About Blender, history, use, features and philosophy of Open Source

Presentation of the interface:
– The starting scene:
The cube, the light, the camera / top view on the x, y plane
X red axis / Y green axis / Z blue axis
– The various menus
Organization / reorganization of the ‘workspace
The 3D cursor

Views:
Orbit
Panoramic
Zoom in and out
View from the camera
Top
view Front
view Side view
Switch to orthogonal / perspective mode
Rotation around the scene along the Z axis
Rotation around the scene on the X & Y axes
Resets the view on the 3D cursor

Selection mode
Select / deselect all
Rectangular
selection Circular selection and modification of brush size
Lasso selection
Add / remove from selection
Progressive
selection Invert active selection
Selection by linked vertices

Manipulation of primitives « on the fly »:
Move an object on the 3 axes
Modify the scale on the 3 axes
Tilt on the 3 axes
Constrain a modification along an axis
Cancel a modification Reset
position, scale and rotation

Handling primitive with the Transform panel
Selecting the position along the axes X, Y, Z
Choice of rotation along the axes X, Y, Z
scale selection according to axes X, Y, Z

Management the pivot point of one or more primitives
Selected object
Individual centers
3D cursor
Baricenter
Center of bounding box

Object types
– mesh objects
– Bézier curves, NURBS curves
– NURBS surfaces
– meta-objects

The types of « mesh » shapes
– Plane, cube, circle, UV sphere, icosphere, cylinder, cone
– Grid and monkey
– Empty mesh and ring or torus

The types of « curve » shapes
– Bézier
curve and circle
– NURBS curve and circle – Path

NURBS surfaces
– Curve and circle NURBS
– NURBS surface
– NURBS tube, sphere and torus

Meta-objects
– Ball, tube, cube
– Plane, ellipsoid

Vertices, edges or faces selection mode
Rotation, scale and position
Extrusion of faces / edges / vertices
Separate vertices
Separate an object into 2 parts
Make an independent object
Join two independent objects
Join 2 parts of an object (merge vertices)
or
Remove duplicates (merge vertices)
Clone an object
Add edges
Remove / create faces
Loop Cut and Slide
function Spin
function Screw function

curve The default Bézier curve / the circle
Options for handling the handles:
– Automatic
– Vector
– Aligned
– Free
Close a path
Dig a closed path
Add / remove handles

Object data
– Extrusion and beveling
– Ribbon
object function – Bevel object function

Text editing Text
menu
Choice of typos and particularities
Basic text settings
Text on path
Offset
Extrusion
Bevel
Resolution
Type and bevel objects
Transform text into a mesh object
Import text objects in SVG

Overview
– Subsurf
– Array
– Mirror
– Edge split
– Solidify
Using multiple
modifiers on an objects

Overview of materials
Preview and preview options
Glow
Reflection
Shading
Transparency
Mirror
Overview of textures
Preview and preview options
The different types of textures
Mapping
Influence
Setting the types of textures

Definition of a background
Paper
Blend sky
Real Sky
Horizon
color Zenithal
color Ambient color Ambient
light
Luminous environment
Indirect light
Fog
Stars

General presentation of lights
The different types of lights
Lamp settings
Colors
Intensity
Distance
Shadows

General presentation of cameras
Focal length
Positioning
Depth of field

General overview of still image renderings
Dimensions
Render quality
Aliasing
Shading
Output file type