 11own machine is one of the first hurdles to learning to work with Blender. Table 1.1 and Table 1.2 list the most importan

12n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and ObjectsHotkey object mode edit modeTab Go into Edit mode Go into Object modeF Make Edge/FaceP Play game

Navigating the 3D Space n 13You can toggle the layers that are visible in the 3D viewport and to the renderer by using the buttons mentioned previo

14n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and ObjectsThe 0 key on the numeric pad switches to the active camera viewpoint. A dotted rectangle frames

Navigating the 3D Space n 15the currently active object, Shift+right-click it. Shift+right-click the active object to remove it from the selection.

16n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and Objects Figure 1.9The manipulator widgets: (a) rota-tion, (b) translation, (c) scaleabc427378c01.indd

Navigating the 3D Space n 17Restricting to AxesWhen you rotate, translate, or scale, you often want to restrict the operation to a par-ticular axis

18n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and Objectsthe same to the child object. However, the relationship is not symmetrical. Like a moon around a

Objects and Datablocks n 19In Blender, the basic 3D entity is an object. There are a number of different types of objects, each of which has differ

427378c01.indd 2 3/19/11 1:45:06 PM

20n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and Objectshighlighted fields in that figure indicate the object name and the name of the Mesh data-block. Th

Objects and Datablocks n 21Although the mesh data is identical, the objects are still very much independent. To see this, in Object mode, select th

22n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and ObjectsManaging DatablocksDatablocks describe most aspects of modeling and animation in Blender. Materi

User Preferences n 23Accessing Data from Different FilesYou often need access to objects or datablocks from other files. Animation projects can quic

24n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and Objectsthey are all a matter of taste, so experiment with different settings. I recommend you check the

User Preferences n 25Themes Enables you to tweak the colors and some other properties of visual elements of Blender. The visual elements of all e

427378c01.indd 26 3/19/11 1:45:10 PM

ChaPter 1Blender Basics: Interface and ObjectsThe first hurdle in learning any complex piece of software is to become familiar with the interface. In

4n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and ObjectsWork Areas and Window TypesWhen you first open Blender, one or two windows will open on your syste

Work Areas and Window Types n 5You are now looking at your Blender desktop, which should appear a lot like Figure 1.1. The Blender desktop consists

6n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and Objects Figure 1.3Dragging borders to resize windowsFigure 1.4Splitting a window into two identical wind

Work Areas and Window Types n 7The editor types are as follows:3D View Displays 3D objects and scenes in various modes, including the Object, Edit,

8n Chapter 1: Blender Basics: Interface and ObjectsVideo Sequence Editor Enables nonlinear editing, compositing, and playback of video sequences.

Navigating the 3D Space n 9In this book, the term window usually refers to a window with a specific editor type active. For example, the term 3D view