Blender(Freeware) Easy Start - By Rudy van Etten

Let me teach you the bare basics : (or the things I learned so far :) )

When you run the program you will see a single screen. This is the edit screen. This is the large upper screen with the grid

There are a number of objects in the edit screen. One is the camera. One is the cursor and one is some object I have no clue for what it is. (Delete it :) i do - it is called a plane) (You can delete a object by selecting a object using the right mouse, then pressing delete)

Press Keypad 7 for the topview (You have a numlock if it does not respond)

Press Keypad 1 for the frontview

Press Keypad 3 for the sideview

Experiment with the keypad to see what it does. You know what 7, 1 and 3 do. Ignore the keypad button 5 for now. I have no clue for what it is.

When pressing the middle button you can rotate the screen.(hold it down) Move the mouse to change the view. Practise this a lot for there is a trick to rotate correctly. You will understand once you get familiar.

When pressing shift and pressing the middle button you can move the screen. Movement the mouse to do so. Until now I have found no keyboard shortcut.

When pressing the CTRL and pressing the middle button you can zoom in if you move up, and zoom out when moving down. Don't move to fast. Practise this feature. You can also use the Plus and minus of the keypad.

If you click the mouse once you place the cursor. The cursor is where all new objects will be placed. Be sure to change the edit screen to top view, frontview or sideview when inserting a new object. You will understand why when you don't.

Press space for a special menu. Lots of important features.

To add a object press space then move to add, then move to mesh. You will see objects you can add.

When a object is added it is in edit mode. Press tab to switch it into normal mode. Pressing tab again brings it back into edit mode.

In object edit mode you can select a single point by pressing the right mouse button near or on it.

Move it by holding the right mouse button. Practise this a lot!!. By pressing the escape key you cancel the movement and the point is returned to its original position.

You can select a group of points by pressing b. By pressing b again you can select in a circle. Try it, experiment with it.

You can select a object by moving the mouse on a object and by pressing the right mouse button.

You can select multiple points by holding the shift key and pressing the right mouse button. You can move them all at once!

You can join objects by selecting them and pressing 'j'.

You can separate objects in point mode and selecting which points are to be seperated and then pressing 'p'

You can mirror a object(s) by selecting it/them, then pressing s then pressing x or y.

To add texture to a object then select a object in the edit screen and select the material button. (You can find it by reading the tooltip text that appears when you move your cursor on a button) When the material menu appears (after pressing the material button) a new button appears in the menu!!. This is the object datablock browser. (Again use the tooltip text to find it). Select new. Then we need to select a texture from a different menu. The button next to the material button is the texture button. Press it. Use browse datablock browser and again add new. Select image and load in a image. You should have enabled texture. Experiment a lot with both these menus, change thing and render to see what is does.

When using texture there are different ways to aply it. Find flat, cube, tube, sphere in the material menu. See the results on the left side of the screen.

You can use multiple viewscreens by pressing the right mouse button when you mousepointer turns into a arrow pointing up and down. Select split area. To switch to four viewscreens then split the screen again.

Read and search tutorials on the blender site. Plan your steps (what do I need to learn) and use keywords to find what you look for. Read thru tutorials even when you think you dont need it. Sometimes functions/shortcuts are described that can help you.

creating textures is another story. Learn to use Gimp, buy photoshop or surf the web for free ones.

required for Blender (freeware):

Internet. You will need to read a lot of tutorials that are online. You dont stand a chance of learning Blender without it. Blender.nl has a search engine to help you out. (It is located in the support page) It will take you a few days to learn Blender.

Fast computer with 3dfx card. (Note - I have not tested it on my 486 133 mhz 16 mb yet)

3 button mouse.

Optional :

buy the blender manual, tutorials.

Be sure to add a light when you want to render. If you don't you wont see anything.

Shortcuts

'b' - select multiple objects.

CTRL + 'j' - join objects.

'p' - separate (in edit mode select points to seperate and press 'p')

Space - Menu.

Tab - Edit mode, object mode.

Mirror - Select object then press 's' then press 'x' or 'y'.

's' - Resize object. Press the third mouse to resize x or y.

Copy object - Select object then use Shift + 'd'.

Move object - Select object and press 'g'

'c' - Center on object.

Shft + s - Snap to grid (4 different methods)

'x' - Erase selected.

'r' - Rotate object.

'w' - in editmode press 'w' for subdivide.