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Manual - Blender 2.4x

[edit] The Window System

When you start Blender you should see this sequence of events:

• a console window appears
• shortly after, the main user interface window will display the default Blender scene
• you may see a splash screen announcing the Blender version: it usually disappears as soon as you move your mouse so if you move the mouse at the startup too quickly you may not notice the splash screen.

Every window you see can be further broken down into separate areas (see this section): below we describe the default scene.

[edit] The default scene

The default Blender scene shows the screen you should get after starting Blender for the first time.

The default Blender scene.

By default it is separated into three windows:

• The main menu at the top is the header part of the User Preferences window
• A large 3D window (3D Viewport window)
• The Buttons Window (at the bottom)

As an introduction we will cover a few of the basic elements.

[edit] The main top menu

Check the image above for reference.

• Window Type: Allows you to change what kind of window it is. For example, if you want to see the Outliner window you would click and select it.

• Current Screen (default is Model): By default, Blender comes with several pre-configured Screens for you to choose from. If you need custom ones, you can create and name them.

• Current Scene: Having multiple scenes present allows for you to break up your work into organized patterns.

• Resource Information: Gives you information about application and system resources. It tells you how much memory is being consumed based on the number of vertices, faces and objects in the selected scene. It is a nice visual check to see if you are pushing the limits of your machine.

[edit] 3D Window View

Check the image above for reference.

• 3D Transform Manipulator: Is a visual aid in transforming objects. Objects can also be transformed (grabbed/moved - rotated - scaled) using the keyboard shortcuts : (G/R/S); CtrlSpace will display the manipulator pop-up. The manipulator visibility can also be toggled by clicking the "hand" icon on the toolbar. The translation/rotation/scale manipulators can be displayed by clicking each of the three icons to the right of the hand icon. ⇧ ShiftLMB -clicking an icon will add/remove each manipulator's visibility.

• 3D Cursor: Can have multiple functions. For example, it represents where new objects appear when they are first created; Or it can represent where the base of a rotation will take place.
  Here is the 3D Cursor isolated from the rest of the scene:

• Cube Mesh: By default, a new installation of Blender will always start with a Cube Mesh sitting in the center of Global 3D space. After a while, you will most likely want to change the "Default" settings; This is done by configuring Blender as you would want it on startup and then saving it as the "Default" using CtrlU (Save Default Settings).

• Light (of type Lamp): By default, a new installation of Blender will always start with a Light source positioned somewhere close to the center of Global 3D space.

• Camera: By default, a new installation of Blender will always start with a Camera positioned somewhere close to the center of Global 3D space and facing it.

• Currently selected object: This field shows the name of the currently selected object.

[edit] 3D Window Header

This is the header for the 3D window. All windows in Blender have a header (and like in this case it may actually be a footer at the bottom of a window but we'll still call it header here anyway). See this section for an in-depth description about headers.

Check the image above for reference.

• Viewport shading: Blender renders the 3D window using OpenGL. You can select the type of interactive shading (called Draw Type: in the Blender shading list) that takes place by clicking this button and selecting from a variety of shading styles. You can select from boxes all the way to complex Textured shading. It is recommended that you have a powerful graphics card if you are going to use the Textured style.

• Rotation/Scaling Pivot point: Allows you to select where rotation/scaling will occur. For example, rotation could occur about the object's local origin or about the 3D Cursor's position, amongst many others.

• Layers: Make modeling and animating easier. Blender Layers are provided to help distribute your objects into functional regions. For example, one layer may contain a water object and another layer may contain trees, or one layer may contain cameras and lights.

[edit] Buttons Window Header

All windows in Blender have a header. See this section for an in-depth description about headers. This is the header for the Buttons window.

Check the image above for reference.

• Editing Panel Group: The bottom window displays panels and those panels are grouped. This row of buttons (called Context Buttons) allows you to select which group of panels are shown. Some buttons will display additional buttons (called Sub-Context Buttons) to the right for selection of sub-groups or groups within groups.

• Current frame: Blender is a modeling and animation application; As such, you can animate things based on the concept of frames. This field shows what the current frame is.

[edit] Buttons Window View

• Panels: Help group and organize related buttons and controls. Some panels are visible or invisible depending on what type of object is selected.

Manual

[edit] Subpages

1. Arranging frames
2. Console window
3. Headers