Unit 0.1 : Editors : 3D viewport/ Image Editor/ UV Editor Flashcards
Blender’s 3D Viewport Overview
Header Region
* Contains various menus and controls based on the current mode.
* Object Mode header includes:
- Mode Ctrl-Tab: Object Mode for editing different types of data.
- View: Tools for navigating in 3D space.
- Select: Tools for selecting objects.
- Add Shift-A: A list of different object types.
- Object: Tools for operating on objects.
- Transform Controls: Transform Orientation Comma, Pivot Point Period, Snapping Shift-Tab, Proportional Editing O.
- Display & Shading: Object Type Visibility, Viewport Gizmos, Viewport Overlays, X-Ray Alt-Z, and Viewport Shading.
Toolbar Region
* Contains tools depending on the current mode.
- Sidebar Region: Properties of the active object and tool.
- Asset Shelf Region: Quick access to assets for this specific mode.
Startup Scene
* Displays the startup scene after closing the splash screen.
Elements
* Cube: Mesh object with orange outline and origin.
* Light: Set of concentric black circles.
* Camera: Pyramid with a big triangle above it.
* 3D Cursor: Determines where newly added objects are placed.
* Grid Floor: Marks the zero height of the world.
* Text Info: Shows various bits of information.
Object Modes
* Object Mode: Default mode, available for all object types.
* Edit Mode: A mode for editing an object’s shape.
* Sculpt Mode: Provides an alternative toolset for editing an object’s shape.
* Vertex Paint Mode: A mesh-only mode that allows you to set your mesh’s vertex colors.
* Weight Paint Mode: A mesh-only mode dedicated to vertex group weighting.
* Texture Paint Mode: A mesh-only mode that allows you to paint a texture directly on the model.
* Particle Edit Mode: A mesh-only mode dedicated to particle systems.
* Pose Mode: An armature-only mode, dedicated to posing.
* Draw Mode: A Grease Pencil-only mode, dedicated to creating Grease Pencil strokes.
3d Viewport
Blender Mode Usage and Multi-Object Editing
- The cursor becomes a brush in Paint and Sculpt Modes.
- If a button or menu option doesn’t appear, it may be due to not being in the correct mode.
- Switching Objects: To switch between modes, press Alt-Q or hover over the object in the 3D Viewport.
- Multi-Object Editing: Edit Mode and Pose Mode allow working with multiple objects simultaneously.
- Modes can be entered by selecting all objects or bringing other objects by clicking Ctrl-LMB on the dot in the Outliner.
- Notes: Properties editor only shows details of the active object, not all selected ones.
- Limitations: Cannot create an edge connecting vertices from different objects.
3d Viewport
Navigation Gizmo Overview
* Navigation options: orbit, roll, pan, zoom in/out, zoom region, dolly view, fly/walk navigation, alignment, perspective/orthographic.
* Camera options: local view, toggle local view, camera view, active camera settings, frame camera boundaries, 1:1 zoom, camera positioning, view points, viewing regions, contextual views, and quad view.
3d Viewport
3D Cursor Overview
- A point in space with location and rotation.
- Used to define new object placement and manually position and orient transform gizmo.
- Some tools like Bend also use the Cursor.
Positioning the 3D Cursor
* Direct Placement with the Mouse: Use the Cursor tool in the Toolbar and click a point in the scene with LMB.
* Adjust orientation in tool settings: match the view orientation, surface normal of a piece of geometry, or transform orientation.
* Shift-RMB with any tool selected: 3D Cursor always aligned to the view orientation.
* Sidebar: 3D Cursor panel of the Sidebar region.
* Snap: Position the Cursor to the origin of the selected object.
3d Viewport: 3d cursor
3D Viewport Selection Tools
- Specific selection tools for the 3D Viewport: Select by Origin Ctrl and Selection Menu Alt.
- These keys allow object selection based on their origin.
- Mode-specific selection pages include Object Mode, Edit Mode, Mesh Edit Mode, Curve Edit Mode, Surface Edit Mode, Metaball Edit Mode, Text Edit Mode, Grease Pencil Edit Mode, Bone Edit Mode, Lattice Edit Mode, and Particle Edit Mode.
3d Viewport: selecting
Blender’s Snapping and Proportional Editing Modes
Snapping Mode
* Head: “Snap (snap-header-icon)”
* Shortcut: Shift-Tab
* Allows easy alignment of objects and mesh elements.
* Can be toggled by clicking the magnet icon in the 3D Viewport’s header or temporarily by holding Ctrl.
Snap Base
* Head: “Snapping ‣ Snap Base”
* Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-Tab
* Determines which point in the geometry is the snap base that will snap to the target.
* Snaps to the origin (in Object Mode) or center (in Edit Mode) of the active element.
