Add, Duplicate & Delete
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In this section, we will learn about the Add Menu to add new objects, duplicate, deleting them and hiding objects.
Adding Objects
Open a new Blender file and press Shift + A (with your mouse in the 3D Viewport), a menu will appear where you can hover your mouse over different object types.
Go to Mesh > Cube.
What is the 3D Cursor?
You might have noticed that the cube has been added at the exact same spot as the 3D cursor. Every object you add will be placed at the 3D Cursor location. This means that if you change the location of the 3D Cursor, you will add the object to that spot. You can change the location of the cursor by simply clicking LMB in the 3D Viewport and adding another object of your choice. More on how to do this more accurately in the upcoming 3D Cursor section.
Duplicating
Select one of your objects by using LMB (depending on preference) and notice how the selected objects have an orange outline and orange dot (which is the pivot point). More on making selections later in this chapter.
Now we can duplicate using Shift + D to duplicate an object. Notice how the object is attached to your cursor when you move your cursor around. To confirm, use LMB. Notice how in the Outliner, the duplicated object has a suffix ".001"; this is how Blender renames a duplicated object with the same name.
Is there another way to duplicate objects?
The other method is using Duplicate Linked which means that the mesh data is connected or linked. When changing the model's shape in Edit Mode, it will be the same because it is the same mesh data. We can find these options in the Object menu.
Deleting
The last part of this lesson is deleting objects, which can be done in the 3D Viewport and Outliner. Select an object and use either the X or Del-button. The difference is that Del immediately deletes the object, and X in the viewport will prompt you if you want to actually delete the selection.
However, in the Outliner, both shortcuts will delete the selection without confirmation. Be careful when deleting your selection in the Outliner.
Menu Search
Sometimes it is difficult to find what you want to do in Blender. For this and upcoming lessons, you can always use F3 to open the Menu Search and type what you want to do. This works in various editors and modes depending on context.
Hiding
Hiding objects or mesh elements is a practical solution to create a better overview of the scene.
After duplicating (Shift + D) the default cube twice, use H to Hide the selection. At the bottom, a notification will tell you how many objects are hidden.
Note
In the Outliner, that the cubes are "greyed out" and the "eye icon" is closed, meaning they aren't visible.
By using Alt + H we Unhide anything we have hidden. In the Outliner the "eye icon" should be open again.
To hide everything but the selection, we can use Hide Unselected by using Shift + H.
Note
How everything in the Outliner is now hidden, the Camera and Light too.
If we now Unhide by using Alt + H, everything will be shown and selected.
We can also enable Local View by using / or Numpad / that will "isolate" the selected object(s). This is useful to focus on specific object(s) without having to worry about the rest of the scene. In the top left corner, it should say "(Local)". Notice how everything in the Outliner is unaffected.
Hiding, Unhiding and Hide Unselected also works in Edit Mode.
Note
Notice: by moving the top face of the cube while the sides are hidden, will still transform the sides to the top face. Hiding doesn't affect topology and isn't a way to "separate" geometry.
That was the end of the lesson. We have learned:
- How to add objects using the Add menu.
- How to select and duplicate objects and how Blender renames duplicated objects.
- How to delete objects and the difference between using
XandDel.- To use the Menu Search
F3to find what you're looking for.- How Hiding and Local View works.
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