Doc:Tutorials/Game Engine/BSoD/Basics of the Blender UI

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The basics of the Blender UI, and how to quickly use it

It is assumed at this stage that you have downloaded and installed Blender.

When you run Blender for the first time, you will be presented with the screen to the right which shows the default scene: a cube.

• The main menu panel is located at the top of the screen. The GE (games engine) has its own Game menu option here, which we will have a look at later on.
• The main 3D view is shown as an area with a grid overlaid. It shows the current scene from the top.
• The menu for the 3D view is located below it.
• At the bottom of the screen, you will see the Buttons panel. Again, the GE has its own panel F4 (also represented by a purple PacMan style icon ) which again we will come to later on.

Taking a closer look at the default scene

The default scene contains...

• A cube - the square in the middle. This is selected, indicated by both having a pink outline and by having a 3D Transform manipulator (the arrows that you can drag to manipulate the object).
• A light - the small round object, with dashed line.
• And a camera - you can just about see this, clipped to the bottom of the screen.

Interacting with the 3D scene

Hold down the middle mouse button  MMB and drag to rotate the scene. If you are on a laptop, or have a mouse with just two mouse buttons, you can hold down Alt LMB to emulate the middle mouse button. Also, holding down both mouse buttons work like MMB.

Rotate the view around until you are looking at the cube from a top, left viewport, as shown in the animated image to the right.

You can also zoom in and out on the 3D scene by scrolling the middle mouse wheel  MMB or by holding down Ctrl MMB and moving the mouse up/down.

To pan around the scene, hold down Shift MMB and move the mouse around.

Changing the 3D scene to Perspective mode

This current view is known as an orthographic view. It can be easier to view a scene in perspective mode, which takes into account depth.

To change into perspective, select View -> Perspective option from the 3D View menu.

Manipulating objects within the scene

You will be able to move objects around by clicking and dragging the handles on the 3D Transform manipulator. Click and drag the handles on the box to move it around in the scene.

The move, rotate, and scale 3D manipulators are shown below, along with a 3D manipulator that includes all three.

Translate	Rotate
Scale	Combo

To change the 3D manipulator type, click on the icons shown below in the 3D View menu.

Another quick way to change the 3D manipulator type is to press Ctrl Space and select Translate, Rotate and Scale from the menu.

For ease of use, this tutorial will focus on using the 3D manipulators to manipulate the objects in the 3D viewport. Other tutorials you will read will explain how to use the Grab, Rotate and Scale hot keys to manipulate objects without using the 3D manipulator.

For more information on the 3D manipulator you can refer to Manual/Manipulators.

Selecting other objects within the scene

In Blender, clicking the right mouse button  RMB over an object will select it.

Left-clicking  LMB will position the Blender 3D cursor in the environment. New objects will be added at the location of this 3D cursor.

Right-click  RMB on the lamp to select it and then move it around using the 3D manipulator. Right-click  RMB on the box again to select it and move it around again using the 3D manipulator.

Adding and removing objects in the scene

Removing the objects is easy... select an object, and press the Del key.

To add an object to the scene, use the Add menu item at the top of the screen and then select the Mesh sub-option.

You can also press the Space key within the 3D view to display a menu with a number of useful functions, including the Add menu.

This will then allow you to add a number of simple (or primitive) models to the scene, including planes, cubes, spheres and cylinders. You can also add Suzanne, a model of a monkey head (primitive model / monkey model... it's a Blender developer joke :))

Renaming objects

When you add a new object, Blender will assign it a default name (e.g. Cube, or Cube.001 if Cube already exists).

It is very good practice to rename your objects using more relevant terms, such as player, crate, pickup, etc... This will make your scene a lot more readable when it gets more complex, as well as making it more readable for other people viewing it.

To rename an object, you can select the Object panel, and change the name within the OB: area.

You can also rename the object within the Editing panel.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You should spend a bit of time getting used to navigating within the 3D viewport, and also selecting and manipulating objects within the current environment. When you feel that you are comfortable with the basics of rotating around models with a 3D environment, and moving them to new locations, then continue on to the next section of the tutorial below.

--Mal_CanDo 17:00, 18 August 2006 (GMT)

Redirects to fix

• BSoD/Introduction to the Game Engine/The Format of the Tutorial → Doc:Tutorials/Game Engine/BSoD/Format of the Tutorial
• BSoD/Introduction to the Game Engine/The basics of the Blender GE → Doc:Tutorials/Game Engine/BSoD/Basics of the GE
• Blender Summer of Documentation → BSoD
• Manual/Manipulators → Doc:Manual/3D interaction/Manipulation/Manipulators
• Manual/Manual → Manual