Introduction
Hello everyone! I go by the name ap_ek and as of today i’ll hopefully teach you all the basics of blender, from simply moving a cube, to creating the most amazing things in this Beginner friendly tutorial!
Downloading Blender
First of all, before i even start talking about moving things around, and all that. You would need to install blender if you haven’t already, simple click this link:
Getting Started
Step 1:
After you’ve had finished downloading blender and it’s good to go, (or if you have already blender installed and is the latest version) Then simple open it up.
Normally when you load into blender you should see a splash screen and some options, your screen should look like this:
Please do not panic, it will always show you this when you start-up blender, all you need to do is select the “General” Button in the “New File” section if you wish to model.
Step 2:
Now that you have successfully done the above, you should now see something like this:
Now we are gonna cover up some Controls, shall we?
Navigation Controls
- Middle Mouse: Look around
- Shift + Middle Mouse + Move your Mouse = Side movement
- Ctrl + Middle Mouse + Mouse up / down = Zoom
Pro tip: If you cannot find an object in blender simply select it in Collection tab and press the period key (.) on your numberpad. (Same applies to selected faces/vertices/edges in Edit mode (we’ll cover that soon!)
Modeling Part:
Now after you’ve selected your cube, you simple go into edit mode.
now when you select the “Mode selection” Button which is circled in Blue like above, it will show you a list. Simple click “Edit Mode”
If it shows like the picture above, you’re good to go my friend!
Now for today we’ll be modeling a Desk Lamp since that’s the most basic thing i can think of.
Starting to Model the object we want.
For now we are gonna have to delete the poor Default Cube and insert a cylinder, to do that you’re gonna have to press A on your keyboard and press ‘Delete’ key, and select Delete Vertices, then press Shift + A to insert a new mesh, click “Cylinder”, now your screen should look like this:
Now the real fun starts, we are going to model!
Now to make your life easier as a new Blender user, Press “3” on your keyboard to go into “Face Select”, if your screen looks like this your good to go my friend.
Now we are gonna list some Modeling Controls before you continue making the base of your Desk Lamp
Modeling Controls:
E - Extrude
I - Inset Face | Double Pressing I changes mode | Mode 1: Inset All faces connected into one | Mode 2: Inset faces separately.
S - Scale
Ctrl + B - Bevel Edges
Ctrl + Shift + B - Bevel Vertices on selected face(s)
Double Tap G | Edge Slide | In Edge mode (Press 2 to enter edge select mode, but for more stick to Face select mode please since we aren’t required to edge slide anything yet!)
Pro tip 2: When you make a mistake press Ctrl + Z to undo, or press Shift + Ctrl + Z to redo.
When you have taken a good look at the controls i want you to scale down the cylinder in Z Axis, to do that you’re gonna do A (to select the whole mesh) then press S + Z to scale down the Z axis, when your cylinder looks like the picture below you’re good to go:
Then select the top face, and extrude it up a little,
Now we are gonna use the powerful Bevel tool to make it have a Round top. For that your gonna have to select the Top face (if you haven’t already or unselected it for some reason) then press Ctrl + B and scroll your mouse wheel up until it looks round enough and you’re happy with what you have.
Now that you have your base of the Desk Lamp switch into object mode and insert a new cylinder, then Press S + Z To scale it up in the Z Axis, the press S to scale the whole thing smaller, until it looks something like this:
Now that you have that, we are gonna go into the modifier tab
once you have clicked it there will be a “Add modifier” Button, click it, and insert a “Mirror” Modifier.
If you have done it correctly it should show up at this:
then go back to “Edit Mode” and in the modifier tab, select the X Axis if it isn’t selected already, and when you move your cylinder (Always press A and select the Move button to move your cylinder around in blender!) You’ll find out to see 2 cylinders, means the mirror is working!
Then just place the cylinder in position like in the picture above.
After you’ve done that successfully. Select the top face only and drag down with the Move tool.
If done, press A and scale the cylinder so it looks wider like the picture below. (you might wanna move it again so it doesn’t seem to be moving out of the base.)
Now we are gonna move to using inset, and Using Bevel tool more.
Bevel the top by extruding the top a bit again and Pressing Ctrl + B and scrolling your mouse wheel down so it doesn’t bevel too much, and it looks like the picture below:
Now we are gonna start using the “Inset” Tool, which allows very simple insets without complication, simply select the top of your cylinder again and Press I to inset it down a little bit and it looks like the picture below: (Note you don’t require for it to have to be looking the SAME as below, just tips
)
Then extrude up a little bit.
Now i’m gonna introduce you to the rotation tool, very simple. select 3 on your number pad to go into side view and press R to rotate, then keep extruding + rotating until you get a curve like below.
After you’ve done inset halfway, then extrude up until it looks like the picture below:
Now we are gonna model the Top Of the lamp, to do that go into object mode, Press Ctrl + A and insert another cylinder, then go into side view, (press 3) Select the cylinder in Object mode, press the move button and move it up, then rotate around 90 Degrees until it looks like the picture below,
Now select the top of the lamp, and go into edit mode,
Now apply everything you’ve learnt and make the top of the lamp,
Just try your best!
After you have finished and you’re happy with your lamp, save it by going into the File Section on the top of your screen, and clicking “Save as” then save it into a folder,
Now that you have finished the tutorial, please take a few moments and vote to help me understand if people actually learn from this, (and if the tutorial gives a lot of help.)
- Extraordinarily Helpful
- Very Helpful
- Helpful
- Could’ve been explained better
- Awful
0 voters
Thank you for reading, Have a happy new year!
[Part 2 Coming soon.]
