How To 3D Model

Blender Basics for Absolute Beginners

This tutorial provides the essential knowledge and hotkeys needed to start creating your first model in Blender, focusing on movement, modes, and geometry manipulation.

Navigation (Moving in 3D Space) [00:00:27]

Zoom: Middle scroll wheel (in and out) [00:00:33].
Orbit: Click and drag the middle scroll wheel (rotate around the object) [00:00:39].
Pan: Hold Shift and click the middle scroll wheel (move the view side-to-side) [00:00:47].
Snap to View: Hold Alt and click the middle scroll wheel and drag to snap to front, side, or top views [00:01:00].

Modes and Elements

There are two essential modes for modeling and three core geometric elements you can manipulate:

Object Mode: Used for moving the mesh as a whole (e.g., translating the entire cube) [00:01:47].
Edit Mode: Used for independently editing parts of the mesh (toggle with Tab key) [00:02:02].
Elements: In Edit Mode, you can select and manipulate Vertices, Lines (Edges), or Faces (Polygons) [00:02:10].

Essential Hotkeys (Keybinds)

These commands are used to transform your geometry in Edit Mode. Most can be locked to an axis (X, Y, or Z) by pressing the axis key after the command (e.g., E then Z to extrude along the Z-axis).

A: Select/Deselect everything in the mesh [00:03:12].
S: Scale the selected element(s) [00:03:20].
E: Extrude (pull out or push in the selected element, usually a Face) [00:03:35].
R: Rotate the selected element(s) [00:03:54].
Ctrl + R: Add a Loop Cut (adds more geometry/lines for detail) [00:04:21].
Ctrl + B: Bevel (rounds off hard edges; use the scroll wheel to increase segments for smoothness) [00:05:09].

Workflow Tip: Adding Objects

To add new shapes to your scene (e.g., plane, cube, sphere, cylinder):

Press Shift + A to open the "Add" menu [00:06:04].
Select the Mesh subsection, and choose your base shape (e.g., Cylinder for a tree trunk) [00:06:10].
You can adjust the number of vertices immediately after adding a shape using the pop-up menu in the bottom-left corner [00:06:29].