Chapter 2. Beginning Blender
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
