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Step 2Blender Basics
Blender is available to download for free at blender.org. It comes with a lot of superpowers but it does take a bit of time to get used to using it. It was designed to be efficient to use but that means it might not be as easy to learn as other software. In opinion, for the power and price it's more than worth learning a new way to work. My downside was that when I was using Illustrator afterward I kept wanting to just press the 'z' key for an undo.
For starters, not everything is in a clickable pulldown menu. You're going to need to memorize a few things (they'll come naturally to you soon enough.) Here are a list of handy commands I used in making this. There are a lot more. I use a Mac, so if you're using something else it would be worth checking into the help pages - I know there are some places where the three button mouse can save you some effort, but everything here should work universally.
*Be sure to check the image notes below, they'll give you a lot of useful information.*
'apple' + 'z' is undo. You won't find 'undo' in the menus, it took me a while to get used to that.
'x' is used to delete whatever is selected.
'a' is to select all - hit it again to select none.
'b' accesses the border select tool. Push 'b', then click and drag to select what you want.
'apple key + click' selects an object, face or point - hold down shift to select additional objects/faces/points. (This is a right click if you're using windows.)
'e' is used to extrude a shape.
'+' and '-' are used to zooming in and out, respectively.
You'll need to do the following to start each object:
When you open Blender you'll have a single cube in the middle of your screen, as well as a couple of objects for rendering your object, which we won't be using. Select those other two objects and delete them.
At the top of the workspace there is a header bar - click and drag at the bottom edge down to expose the preferences menus. Under 'Snap to Grid' click on 'Grab/Move' to activate it. While you're there, if you're on a Mac make sure "Emulate 3 Button Mouse" is selected as well.
Select the cube, then switch into edit mode by clicking where it says "Object Mode" just under the gridded screen.
It is a good idea to save different versions of your object as you work, especially if you are going to try something you aren't sure about. I can be very difficult to undo more than a few changes.
For starters, not everything is in a clickable pulldown menu. You're going to need to memorize a few things (they'll come naturally to you soon enough.) Here are a list of handy commands I used in making this. There are a lot more. I use a Mac, so if you're using something else it would be worth checking into the help pages - I know there are some places where the three button mouse can save you some effort, but everything here should work universally.
*Be sure to check the image notes below, they'll give you a lot of useful information.*
'apple' + 'z' is undo. You won't find 'undo' in the menus, it took me a while to get used to that.
'x' is used to delete whatever is selected.
'a' is to select all - hit it again to select none.
'b' accesses the border select tool. Push 'b', then click and drag to select what you want.
'apple key + click' selects an object, face or point - hold down shift to select additional objects/faces/points. (This is a right click if you're using windows.)
'e' is used to extrude a shape.
'+' and '-' are used to zooming in and out, respectively.
You'll need to do the following to start each object:
When you open Blender you'll have a single cube in the middle of your screen, as well as a couple of objects for rendering your object, which we won't be using. Select those other two objects and delete them.
At the top of the workspace there is a header bar - click and drag at the bottom edge down to expose the preferences menus. Under 'Snap to Grid' click on 'Grab/Move' to activate it. While you're there, if you're on a Mac make sure "Emulate 3 Button Mouse" is selected as well.
Select the cube, then switch into edit mode by clicking where it says "Object Mode" just under the gridded screen.
It is a good idea to save different versions of your object as you work, especially if you are going to try something you aren't sure about. I can be very difficult to undo more than a few changes.
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