Introduction to Modelling - Blender

Overview
This document is meant to introduce you to the basics of Blender. We will be focused on modelling in
this module, so we will not cover topics such as Rigging and Rendering etc. We encourage you to learn
the rest at your own pace if you are interested.

We also provided links to various tutorials we recommend. Take note that these tutorials will cover more
functions and settings inside of Blender.

https://www.blenderguru.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2U0MiZSV9A

Disclaimer:
Some of the screenshots might be slightly outdated due to Blender being updated frequently. The
functions used here are generally the same throughout versions above 3.0.

Blender Basics
In this section, we will be covering primary navigation and controls to get started quickly on modelling
inside of Blender.

Launch Blender and you will see the initial startup above. To make the Splash Screen disappear, click
anywhere with the Left Mouse Button. In the top right Outliner, select the light and camera and delete
them by pressing the Delete key; we won’t be using them for this guide.

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Preferences
Before we begin modelling, we first need to set up your preferences inside Blender.

Emulate 3-Mouse
This setting allows Blender to emulate the Middle Mouse Button if you use a mouse without said
button. It is highly recommended that you use a proper 3-Button mouse for modelling, as many
shortcuts are associated with this button.

1. On the Top Bar under Edit, click on Preferences.

2. A new menu will show up. Click on Input.

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3. Under Mouse, click on the Emulate 3 Button Mouse checkbox.

4. For the rest of this guide, any button that uses Middle Mouse, use Alt + Left Mouse Button instead.
Again, this is for those who use a mouse without a middle button.

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5. Go to Preferences > Addons. This is where we can add additional functionality to Blender via installing
plugins or addons.

6. In our specific scenario, it's essential to install the addons named Edge Flow Master and UV Squares
Master. These addons can be located within the resources folder that has been provided to you.

Click on the install button.

7. Go to where you have downloaded the addons, find your addon; click on it and click install addon.

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8. You will encounter a similar menu, where the addon will appear grayed out. To successfully install the
addon, simply check the box next to it.

Reset to Factory Settings

In case you might have accidentally made changes to the workspace or viewport and can’t find out what
caused it, you can reset Blender’s settings.

1. On the top bar, click on File.

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2. Under Defaults > Load Factory Settings. Blender will then reset the UI.

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Interface
The interface of blender we are interested in is the Top Bar (Red), 3D Viewport + Header + Sidebar (Blue),
Outliner (Green), Properties Menu (Orange) and Timeline (bottom).

Top Bar
The Top Bar houses the main settings such as File, Edit, Render, Window, Help and Workspaces.

File
The option to manage the file is in this menu. Below are shortcuts to the primary operations under this
menu.

Ctrl + O = Open File

Ctrl + N = New
Ctrl + Q = Quit
Ctrl + S = Save
Ctrl + Alt + Q = Quad Workspace Toggle
Import = Import Objects
Export = Export Objects

Remember to save often as it is normal for 3D software to potential crash when working. We don’t want
to lose our progress.

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Edit
Below are shortcuts to the primary operations under Edit.

F2 = Rename Selected Object

Ctrl + Z = Undo
Shift + Ctrl + Z = Redo
F4 = Preferences

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3D Viewport
This is the place where we do the majority of our modelling. The default cube object, light and camera
are found in the viewport.

The viewport is represented with a grid and the 3-Dimensional axis, the X(Red), the Y(Green) and the
Z-axis (Blue). The center of the grid where the cube is also at is called the World Origin.

Header
This is the head that displays important tools that we can use to model and change our viewport setting.

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Viewport Overlays
Displays overlays like gizmos, outlines and grids. Clicking the button will disable overlays, and click again
to enable them. These overlays provide us with important visual markers that aid our modelling.

If you click the arrow next to it, you can customize which overlays should be displayed and which should
not. Take note that none of the overlay elements will appear during rendering.

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Statistics
Enabling Statistics will display the polygon count for the polygon objects in your scene.

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 1. Objects refers to the number of objects in the scene; this includes the camera and lights.
2. Vertices refer to the total number of vertices in the scene.
3. Edges refer to the total number of edges in the scene.
4. Faces refers to the total number of faces in the scene.
5. Triangles refer to the total number of triangles in the scene.

