Blender Basics Tutorial for Beginners in PDF

• The Blender Interface, Working with Viewports
• Creating and Editing Objects, Blender Render Engines
• Materials and Textures, Setting Up a World
• Lighting and Cameras, Render Settings
• Ray-Tracing (mirror, transparency, shadows)
• Animation Basics, Adding 3D Text
• NURBS and Meta Shape Basics
• Particle Systems and Interactions
• Child-Parent Relationships, Working With Constraints
• Armatures (bones and skeletons)
• Video Motion Tracking, Video Sequence Editor

Learning the Blender Basics

About Blender

How is it possible that Blender is free?

The terms "with limited features" or "just a demo" is typically what people think of when they hear the phrase "freeware software." Blender can perform all of its intended functions. It functions as an open-source community development program in which participants worldwide contribute to its success. Blender is a rendering, animation, and game development open-sourced freeware program maintained by the Blender Foundation and downloaded for free from www.blender.org. Blender can also be used to create games. The following is a condensed version of the foundation's primary mission.

The Blender Foundation is a separate entity (a Dutch "Stichting") that operates as a not-for-profit public benefit corporation with the following objectives:

• To establish support services for Blender's active user- base and its community of developers.
• To continue to maintain and improve the existing Blender product using a source code system that is accessible to the public and is licensed under the GNU GPL.
• To establish funding or revenue mechanisms that will serve the foundation's goals as well as cover the expenses of the foundation.
• To give people worldwide access to 3D technology in general, with Blender as the foundation of this effort.

Blender website (blender.org).

Learning Blender can be challenging due to the program's vast array of features and options. In the allotted amount of time for instruction, what do you choose to focus on? That is a challenging question because there is no way to teach everything. This tutorial book is intended to get you up and running in the fundamentals of animating and creating objects and scenes. 

My best guidance for you regarding learning this program is Never to Give Up! There is a steep learning curve associated with every rendering and animation program. After a few weeks, things get easier. 

This walkthrough was designed to be utilized in conjunction with daily lesson planning and presentations, and it can be accessed here.

Consequently, specific components of Blender have yet to be described as thoroughly as they could have been. If you use this tutorial as a stand-alone teaching or "self-help" tool, you may require assistance from reputable places such as www.blender.org and www.blenderartists.org to make sense of the information presented here. 

You can access help forums and tutorials if you use these websites. Thousands of Blender users worldwide visit the forums to offer and receive help with their projects. Take advantage of the vast information repository!

Version Information When this publication was made, the most recent release was version 2.78. Blender is constantly being improved thanks to the contributions of many people worldwide who volunteer their time.

Because of time constraints in the classroom (cycle rendering is very time intensive), most of the exercises in this PDF tutorial use the classic render engine. However, a unit (and more) have been added for the cycles render engine. In addition, new challenges are available for students looking for additional or alternative activities to participate in. References have also been added to educational standards, reflective writing, motion tracking, and 3D printing.