Welcome to Blunder VT and this is a blunder video tutorial for blunders interface concept and Blunder Version 2.34. Blunder’s interface is intuitive all of it takes a little gain used to and our previous 3D software before not, it is just really different. But after you become familiar with it, you learn to embrace it. As a windows user and the newbie to Linux which I do all of my modeling in. It took me sometime to get used to. The middle mouse button is used constantly, the right mouse button does you think the left will do, things like that. But despite my original confusion, it is intuitive and you will be more productive because of this. And you will get your modeling jobs than faster, so I guess you would say that blunder is built for speed and more ways than one.
First of, blunder uses a lot of short cuts. Most of these options can be access through buttons and menus but if you want to be productive learn the shortcuts, and because of this is there’s a general rule, work with your left hand on the home row of your keyboard and keep your right hand on the mouse. The most used keys are grip around the home row, so you can access them easily.
This is assuming that you use in English keyboard and use your mouse with your right hand. So, what we see here is the default blunders scene. Blunder use this windows to separate the screen. These are not the overlapping windows you are used to most other programs. So, I seem see here we have a separator between the 3D view port and the button window and I have a little separator right here, separate the main menu from the 3D view port. Now, you can expand or shrink the size one of these windows by left clicking and then dragging on one of the separators and then you can change the size of that window.
You can also split windows by right clinking on the separator and the way you know what side you are going to effect, if you click on it. If you right—okay, when you move your mouse next to separator you will see a change to that little up and down arrow thing or right to left arrow.
Now, if you’re slightly down then it will sep—make a separator when you click split area for that area right there, and then you can left click to confirm or right or escape to cancel but we are going to do left click to confirm, to confirm and now you see it is made a duplicate of this two windows. And let us say want to make a notice but now my arrows just a little bit to the right, so make a separator on that right side and now it is a little bit to the left to make a separator on that side. Okay.
Now, header is another important I think there you need to understand. Each window has header or window toolbox and this gives you a set of options and also has a small menu that you can expand or collapse with that little arrow right there next to the first button.
You can also turn off the header and change the location header by right clinking on the header and you can slide to either what header be on the top or on the bottom or we can say we do not want to hit it on, which would be really effective for these 3D view ports where we really would not want to have these options. And right clicking works the same way depending on how far you are to the left or right or the separator when you right click defines what side how you are you turn on or off. And if you cuts to the header you can still turn it back on again by right clicking on the same area that we would used to add the header and no header.
All right, well while the header is visible you can tell that the current window they have in focus because the header will highlight to be a lighter shade of gray. I guess, you can see clearly on this toolbar right here becomes well whiter.
Now, let us see and all of the current windows is in focus and that whatever you do the keyboard or the mouse well in this window will affect this window on this window only. Okay, knowing what window is in focus is really important when you start joining windows together.
So, let us say we want to take all these right here and joined them and to show you how this works, I’m going to talk about this in a second. This right here is a window toolbox and I am just going to make this be different windows. Okay, now depending on what which one is in focus last before you click on join area that let us you know what window type and stuff will carry over to the second window as well.
So, let us say these two top on to here we want the—this text center to take this space above this. So, I put my mouse on the text center to window first and when I move in to the middle, the just like join areas may you can see it the both of those windows spaces are taking up with the text center.
Now let us say down here I want to have my 3D view port so I move my mouse in the 3D view port move in joined areas and I can see it taking been the entire space, and then also works the same way when you want to vertically join them. I want the entire thing to be the 3D, 3D view ports so I have my mouse in the 3D view port view move in, join areas and there you we go just taking the entire space.
Alright now, let us talk about the window type that little button that I pulled up to change with total window was. All these windows right here, these are all the windows in blunder. Each one of these windows may contain different types and sets of information depending what you’re working on. This may include the 3D models, animations, service, materials, python scripts, a text editor and so on. You can select the type for each of these windows by clicking its headers left most button with left mouse button and just select one.
Alright now, we are not going to worry about what all these mean just yet. We are going to be going over this threat the rest of the editorials but let us focus on the one’s that we can see right now. This middle one is the 3D view port, this provides a graphical view into the 3D senior currently working on. You can view your scene from any angle with the variety of options having several 3D view parts on the same screen can be useful if you want to watch your changes from different perspectives at the same time.
Down here you have your buttons window. These contains most tools for editing objects, surfaces lights, and lamps so much more. You will need this window open constantly if you do not know all the keys by heart. You might aim want to have more than one of these windows opens each with the different set of tools.
Okay, and then up we have the user preferences or as we can see here is the only the main menu. This window is usually hidden so that only the header which is the main menu is visible. If you want to see the use of preferences you just left click and drag and “Oh! there we go”. We may all have all the kinds of go options right here which we want get into just yet, because you only or the other need use this ones and allow these are kind of complicated but just to let you know for right now that, that is there. So, if you want to see them for some for whatever reason that is how you can access them.