Viewport Shading Modes

The shading of the 3D Viewport can be adjusted to match the task at hand. Blender offers four shading
modes.

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1. We will be switching between these viewing modes quite frequently. The shortcut to access this is by
pressing and holding Z. Then, hover over to the shading mode you want and let go of the Z key.

2. Solid Mode = Default Shading Mode

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3. Wireframe Mode = Wire version of the model; this is to check the wireframe and select vertices
behind.

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4. Material Preview = To view how textures look on the model

5, Rendered Mode = view the rendered version of the scene with lights and shadows.

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6. The wireframe mode is super important as we cannot select components that are not visible in solid
mode.

As shown in the example below, blender does not select the vertices behind.

We must use the wireframe mode to be able to do this.

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Sidebar
By clicking on the arrow (shortcut N) on your right side, you can open the sidebar.

This brings up some additional settings – Item, Tool and View.

The first tab on the sidebar is the Item Tab. This menu will display the selected object's location,
rotation, scale, and dimensions. Use this to make exact transformations on the object.

The next tab that is important is the Tool tab. This menu displays the tool settings of the currently used
tool.

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Toolbar
On your left are the tools you can use to manipulate or transform your object. The functions of these
tools will be explained in detail later.

Outliner
Here in the outliner, you can organize your objects into folders called Collections. By default, there is
already a collection.

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The scene collection is the world collection where all the collections are located. This cannot be deleted.

1. Organize your scene by dragging the objects into folders with Left Mouse Button. Add new collections
by right mouse clicking the outliner > new collection.

2. You can add objects to new or existing collections by selecting your objects in the 3D viewport and
then pressing the M key.

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3. Select the filter icon in the outliner to filter your selection or, more importantly, add a Selection
Restriction Toggle.

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4. The Selection Restriction Toggle is important as you will often use this. Click it.

5. It is represented with this icon.

6. Upon adding this, the arrow icon will now appear in the outliner. Selecting it will toggle selection
restriction.

Properties
The properties menu is filled with many sub-menus. We won’t cover all of them as we are only
interested in 3 sub-menus: Modifiers, Object Data and Materials.

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Timeline
The last panel on the bottom is known as the Timeline. This is where you can play your animations and
see it in real-time.

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Workspaces
Workspaces are predefined window layouts made by Blender. These workspaces are basically different
UI layouts for different work types.

1. Layout – A general workspace to preview your scene and objects.

2. Modeling – Modification of geometry by modelling tools.

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3. Sculpting – Modification of meshes by sculpting tools.

4. UV Editing – Mapping of image texture coordinates to 3D surfaces.

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5. Texture Paint – Manual coloring in the 3D Viewport.

6. Shading – Material editing and customisation.

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7. Animation – Making properties of objects dependent on time.

8. Rendering – Viewing and analysing rendering results.

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 9. Compositing – Combining and post-processing of images and rendering information.

10. Scripting – Programming workspace for writing scripts.

Customizing Workspaces
Blender allows you to customize your workspaces to your comfort and work style. This can then be saved
and made so that every Blender File you create after will start up with this workspace.

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Navigation
In order to work in Blender’s 3D space, you need to be familiar with the proper navigation shortcuts and
tools to properly.

Navigation Shortcuts
Middle Mouse Button = Orbit
Shift + Middle Mouse Button = Pan
Ctrl + Middle Mouse Button or Middle Mouse Button Scroll = Zoom

Get used to these shortcuts as you will be using them the most.

Navigation Gizmo
1. Another way to navigate is to use the Navigation Gizmo at the top right of the viewport.

Clicking and dragging within the circle allows us to rotate

Clicking on the lettered icons snaps us to specific views (views are covered next)

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2.Click on the magnifying glass icon allows us to zoom as well.

3.Clicking on the hand icon allows for panning.

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4. The camera icon will toggle and bring us into the camera’s perspective. This will have no effect if there
is no camera.

5.Selecting the grid icon will toggle perspective or orthographic view.

