The Basics: Interface & Navigation
Understanding the Blender window is the first step. The main parts are the 3D Viewport (where you see your model), the Outliner (a list of all items in your scene), and the Properties panel (settings for your selected item).
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Orbit View | Middle Mouse Button |
| Pan View | Shift + Middle Mouse Button |
| Zoom View | Mouse Wheel or Ctrl + MMB |
| Frame Selected | Numpad . |
| Front/Side/Top View | Numpad 1, 3, 7 |
| Toggle Camera View | Numpad 0 |
| Toggle Perspective/Ortho | Numpad 5 |
Object Mode: Manipulating Objects
Object Mode is for arranging, rotating, and scaling whole objects. To edit an object's actual shape, you need to enter Edit Mode (Tab).
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Toggle Edit/Object Mode | Tab |
| Move (Grab) | G then X/Y/Z to lock axis |
| Rotate | R then X/Y/Z to lock axis |
| Scale | S then X/Y/Z to lock axis |
| Add Object Menu | Shift + A |
| Delete Object | X or Delete |
| Duplicate Object | Shift + D |
| Apply Transformations | Ctrl + A (Important for rigging!) |
Modeling: Shaping Your Mesh
In Edit Mode, you can manipulate the vertices, edges, and faces that make up your object's mesh. This is how you create characters, props, and environments.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Switch Select Mode | 1 Verts, 2 Edges, 3 Faces |
| Extrude | E (Pulls out new geometry) |
| Inset Faces | I (Creates a new face inside a face) |
| Bevel | Ctrl + B (Rounds corners and edges) |
| Loop Cut | Ctrl + R (Adds edge loops for more detail) |
| Fill / Create Face | F (Connects selected vertices/edges) |
Rigging: Creating a Skeleton
Rigging is giving your model a skeleton (an "Armature") so it can be posed and animated. Without a rig, a character mesh is just a static statue.
> 1. Add Armature: In Object Mode, press Shift + A > Armature to add the first bone.
> 2. Build Skeleton: Go to Edit Mode (Tab). Select the tip of a bone and press E to extrude new bones. Build a simple stick-figure skeleton inside your mesh.
> 3. Parent Mesh to Rig: Go back to Object Mode. Select your character mesh FIRST, then hold Shift and select the Armature. Press Ctrl + P and choose 'With Automatic Weights'. Blender will bind the mesh to the bones.
> 4. Pose Mode: Select the rig and press Ctrl + Tab to enter Pose Mode. Now you can rotate bones (R) to pose your character.
Animation: Bringing it to Life
Animation is done by setting "keyframes" on a timeline. A keyframe saves an object's position, rotation, or scale at a specific point in time. Blender creates the motion between keyframes.
> 1. Open Timeline: At the bottom of the screen is the Timeline. You can drag the blue playhead to different frame numbers.
> 2. Set First Keyframe: Go to frame 1. In Pose Mode, select a bone and pose it. Press I and choose 'Location, Rotation & Scale'. A yellow diamond (keyframe) appears on the timeline.
> 3. Set Second Keyframe: Move the playhead to another frame (e.g., 20). Move the bone to a new pose. Press I again to set another keyframe.
> 4. Play Animation: Press the Spacebar to see your animation play. Blender smoothly transitions between your two poses.
Your Workflow: Adding Animations to a GLB
This is the process for importing an existing rigged model, seeing its animations, creating new ones, and exporting them all in one file.
> 1. Import GLB: Go to `File > Import > glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf)` and open your file.
> 2. View Existing Animations: Change your Timeline window into a Dope Sheet. Then, change the Dope Sheet's mode to Action Editor. A dropdown menu will appear showing all the animations baked into the file (e.g., "walk", "jump"). You can select any of them to view or edit.
> 3. Create a New Animation: In the Action Editor, click the + New button. Give your new animation a name (e.g., "roll"). Now, you can start setting keyframes on the timeline for this new action, just like in the section above. It will be saved as a separate animation clip.
> 4. Export Everything: Go to `File > Export > glTF 2.0`. In the export settings panel on the right, navigate to the Animation tab. Make sure Include Animations is checked. Blender will automatically gather all the Actions (your old and new animations) and save them into the single GLB file.
Rendering: Creating Images & Videos
Rendering is the final step where Blender generates your 2D image or video file from your 3D scene.
> 1. Setup Camera: Add a camera (Shift + A) and look through it (Numpad 0). Use Shift + ` (tilde key) for "fly mode" to position your view.
> 2. Choose Render Engine: In the Properties panel, go to `Render Properties` (camera icon). Choose `Eevee` for fast, game-engine style renders, or `Cycles` for slow, photorealistic renders.
> 3. Set Output Settings: Go to `Output Properties` (printer icon).
- Set resolution (e.g., 1920x1080).
- Set the animation `Start` and `End` frames.
- Choose an `Output` path to save your file.
- For videos, set `File Format` to `FFmpeg video` and choose a video `Container` like `MPEG-4`.
> 4. RENDER!:
- To render one image: Press F12.
- To render the full animation: Press Ctrl + F12.