Blender couldn't be more counterintuitive. Can't even move objects

-.- you’d think this is as basic as it could get but no it would appear I can only move an object around when it’s initially inserted and after that I can only move the axis… smfh absolutely horrible. Someone please tell me what I should do.

To move a selected object press G (grab) and move your mouse. To constrain to an axis press the axis key (G X constrains to the x axis)
Also by default you can drag an object by holding the RMB down as you drag the mouse

Someone please tell me what I should do.

You can read the manual http://www.blender.org/manual/
or use the ‘Get Started in Blender’ link at the top of the forum

I’m pressing G and trying to move it around but it doesn’t move the whole object, it just reshapes an axis. Surely this should be the most absolute basic function? Jesus Christ… can you just tell me why it’s not highlighting the whole object and just selecting an axis?

did that even work

A thing I have noticed is that if you have a program by and for corporate profit, the focus is on the new user and make it easy to do something. Those who have used it for a while still have to go through all the same steps, and often many commands to do a single thing. For those programs written by and for the user, are less obvious to the new user, but much faster and efficient after you have learned your way around. As nobody stays a brand new user this other method of thinking is a big net improvement.

There are a lot of You Tube videos on nearly every aspect of Blender and their primary focus is on the new user. That is a great place to start, and then use Blender to try out what you have learned. Spend some time ding that and Blender will be more intuitive than any program you can spend thousands of dollars on; but like the nature of the entire software universe you cannot have a control without a toggle to control it, so the more a program can do (and the less it does automatically allowing you to make those decisions) then there has to be a toggle for those decisions, but you have to learn where the toggles are. Blender is immensely powerful and flexible and so there has to be a lot of toggles.

Hi there Mullti -

Blender is, indeed, very counterintuitive - especially since it is currently in an odd situation with legacy users wanting to keep the regular presets (and understandably so !), and whole lot of CG artists coming from other apps wanting to try the program but ending up being confused by its defaults.

I would recommend you to do the following :

First, watch this Gumroad by Jerry Perkins. It will give you a good overview of the (odd) defaults and make you familiar with the program as a whole.

Then follow this video to enable Maya-style navigation without conflicts :

With these resources you will get a good understanding of the way the program works, and you’ll also know how to edit the keybindings. Watching these 2 videos and asking questions here was personally all I needed to become efficient with the app. It will take a little while, but after a few weeks you will be able to bend Blender to your needs.

Good luck !

What does this mean? Can you provide a screen shot?

Are you in Object mode or Edit mode (TAB key)? If in Edit mode, what sub-object mode are you in (vertex, edge, or face)? You use the RMB to select the whole object (in Object mode) or parts of an object (vertices, edges, or faces) in Edit mode.

Then pressing G as Richard said will allow you to move the objects.

If you notice, it only is giving me the option to edit the axis of this object. It’s like that no matter which object I press. Whenever I try to select a whole object it just selects one of the axis of the object.

Like dunawayc said, you are in Edit mode, which selects faces, verts, and edges. Hit tab to go back to Object mode, then G to grab. I HIGHLY recommend you watch the “getting started” videos at the top of this page, they are like 6 minutes each, and you will be up and running in no time.
If you want to move the whole object in Edit mode, select one of the vertices of the object you want to move, then hit L which will select the whole thing. Then you can move it(with G) just as if you were in Object mode.

select one of the vertices of the object you want to move, then hit L

Keep mouse cursor near the selection. Do not move before hit L.

What you have now is one complex object consisting of several default ones; if you Tab back to Object mode this will be ONE Object you will be able to Grab, Scale, Rotate.
If you Add while being in Object mode you get separate Objects.

Yes, you can just hover over the object and hit L as well, and you can also box select the whole object with B, but in this case, you have things in front of the object you want to move, so L would be more appropriate.
What eppo said is very important too, if you have an object already in your scene, then go into Edit mode and add another object, it will become “attached” to the other one, which will require you to select one of them and then hitting P to separate them if you want. Adding a new object in Object mode will add it separately from anything else in the scene. But yet again, we could go on all day about things like this if you never learn the fundamentals of the program, which can quickly be solved by watching the aforementioned starter tutorials.

yeah, I think that might be a good idea. Can you only work with objects if they’re attached together on this program?

I don’t think you understand the difference between edit mode and object mode.

Attachments





10char…

DCBloodHound explained it perfectly, but to answer your question, no. If you look at his bottom picture in post #12, he added a Cube, went into Edit mode, then added another one. Now he has two Cubes, but they are one mesh because of what he did. In that case, if you go into Edit mode, the vertices, faces, and edges will be visible on both cubes, as he is showing. In post #13, he added a Cube, stayed in Object mode, then added another one, so now he has two meshes. So, whichever one you want to work on in that scenario, you need to select that one first. To make a long story short, in Object mode, you can only move, rotate, scale, and sculpt a mesh. In Edit mode, you can move vertices, edges, faces, delete faces, scale, add loop cuts, etc. Edit mode is just that, it’s for editing/modeling. This isn’t Blender exclusive, you have to do this in all the other programs too. When you add a new object in Cinema 4D for instance, you have to “make it editable” by clicking a button(in Blender’s case, we have told you it is the Tab button, or just change it at the bottom where DCBloodHound has pointed to), before you can do anything with it.

EDIT: OK, I just went over to those starter tutorials at Blender Cookie, and the one you want in this case is #3 Modeling:


At 1:40 he moved the cube, and at 11:00 he starts explaining Edit mode. Time well spent, so watch them all :slight_smile:

It’s counter intuitive when you start, but then it becomes natural and everything else becomes counter intuitive. These days the lesson from blender of “use the middle mouse button(scroll wheel)” when navigating your view" means i accidentaly try and pan in google maps using middle-mouse-button.
I would suggest the wikibook “blender noob to pro” to give some suggestions on learning the interface.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro
I went through it and read it all in the summer of 2012 when i was learning blender.

I probably sound like a total n00b here but all the objects are seemingly meshed together already as when I try to move one, all of them move. How do I separate them?

Here I have 3 cubes joined together(in Object mode):


I’m going to separate the one on the left, so go into Edit mode(Tab), and select the whole cube(hover over the cube and hit L). Then hit P > Separate > Selection:


Now back in Object mode, you can see the cube on the left is it’s own mesh now(notice it’s the only one highlighted):


No, actually, you don’t. A total n00b would take the good advice these good people have repeatedly offered and spent an hour watching the damn tutorials. You’re sounding like an arrogant sort of fellow who dives in and expects the software to do what you want it to do without learning how to use it. If that means Blender is ‘counter-intuitive’ then so be it.

How many times do you need to be told nicely to do the beginner tutorials?

Open a new Blender file. Don’t bother to save the one you have now. Up at the top of this page, in the orange bar, is a selection called GET STARTED IN BLENDER. This has three options, pick “Learn Blender Basics”. This will take you to a tutorial series, and you need to work through #2 and #3: Interface and Navigation, and Modeling.

Welcome to BlenderArtists :smiley:

There are nice people on here who are willing to help me on specific issues rather than working my way through guides, which I have tried. No need to be a dick. If you don’t wanna help, there’s absolutely no point at all in you commenting in this thread whatsoever. Goodbye, narcissist.