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Views
1. Press and hold the ~ key (below the ESC key). This opens a pie selection that allows us to switch to
specific views. This is a necessary tool for us to model accurately. Then hold and drag your mouse to the
option you want. The button will change to a light grey tone if we hover over it. Let go of the ~ key.
Blender will snap to the selected view.

As mentioned previously, you can use the navigation gizmo to switch views as well.

2. The view selected option allows us to snap and focus onto a selected object

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Object vs Edit Mode
By default, we are in Object Mode. This allows us to perform general object actions such as grouping
objects in collections, moving the object, and adding modifiers etc. Edit Mode is for precise mesh
editing.

We can access the mode switch via the topmost left of the header. Alternatively, you can use the
shortcut TAB.

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Object Mode Tools
We will first cover object mode-based tools. You can toggle the tool bar by pressing the shortcut T.

Select Tool
The Select tool allows us to select and deselect objects. There are four different Select Tools; the main
ones we are interested in is the Tweak, Box Select and Lasso Select. Press W to access this tool and
press it again to cycle through the selection tools.

1. You can select an object by left clicking it. Selected Objects are highlighted with an orange border and
red border (Multiple Selections).

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2. Select Multiple objects by pressing Shift + Left Mouse Button. You can also simply drag a rectangle
selection like in Photoshop to select multiple or a single object

3. Remove selection by Pressing Ctrl + Left Mouse Button Drag (Box Select).

4. Select all by pressing A.

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5. Deselect all by pressing Alt + A.

3D Cursor
3D cursor is an important tool, and it is represented with the red and white circle in the scene. This
cannot be removed. An object that is created or added will be at this exact point.

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1. Access the 3D cursor menu via Shift + S. This opens a pie menu with various actions.

2. Shift + Right Mouse Button to place the 3D cursor at the mouse’s location.

3. You can find the location information of the cursor via the View sidebar as well.

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3. Use Shift + C to reset it to the world origin. You will use this often.

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Move Tool
The move tool allows us to move the object along the axis specified. Selecting the white circle will allow
free movement in all axes.

The alternate way to access this is to press G. After pressing G, press X, Y or Z to force the movement
along that axis.

You can perform the exact movement by using the move tool, don’t let go of your left mouse click; type
in the value and let go.

Rotate Tool
The rotate tool allows us to rotate the object along the axis specified. Selecting the white circle will allow
free movement in all axes.

The alternate way to access this is to press R. After pressing R, press X, Y or Z to force the movement in
that axis.

You can perform the exact movement by using the rotate tool, don’t let go of your left mouse click; type
in the value and then let go.

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Scale Tool
The scale tool allows us to move the object along the axis specified. Selecting the white circle will allow
us to scale the object uniformly across all the axes.

The alternate way to access this is to press S. After pressing S, press X, Y or Z to force the movement in
that axis.

You can then perform exact movement using the scale tool, don’t let go of your left mouse click; type in
the value and then let go.

Transform Tool
The transform tool is the move, rotate and scale tool combined. Not the most helpful tool as we usually
want to perform exact transformations. However, do use it if the need arises.

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Resetting Transforms
For the move, rotate and scale tool, pressing Alt + (Shortcut of Tool) on a selected mesh will revert its
transform values to 0.

Object Mode General Actions

We will first cover object mode-based tools. You can toggle the tool bar by pressing the shortcut T.

Adding an Object
To start working on a model, you need an object as a base first.

To create a new object, got to the header > Add → Mesh or SHIFT + A → Mesh. In this menu, you can
see a bunch of primitive shapes. Usually, when we start modelling, we use these primitive shapes as a
base then we manipulate them into the shape we want.

Inside the mesh menu, the primitive shapes we are most interested in is Plane, Cube, UV Sphere and
Cylinder. These are the most common shapes that can be used to make everything.

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Deleting and Duplicating
Simply delete objects by selecting them and pressing X. A dialog box will show up for you to confirm your
action.

Duplicate objects selecting them and pressing Shift + D.

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Joining Objects
To join objects, select objects you want to be joined; Object Mode → Object → Join (shortcut: CTRL + J)

Pivots
The orange dot in the middle of the cube is called the Pivot. At this point, the objects move, rotate, and
scale from. This will be present in all objects.