* Snaps using the median of the selection.
* Snaps using the current transformation center (another word for the pivot point).
* Snaps using the vertex that’s closest to the target.
Snap Target
* Head: “Snapping ‣ Snap Target”
* Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-Tab
* Determines the target which the selection will be snapped to.
* Snaps to grid points, grid, vertex, edge, volume, edge center, edge perpendicular, etc.
Snap Target for Individual Elements
* Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-Tab
* Type of element for individual transformed elements to snap to.
* Snaps each object (in Object Mode) or vertex (in Edit Mode) to the face that’s closest to its new location.
Target Selection
* Sets more detailed snapping options.
* Snap to other mesh elements of the active object.
* Snap to other objects that are also in Edit Mode.
* Snap to same target face nearest.
* Snap to face nearest steps face nearest edit mode.
Snap Peel Object Volume
* Snaps to the island which the mouse is hovering over.
* Affect specifies which transformations are affected by snapping.
Proportional Editing
* Head: “prop-edit-icon Proportional Editing”
* Shortcut: O
* Proportional Editing is a way of transforming selected elements while also affecting nearby unselected elements.
* Controls: Disable O, only selected vertices will be affected.
* Proportional Size
* Adjusts the radius of the tool’s influence during a transform operation.
* Falloff
* Changes the curve profile while editing.
3d Viewport: controls
Display Overview
* Object Type Visibility: Gizmos.
* Display Overlays: Mesh, Sculpt, Vertex, Weight, Texture.
* Material Preview: Renderered.
* Wireframe: Solid.
3d Viewport: Displays
Toolbar Overview
* Lists tools for various modes.
* Includes Object, Edit, Mesh, Curve, Surface, Metaball, Paint, Sculpt, Texture, Vertex, Weight Paint.
* Includes various tools like Grease Pencil for editing, drawing, sculpting, and weight painting.
3d Viewport: Toolbar
3D Viewport Settings Overview
- Sidebar: Shows transform settings of active object.
- Tool: Shows settings of active tool and Workspace.
- View Panel: Allows changes to 3D Viewport settings.
- Key features:
- Control focal length of the 3D Viewport camera.
- Adjust minimum and maximum distances for geometry visibility.
- Warning: Large clipping range reduces depth precision and may cause operations relying on the depth buffer to become unreliable.
- Local Camera: Allows the 3D Viewport to have its own active camera.
- Passepartout: Shows camera passepartout when in camera view.
- Render Region: Uses the Render Region.
- View Lock: Lock to Object, Lock – To 3D Cursor, Lock – Camera to View, Lock – Rotation.
- 3D Cursor: Location, Rotation, and Rotation Mode.
- Collections: List of collections and control their visibility.
- Local Collections: Allows setting collection visibility per viewport.
- Hide in Viewport (eye icon): Shows or hides the collection.
- Isolate a collection by clicking its name.
3d Viewport: Sidebar
Viewport Render Overview
- Allows quick preview renders from the current viewpoint.
- Can be used to render both images and animations.
- Works only for the Workbench and EEVEE render engines.
- Disables overlays for a render without “clutter”.
- Uses current viewport settings and some settings from the render engine’s properties.
- Output settings include resolution, aspect, output path, and file format.
- Renders from the current active view, using a virtual camera if not in an active camera view.
- Renders still images and animations.
- Uses 3D Viewport ‣ View ‣ Viewport Render Image for still images.
- Uses 3D Viewport ‣ View ‣ Viewport Render Animation for animations.
- Uses 3D Viewport ‣ View ‣ Viewport Render Keyframes for animations with keyframes.
- Limits viewport render to a particular region with Render Regions.
3d Viewport: Viewport Render
Image Editor Overview
* Toolbar: Header, Asset Shelf Region, Main View, Navigation.
* View Menu: Sidebar, Tool, Image, View.
* Scopes: Overlays, Geometry, Image, Image Settings.
* Common Options: New, Open, Cached Render, Replace, Reload, Edit Externally, Copy/Paste, Save, Invert, Resize, Transform, Pack, Unpack, Extract Palette, Generate Grease Pencil.
Image Editor
Image Editor Overview
- The Image Editor allows creation, viewing, and editing of images.
- It includes tools for sample color, color in RGBA, RGB after Color Management, color in HSV, and luminance.
- The sample size is the dimensions of the square used to sample underlying pixels.
- Annotations are available for more information.
- The editor has various modes including View, Paint, Mask, and Image.
- The Image tab appears in the Sidebar region after selecting an image.
- The Data-block selector includes Render Result, Viewer Node, Image Pin, Slot, View Layer, and Render Pass.
- The View Layer and Render Pass can be renamed.
- The Viewport Gizmos can be shown/hidden using the toggle button or specific gizmos.
