Launching Blender
- Free
To start, download Blender 4.5 LTS which is the version this course was designed for.
Once you are done installing, open Blender, where you will be greeted by the Splash Screen.
What can I find on the Splash screen?
- Under New File you can open a Blender configured for that specific task in mind such as Video Editing
- You can Open... any Blend-file by selecting this option.
- Recover Last Session will open the last Blender file you were working on.
- Once you start working in different files, the most Recent Files will show you the names of these files.
- You are always welcome to Donate :).
- What's New brings you to a page describing the latest features of this Blender version (4.5 LTS in our case) and the page where you have downloaded Blender as well.
By clicking anywhere but the Splash Screen, you remove it and we can start.
Go to the top left corner Edit > Preferences, which will create a floating window with Blender's Preferences.
Go to Interface at the top, here you should see the Resolution Scale parameter that can be adjusted. Maybe you have a high resolution monitor or a smaller screen. Adjust this factor to make sure you are working comfortably, you can always change this later.
Next we will jump all the way to Input here you can change various input behaviors. If you don't have a middle mouse button (MMB) you can emulate it by holding a certain button like Alt. Blender supports a drawing tablet if you have one, it has some advantages and disadvantage compared to a mouse:
- More accurate painting and sculpting with pressure sensitivity
- Ergonomic
- But, it doesn't usually have a scroll wheel which makes a few operations slightly slower
Any other input setting, you can visit this Input page.
Next is the Keymap where we will talk about the main mouse button that is used to select elements within a software. Most software uses the left mouse button (LMB) but Blender can be utilized in a more efficient way by using the right mouse button (RMB). The biggest difference is between the:
- Selection functionality, like selecting objects.
- Operation functionality, like moving objects.
This essentially allows faster switching between these two aspects and in many use-cases like weight painting, having this distinction, simply gets the job done faster. Another benefit is stress relief from using the same finger over and over again. But by using the RMB we allow another finger to share the load. We recommend you use the RMB while working in Blender, which will ultimately speed up various tasks once proficiency increases. But it is up to you if you want to switch.
The last part of this lesson is about the System.
At the top are Cycles Render Devices which are various ways of computing using specific hardware.
which one should I select?
- An Nvidia graphics device, select CUDA or Optix
- CUDA is generally more compatible and reliable and is lighter on the CPU (processor)
- Optix is CUDA based but specifically designed for ray tracing that Cycles can benefit from, shortening render times
- Has the option to use the CPU as well
- An AMD gaphics device HIP with the option to enable HIP RT (Ray Tracing)
- Has the option to use the CPU as well
- OneAPI for Intel gaphics devices
- Metal for Apple devices
- MetalRT can offer several performance improvements
Based on your hardware, you can enable both the GPU and CPU to increase performance. For more information, visit the system page.
Once we have set these settings correctly, don't forget to hit the Save Preferences * button so that Blender remembers any changes next time.
That was the end of the lesson, we have:
- Set various Blender settings to improve efficiency and comfort
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