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1, We can manually move the pivot by pressing Ctrl + Period. Otherwise, we cannot edit the pivot. We
can see that pivot movement is enabled via the large letters appearing, as shown on the bottom right
image. This shortcut will allow the pivot edit.

2. You can only see the axes appear in the move, rotate and scale tool. On the left, it’s the default, while
on the right is with pivot edit enabled.

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3. Use Object > Set Origin > Origin to geometry or Origin to 3D Cursor to quickly reset the pivot or move
it to a specific location set by your 3D Cursor.

Origin to geometry resets pivot to the center volume of the object.

Origin to 3D Cursor sets the origin to the 3D cursor’s location.

Isolation Mode
Press the slash key to isolate the selected object. It will hide all the non-selected objects and allow us to
focus on just the selected one. Press it again to exit isolation mode.

Note that this is separate from hiding!

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Parenting & Un-parenting
Parenting is a feature that enables one mesh to influence the transformation values (translation,
rotation, and scale) of another mesh. This concept is aptly named "parenting." The mesh that is attached
to another object through parenting is referred to as the child of that object.

To do this, select the intended child and then the intended parent last > Ctrl + P > Object (Keep
Transform).

In this case, the cube is parented to the sphere, rotating the sphere will also rotate the cube.

To remove parenting, select the child > Alt + P > Clear and Keep Transformation.

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Edit Mode
1. Edit Mode allows us to do the actual modelling and change the object’s shape.

2. Enter this mode by simply pressing Tab, and pressing it again returns us to object mode.
In the edit mode, the object will now inherit a wireframe with black dots that will disappear once we
exit edit mode. This is to allow us to select the components to edit.

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3. A mesh is comprised of vertices, edges, and faces. A plane, for example, is made up of 4 vertices as its
corners; the vertices are then connected as lines called edges, and the four edges create a face.

Vertex Selection
Vertex selection allows us to select just the vertices. With the tools on the toolbar, you can now
manipulate the object’s vertices. The shortcut to access vertex selection is the number 1.

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Edge Selection
The Edge Selection allows us to select edges. The shortcut to access edge selection is the number 2.

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Face Selection
Face selection allows us to select faces. The shortcut to access face selection is the number 3.

Wireframe & Transparent Mode for Editing

Regrettably, Blender presents a feature that can make selecting components in edit mode somewhat
challenging.

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When utilizing the drag select tool, Blender will exclusively select the elements that are currently visible
from the current viewport angle.

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To overcome this limitation, you need to switch to either wireframe mode or activate the transparent
X-ray mode. You can access these modes using the shortcuts mentioned earlier in this document.

Remember this when modelling!

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Tool Bar (Edit Mode)
The toolbar can still be accessed by pressing the T key, and pressing it again will hide it. The toolbar
contains the new tools in addition to the previous.

We will cover the most important modelling tools (circled in red).

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Select Tool
The select tool works the same except this time we are selecting individual components such as vertices,
edges and faces.

There are however new features.

1. In Edit mode, we can select a complete loop using the shortcuts Alt + Left Mouse Button.

2. Another way to select loops is by using Ctrl + Left Mouse Button to select the next edge; this will
calculate the shortest distance between the two edges and select the ones along that distance.

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Extrude Tool
The extrude tool allows us to extrude a component. This can be performed in vertex, edge, and face
selection. However, avoid using this in vertex selection and do this in edge selection if it’s on a flat
surface with no thickness. Most of the time, we perform this on a face.

The shortcut to extrude is E. Once the extrude is performed, the new extrusion will move along with
your mouse. Right Mouse Button to cancel this movement. The extruded component is still there,
however, but still selected.

Perform your modelling actions such as move etc., using the tools covered.

Inset Tool
The inset tool works only in the face selection mode. The inset will create a border along its selection.
The shortcut to access this is I.

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Bevel Tool
Bevel tool is a very important tool as it allows us to create smooth edges and curves. This tool is used
mainly with edge selection.

Use the shortcut Ctrl + B to bevel the selected faces or edges. Dragging your mouse will change the bevel
width; scrolling up with your middle mouse will increase your segments. Scroll down to decrease.

