Real Driver Park

1.) View

2.) Sculpting

3.) Memory

Please leave your comments.

Right Click Selection

Multiple Selection

Deselection

Select All

Edge Loop

Vertices, Edges, Faces

Usually you should select the vertices, but occassionally it is smart to select the faces or edges. This can be done by changing what you want to select as seen in the image below. This can also be done witht the hotkey [Ctrl]+[Tab].

Box Selection

[B] This is an excellent method to select that allows you to draw a box around what will be selected. This is especially useful when using it in a view such as front view [1] (and orthographic [5]). Remember that you can also deselect with box mode with [Shift]+[B].

Circle Selection

[C] This will allow you to color over your model and anything within the circle will be selected. You can adjust the circle size by scrolling. When finished with your selection push [Enter] to apply or [Esc] to exit.

Lasso Selection

[Ctrl] + [Right Click Drag] Draw the shape around what you want to select.

Vertex Group Selection

This is a really awesome feature that you will need to know for more advance use of blender. Here are the steps which can also be seen below:

1. Make your Selection
2. Go into the Object Data Menu
3. Click on the Add button to create a new vertex group
4. Name your vertex group (optional, but makes it easy to work with)
5. Click assign to make your selection apply to the vertex group
6. At any point in time you can select this vertex group

Wireframe

This is not a selection, it is view that will make selection easier. You can go into wireframe with [Z] or using the button seen below. Note that your selection will be both the front and back of your model now.

See through selection

Another way to select everything in front and in back is to turn on the see through feature by pushing the button. Your model will go see through as seen below.

Linked Selection

[L] This is extremely useful as it will guess selections for you. An example is when you want to split an object into two you can use this to select the object. You can also slowly adjust the selection with [Ctrl] + [+] or [-] to grow or shrink it as seen below.

Invert Selection

Random & Pattern Selections

Inner Loop Selection

Please leave your comments.

• User Friendly
• Quick & ready to export
• Exporting options
• Controls

• Limited Templates (ring, bowl, snake, etc.)
• Can't import in your own objects

Intro, Dive In:

Object Mode:

Edit Mode:

Please leave your comments.

Sketch

Dimensions

If you ignore dimensions, then I don't know why you are even using a CAD program. Being able to add dimensions onto your sketch and model is the best thing to get in a good habit of.

I always say you can test a sketch to see if it is fully constrained by wiggling all of the elements. If anything moves than that part needs a dimension to constrain the model. Basically dimensions limit what the sketch can do. You add dimensions on your sketch until your sketch is static and can't move anywhere. This also will save you frustration later down when tools fail. The best habit to get into right out of gate with these programs is a fully constrained sketch every time.

Extrude

The basic of basic tools is an extrude, which takes your sketch and moves it straight to make a 3D object. It's the same as a sweep with a straight path. This is probably the most common tool. 

Note: For most tools you can choose to add or subtract. So you can add the extrude to the object or subtract the extrude to the object as seen below:

Revolve

This requires a sketch and an axis to rotate the sketch around. This would be like a sweep but with a circle path. Between extrudes and revolves alone, mostly things can be made. 

Sweep

I will start with the sweep because I think if you understand this tool then you can understand the others easier. A sweep is what I call the "snake tool" and requires a sketch and a path. The sketch then will follow the path, creating a 3D object. For example: sketch=circle and a path will make a tube like shape. 

Loft

When I think of loft, I think of an airplane wing. This tool takes multiple sketches and blends them together. So if the first sketch is a circle and the second is a star, this will create a 3 model that starts of looking like a cylinder and then gradually changes into a star shape. 

Chamfer / Fillet

I think of this tool as softening the edges so they aren't so sharp. These not only make you model look good, but they are also make your model more comfortable a safe. And it also makes your model stronger as stresses tend to love to gather in sharp edges. 

Shell

Think hollow. For 3D printing, the default on your printer automatically shells your object to save on material. But you can always change to setting to print solid, or the thickness to how you shelled your model. 

Split

When it comes to 3D printing and you only use PLA or ABS, this tool will be your best friend. You can print models that would need supports without any by printing your model in parts and then connecting the parts afterwards. I do this all the time and highly suggest it, to avoid supports. 

For more information you can download my powerpoints under "Classroom Powerpoints"
http://guides.lib.byu.edu/content.php?pid=529916&sid=4360174

Please leave a comment.
And as always, thanks for visiting.
3D Printing Ninja
3DNinjaneer@gmail.com

1.) Topology

Think of the size and amount of the faces that make up the model as high definition. If you want your model to look like an 8-bit video game then use large and few faces. But if you want your model to look 1080p high def then you will need lots of faces that are small. As a rule of thumb all of your faces should look similar to each other in size and shape. The main exception is if certain areas of your model have more detail. For example if you were modeling an arm, the knuckles you need more faces than the rest of the model in order to get the detail of the wrinkles. 

The sphere above for example, has bad uniform geometry. Notice how the faces near the equator are compared to those at the poles. They go from squares to rectangles to triangles. This is why I almost never start with a sphere, but rather use a cube and evolve the cube to a sphere by subdividing it.

Only subdivide the geometry when you have no other choice. Subdividing is a way that makes 1 face become 4 faces giving the model more geometry to work with and making better detail. Life would be great if you could subdivide a million times, however the computer can't process that. When you start it will be tempting to simply subdivide the model to acheive what you want. But you will run into a dead end when your computer can't handle it. Therefore if you can make good topology, then you won't need to subdivide the model as much and your computer will love you and you won't be yelling at your computer. It's very easy to go from low definition to high. To see this in action subdivide the square or Suzanne the monkey, to see how easy it is to get better definition. So don't worry if your model looks too blocky it will smooth out in a blink of an eye. Definitely learn to use the multistage tool.  

Your geometry can be composed of many shapes, the best is geometry made of all squares. The reason is because squares make editing a model easy. For example you can add or deleted an edge loop like a boss. Other shapes won't. The other common way is to use triangles which is mostly used in video games because less geometry is needed speeding up the processing of the game. But for 3D printing we aren't concerned about how many faces there are, as long as we can model it. Also if you cut a square diagonally in half it becomes two triangles, so if you have to convert it, it is easy. I almost always start my model from a square and almost always only use square faces. 

There is usually a tool to find non-manifolds on a model, which are problems the printer has with the model. When you design, often check the model for non manifolds. On Blender this can easily be done in edit mode--}select non-manifolds or hotkey (shift+alt+ctrl+M). A simple way to accidentally create a non-manifold is to duplicate geometry. This can be done by extruding geometry but not actual translating it to a new location. Even more so often when you undo an action make sure you undo enough times. Very often the non-manifolds I find in my models are due not pushing undo enough. 

Please leave your comments.