This is an old revision of the document!
Formlab Blender introduction
Navigation
Being able to look and move around in the 3D viewport intuitively is necessary to work in any 3D application.
Orbit, pan and Zoom
You can use the user interface gizmos on screen but this is a little slow. Shortcuts are faster.
Shortcut | Function |
---|---|
0 | Camera view |
1 | Front |
3 | Right |
7 | Top |
Numpad . or personalized key | Frame selected |
press scrollwheel | Orbit |
Alt + left mouse button | Orbit |
Alt + shift + left mouse button | Pan |
Scroll wheel | Zoom |
No numpad?
Change preference: Edit > Preferences > Input > Emulate numpad
Use the numbers on the top of your keyboard instead. You might have to press shift if you have azerty for example.
Also, set a custom shortcut for 'Frame Selected': View > Frame Selected
, Right mouse click: change shortcut (for example ;
)
Don't like pressing the scrollwheel to orbit?
Change preference: Edit > Preferences > Input > Emulate 3 button mouse
Then orbit by pressing alt + left mouse button
Basic transformations
Shortcut | Fuction |
---|---|
G | Grab (translate) |
R | Rotate |
S | Scale |
Alt + G | Reset translate. Same for rotate and scale |
Constrain to global axes:
Press the X, Y or Z key once after a transform shortcut.
For example: G + X (move on the global x-axis).
Constrain to local axes:
Press the X, Y or Z key twice after a transform shortcut.
For example: R + Z + Z (rotate on the local z-axis).
Selections
Shortcut | Fuction |
---|---|
A | Select all |
Alt + A | Deselect all |
Cmd + I | Invert selection |
L | Select linked |
Double click between vertices | Select linked |
Select first vertex, then cmd + select second vertex | Select shortest path |