- Hey, guys. Today I'm gonna show you the seven key things you need to know to get started using
Blender the right way. You already know Blender's an amazing tool for creating everything
from conceptual 3D models to polished renderings and animations, but it's also a difficult program to learn and master on your own. And if you're like most of the
self-taught students I know, trying to navigate your way through the ocean of
Blender tutorials out there is overwhelming. And following the wrong advice can leave you drifting aimlessly
or get you completely lost. I'm Alex Oliver. And over the past decade, I've taught thousands of students
and professionals like you the fundamentals of 3D modeling. And now, I'm gonna
share these crucial tips for getting started on
the right course with you. So what are the seven
critical tips you need to know before getting started with Blender? Let's dive into the list with number one, start with a map. The journey of learning
Blender can be rough, and at times, totally daunting. That's why, as I cover in our "Welcome
to Blender Academy" video, I always recommend this
simple yet crucial first step. Before you dive in, make
yourself a learning map. This idea comes from
learning expert Scott Young in his book "Ultralearning." And all it takes is
writing down your end goal and the key steps you'll need to take or concepts you'll need to
learn in order to get there. If you haven't watched that
video yet, go check it out. It outlines how you can learn smarter when it comes to Blender, not just more efficiently,
but also more effectively. Now, whether you're mapping
out a specific project goal or it's a broader aim, like being proficient in a
particular Blender skillset, like, say, character animation, drawing a map will help you focus on only the skills you need
to learn to achieve your goal and avoid unnecessary tutorials
or pieces of tutorials that won't help you achieve that goal. Of course, being new to Blender, at this point, you might feel like you couldn't possibly know what all the steps are
you even need to take, and that's okay. In "Ultralearning," Young provides a guide for writing down why you're learning and how to identify what concepts, facts, and procedures to focus on. Before you know everything about the skill you're trying to learn, I definitely recommend
you check out his book. Or if you don't have
time, send me a message, and I'd be happy to help
you create a customized map for your particular situation. All right, once you've
got your map in hand, now you're ready to
start learning Blender. And if you're like most of my students, your first intuition is to jump in and start drawing something, but before you do, there
are a few more key things that you should know that will
make your life much easier. Starting with number two,
simplify the user interface. When you open Blender for the first time, the sea of windows,
panels, tools, and menus that make up the user interface
is downright overwhelming. And as you set off to
learn the fundamentals, all these panels and tools
are not only distracting, but they can also slow you down. That's why I recommend
simplifying the user interface so that you can be laser-focused on getting comfortable
with the basics first. To do that, let's take a look at what makes up the
Blender user interface. On the top left, there are the five main
Blender menu options and then several workspace
tabs to the right. Each Workspace tab changes
Blender's user interface to support a different
category of functionality by rearranging what tools,
editors, and menus are visible. When you're new to Blender, no matter what you'll be
using it for down the road, I recommend you start with
the Layout Workspace tab. In the Layout Workspace, you'll learn the key fundamentals
of working with 3D models that will serve as the
foundation you'll need to move forward with whatever else you plan to use Blender for in the future. With the Layout Workspace tab selected, this is now what your
default user interface should look like. We'll cover more about
what some of these menus and tool icons are as we
move through the video, but first, let's talk about
everything you should ignore when you're first getting started. First, we don't need to worry
about anything across the top, including the main menu, workspace tabs, and everything else to the right. We also don't need to worry about the outliner and properties
editor panels on the right or the timeline editor at the bottom. That leaves us with just
the main 3D viewport editor. Now, even within the 3D viewport, you can mostly ignore the
menus and icons across the top. We'll talk about one or
two of these things later, but for now, you don't
need to worry about them. And while we will take a
brief look at the tool icons to the left and the right, you won't need to click on them, and you can even ignore these
two things in the viewport: the camera and the light. They aren't relevant yet either. That's right. All you need to care about right now is the three-dimensional
space in the 3D viewport and the default cube in it. Okay, now that we've narrowed
down what we're looking at, you're ready for the next critical tip. Number three, use the right mouse. When you're new to Blender, you might be tempted to
see if you can get away with using only the
trackpad on your laptop. Here's the problem. Just like in the real world, there are tools that you
can use to get the job done, but also tools that can get
the job done much faster. And with Blender, there are a few critical things that will save you a ton
of time and frustration when you use the right kind of mouse. What kind of mouse? Well, Blender works best with a three-button scroll wheel mouse. That means a mouse that has
both left and right buttons plus a center scroll wheel that can be rolled and clicked on, and it doesn't have to be fancy. Often, the simplest
three-button scroll wheel mouse works the best. Now, depending on the type of art you'll be producing with Blender, a drawing tablet can be an
amazing tool to add to the mix, but it should be used with your three-button scroll wheel mouse, not instead of it. And if you absolutely must
stick with the trackpad, know that there is a setting
in Blender that you can use to emulate a three-button
scroll wheel mouse, but you're still making life
harder than it needs to be. Okay, you've got the right kind of mouse and you're ready to start using Blender. That leads us to the
next thing on our list. Number four, practice