A menu will appear on the bottom of the viewport when the bevel tool is used.

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You can open it up and tweak the parameters. Here you can set the width and segments manually.

Note that once you perform the bevel, do not click on anywhere else. Clicking will confirm the bevel,
action, and the bottom menu will disappear. Perform the left mouse click once you are done with bevel
actions.

The bevel can also be done on vertices via the shortcut Shift + Ctrl + B. You might have noticed that
selecting the bevel tool on the toolbar does not work on the vertex. Only by using this shortcut can we
bevel vertices.

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Loop Cut Tool
The loop cut tool will create a loop across the faces. When using this tool, you will notice a yellow line;
that is a preview of the cut. Once you click on the object, it will disappear, and a new loop will be
created. The loop cut will always attempt to cut across the faces evenly.

Like the bevel, once we perform the loop cut tool and then press Left Mouse Button to confirm, a menu
will appear at the bottom. Use this tool to adjust the number of cuts.

The loop cut has one issue, though; it will only cut across faces with precisely four sides. The example
shows that it will not cut across those faces as it has more or less than four sides.

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The shortcut for the loop cut tool is Ctrl + R.
Knife Tool
The knife tool is the solution to the issue with the loop cut tool. Press K for the shortcut or select the tool
on the toolbar.

Hover your mouse over to an edge or vertex (it will snap to it), and Left Mouse click to begin your cut.
Continue your left mouse click to make your cuts.

Press Enter to confirm the cuts.

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Press Right Mouse Button to cancel the entire cut path and action.

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Edit Mode General Actions
Adding objects, deleting and duplicating work the same as Object Mode. There is no joining but there is
separating instead. There is also a new suite of general actions that we will cover.
Adding Objects
Works the same as object mode but this time it is created as part of the existing mesh

Deleting and Duplicating Components

Works the same as object mode but this time there are additional features.

1.Delete Menu > here we can delete specific components.

Vertices – Delete all vertices in the current selection, removing any faces or edges they are connected to.
This is the best way to clear all components.
Edges – Deletes any edges in the current selection. Removes any faces that the edge shares with it.
Faces – Removes any faces in the current selection.
Only Edges & Faces – Deletes any edges and faces in the current selection, but vertices within the
selection are retained.
Only Faces – Removes faces, but edges within the face selection are retained.
Dissolve Vertices/Edges/Faces - Dissolve will remove the geometry and fill in the surrounding geometry.
Edge Collapse – Collapse edge and face into single vertices
Edge Loop – Delete a selected edge loop

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2. Duplicate will allow us to duplicate specific components.

Separating
To separate objects, Edit Mode → Select your object → Mesh → Separate → By Loose Parts. This will
separate your object by geometry that isn’t connected to one another.

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Joining Vertices
By selecting one vertex and then another, press J to join them.

This connects the vertices with an edge. The knife tool can do this as well, but this method is faster.

Merging Vertices
1. Select one or more vertices, and Press M. This will open a dialog box.

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2. At center will merge the vertices to the center of the selected vertices.

3. Merge by distance will merge vertices based on a distance threshold. This is a handy tool to remove
superimposed vertices and clean up your mesh.

4. As you can see, there are two vertices where there is supposed to be one only.

5. Simply use A to select all then M; then use the merge by distance.

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Sliding Vertices
1. In edit mode, by selecting a vertex or edge > Press Shift + V and drag.

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This allows us to slide a vertex across and edge or edge across a face while maintaining the shape.

Modelling General Tips

Most of the time when modelling we may face unexpected issues due to a step we forgot to perform etc.
Anytime you face an issue you can go through these tips. 80% of the time this will work.

Merge All by Distance

We covered this previously. This will basically remove unnecessary vertices that could cause issues to our
modelling.

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Apply Transforms
Values present in out scale, location and rotation will affect our modelling negatively and have
un-intended consequences.

The box here as you can see has weird values in its scale and location. We need to perform an action
called Apply Transforms.

Select the object > Ctrl + A > Choose Scale.

This will fix our issues especially modifiers not performing correctly (will go over modifiers in detail)

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Reset/Edit Pivots
1. As mentioned before, we need to reset our pivot location.

