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…

Now…

add-menu_new

Join screen

Previously…

join-screen_old1a

join-screen_old2a

Now…

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…

Radiosity buttons

Previously…

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!

Tags: tips

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

JB

25. Nov, 2009

Thank you very much for this useful information!
IMHO the handling of Blender has always been very elegant, especially for the purpose of modelling (yes, I know that this opinion is not very common in the community of 3d-professionals).

What I am missing at first rate in 2.5, is the facility to rotate and scroll the 3d-view with shift-, control- and alternate-buttons plus mousewheel. Is there any chance to get it back?
Ben

25. Nov, 2009

Thanks for this. A very useful guide. I was going mad trying figure out how to move headers. Loving the new toolbar feature though. Very handy.
comeinandburn

25. Nov, 2009

does anyone have any idea if the “bevel” function that was in the specials menu still exists?

I use it quite often as a sort of chamfer on selected edge loops.. I can’t find it when I use search. I know there’s a modifier but as far as I can tell it applies to the whole object.

any ideas?
Nixon

25. Nov, 2009

cool guide!
very helpful to look into the changes first so theres less surprises while working with the alpha release.
Thanks for that overview!
Flying Jaco

25. Nov, 2009

I definitely think that this is a big improvement. I’m just getting into Blender (been using Maya for years), so the hardest part was hunting and pecking for buttons. I like the fact that they are actually using full names instead of abbreviations.

@JB One of the things about 2.5 is the ability to create custom key maps. I don’t know if it’s implemented in Alpha 0, but you should be able to create a custom key map to allow you to do that.
Sean C.

26. Nov, 2009

Sadly, from what I’ve gathered from the IRC channel, the Shift-E crease function is nowhere to be found (at this point), search function or not
Andrew price

26. Nov, 2009

@Sean C.
I have also heard this. Seems silly that it wasn’t included. Creasing is key function used constantly when modelling. I’m guessing it was a mistake when compiling the code. Hopefully this will be added in the next update/build.
Larryboy

26. Nov, 2009

Many thanks. Does any one know where the vertex selection brush is now. Use to be key presses B B
simon dahl

26. Nov, 2009

@comeinandburn – the bevel function has been moved to add modifier and bevel is one of the options

thank goodness it isn’t only me who cannot find the creasing button. I am new to blender (though not to 3d modelling), had finally started making some headway with the tutorials and then 2.5 alpha came out. Trying to do some of the tuts using 2.5 and the crease function is making the die tutorials a little vexing

though am loving the new interface and I am finding that 2.5 alpha is faster and just more responsive than 2.49 (I have an inglorious laptop without high-end graphics card).

looking forward to the next couple of release cycles, I mean if the alpha 0 is this nice already……..
Sergio Rey

26. Nov, 2009

Hi,

I would like to know where is the “Wire” options for the UV editor in blender 2.5.

When I save the image for applying texture on gimp, I can only see a blank are without wire reference.

Where can I activate it?

Thanks.
imppao

26. Nov, 2009

merci pour ce tuto, cela va m’aider à prendre en main cette nouvelle version de blender
Kåre

26. Nov, 2009

@Larryboy: The brush select is on the c-button now. Both in object and edit mode.

But has anyone seen the edge length tool? I do a lot of architectual modeling and a kind of miss that function now…
floso

26. Nov, 2009

Hi guys does anyone know how to disable persp default when changeing views?

Explanation: When going from any view (front, top, side) in ortho to camera view (num 0) and back to front the view changes from ortho to persp and I always have to change it back to falt view. How can I make ortho the default setting?

Anyone noticed this?
abhifx

26. Nov, 2009

hey that just fixed my headache, especially the last part. man, u are a painkiller. thanks a lot
eck

26. Nov, 2009

why did they do that to radiosity – i love the look of radiosity rendered images. surely a feature shouldn’t go until a new one is in place (gi)? i’d hate to have a step backwards.
simon dahl

26. Nov, 2009

@floso

hit “n” to bring up the properties bar on the right, scroll down and under Mesh Display looking down from there you will see a tab called Numerics under which is an option to show edge lengths
Robbie Losee

26. Nov, 2009

@Larryboy
The vertex selection brush is now at hotkey C.
I think the logic is that B is “Box select”, C is “Circle select”. Also, it saves having to hit a hotkey twice.

(I learned this because I used C all the time before for “Center Cursor” – which is now Ctrl Numpad Period)
Mehmet PINARCI

26. Nov, 2009

Yes , thank you for your time and for this tutorial . Man I thought , I was about to learn brand new software .
onnevan

26. Nov, 2009

Anubody knows how to swap render buffers? before it was “J” key
floso

26. Nov, 2009

Hi simon thanks for the answer but it was the solution for Kåre’s question. But good to know anyhow.
ROUBAL

26. Nov, 2009

Thank you for these informations Andrew !
lala

26. Nov, 2009

thanks, in my case, i can’t see preferences window, any ideas? a blank window pops up, no settings,
francesco

26. Nov, 2009

where’s the script window gone?
SamHemp

26. Nov, 2009

can’t extrude “individual faces” what happened to that one??
simon dahl

26. Nov, 2009

FILE -> user preferences

might send it behind the main window if you’re in full screen mode (happened to me last night, took ages and a crash to find it )

@floso, oops totally misaligned those messages

For what it’s worth, opened an “old” blender file with creases, didn’t get ignored or messed up, so I am presuming the creasing is “missing” from the menu in this build rather than missing entirely. Can anyone tell me what the

EDGES -> Mark Seam
EDGES -> Mark Sharp

do? I thought these might be the crease functions, but as far as I can see they aren’t doing anything visible for me at least.