Alright, let us go on and talk about contexts panels and buttons. The buttons and blunder are awesome. This is largely due to the fact that they are vector based and drawn and open to you which makes them elegant and zoomable.
Buttons are grouped in the button window. It shows six main context shown here in that first row of buttons and each one of this can be bled up in the sub-context which is the second row buttons right here.
Now, let us go over the context and the sub-context really quick. This first one is logic then you have script, shading and then as it zoom click on shading we now have six more sub or five more sub-context open which is lamp, material, texture, radiosity and world. Then here we have object editing and scene and then let us open up three more sub-context which is rendering animation play back and sound.
Now once a context is selected by the user, the sub-context is usually determined by blunder on the basis of the active object. For example, when we have shading on as a context. If we say you will selective lamp you will automatically select the web as a sub-context to click on the renderable object, shading or what is one is the material. The material sub-context will pop up and then if we have set the camera then the world sub-context to pop up. So, blunder does that for your convenience.
The most notable novelty in the interface is probably the presence of panels to largely groupings. You will now set each panel is exactly the same size. They can be move around rearrange, then you can even have panels occupy the same space and be organized by with thumbs. So, if you want to move one of these panels you just left click and then drag it to where you wanted to go and you will know as you do that the panels will move out and then make way for your new bound. And then when you like go you will just snap right in the place.
Now, if you want to move the view just hold down the middle mouse button and then drag and that will allow you to move through the buttons window. If you want to zoom in just hold the control then use the mouse wheel, and if you want to do a glide zoom just hold the control, and then hold down the middle mouse button and then move your cursor to zoom in and out.
Now, if you want to rearranges buttons in something that is anything but horizontal just right click and your little panel pop up where you can slide between horizontal vertical and free. So, if we click on vertical you can see that they are now vertically aligned. If you set it to a free then they will not snap to each other and you can even have them personally overlap if you want to. So, it will give you a lot of freedom as far as how you want these panels to be arranged.
Alright, let us talk a little bit about tabs. Basically, if you see a panel that has a tab on it that means there are two panels taking the same space. Now, if you want to take these panels and rip them out so they are not overlapping each other just click on the tab and then drag it out then rip the panel out.
Now if you want the panel to take the same space just another one just click and drag move it on top of an existing panel you can sure with that white. Outline will pop up then that will tell you the one you let you go it will now take the same spot and you can just select each one of those with the tab.
Okay, lastly in the interface are several kinds of buttons which are disposed in the panel’s tabs. Operation buttons these are buttons that when you click on they will perform some kind of operation these could be identified by the brownish color in the default blunder colors scheme.
Toggle buttons these come in various sizes and colors and the color is green, violet and gray. They have change functionality they just help the eye to group the button and recognize the contents of the interface more quickly. Clicking on this type of button will simply change it from a state of on or off.
Now, there are some buttons that actually have a third state, I will give you a example of this. Okay, some buttons will actually have a third state so right now there’s normal mapping button is curly off to click it once. It is now on, now click on again it is still on but now it is negative. So that is very helpful when you’re mapping black and white textures to do things like what’s said normal map to control of the activity things like that.
Okay, then you will have we call the radio buttons. These are mutually exclusive buttons that in a given group only one can be on at a time. As on this for example, okay then you have some in there called number buttons. Number buttons can be identified by their captions which contain a colon fold by a number. These buttons are handled in various ways, the first to increase the value. You can left click the—on the right of the button row arrows to increase a number and then if you click on the other arrow that will decrease the number. Now, if you want to change the number in a lighter range just click and then drag and then you can see I can quickly move to a number that I want.
Now, if I hold down shift you will see at this numbers moves slower, a seconds may little bit more fine to control over that button. Now, if you want to do fix documents just left click and drag as you hold down control, that is when you can see now and it only goes in recommends of one. If you—or if you just want to use the keyboard and the number you can do it that ways well, just click on the number and then you can use the keyboard to tell a number you want.
Okay now some buttons are—some of these number buttons actually contain a slider rather than these arrows like this spectacular receive for example, if you just click and drag on the knob you can change the value and also, the shift and control modifier apply to as well. And as you will find it actually applies to other aspects of the interfaces as far as moving objects the things like that. So, we hold on shift then you can see that I have to move the mouse a lot more to change the value and then if I hold on control it will do it in a fix increment.
Okay, then also you have what you called Color Buttons. These are box as the color inside of it and that tells you like what color you are currently using. So, when you click on it the color picker pops up. You can change the hue down here and then here you can change the luminous see and the saturation. Now, once when you find the color that you want if you want to save it to this pallet right here just hold down control and then left click and then that currently select the color will be save, and then you can click on this colors later to pick it.