- The Display Channels feature allows selecting which color channels are displayed.
- The Asset Shelf Region provides quick access to assets for specific modes.
- Holding RMB samples the image like the Sample tool, but only samples one pixel.
Image Editor
Image Editor Navigation and Features
Navigating Options
* Panning and zooming can be done using MMB, Wheel, or NumpadPlus/NumpadMinus.
* Gizmos allow comfortable panning and zooming when no mouse wheel is available.
View Menu
* Toolbar T and Sidebar N can be shown or hidden.
* Tool Settings can be shown or hidden.
Asset Shelf
* Visibility of the Asset Shelf can be toggled.
Adjust Last Operation
* A pop-up panel can be used to alter properties of the last completed operation.
Update Automatically
* The editor automatically updates any other editors affected by changes in the image editor.
Display Texture Paint UVs
* Toggles UVs in Paint Mode.
* Zoom levels and operations are calculated based on the image’s resolution compared to the screen resolution.
Zoom In/Out Wheel
* Zooms the view in or out.
Zoom to Fit Shift-Home
* Uses as much space in the editor as possible.
Zoom Region Shift-B
* Zooms in the view to the nearest item contained in the border.
Frame All Home
* Pans and zooms the view so that the image is centered and fully visible.
Center View to Cursor
* Pans the view so that the 2D cursor is at the center of the editor.
Render Region Ctrl-B
* Only available when viewing the Render Result.
Render Slot Cycle Next/Previous J/Alt-J
* Switch to the next/previous render slot.
Area
* Adjusts the area the Image Editor is in.
Sidebar
* Displays the settings of the active tool.
Image
* Image Tools for working with images.
Metadata
* Lists image metadata.
View
* Displays the editor’s display options.
Aspect Ratio
* Displays aspect for this image.
Repeat Image
* Tiles the image so it completely fills the editor.
Annotations
* Options for the annotation tool.
Scopes
* Displays different kinds of statistical information about the colors in the image.
Histogram
* Displays a graph of the color distribution in the image.
Luma
* Shows a luminosity histogram.
RGB
* Shows RGB channels stacked on top of each other.
Show Line
* Displays lines rather than filled shapes.
Waveform
* Plots the color distribution for each vertical line of pixels in the image.
Vectorscope
* Shows the color distribution in a radial fashion.
Sample Line
* Allows you to get the sample data from a line.
Samples
* Full Sample
* Sample every pixel.
Overlays
* Overlays pop-over configures the overlays that are displayed on top of images.
Image Editor
Image Settings in Blender
Source:
* Select the type of image to use.
* Single Image: A static image.
* Image Sequence: An animation where each frame is stored in a separate file.
* Movie: A video file.
Frames:
* Set the number of frames to play.
* Match Movie Length: Sets the Frames to the number of frames in the video file.
* Start: The scene frame at which the video should start playing.
* Offset: Number of frames to offset the video to an earlier point in time.
* Cyclic: Start over after the last frame to create a continuous loop.
Auto Refresh:
* Play the video in the Image Editor when the scene animation is playing.
* Deinterlace: Apply deinterlacing to interlaced (analog) video.
Generated:
* Image generated by Blender.
X, Y:
* The width and height of the image in pixels.
Float Buffer:
* Creates a 32-bit image with more color information than the standard 8-bit image.
Type:
* Blank: Creates a blank image of a single specified color.
UV Grid:
* Creates a checkerboard pattern with a colored cross (+) in each square.
Color:
* The fill color when creating a Blank image.
Common Options:
* File: Used for replacing or packing files.
* Pack: Embedded the resource into the current blend-file.
* Path: Preferred path to the linked file.
* Open: Opens the File Browser to select a file from a drive.
* Reload: Used when the file has been reworked in an external application.
Color Space:
* The Color Space the image file was saved in.
* Alpha: How the image uses its Alpha Channel.
* Straight: Store RGB and alpha channels separately with alpha acting as a mask.
Blender’s Image Processing Settings
- Store RGB channels with alpha multiplied in, also known as associated alpha.
- Channel Packed: Different images are packed in the RGB and alpha channels, not affecting each other.
- None: Ignore the alpha channel from the file and make the image fully opaque.
- Half Float Precision: Load the image with a bit depth of only 16 bits per channel instead of 32, saving memory.
- View as Render: Apply the color management settings when displaying the image on the screen.
- Seam Margin: The thickness of the margin around UV islands for texture painting to bleed into.
- Texture Paint Mode: Uses a fixed margin for texture painting, but may reduce painting performance.
- Editing: New, Open, Replace, Reload, Edit Externally, Copy/Paste, and Platform Specific Behavior.
Image Editor
Linux Image Management Tools
- Save: Use Alt-S shortcut to save image to current path.