navigating the right way. Most of your time in Blender is actually spent
navigating to a better view to accomplish the next
thing you're trying to do. So being able to navigate well is one of the most important things you can invest time into
learning and practicing. By navigate, I mean using
Blender's navigation tools to zoom, pan, and orbit
around in 3D space. Before we talk about how to do that, let's cover a few basics. First, your 3D space is defined by red and green axes
stretching across a grid that serves as the ground plane. And then you can think of it like there's an invisible blue axis that would extend up and down to define the 3D space
above and below the grid. Now, when it comes to
navigating around this space, while there are icons for the
zoom, pan, and orbit tools, you shouldn't use them. That's right. You don't need to use them because you can access these tools directly from your three-button
scroll wheel mouse. With a little practice, this will save you a
ton of time in Blender. (people cheering) So how does it work? By rolling your mouse
wheel forward and backward, you can zoom in and out of your model. If you press down on your
center mouse wheel like a button and move your mouse around, you will see that you're
now orbiting your view around your model. And if you need to pan
over to get a better view, while pressing the Shift
key on your keyboard, also press and hold down
the center mouse wheel, then move your mouse to pan your view. When you're done, let go of the Shift key and center mouse wheel to stop panning. Now, hold on. Before you go off and
practice these moves, I've got one quick bonus tip that will help you navigate like a pro. Navigate in small increments. Often, when you're trying to hone in on a specific area of your model, if you try to make too big of
a zoom or orbit in one swoop, you'll overshoot where you're trying to go and end up wasting a bunch
of time orienting yourself just to get back to where you started. To avoid this, practice
navigating in small increments to get where you want to go. Let's try it. Click your center mouse wheel
in the center of the screen and orbit just a little. Then, let go, move your mouse back to
the center of the screen, and repeat, and repeat again, and again, and again, and repeat it as many times as it takes to get where you're trying to go. It feels a little clunky at first, but once you have it down, you can gradually begin
to speed up the process. And before you know it, you'll
be just like the experts who are constantly making
hundreds of tiny zooms, tiny orbits, and tiny pans to zero in on what they
need to see better. Being able to get where
you need to go in the model makes using Blender so much easier. Speaking of making Blender easier, that leads me to the
next thing on our list. Number five, use keyboard shortcuts. Nearly every tool, action,
and menu option in Blender has a corresponding keyboard shortcut. All told, there are over 200, with some of them being
made up of multiple keys that have to be pressed together. To a beginner, this might seem more daunting
than trying to learn piano, which is why it's tempting
to think it might be simpler to skip learning the shortcuts when you're first just trying
to learn the basic tools and functions in Blender. I get it, trying to memorize
each keyboard shortcut as you practice using the
corresponding tool or function can slow you down a bit in the short-term. But taking the extra time now to try to practice the keyboard
shortcuts from the get-go means that every time you
use a tool or a function, you'll be reinforcing the shortcut. And before you know it, the tool will be wired
together in your brain. And as anyone that has used Blender for even just a couple
of months can tell you, this will save you a ton of time versus having to click your way through the various user interface panels and menus to get the tools
and commands you need. So take the time to practice
using keyboard shortcuts from the start, your future self will
definitely thank you. (upbeat piano music) Thanks, past me. All right. I know this is a lot to keep in mind when you're just getting started. So I've actually gone ahead and put together a free set of notes that will make it easy for you to review everything we're covering today, including a cheat sheet of the most common keyboard
shortcuts you'll want to know. I've added a link to download
them in the description. Okay, you're finally
ready to start creating your first 3D models in Blender. (people cheering) That takes us to the
next thing on our list. Number six, experiment with
creating and editing geometry. Nearly every beginner
Blender tutorial out there gives you steps to follow
to build something specific. But here's the problem. Before you try to create
something specific, the best thing you can do is actually give yourself
a chance to experiment with the key tools and concepts first. That way, you'll be teaching yourself how the tools actually work, not just how they work in the
context of a specific step towards a specific outcome. There are a few key tools, select, move, rotate, and scale, that will serve as the foundation for learning to work with
3D models in Blender. And making sure you're
comfortable with how they work now will pay huge dividends down the road. Plus, becoming proficient with these tools will also build skills and
understanding that will transfer to the next tools and
functions you learn in Blender. To get started with these tools, let's open a new file and make sure the Layout
Workspace tab is selected. On the left of the 3D
viewport is your toolbar. And as I mentioned, we're
gonna primarily focus on select, move, rotate, and scale. In a new Blender file, you'll see a default cube in
the middle of the 3D viewport. You'll notice it has an orange outline showing us that it's already selected. Now, we can use the move, rotate, and/or scale tools to transform it. Press the G key on your keyboard. G is the shortcut for the Move tool, and you can think of it as G is for grab. Now that you've hit G,
when you move your cursor, you'll see you're moving the cube. You can click anywhere to set it down. Know that you can be very precise about where you move the cube in 3D space, but we're not gonna worry
about that just yet. Next, with the cube still selected, press the S key on your
keyboard and move your cursor. S is the shortcut for the Scale tool. Click anywhere to stop scaling the cube. Finally, press the R key on your keyboard. R is the shortcut for the Rotate tool. Move your cursor to
