Learn how to quick re-use a previous tool or action via the Operator History in Blender.

Due to the nature of modeling and animation workflow, there’s many times that we use a tool over and over again. This may not seem like a hassle, but the time we take to access those tools can really add up. Over the course of a large project seconds become minutes and minutes become hours.

In Blender we can quickly reach a previously used tool or command by accessing the History list or via the Repeat Last operator. This can greatly improve our workflow efficiency.

You can call the History menu from the Toolbar (T) or via the hotkey F3. Alternately, you can simply repeat the last command with Shift+R, or also from the Toolbar.

Get Started with the Basics of Blender

If you’re new to Blender then you’re in the right place! Through this series I’m going to introduce you to the key basics of Blender, helping you get started with all the fundamentals that you need to begin working in Blender. This series is intended primarily for beginners that have a basic understanding of 3D.

I will be giving you a tour of the interface and navigation, modeling, animation, shading, lighting, and rendering with Cycles.

Where to go next with Blender and tutorials?

If you’ve completed this tutorial series and are eager for more training then here’s a few hand-picked tutorials just for you! To get the most value I encourage you to join our Citizen membership to get access to our complete tutorial library, including many exclusive training series that goes more in depth and cover challenging topics, like architectural visualization and and low poly asset creation.

Modeling: Modeling a Shipping Container and Modeling an M4 Assault Rifle

Animation: Intro to Character Rigging and Baker Charactering Animation Series

Physics and Dynamics: Shattering a Coffee Cup and Simulating and Rendering Fire

Texturing: Texturing a Truck Wheel and Rendering in Cycles and Introduction to Texturing in Cycles

Shading, Lighting, and Rendering: Rendering Realistic Headphones in Cycles and Rendering Stunning Long Hair in Blender

Compositing: Introduction to Compositing and Compositing Cycles Render Passes

Learn how to be more productive in Blender by creating custom hotkeys for your favorite tools.

In this Citizen tutorial I am going to show you several different way you can create custom hotkeys for all of your most used tools in Blender. This can dramatically speed up your workflow, making you more efficient and productive.

You’ll learn how to assign or change hotkeys with just a few clicks for most tools. You’ll also learn how to set custom hotkeys for more difficult tools that are context sensitive or that have more than one mode or setting by finding the Python data path.

Learn how to tweak Blender’s interface and customize the toolbar with simple scripting.

In this Blender tutorial Jonathan will show you how to quickly add any tool to the toolbar for easy access. This is done by accessing the python scripts that generate the toolbar and the rest of the interface. Doing this is very fast, flexible, and requires very little effort and no previous scripting experience necessary.

One of the great things about Blender is that all interfaces, menus, toolbars, etc are generated through Python scripts. These Python scripts can be accessed by simply right-clicking on a button or menu entry and choosing “Edit Source.” This will allow you to modify the script from the text editor any way you choose. By following the existing code you can easily deduce what’s needed to add new tools to the toolbar or to any menu. No previous scripting  experience is needed to follow this tutorial.

If you enjoy the freedom scripting brings then you can also check out these awesome tutorials by Patrick Boelens:

Introduction to Python Scripting in Blender

Scripting a Custom Tool Menu

Code Overview for the Baking UV Textures to Vertex Colors Add-on

A complete training DVD intended for Experienced 3D Artists that wish to learn Blender! On pre-sale now

This training DVD, by Jonathan Williamson, is intended for experienced 3D artists that wish to quickly learn and adapt to Blender. Through this DVD you will become familiar with many of the standard tools Blender offers, be introduced to the way Blender works and be given a tour of many of the bells and whistles Blender offers through it’s advanced feature set.

This training has been created and reviewed by professional artists with a wealth of experience with commercial 3D packages.

 Available through the blender.org e-shop!

Every purchase of this DVD goes directly to the Blender Foundation to support its projects and the further development of Blender.

Sample Video: Using the Search Tool

Sample Video: Extrude and Inset Tools

DVDs will be ready (and in your mailbox) before August 5 – we also will spread free copies at the Blender Siggraph booth.

A perfect gift for your Maya or Max friends!

Training Outline

(Note: outline is subject to change)

Chapter 1: Getting Started
Touring the interface, the key basics to survive Blender quickly: Selections, transforms, and search!

Chapter 2: Making Blender work for you
Customizing the UI, preferences and changing shortcuts.

Chapter 3: Mesh Modeling
Based on common tools and metaphors from other programs, the modeler is being explained in 20 short sections.

Chapter 4: UV Unwrapping
An introduction on using Blenders UV tools. These tutorials will quickly explain how it works.

Chapter 5: Using Blender’s Animation System
This chapter gives the big picture of the Blender timeline, dope sheet, graph editor, working with key-frames, animation curves, and using the rigging system.

Chapter 6: Materials, Lighting and Rendering
Both Blender render engines are being introduced, including the new node-based shading system for the Cycles raytrace engine.

Chapter 7: Using Add-ons for Extra Functionality
Many python add-ons are bundled with Blender for additional features and tools to better optimize your workflow. This chapter gives an overview of several key add-ons.

Chapter 8: Solving Common Problems and Tips for Success
Perfection does not exist; also Blender has half working features and bugs. This chapter shows some of the current issues, bypasses and especially how to get support and your issues solved!

Chapter 9: Bells and Whistles
The show-off chapter; Blender offers a wealth of advanced features that go well beyond the usual fundamental tools. This includes a quick look at the fluid and smoke simulator, the particles system, the compositing and post production tools, and more.

Welcome to this 20120 Blender Training Series for Citizens!

The 2010 Blender Training Series was CG Cookie’s first training series and is still one of our most popular series launched to date. Released back in 2010 it quickly became the series to watch to get yourself up to speed on Blender.  Now two years have passed and we are proud to induct it into the Citizen Library. This means that the complete series is available free to all Citizen Members. This is something that all Citizen Members can expect with their membership. From now, with each series we do, after the training series has reached the age of 2 years it will be added to the Citizen library.

 Introduction to Blender

The first part of the 2010 Training Series gives you a complete introduction to Blender. This including understanding the basics of viewport navigation, modeling, materials, lighting, and more. Even though many things have changed in Blender since this series was released, most of the content is still very relavant and provides a wealth of information.

View Part 02 – Introduction to Character Modeling

Hello and welcome to this Blender Cycles Render Engine Introduction!

In this video tutorial we introduce you to the new Blender Cycles render engine that is now available for Blender 2.6. Cycles offers a much more realistic, interactive rendering workflow than the current Blender Internal engine and is a lot of fun to work with.

What you’ll learn

This Blender Cycles tutorials will introduce you to the basics of using Cycles including how to set up your lighting, creating materials with the shader node system, adjusting the environment, and finally how to render a very nice glass bottle filled with red liquid.

Update: since releasing this tutorial Cycles is now included with all versions of Blender. You can download the latest Blender version http://blender.org

What Next?

If you loved this tutorial and are eager for more then be sure to check out our tutorial on creating incredible, realistic wood barrels and rendering them in Cycles. View Wood Barrels Tutorial

In this quick Blender 2.5 tutorial we show you how to use the Import Brushset add-on that is bundled with Blender 2.58 to quickly grab an entire folder of brushes. These brushes can then easily be used for sculpting fine details.

In this quick Blender 2.5 tutorial we show how to make positioning and navigating the camera in the 3D View much easier. This tutorial makes use of the Camera Lock feature that was introduced with Blender 2.58.

In this quick Blender 2.5 tip we show you how to use the Image Display mode for Empties that is available in Blender 2.58. This feature gives you a versatile way to work with background images.