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

26. Nov, 2009

@ Flying Jaco: Thank you very much for the hint, although I am afraid I cannot make much use of it at the moment, for I do not know the right identifyer-names of the functions I am looking for. — I guess I have to learn more about Python first to make a proper use of these options.
Gustavo Pabon

26. Nov, 2009

Thanks man. This will definitely help.
Jack A.

26. Nov, 2009

Cool. But, how do you remove buttons from the tool shelf?
soninhu

26. Nov, 2009

So, the radiosity has gone, but, why???
And also, I use win vista home premium, and the blender 2.5 only work once or twice, after that, i have to replace the files to make it work again. it´s only me?
By the way,thanks for d explanation man!!! you saved my .blend life!!!
Jamie Douglas

26. Nov, 2009

I can’t believe the radiosity is gone, i was just getting used to it.
tonurs

26. Nov, 2009

How do I get back to the previous screen and windows after a render ?
anachron

26. Nov, 2009

tonurs: press F11 to show or hide the render view.
tonurs

26. Nov, 2009

Thanks anachron
tonurs

26. Nov, 2009

One more question … how do I render smoke in 2.5 ?
Fabio

26. Nov, 2009

Is there a workaround for the Knife Cut yet?
Poken

26. Nov, 2009

Wasting a key to flip headers? Are they mad? Or is this temp?
Extensor

26. Nov, 2009

Crease is in the Transform menu (press T). You should see it when you go into edit mode and select an edge.
SaiMing Santiago

26. Nov, 2009

What about the Oops Schematic View in the Outliner window? Has it gone too??
simon dahl

26. Nov, 2009

@Extensor – sorry mate just not seeing it, I am on win32 (XP) using the alpha build off the blender.org site. Is that the same build you are using?
heten

27. Nov, 2009

anyone knows how to retopo in blender 2.5?
Extensor

27. Nov, 2009

Yup, using the official Blender 2.5 Alpha 0.
Omar

27. Nov, 2009

Thank you very much. This was very needed. But how do i remove a custom command button??
Month3d

27. Nov, 2009

Thank you andrew, this is very usefull for the transition from 2.4 series to the new 2,50 alpha

Oh and you probably don’t remember but when you asked at the blender conference which tutorial I read, , it was the realistic grass tut anyway thanks for the awesome resource and keep up the great work.

Greetings from the netherlands,

maarten
oana

27. Nov, 2009

Thanks for the helpful article! Does anybody know if the buttons vindow is still zoomable? ctrl doesn’t work
torif

27. Nov, 2009

How to use python script that “embeded” in blender.
in previus release we use SCRIPTS WINDOW.

thanks….
AlienMudPig

27. Nov, 2009

Thanks for the tutorial.

I’ve got to say I’m loving the new interface more every chance I get to use it. The logical order of operation now is wonderful.

I was actually able to figure out how to apply a height map to a mesh as a modifier just by stopping and thinking about where the controls would logically be. Very nice!

My only gripe at this point is that I still have not figured out how to pan around the scene, a la 2.49 shift + MMW = vertical scroll, ctrl + MMW = horizontal scroll? Anyone?
KevinW

27. Nov, 2009

Awesome man! Thanks for posting this. Even for a very experienced Blender user this is helpful!

–
Kevin
tonurs

27. Nov, 2009

Guestures don’t seem to work
iuliajn

27. Nov, 2009

the middle button of the mouse is not working on windows xp
Benster

27. Nov, 2009

Hey I was wondering if anyone where “Load Factory Settings” in 2.5?
blender User

27. Nov, 2009

keep going…I want to see how you set the Background image…it does not work…..plus many pop-up notes keep stuck in the main view and no way to get rid of them….uhmmm
Adauto A. Araujo

27. Nov, 2009

Hi. Great job, and very necessary!

Well, I didn’t find the buttons of the section “mesh tools more” (edge length, draw normals… )

Can anyone give me a help?

Tnks
Extensor

28. Nov, 2009

@oana – you can zoom the button window by cursoring over it and pressing the + or – keys on your num keypad.
Lee

28. Nov, 2009

I spent about 10 mins looking for set smooth yesterday. Wish I’d seen this first. Thanks (on behalf of others) for posting
robi

28. Nov, 2009

thank you for the hints. I continue loving the old interface much more than this one.
Yago

28. Nov, 2009

Congratulations!
Very necessary!
Extensor

28. Nov, 2009

While I am accustomed to the old interface, I am finding this interface much better the more I use it. I especially like that I can now have a separate window for my second screen!
Kory Prince

28. Nov, 2009

Ctrl + N will reload the startup file.
Kory
Potado

28. Nov, 2009

Where is retopo?
Don

28. Nov, 2009

Where is the scripts window…like for using Yafaray or Lux for rendering…or is that not available yet?
Extensor

29. Nov, 2009

Just stumbled across something cool. Set a window as Outliner. Then click on the pop-up next to View in the window menu. Select Key Maps. This shows all Blender options with key commands and they can be changed here as well.
Wendell Ramos

29. Nov, 2009

Very good! Direct.
Spender

29. Nov, 2009

2.50 This will take months to learn.. Difference from 2.49b.
I need a tutorial how to set up interface as 2.49b.
Spender
riaHK

29. Nov, 2009

the new interface is beautiful , I think I should try 2.5 now to acquaint the interface but keep the 2.49 for work and doing tutorials
AlienMudPig

29. Nov, 2009

@Extensor, that’s awesome thanks for posting that, it will help out alot!

BTW how do you have a seperate window on your second screen? I also have two monitors so I am curious about what you mean?

Thanks
mike evans

29. Nov, 2009

@AlienMudPig to get a detachable window: hold the shift key and click/drag on that corner triangle thing in an existing window
AlienMudPig

29. Nov, 2009

Thanks Mike I didn’t know you could do that. That’s like the greatest thing I’ve ever seen! Ever!
Extensor

29. Nov, 2009

Hey mike evans, thanks for that tip, I was using the duplicate window button from the tool shelf.
The only minor problem i’ve found with the dual monitors is that when I open Blender the second window is on the main screen so I have to drag it over to the second monitor.
Wilber

29. Nov, 2009

where’s X-ray X-Axis Mirror and Auto IK is? cant find it >.<
Spender

29. Nov, 2009

Hello

You say. Go in to T Add Tool and change to Set Center. There is no Set Center on my Blender 2.50.
I am using one iMac Snow Leopard 10.6.2 32 bits.

Thank you.
Extensor

29. Nov, 2009

Spencer, did you go to Add Tool and type in Set Center? I was able to see it and click on it to add the button. You can also use Shift-Control-Alt-C.
I’m also on a Mac running Sow Leopard.
spender

30. Nov, 2009

Extencor. Thank you. Work perfect. (Type)

Do you use 64bits or 32 on your SL. I still on 32bits.
Extensor

30. Nov, 2009

Glad I could help.

I’m using the 64 bit version on a Core 2 Duo iMac.
Andrew Price

30. Nov, 2009

@Extensor Just tried the Shift-Click on the screen splitter. Really cool! Not sure when I’ll use it, but I’m sure it’ll come in handy. Thanks!

@Potado I am fairly sure Retopo is not included in 2.5 Alpha yet. I have seen the question brought up a lot on message boards and I have yet to see an answer. I could be wrong of course.
Tynach

30. Nov, 2009

How do you center the view to the cursor? In 2.4x, it was the ‘c’ button, which was useful since my left hand is always hovering over that area of my keyboard (one reason why I moved ‘open default file’ function back to Ctrl+X, while the new default is Ctrl+N).

I can’t find it anywhere right now, though.