General Modelling Concepts

Here is some additional information on how to approach modelling.

Primary-Secondary-Tertiary Details
When modelling it is ideal to model the large shapes first then move on to details. For example, when
modeling a car, we make the large chassis first before moving onto the interior and then small details like
the headlights.

Box Modelling & Blockouts

Modelling that we are doing is called Box Modelling. This refers to the technique of creating a complex
model by starting with a simple shape; most of the time it is a cube hence the name.

This technique is great for non-organic objects but organic models require a different technique.

Keeping the model in separate pieces

It is a good idea to model in separate pieces as it will be much easier to create and always swap out
pieces.

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Modifiers
Access the modifier menu via the properties menu. Here you can select add modifier to reveal a whole
list of modifiers. We will be focusing on two modifiers needed for our modelling.

Modifiers are very useful as they allow us to add transformative effects on our model that can be
tweaked and deleted at any time.

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Mirror
When modelling a symmetrical object, it will be tedious and inaccurate if we must edit one side and then
perform the same actions on the other side of a model.

This modifier will mirror one side to the other; this way, whatever we do on one side will replicate on the
other automatically.

Left is the model without the modifier, right is the model with the modifier.

Select the axes you want the mirror to mirror across. Take note that the object’s pivot is the point at
which the axes are at for this modifier. Remember to select the bisect option too.

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Solidify
This modifier allows us to add a controllable thickness to the model. As you can see in the images below,
the solidify makes the plane thicker.

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You can control the thickness via the thickness value.

Offset determines which direction the thickness is applied to. -1 will apply it backwards, one will apply it
forward, and 0 will apply the thickness evenly from back and front.

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Bevel
This modifier performs like the normal beveling action; except this time it applies the bevel throughout
the entire object.

In the modifier settings, we can tweak:

Amount to increase the size of bevels
Segments to increase the number of add segments
Limit Method to change how the modifier determines what to bevel.

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Subdivision
Subdivision modifier temporarily increases the detail of the model by multipling the number of faces.
This can be removed at any time.

Increasing the levels viewport increase the density of the model.

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Booleans
The Boolean modifier is considered an advanced tool that operates with two objects. The first is the
"main object", and the second is referred to as the "cutter". The purpose of the cutter is to make
incisions or cuts into the main object.

In the example, the sphere is the cutter and the cube is our main object.

Select the cube and add a Boolean modifier to it.

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Within the modifier, there are three solvers that determine how the main object interacts with the
cutter. These solvers are named Intersect, Union, and Difference.

In the Object channel, you should choose the cutter object, which, in this specific case, is the sphere.

Move the sphere to intersect the cube to see the modifier in effect.

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To observe the effects, temporarily hide the cutter object. You will now be able to visualize the changes.
The Boolean modifier is initially set to use the Difference solver.

Difference = Uses the cutter to cut that shape from the main object

Intersect = only keep the area where the cutter and main object intersect

Union = Combines both cutter and main object

The Boolean operation remains dynamic as long as you refrain from applying it. By keeping it unapplied,
any movement of the cutter object will dynamically impact the main object’s shape.

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Transform Orientations/Helpers
In the header bar it houses some useful functions: the snapping tools and the proportional editing
toggle. (As highlighted as red)

Transform Orientations
Clicking on the button will reveal new transform orientation settings. These settings will affect the axis of
transform gizmos (Move, Rotate and Scale)

Global = default, axis is based on world axis

Local = axis is dependent on the object’s rotation
Cursor = axis is based on cursor
The rest are advanced and not used often.

Transform Pivots
We covered pivots previously; these settings basically add more functionally to pivot transformation.

Median Point = pivot is the median volume of the selected objects

3D Cursor = pivot is at the cursor
Individual Origins = pivot respects each object’s individual pivot
The rest are advanced and not used often.

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Snapping Tools
1. Click on the magnet icon to toggle the snapping tool. As the name implies, the snapping tool will allow
all viewport actions to snap based on its settings.

2. The snap settings need to be tweaked for our use. It is an icon next to the magnet. This will reveal a
drop-down menu. We are only interested in vertex snapping; select that.

