OT? - Blender - Don't want to put my coffee down.
Diomede
Posts: 15,388
Trying to learn Blender. Following some online tutorials (in general, they are plentiful and relatively easy to follow). However, so much seems to be hot-key based. Soothing voice says, "press B, then..." I like to have one hand on the mouse and the other holding my coffee. Don't want to constantly put my coffee down to use the keyboard. Does anyone know of a Blender workflow based on menus and mouse usage rather than hot keys? And, an appropriate tutorial?
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Don't know of tutorials because I don't really use them (mostly I just google and wind up on blender stack question thing reading other people having my problem) but I did find it really irritating at first when everyone's help consisted of "press b then g then x" or whatever instead of what that even meant.
Once you know what the 'press B then,,,' actually does,, for everything there's a key for, there's a menu for. I use them sometimes when I'm too lazy to reach for the keyboard, and things like Merge Vertices, where it's much easier for me to click a button on the toolbar than it is to press alt m. You can also rebind pretty much everything so you can get box select working on a mouse combination instead of having to press b if you prefer that.
Personally I found Blender's controls completely alien at first, but now that I'm used to them it feels like every other program is doing it wrong.
I just wish there was a real align tool :/ scale to 0 or snap to grid work for lots of things, but there are so many times when I want to line up a bunch of messy vertices with one or more specific ones, or a line up a whole bunch of rows without doing every row one after the other..
Or align them to an angle or something...
There is an experimental pie chart/menu that can be enabled. And various UI updates are coming...not sure when but they are trickling down, a few at a time, to almost every new release, over the past few releases.
Generally short cuts are the way to go, which is why I love blender. There mouse options exist, but usually require more effort than a hot key. Hit the space bar, that should allow you to type in what you're looking for (IIRC). Not had much time to use blender for some months now.
I prefer shortcuts, so I was like, yes, finally, a program that remembers the other hand isn't connected to the mouse.
Mostly I've been making furniture, so there's a lot of straight lines and exact measurements involved. Angles are not my friend. Generally I just rotate the entire thing to get the bit I'm working on onto a horizontal plane so that I can use snap to grid, but starting on clothing which is organic lining things up nicely has become a pain.
Mostly I've been making furniture, so there's a lot of straight lines and exact measurements involved. Angles are not my friend. Generally I just rotate the entire thing to get the bit I'm working on onto a horizontal plane so that I can use snap to grid, but starting on clothing - which is organic - lining things up nicely has become a pain.
Short answer: No.
The reasoning is simple. Blender is such a powerful application, and is capable of doing so many different things (although I only use it for modeling and generating UV maps, prefering to do things like scene building and animation in other apps), that the UI, almost by necessity, was designed from the very beginning around the combined use of the keyboard and the mouse (and a three-button mouse with a scroll-wheel, at that; and if you don't have one, then you really need to use the keyboard!)
In fact, in all of the Blender documentation that I've found -- and you're right, there's a lot of it out there -- practically every one includes the same advice for navigating: "One hand on the mouse, one hand on the keyboard." You also have to keep in mind that even the mouse behavior -- from wandering around the viewport, to selecting, scrolling, zooming, panning, rotating, scaling, and so forth -- is heavily influenced by the three (what I call) meta-keys: Shift, Ctrl & Alt, often in combination.
So, if you really want to learn Blender, you need to put the coffee cup down once in a while; you're probably drinking too much of the stuff, anyway!
(Yeah, I know: I'm not your mother, nor your cardiologist. But that's what both of mine keep telling me!)
To work in Blender you need one of these...
http://www.amazon.com/Drinker-Beer-Soda-Guzzler-Helmet/dp/B006CUJXMI
Ix, appreciate the feedback. I'm looking for substitutes for Bryce/Hexagon/Carrara because backward compatibility is not presently being assured. Blender is free and might fill the gap. It is OK because I don't mind a new interface in general, or new ways of doing things - unless I have to put my coffee down - so, ...
no Nicstt, hot keys are not more efficient (notice the use of the word hot key, because it is not a short cut if extra motions must be used to put down and pick up a mug).
Very clear explanation, Ken. I was afraid that would be the case. Could be a deal breaker, unless...
MJC1016's suggestion can be adapted for coffee. I really like people who are problem solvers.
Salute!
It's pretty much impossible to do speed modeling without a good amount of shortcut keys. Even most of the menus shown here are popped up with a shortcut key.
Another example, Freestyle Spaceship Speed Modeling.
Of course these videos are sped up but it still gives an idea of the efficiency of using shortcut keys in the flow of design vs going through menus and panels to do the same things.
The thing about using the keyboard in conjunction with the mouse is that the speed of performing operations is much faster than menu surfing with the mouse alone. I won't pretend to have mastered every keyboard function in Blender, but the most commonly used ones will become second nature with practice. I totally get not wanting to put down the coffee, though. ;)
One other thing to consider is how useful a pen tablet can be with using Blender's interface, especially with mesh editing and sculpting.
Well, it is certainly impossible to do speed modeling in Blender without hot keys.
No, your point is well taken. But I think people underestimate the ability of other people to efficiently use whatever standard they become accustmed to. Reminds me of the typewriter debates. "...but the point is this: if you have learned to type on a QWERTY keyboard, the cost of retraining for Dvorak (however modest) is not worth paying." http://www.economist.com/node/196071
I didn't mention this earlier, but I totally sympathize with your reluctance to let go of the coffee mug. Except, in my case, it's a Martini glass! (And I'm right-handed, which makes it even worse; I have to reach across the keyboard to fetch it -- it's to my left -- and I've already lost one computer to 'spill damage'....)
You'll have to pry my coffee mug (actually it's a Corningware soup mug) from my cold dead hands... It might not even work then as I'm so vindictive, I'd probably boobytrap it.
Half joke, half seriously, Can this helps?
http://www.amazon.com/Control-Keyboard-Action-Switch-Pedal/dp/B00B3PV47O/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41Fmo8UCKmL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0BKS87KWC8FAKYAJ2DW8
Foot-Blender control could be funny
And this????
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G13-Programmable-Gameboard-Display/dp/B001NEK2GE/ref=pd_sim_60_11?ie=UTF8&dpID=41Ld7oHhk8L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR121,160_&refRID=122C02YH3WBJ48DN56R8
Another problem solver. Yes, that can help!
The only probem is that once the Blender developers discover that some of us are using foot pads, they will create shortcuts that require simultaneously pressing the footpad and holding own [Shift] G, and then remove any alternative way to accomplish a task. I can see them studying the movements of the church organists now.
I briefly had a foot controlled mouse... Well, it was a faulty regular wireless mouse that I lost patience with and stomped to pieces... Apparently I applied too much force.
I guess the other way to go is an extension for the sainless steel straw.
diomede: Coffee IV drip, only way to go!
There is always this...