- Save As: Save image to a separate file with configurable output settings.
- Save a Copy: Save file under specified name, keep old one open in Image editor.
- Save All Images: Save all modified images, repack packed images.
- Invert: Invert image colors and single color channel.
- Resize: Adjust image dimensions by scaling pixel resolution.
- Transform: Flip horizontally, vertically, clockwise, counter-clockwise, or 180°.
- Pack: Pack image into blend-file.
- Unpack: Unpack image to a drive.
- Extract Palette: Extract a Color Palette from image for painting tools.
- Generate Grease Pencil: Create a Grease Pencil object using selected image as a source.
Image Editor
UV Editor Overview
- UV Editor is used for editing UV maps, which describe how a 2D image should be mapped onto a 3D object.
- UV maps are used when the desired look is hard to achieve with procedural textures or if the texture is not uniform.
- UV maps are flat areas where each face of the 3D object is laid out on the 2D image, specifying which part of the image it should be textured with.
- The name “UV” refers to the axes of the map: U for horizontal, V for vertical.
- UV mapping is analogous to cutting up a cardboard box, where U is the left-right direction and V is the up-down direction.
- A UV map describes how the mesh’s faces are laid out on the texture, giving complete freedom in how to do this.
- UV maps can also overlap, making them share the same part of the texture.
- A common problem in UV maps is distortion, where the checkered squares in the 2D texture get different sizes when applied to the 3D dome.
- The UV Editor header contains several menus and options for working with UVs, including Sync Selection, Selection Mode, Sticky Selection Mode, View, Select, Image, UV, Pivot Period, Snap Shift-Tab, Proportional Editing, Image Pin, Show Gizmo, Navigation Gizmos, Show Overlays, Active UV Map Layer, Display Channels, and Display Channels.
UV Editor
UV Editor Navigation and Selection Modes
Navigating
* 2D Viewport: Pinning and zooming can be done using MMB, Wheel, or NumpadPlus/NumpadMinus.
* Gizmos: Gizmos allow panning and zooming more comfortably when no mouse wheel is available.
* View Menu: Change the view so all selected UV vertices are visible.
* Frame Selected NumpadPeriod: Change the view so all selected UV vertices are visible.
* 2D Cursor: A Cursor that can be jumped to (View ‣ Center View to Cursor).
* Overlays: A button in the header can turn off all overlays for the UV Editor.
* Overlays pop-over: A drop-down button opens a pop-over with more detailed settings.
Overlays
* Display Stretch: Show how much of a shape difference there is between UV space and 3D space.
* Geometry: UV Opacity: Opacity of edges and faces.
* Display As: Control how edges are shown.
* Faces: Display faces over the image.
* Image: Show Metadata: Display metadata about the selected Render Result.
Selection Modes
* Sync Selection: Shows faces that are selected in the 3D Viewport.
* Mesh Selection: Sticky Selection Mode: Options for automatically selecting additional UV vertices.
* Shared Location: Automatically select UV vertices that correspond to the same mesh vertex and have the same UV coordinates.
* Select Menu: All A, None Alt-A, Invert Ctrl-I, Box Select B, Box Select Pinned Ctrl-B, Circle Select, Lasso Select, More/Less Ctrl-NumpadPlus, Ctrl-NumpadMinus.
* Similar Shift-G: Selects UV elements that are similar to the active one in some way.
* Adjust Last Operation panel: Type, Vertex Selection Mode, Edge Selection Mode, Face Selection Mode, Material Selection Mode, Object Selection, Polygon Sides, Winding, Island Selection Mode, Comparison Operator, Linked Ctrl-L, Shortest Path.
UV Editor
UV Selection Operators Overview
- Sticky Selection is a pure selection operator in UV space, which automatically selects the vertices of neighboring faces.
- Select Split deselects these vertices again.
- Sticky Selection Mode can be disabled to avoid this.
Select Overlap
* Selects all UV faces that overlap each other.
Shortest Path
* Selects all UV elements along the shortest path between two elements.
Face Stepping
* Allows the path to step across faces, following their diagonal rather than their edges.
Topology Distance
* Calculates the distance by counting edges rather than measuring their lengths.
Fill Region Shift-Ctrl-LMB
* Selects all shortest paths.
Dashed Line Options
* Allows selection at regular intervals, creating a “dashed line.”
Select Edge Loop
* Selects an edge and expands the selection parallel to it.
Select Edge Ring
* Selects an edge and expands the selection perpendicular to it.
Snapping
* Allows easy alignment of UV elements to others.
Snap Target
* Snaps to grid points, grid, and vertex.
* Additional options include Snap Base Vertex, Affect, Rotation Increment, and Rotation Precision Increment.
UV Editor
UV Editor
UV Editor