begin rotating the cube, then click anywhere to stop rotating it. Okay, knowing how to move, rotate, and scale the whole object is nice, but when it comes to creating 3D models of recognizable things, you'll need to understand how to work with the underlying geometry. What do I mean by underlying geometry? The first thing to know
is that in Blender, all of your geometry is made up of vertices, edges, and faces. Two vertices can define an edge and multiple edges can define a face. When you have one or more connected faces, that's what's called a mesh. And meshes are one type of what's called an object and Blender. So for instance, that default cube is actually a mesh made up of six faces. And when we move, rotate, and scale it, we're transforming all of the
underlying vertices, edges, and faces together. To get a clearer picture of how these underlying
geometric pieces work together, let's press the Tab key on our keyboard to toggle from Object Mode to Edit Mode. In Edit Mode, we have the
ability to move, rotate, and scale vertices, edges,
or faces independently. Let's try it. With the Select tool active, click once away from from
the cube to deselect it. Then, hover over a corner vertex and click on it to select it. Press the G key on your
keyboard and move your mouse, and you're moving only that vertex. You can click again to set it down. Note that because a
vertex is a single point, it can't be rotated or scaled, so there's no need to
try those tools here. Now, here's where some
people get tripped up. In order to move, rotate,
or scale an edge or a face, you'll have to select that edge or face. But when you switch to Edit Mode, the Select tool will default to what's called Vertex Selection Mode. To switch to Edge Selection Mode, press 2 on your keyboard, then click on an edge and it will select. To switch to a Face Selection Mode, press 3 on your keyboard, then click on a face to select it, and you can switch back
to Vertex Selection Mode by pressing 1 on your keyboard. Take a moment to experiment with this. Press 2 on your keyboard,
click an edge to select it, then press R to switch to the Rotate tool, move your cursor, and then
click to end the rotation. Then, press 3 on your keyboard, click a face to select it, press S to switch to the
Scale tool, move your cursor, then click to stop scaling it. Now, let me interrupt your experimentation with one more tip. With the Select tool, you have two options for selecting more than
one vertex, edge, or face. Option one, hold down the Shift key while clicking on each
vertex, edge, or face to add it to the selection set. And if you add one thing too many, keep the Shift key held down and click on it again to deselect it. Note that this respects whether you're in Vertex,
Edge, or Face Selection Mode. Option two, you can click
and drag a selection area around the vertices, edges, or faces that you want to select. Once again, this will respect whether you're in Vertex,
Edge, or Face Selection Mode. Also note, it will only
select the vertices, edges, or faces that you can see, but the ones on the other side of the cube won't be selected. If you want everything
within the selection window to be selected, even
the stuff you can't see, you need to switch to Wire Frame View before making your selection. Alright, now you know the basics of editing underlying geometry. If you have any questions
or need any help, reach out to us in the comments. Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget to give this video a like. All right, that brings
us to our final tip. Number seven, create bad
3D models without help. At this point, you know the basics, and now it's time to practice the fundamentals you've learned: navigating well, using keyboard shortcuts, and experimenting with
editing basic geometry. And the best way to do that
is to just start building. But before you can do that, there's one more feature in Blender you'll wanna be familiar with: adding new mesh objects. To add new mesh objects, if you're still in Edit Mode, press the Tab key on your keyboard to toggle back to Object Mode, then press Shift and A. This is the keyboard shortcut
to bring up the add menu, where you'll see a bunch of objects you can add to your model. At this point, we're only gonna worry about the mesh dropdown. Under Mesh, pick a mesh type
to place it at the 3D cursor, which defaults to the origin
of the red and green axes. You can then press G and move your cursor and click
to set it down somewhere else and follow the previous
steps we've gone over to move, rotate, and
scale the entire object or switch to Edit Mode to
edit its underlying geometry. And if you need to delete anything, in Object Mode, with the Select tool, click once on the mesh to select it, then press Shift and X, then
press Enter to delete it. All right, now you're ready to use these basic tools and concepts to try to create 3D models of more recognizable shapes on your own. At this point in your
Blender learning journey, they'll be bad, and that's okay. The important thing is
to continue experimenting and practicing until you feel
more and more comfortable with how the tools work and the keyboard shortcuts
to get you there. Also, be sure to take notes on anything frustrating you run into or questions that arise, and add those things to your learning map for the next things to work on. Even though you're only
creating rudimentary shapes at this point, know that you're actually
much further along the journey to mastering Blender than if you just followed along passively with one of the many tutorials out there on creating a more
finished-looking product. That's because you're
actually doing the hard work of learning and practicing
the core principles and foundational skills you'll need in order to succeed in Blender. So, what's next? From here, it's definitely possible to learn Blender on your own. But if you're serious
about learning Blender and can't afford to waste
time or pick up bad habits, we're building a
comprehensive video course that incorporates all
the lessons we've learned from teaching in person over the years. Head over to our website
now to learn more. Then, be sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss our upcoming videos to help you avoid the most common things that often cause people to struggle when they're first getting
started in Blender. Until next time, happy blending! (upbeat piano music) And it doesn't have to be fancy. Thanks.
