Navigating the Blender Interface and Using Object Mode

The left panel contains the toolbar, which changes based on the current mode (object, sculpt, texture paint, etc). Now we will use the object mode. The three most important tools in object mode are the move, rotate, and scale tools.

You can use hotkeys to quickly access these tools: by x, y, or z to constrain to an axis. The Transform panel in the sidebar provides precise control over object transformations.

Adding New Objects

To add a new object, use the Shift + A hotkey or the options in the 3D viewport. The available options are called primitives and include meshes, curves, lights, and more. They are the fundamental building blocks from which you can build your Blender scene.

New objects have options to customize their properties, such as the number of sides on a cylinder. You can see it above. Use F9 to bring this menu back up if it accidentally closes. You should be able to change its properties if you’ve not edited the object.

Hotkeys

Hotkeys are the shortcuts used in Blender. The documentation for this can also be found at :

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/interface/keymap/introduction.html https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/interface/keymap/blender_default.html

You can also customize the keymap to your preferred settings in the Preferences. A list of industry keymaps is also included in the course resources. The documentation for this can also be found at:

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/interface/keymap/industry_compatible.html

Duplicating Objects

Use Shift + D to create a duplicate of the selected object or you can useAlt + D to create a linked duplicate, where edits to one affect the other.

Parenting Objects

To make one object follow another, you can parent them.

Select the child object first, then hold Shift and select the parent object. Press Ctrl + P and choose Set Parent to Object.

The child object will now follow the parent in the Outliner hierarchy.