3D printers need 3D models to print. Those models don't just come out of nowhere. You will need imagination, a little time, and software to create 3D models for the things you want to print. Never have there been more software options for creating 3D models—professional and free options. In this series, the software of choice is called Blender.
This chapter will introduce Blender, how to set it up, and some basic and mid-level functionality. Knowing the content of this chapter will get you over Blender's infamous learning curve and provide the basic knowledge and reference material necessary to follow along with future projects. We'll cover these topics:
- Why Blender?
- Downloading and installing Blender
- The default view
- The best settings
- Object creation
- Navigating the view
- Transforming
- Controlling transformations
- Selecting
- The edit mode
- Blender to real life
- Exporting an STL
With so many options for 3D modeling software, why would Blender, a software designed to make 3D animations, be the most popular choice?
First things first: you don't have to pay for Blender. It is offered free of charge. If it works for you, you always have the option to donate, but Blender doesn't do anything to force this point. It is free now and forever.
While it's true that Blender is designed for animation because it covers everything from a blank canvas to a finished animation, it contains the ability to model objects, and it's one of the most robust suites of modeling tools anywhere. Learning Blender means that you may never need to learn another 3D modelling software.
Blender is in constant development. If it doesn't have a feature you need, chances are that it may one day. Blender's developers are constantly responding to their audience.
Despite Blender's advantages, it has a well-earned reputation for having a difficult-to-overcome learning curve. It's had a long and organic development cycle, which left it with a default user interface that isn't intuitive compared to most other software.
But Blender is also very configurable and, with a few simple settings, it can be made much easier for the beginner to use. The rest of this chapter will help get you past Blender's short comings so that you can start developing awesome 3D models.