7 Tips and Tricks for a Smooth Blender Workflow

Having a streamlined Blender workflow will free up time to focus on your designs. Implement these tips in your next project and see for yourself.

Despite being open-source, Blender is one of the most feature-packed and popular 3D modeling tools available for designers. Whether you make video games, 3D models for CAD, or even just enjoy playing with the tools in Blender’s kit, the tips and tricks in this article will help you to improve your workflow and make the most of the features on offer.

Keyboard shortcuts are one of the most powerful features in Blender, or any complex software. They enable you to complete actions that would usually take multiple clicks with a single key combination, saving time and making your workflow smoother.

Blender has a lot of keyboard shortcuts available to users. Some of the actions you perform in Blender can only be done with the keyboard. A quick look at this Blender 3.0 keyboard shortcut cheatsheet is all you need to get started, but here are some of the most crucial shortcuts for you to know:

You can change any keybinding in Blender by going to Edit > Preferences > Keymap.

You will develop your workflow as you use Blender more and more, but it’s worth starting with some good habits to make the process easier. One of the simplest and best habits to get into is using Blender’s Outliner window to manage the objects in your scene. By default, the Outliner is located in the top right corner of each Blender Workspace.

The Blender Outliner is a hierarchical display of all the objects in your scene. You can delete, select, and edit objects from the Outliner, but there are a few key uses for this part of Blender:

Learning to use Blender’s Outliner early on is one of the best ways to improve your workflow, but you can go much further to enhance your time with this software.

Blender can be very daunting when you load it for the first time, with a seemingly endless array of different options, windows, and tabs to work with. Workspaces help to consolidate the tools you use most often, giving you a unique UI for each of the tasks you perform.

Blender comes with 11 predefined workspaces:

Additional workspaces are available by clicking the small + symbol on the Workspace selection bar. You can also edit the workspaces you use to suit your preferences even further, giving you almost full control over Blender’s UI.

To change the main layout, hover on the thin lines between the main windows in Blender. You should see the cursor change to a double-ended arrow. From there, left-click and drag to adjust the size of the windows relative to one another. Right-click to add vertical and horizontal splits or swap/join windows to turn them into a single block.

You can change the content within each window in Blender by clicking the small dropdown menu in the top left corner of each area.

Blender’s default viewport is nice and large, with a set of view controls in the top right-hand corner. These controls allow you to rotate the view of the scene with an axis sphere, move the view using a click-and-drag system, zoom in and out, and switch between perspective and orthographic view. But you can do most of this with just your scroll wheel.

You can use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out by pushing it forward and back, but you can also rotate your view by pressing the scroll wheel in. If you hold Shift while pressing the middle mouse button, you can move the view around. Learning to navigate the Blender viewport will make your life much easier.

Blender has a wealth of add-ons available, both through the software itself and online. It’s always worth looking for add-ons when you are struggling with a task in Blender, as there are usually add-ons available to help you.

For example, modeling a threaded bolt for 3D printing is a time-consuming job that will stop you from spending time on more important aspects of your project. You can save all of this time by going to the taskbar, clicking Edit > Preferences > Add-ons​​​​​​, and searching for BoltFactory in the list.

Once you find it, click the small tick box next to the add-on’s name. Now you can add nuts and bolts through the Add > Mesh menu. Different add-ons behave differently, but you can find instructions for them online.

Blender is a vast piece of software with countless features, but it isn’t always possible to work with the formats you want with a default setup. Thankfully, though, there are add-ons available that enable you to add different formats to Blender.

Want to use Blender to create models for 3D printing? No problem, just add the Export to STL add-on and the option will be in the Export menu for you. The same can be said for many other export and import formats in Blender, making it well worth exploring your options before using other software to convert your files.

It will take time for you to get comfortable with Blender and master your workflow, but these tips should help you get started. You can find loads of great resources around the web to make this process smoother, from making complex models to editing your own videos using Blender, and they will all make you a better 3D artist.

Samuel is a UK-based technology writer with a passion for all things DIY. Having started businesses in the fields of web development and 3D printing, along with working as a writer for many years, Samuel offers a unique insight into the world of technology. Focusing mainly on DIY tech projects, he loves nothing more than sharing fun and exciting ideas that you can try at home. Outside of work, Samuel can usually be found cycling, playing PC video games, or desperately attempting to communicate with his pet crab.