3. The shortcut to toggle this snapping tool is Shift + Tab.

Auto-merging
This function is only available in Edit Mode. Click on the icon shown below will trigger Auto-merge.

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Auto merge basically merges vertices when using transform tools if they are too close to each other. This
is controlled by a distance threshold.

Proportional Editing
Proportional Editing will allow us to perform transformation actions with a falloff. The shortcut to access
this tool is by pressing O. Remember to press O again to turn it off after use. Below is the icon to see on
the header.

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1. In Object Mode, you can see in the examples below that the proportional editing tool allows us to
move not just the selected object but also its surrounding ones.

2. Objects within the grey circle will be affected by this. The further the objects are from the center of
the circle, the lower its influence on them. Expand or shrink the circle by scrolling your middle mouse
button.

3. This tool is more exceptional when used in edit mode to manipulate vertices.

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Viewport Shading
Viewport shading is a rather bizarre concept but it is present in 3D. Basically there are ways to
manipulate the visual smoothness of an object. Usually, we want our object to appear smooth.

This is not to be confused with texturing and materials.

Autosmooth, Shadesmooth and Shadeflat

The only important settings we need from Object Data Properties is under Normals > Autosmooth.

By Default, objects we create have this grid look, or as artists call them, faceted look.

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Real objects don’t have that, so we must smooth it out. Enter object mode, select your object > Right
Mouse Click and select the shadesmooth option. You can access the same menu and use shadeflat to
revert.

The autosmooth requires shadesmooth to work.

Normals and Baceface Culling

Normals determines if your faces is inside-out.

The blue lines show the direction that the face normals are pointing at. In this picture, it shows that the
face normals are pointing outwards. (We need to turn on a setting to see the lines)

Unfortunately, during modelling, it is possible to unknowingly create faces that are inside-out; we call
these faces flipped normal faces. We need to correct such issues.

Check face orientation

We can easily check our normals via the viewport overlay > face orientation.

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1.Click on the arrow beside the Viewport Overlays button. The setting looks different depending on the
mode, but the Face Orientation setting should still be there

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2. Enable Face Orientation. You will see that now your mesh is blue and red colored. If your mesh is blue,
the normals point outward. If it's red, the normals point inward.

Below is an example of how the mesh can look. As you can see, I deleted the top surfaces and exposed
the inside of the mesh, so the interior is red as it is facing inward.

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Recalculating Normals
In Edit Mode, select your entire model, Alt + N. This opens up the

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Flip = Flips only the selected face’s normal

Recalculate Outside = Blender smartly determines which faces should be inside and outside and
corrects it.

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Clean up Your Object
After you are done modelling, we need to clean-up our object and make sure there are no N-Gons,
unwanted geometry or errors with your object. If these aren’t cleaned up, it can cause issues. Quads are
the industry-accepted polygon but having some Tris isn’t bad either.

Dealing with N-gons

1.Make sure your object components aren’t selected; Select → Select, All by Trait → Select, Faces by
Sides.

2. Go to the settings that popup, the default Number of Vertices is 4. A Quad has four vertices, so to
check for N-Gons, which have more than four vertices, change Type to Greater Than. All N-Gons will be
selected.

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3. We can use the Knife tool or the join vertices tool to fix this n-gons.

Center Your Object’s Pivot

After editing the mesh’s shape, that should no longer be the center of the object anymore. We want to
fix that.

In Object Mode, select all your object → Object → Set Origin → Origin to Geometry or select your
object → RIGHT click on your object → Set Origin → Origin to Geometry

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Apply Transforms
Make sure your model’s Location and Rotation are reset to 0,0,0, and your Scale is 1,1,1. Cover this
previously.

Exporting Objects
In order to use your objects in other software, you would need to export them into a file format that is
readable by the software. Most of the time we will have to export our objects in FBX (.fbx) file format.

1.Select your objects to be exported. Go to File → Export → FBX (.fbx)

2. From your Blender File View, in Include, check Selected Objects and select Mesh. This is to make sure
you are only exporting your object and not your camera, lights etc.

3. Uncheck Bake Animation as this object is not animated, and rename your file accordingly.

4.Pick the file location and click on Export FBX.

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