Where’d that button go?

Where’d that button go?

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by Andrew Price in Articles

When you open the brand new Blender 2.5 Alpha version, you will notice that a lot has changed. For one, buttons are now vertical, and most of them have new icons and names.

When they rebuilt Blender from the ground up, a few things were moved for the better. You know all those “industry professionals” that complain how awful the Blender interface is? Well these changes were designed to keep them happy. Most of your favourite functions are still there, just hiding.

This 2.5 interface guide should get you back on the straight and narrow. I have tried to include all the frequently used functions, as well as common blunders encountered when using Blender 2.5 for the first time.

Set Smooth/Solid

Previously…

set-smooth_old1

Now…

set-smooth_new

Add Menu

Previously…

add-menu_old

Now…

add-menu_new

Join screen

Previously…

join-screen_old1a

join-screen_old2a

Now…

join-screen_new1a

join-screen_new2b

(similarly, dragging the cursor in the opposite direction splits the screen)

Spin/Screw/Flip Normals/Rem Doubles

Previously…

spin_old

Now…

spin_newb

Background Image

Previously…

background-image_old

Now…

background-image_new

Logic buttons

Previously…

logic-buttons_old

Now…

logic-buttons_new1

logic-buttons_new2b

IPO Curve

Previously…

ipo-curve_old
Now…

ipo-curve_new

Move Header

Previously…

move-header_oldb

Now…

move-header_new1

move-header_new2b

Buttons

Side-by-side comparison…

buttons-side-by-side1

Window type

Side-by-side comparison…

window-side-by-side

Radiosity buttons

Previously…

radiosity-button_oldb

Now…

its-gone

Missing something?

There’s a chance that the button you’re looking for is not actually hardwired into blender yet. But fear not! Because a useful function has been added that lets you create your own button.

For example, I use the ‘Center New’ button constantly, but strangely it’s missing from Blender 2.5.

Here’s how to add it to your toolbar:

addbutton1b

addbutton3

addbutton6

addbutton7b

You can do this for virtually any function in Blender. So if you’re tired of looking for a lost button, this can provide a temporary fix.

That concludes the Blender 2.5 interface guide. Was it useful? Is it missing something? It is by no means complete, so if you think something should be on the list, drop a comment below and I’ll see if I can help!

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Design Float
  • StumbleUpon
  • TwitThis

Tags:

158 Responses to “Where’d that button go?”

  1. Keith

    16. Mar, 2010

    Where’d it go tutorial was excellent and very much appreciated by this user. I am a Blender noob. I decided not to waste my time becoming a V2.4x expert when V2.5x, with its radically different learning curve, is in the pipeline and right around the corner. I learned where’d it went the hard way.

    Ergonomically, the new GUI is much better as it is dark, cutting down on the total light energy hitting the user’s eyes over a long period of time. Using V2.4x is like staring into the sun. I have very little trouble using my V2.5x knowledge and going back to V2.4x in my learning trials to use features not yet ported to V2.52, like the “knife” tool. I would much rather deal with the deficiencies in the current implementation of V2.5x than the poor ergonomics of 2.4x and the headaches they caused after long periods of use. To me, the V2.5 GUI is pure “eye candy”, and after using Blender since V2.50, Blender on the trail to becoming a dynamite product!

    Question: The embedded tutorial: “Adding the “Set Center” functionality” using the Add Tool feature really caught my attention. I wanted to add the exact same functionality to Blender 2.52. How did you create the pull-down list giving the selections you have in your tutorial. When I clicked Add Tool, I got the following list: Duplicate Window, Reload Start-up File, Save User Settings, Toggle Fullscreen, Exit Blender, Open Blender File, Link/Append from Library, Recover Last Session, Recover and Auto Save, Save as Blender File. None of the selections in the tutorial matched any selections in the pull down list. I was never able to add “Set Center” to my tool list.

    Thanks for a much needed tool during this painful transitional period.

  2. Keith

    17. Mar, 2010

    By accident I found the answer to my own question preparing the question. I think it is a bug as it requires both the mouse and keyboard to use it.

    1. Here is a work-around. Use the mouse to select “Add Tool”.
    2. There is no widget in the “Add Tool” control to expand the list using the mouse. The only widget on the pull-down list closes it.
    3. At this point you use the down arrow on the keyboard to scroll through the list.

« Older Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. GUI de blender 2.5 « Blog enfocado a diseño - 26. Nov, 2009

    [...] y si son de los que le gusta leer tambien hay informacón en ingles aqui http://www.blenderguru.com/whered-that-button-go/ [...]
  2. Blender 2.5 alpha0 « Informatiche {bubbakk} - 27. Nov, 2009

    [...] Guida illustrata: le principali differenze tra la GUI attuale e la nuova [...]
  3. Já saiu a versão Alpha do Blender 2.5 » animaXion studioz - 29. Nov, 2009

    [...] fica um tutorial do BlenderGuru  para facilitar a transição para a nova versão: Where’d that button go? (e mais um tutorial em [...]
  4. Blender 2.5 Alpha 0 – Guia para as Mudanças de Interface « Blender Reinicke - 04. Dec, 2009

    [...] mais comuns encontrados ao se utilizar esta versão pela primeira vez. Visite o site BlenderGuru (clique aqui) e confira ótimas dicas ilustradas pelo autor, que vão lhe ajudar a entender um pouco mais sobre [...]
  5. Guia para migração para o blender 2.5 | Procedural - 04. Dec, 2009

    [...] Price, escreveu um pequeno guia para a migração de versões anteriores para a interface do 2.5. O guia mostra como era apresentado e como e onde [...]
  6. On your marks….. « Pixel Water 3d - 04. Jan, 2010

    [...] http://www.blenderguru.com/whered-that-button-go/ [...]

Leave a Reply