My Blender Tutorial Experience#

I recently dove into 3D modeling with Blender, a free yet insanely powerful tool. My goal? Prepare for future Unity projects and finally get comfortable creating things from scratch in 3D. To kick things off, I followed two YouTube tutorials:

Understanding the Basics#

Before starting, I clarified essential 3D modeling concepts.

Term	Description
`Mesh`	A combination of vertices (points), edges (lines), faces (polygons), or any combination of these.
`Geometry`	Any 3D object with position data, including meshes, curves, instances, volumes, etc.
`Instance`	A duplicate of an object sharing the same underlying data as the original.
`Shader`	A program controlling how light interacts with a surface, affecting color, reflection, transparency, and emission. In Blender, it’s often used interchangeably with `material`.

💡 Why it matters: Blender can feel like a maze at first. Understanding meshes, modifiers, and basic geometry gave me a clear roadmap—I suddenly knew what to click, move, and tweak.

Tools & Resources#

Blender: Download v4.4
YouTube Tutorials:
- Beginner Tutorial
- Floor Plan Tutorial

Essential Shortcuts#

Shortcut	Action
`Middle Mouse`	Orbit around scene
`Shift + Middle Mouse`	Pan view
`Mouse Wheel Scroll`	Zoom in/out
`Tab`	Switch between Object/Edit Mode
`N`	Toggle Sidebar

For Object Mode:

Shortcut	Action
`T`	Toggle Toolbar
`G`	Move objects
`R`	Rotate objects
`S`	Scale (resize) objects
`Shift + A`	Add object
`Alt` (when adding)	Add object in perfect form (e.g., perfect cube or triangle)
`Ctrl + L`	Link properties between objects

💡 Tip: For more shortcuts, check Blender’s Keymap Documentation.

Recommended Setup#

Go to Edit > Preferences > Interface and adjust the Resolution Scale
💡 Why: Makes Blender easier to work with depending on your screen size.
Check your GPU under System > Cycles Render Devices > CUDA
💡 Why: Ensures hardware acceleration for faster rendering.
Increase Undo Steps to 100 in System > Memory & Limits
💡 Why: Allows more flexibility when correcting mistakes.

Step-by-Step Experience#

Tutorial 1: Blender Beginner Tutorial #

This tutorial covered the fundamentals:

Navigating Blender’s viewport
Differences between Edit Mode and Object Mode
Building a simple object step by step

cookieBase

Add a Cylinder (Shift + A > Mesh > Cylinder).
Scale (S) to flatten into a cookie shape.
Right-click → Shade Smooth for a softer look.
Rename it Cookie in the Outliner to stay organized.

2. Chocolate Chips#

uvSphere

Add a UV Sphere (Shift + A > Mesh > UV Sphere)
Scale down (S) to chip size
Position using Move (G)
Duplicate chips (Shift + D) and place around the cookie

3. Tray#

Add a Cube (Shift + A > Mesh > Cube)
Scale and move to sit under cookie 1insetFace
Enter Edit Mode (Tab), select top face, use Inset Faces (I)
Extrude inner face down (E) to create tray depth
Move the tray under the cookie.

4. Materials & Colors#

color

Add material in Material Properties → New
Choose Base Color for cookie, chips, and tray
To quickly assign the same material, select chips → last chip with material → Ctrl + L > Materials

5. Lighting & Rendering#

renderview

Click Viewport Shading: Rendered
Delete default light → Add Area Light (Shift + A > Light > Area)
Position camera (0 on numpad, enable Camera to View)
Set render engine to Cycles for realism
Render with F12 → Save via Image > Save As

Tutorial 2: Blender Floor Plan Tutorial #

This tutorial focused on combining objects and creating a full scene:

Importing and scaling floor plan images
Modeling floors and walls
Applying materials, lighting, and render settings

1. Setup#

Download a floor plan image
Open Blender, select all (A) and delete (X) default objects
Import image → Creates an Empty object
Reset location & rotation: Alt + G, Alt + R
Switch to Top Orthographic View (7 on numpad or click z in xyz)
Set Units to Metric (Scene Properties → Units → Metric → Meters)

2. Floor & Walls#

plane

Add Plane (Shift + A > Mesh > Plane)
Rename to Walls and set dimensions in Item Sidebar → Apply scale (Ctrl + A > Scale)
Click walls and set origin (Shift + S > Cursor to Selected & Right Click > Set Origin > Origin to 3D Cursor) and clear any translation by Alt + G
In Edit Mode, delete face (X > Only Faces)
In Object Mode, move the floor plan image fit right in the Wall line
Delete three vertices in Walls (X > Vertices) ![extrudevertices]
In Edit Mode, extrude vertices (E) along X/Y to match outer walls
Extrude inner walls for rooms too
Duplicate Walls and rename the duplicated one as Floor and hide the Walls by clicking eye icon
For the same floor, delete some overlap unnecessary vertices
For each room, select all of the vertices and make a face(F).

3. Finalizing & Rendering#

background

Duplicate floor (Shift + D > Right Click) and rename Background
Hide Floor and Walls
In Background, delete all inner vertices
Extrude everything and scale (A > E > S)
Hide Floor and Background. Select Walls → Extrude upwards along Z-axis (E > Z)
See walls’ orientation (Overlays menu > Face Orientation) Modifier.
Add Solidify Modifier (Modifier > Add Modifier > Solidify) and change some settings (Mode Complex, Thickness)
Click Monitor Icon in Modifier
Fix flipped faces (Shift + N) (Blue = outter, Red = inner)
Click monitor icon again
Orientation overlay off (Overlays menu > Face Orientation)
Save your work (Ctrl + S)

Summary#

At the end of the day, it wasn’t just about a cookie or a floor plan. These tutorials taught me how to bring any idea to life in 3D. Modeling, texturing, lighting—once you get the hang of these, you’re ready for bigger projects, whether it’s games, architectural visualization, or AR. Honestly, seeing something I imagined appear on screen made me even more excited to dive into Unity. In 3D, the only limit really is your imagination.

💡 Final Tip: Always organize objects, name them clearly, and save iterations frequently. This keeps projects manageable as scenes get complex.