Juicy Blender Tute 101 - Getting Started



Here are a few things that can help the  beginer get
started and not be so  confused.




(1)


Firstly, in your viewport you will see a little circle with a cross through it.


This is a 3d cursor. Whenever you create an object.  That
object will appear wherever the 3d cursor is.

By left clicking your mouse around the various viewports
can place the 3D Cursor wherever you want it allowing
you to create objects there.

It is also used as a reference point for mesh
editing sometimes. You will learn with experience.




(2)


To create a mesh object you press SPACE and choose
Add then Mesh then TYPE OF MESH
After you create a mesh object (sphere, cube etc)  it
will always appear in the viewport in editmode. This is
the mode where you can move and manipulate the vertices
of the mesh.

To exit editmode you simply press TAB pressing TAB again
when the object is selected will re-enter editmode.

In and out of  editmode




(3)


To select an object, use the right mouse button.
To move an object press the GKey (grab) after it is selected.
To rotate  an object press the RKey after it is selected.
To scale an object press the SKey after it is selected.




(4)


To render a scene you must first have a lamp to iluminate
the scene. To add a  lamp press SPACE then ADD then LAMP .



SpotLamps are the only type of lamp that cast shadows.
To make the lamp a spotlamp press F4 after selecting the
lamp and choose Spot.






To make the shadows of the spotlamp render you must select
the shadows option in the renderbuttons area.

To antialias the render you must click the OSA button in the
renderbuttons area.





(5)

To render the scene simply press F12.
To get rid of the rendered picture press ESC.
To view the rendering again press F11.

To save an image click on the circled box and change to the
required directory and type in a file name.



To choose the  file type select the desired format
(and quality for jpgs).





(6)

Finally to save the scene (*.blend) file you simply
press F2. Whichever viewport your mouse is in will
change to the save window. Simply choose your directory to
save in then type in the filename and press enter twice.

To load the scene you press F1. The same applies
only this time middle click on the filename you wish
to load.

If at any time you have a window other than a 3d
window open and you wish to revert to the 3d window
just press Shift F5




Hopefully  these little hints and tips will get you started
enough to explore blender  and have a play around.

After you find your feet feel free to try the rest of the
Juicy Blender Tutes on this site for further development
of your skills.