Now let say you found a—you have a color and then you say well I really want the revert it back to previous color all you have to do is just click on that previous color button and then I’ll save it. So, now in order to keep it this color just press escape or move your mouse outside of the box and then there you have it.
Okay, now you have the menu buttons you can use the menu button to choose from dynamically created lists, menu buttons are principally used to link data blocks to each other. Data blocks are structures like measures, objects, materials, textures and so on. By linking a material to an object you assign it. The first button this one right here of the tiny little arrows pointing up and down. That opens a menu that let us you select the data block to link it. As you can see right now, we currently have an objects like to and that MA stands for material and since there is only one material that still that we can select.
Now, this next one right here is this pointing the title if you left click on it you can change the name of the material to whatever you want. Now, that X button right there that will basically clear the link at a removes that link from this object to that material. Now, that color button right there that will automatically create a name for that material. Materials usually start with the name just material and if you make duplicate of one be material .001 click on that you will look on materials they go this is a red materials. So, I click that and said red. So, it has a bunch of names for colors that are stored at sort it will create a pretty this and name for it.
Okay and then you have the F button. The F buttons specifies whether the data block should be save in the file even if it is unused to on link. On link data is not flash until you quit blunder. This is powerful and do feature if you delete an object the materials signed to becomes a link but it is still there. You just have to re-link it to another object or press this F button. So, when you do that, you can see that will be save no matter if it is to an object or not.
Okay and up to the toolbox after I put this back in its place to this long here we go, okay by pressing space bar and the 3D view port or by holding the left mouse button or the right mouse button with the same mouse for more than half a second. That opens a tool box, so this contains six main contexts arranged on two lines each of which opens menus and the submenus. This allows you to do all kinds of cool stuff and we’ll talk about this later as we go on through the tutorials.
Now, do not worry if you don’t understand everything yet, this tutorials more of a crash course to get you familiar with the interface and to let you know how to find everything. Most of all we talked about we will come up against sooner or later when we actually use the things that we have pointed it out. So, you do not have to worry about you memorize in everything right now. Just—it is just a crash course but one thing you really should understand fully for this tutorial is how to customize the interface. So, we talked about in the beginning.
Now, you know how to do that, does that mean that you have to customized the interface every single time you start modeling or doing animation or doing video editing. Yes, blunder does have a video editor. You can actually save this like a screen preset, so better call this screens, now what will happens when you down control and then use the left or right arrows on your keyboard. When I have the windows like this—a junk. I moved it—okay there you see we can select between previously defined customize screens setter great for whatever task we are again be doing.
Like this one for example is for animation this one is for modeling, material, your sequence editor watches blunders on video editor and you can also access them through here. If you want to but it is a slow when you do up but when you use the control left and right that will go through then alphabetically.
Now let us say that we want to add one. So, let say here we have a modeling screen then I want to create a screen for my text editor. So, I see add new there you can see a, create a new one but it added the .001 at the end that is the center convention for blunder to yes make duplicates and have different names. So, now we can change the name of it so let us call it 5-text editor. Now, you can see that I did five so that it will be the end of the less when I used the control left and right because it is you know alphabetized.
Alright, this one let us do revert with the 3D with the window type. We are going to set the window type to text editor. You can see it only takes this far the screen we want to take the entire screen. So, I out my mouse in the window that I want to keep move in join areas and there we go. And now we can have our own little thing on the text document. It is great, alright and then as we move between the rest of them, we just add a new one, a new screen add an effect on the other ones.
It is also possible to have several scenes or 3d worlds within the same blunder file. So basically, we have more than project and one blunder file. The scenes may use one another’s object will be completely separate from one another. You can select and create scenes with the CEE menu button and that all like you to select between different scenes and also as that you add a whole new ones. So, if we add a whole new one or when we create a new scene we can choose between four options to controls its contents.
Okay, the first one is empty, this creates a completely empty scene. Link objects, creates a new scene with the same contents as you currently select that scene so changes in one scene will also modify the other. Click object data this creates the new scene based on the currently selected scene with links to the same measures materials and so on. This means that when you change the objects positions and related properties. But the modifications to the actual mass materials and so on will also affect other scenes unless you mannerly make single user copies.
So, basically what this means is let us say you have a scene with the sport car and we have a scene of the sport car in on the show floor and we have a separate scene using this link object data with the car on the open road, and then after a while we decide all yeah well I really did not want to make that car yellow I want it to have red, pink job and then I also add a few of do that’s and maybe you want to add the fussy dies. And you make those changes in one scene and then you switch the other one and those changes to that model we have already been made. So, that can really save you a lot of time if you’re going to be using the exact same object in different scenes.
Okay and then you have full copy and that makes a fully independent scene with copies of the currently selected scenes contents so if you change an object in one scene, it would not affect the other. Okay, that is about does it for the interface. It is a lot of taking all it once but it will come naturally as you watch the rest of the tutorials and play around with the blunder on your own.
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