Apologies if I am turning this into a forum, my bad if it is a problem, I will stop if it is.
justposted

26. Nov, 2009

@onnevan: I don’t think the render buffers are implemented yet. mfoxdogg on Blenderartists said on the 24th Nov: “j key has not been ported because we are brainstorming better ways of doing it”

What I reaallly want to find is the copy attributes menu. Worked very nicely before and saves countless steps if you are, for example, duplicating bevel settings on a number of objects. Anyone found that yet?
Chubaso

26. Nov, 2009

Hi,

thx, that are some quite usefully information. Maybe you can add a part with the new snap tool wich replaces Retopo.

For Further Questoins just mail me

Chubaso
Iconoclast

26. Nov, 2009

Simon Dhal:

Mark seam marks the seams for a uv image. Blendercookie.com has a barrel tutorial. You should watch that if you want to learn more.

But…. if you right click on something in blender 2.50 you can select to “View Docs” and you can read it’s description. Some of them are pretty lacking right now, but feel free to add your own.
mpu.bater

26. Nov, 2009

I think there’s a problem in “join window” button, I search it in my 3d view window and I can’t find it.
not even in the corner
JDob

26. Nov, 2009

@simon dahl:
Iconoclast is correct bout the Mark Seam, Mark Sharp can be used in conjunction with the Edge Split Modifier to split edges with/instead of using by angle
mmz

26. Nov, 2009

thank you!
Darktiger

26. Nov, 2009

Boo on the shift-A to add stuff. now have to hit two keys in place of one. Bad Change!! Hope they did not add key strokes to many other options.

On a brighter note. I absolutely love the logic behind the organized layout and the icons. It is truly a much more beautiful and practical interface. It will take some getting used to it but should not take long. Thanks Developers!!!

Will I be able to use the mouse strokes for moving and rotating and scaling? Hope so I used that a lot.
MentalKhandr

26. Nov, 2009

Thanks for these comparisons. I have a simple(noob)question.
How do you delete the new split screen? And go back to just one screen.

I was playing with the new way to split the screens (nice) but when I tried to drag the new split screen back to the edge to close it, the screen was always visible on the edge. I split the screen about 5 times playing with it and the only way I could get rid of the splits was to close Blender and re-open it.

I tried several things but could not figure that out.

Thanks.
floso

26. Nov, 2009

@MentalKhandr
I think you mean the “Join screen” section on this site? It explains how to join splitted screens.
Kory Prince

26. Nov, 2009

This seems the place to post…
Anyone remember how you could Ctrl+Click in edit mode to add a vertice?
Well that’s now gone in 2.5… Anyone know how to do it?
Thanks!
Kory
Davis

26. Nov, 2009

So what happened to radiosity? I never noticed anything about it being taken away in Blender 2.5, or is it just not implemented for 2.5 yet? Your explanation wasn’t terribly useful.
Jean

26. Nov, 2009

Excellent job, simple, efficient and one of the first tutorials for 2.5, please go on!
jLuft

26. Nov, 2009

Good lookin’ out buddy. I too was pretty much stumped on most of these!
Aetheus

26. Nov, 2009

I have yet to install the Alpha release, but judging from the changes, its gonna take awhile for me to get used to it. Its not like I was ever a pro before (more like an on-off hobbyist), but Blender is the first (& only) 3d modeling program I’ve ever used, and its probably gonna take awhile to get used to the new controls. And what’s more, I don’t see all that much improvement in the shortcut department – the overall reliance on shortcuts is still gonna piss of “industry professionals”, and the changes are likely gonna cause a bit of confusion among newer Blender users while all the tutorials around the web are updated to comply with the new controls. Perhaps I’m just overacting, but I really hope the Blender team also adds in a “remap shortcuts” feature.
Kory Prince

26. Nov, 2009

@Aetheus
That’s what I was thinking at first too, but I used 2.5 yesterday for a project and found that after only a couple of hours of messing with it, everything makes a whole lot more sense… Things may not be exactly how they were before, but button placement and whatnot are a lot more streamlined…
Just try it out and you’ll see what I mean.
(and I’m like you. Certainly no expert – just a hobbyist.)
Kory
dave62

26. Nov, 2009

is it possible to pan and zoom the backdrop image in the render node editor like in 2.4, any hidden option to switch off this auto-center behaviour?
Maarten

26. Nov, 2009

Aw… i was just getting the hang of Blender again, and actually loved the interface… My main concern is: hundreds and hundreds of splendid tuturials will be of little to no use anymore. For me the entire open community was one of the biggest reason to switch from 3DSMax to Blender. I doubt i will be an early adaptor of the new Blender, but i wish all of you well, because i’m counting on you to provide enough tutorials by the time i upgrade, lol.
hiram

26. Nov, 2009

thanks, andrew.

You make ours life more easy

by the way, where its the subdivide fractal button? and “w”/subdivide multi… ?
Malacath

26. Nov, 2009

I’m still wondering how to record Game Physics.
Anyone knows about it?

greetings malacath
pmaster

26. Nov, 2009

How can I play an animation I just renderd?
Splunker

26. Nov, 2009

Awesome! Thanks, man!
djallalnamri

26. Nov, 2009

really thanks and i was having lot of fun trying to unveil the mystery of the new gui!
ivan

26. Nov, 2009

woow preety cool but im still confuse ggg
gnu-stu

26. Nov, 2009

G’Day Mister Guru Man, you’ve just answered 99% of my questions, thanks for the helping hand!
rdoubleui

26. Nov, 2009

Thanks a lot, helps me to get started!

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