Navigation Tricks in Blender - What is the fastest method?

Looking at navigation in Blender from a quick look at the basics up to the methods that are the fastest navigation tools.

[@richardokeeffe8375]

That orientate to a face tip is absolute gold!!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

It's saved me SO many times where I must have applied the scale AND rotation. What a blunder.

[@ericman2323]

Great info. I also missed the memo about ALT+MM navigation. I've been using it all day now and find I really like it. Thank you very much!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

It's so hidden and no one seems to mention it. Annoyingly I seem to have the muscle memory of using the x,y and z keys so ingrained its hard to train myself out of it.

[@euansmith3699]

This is such a useful video. Thank you. That alt+mouse tip is great. My saved list is rapidly filling up with your videos as you are doing exactly the type of stuff that I'm interested in.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Glad to hear my invasion of saved video lists is going well 😉 Seriously though its great to hear this is the sort of thing people are after and thanks for watching 👍🏻😁

[@joenewyorkphotography]

Thanks for all your very useful and easy to follow videos!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Cheers man. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. And I'm glad they are being helpful 😁

[@boots_on_the_grounds_of_war]

I feel like I've been learning blender forever. Navigation is so frustrating when you don't know how to navigate properly. Thank you for this.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

👍🏻 Yeah, quick navigation can really help with speeding up general workflow. I got too used to using the gimble even though using alt and the mouse is clearly faster.

[@vheypreexa]

the middle button is great for locking axis too. when you move something for example, instead of clicking the button for axis, just middle-click drag and it locks the axis. really fast and saves some key strokes

[@ArtisansofVaul]

How did I not know this!? Does it just jump to the closest axis you are moving along? I'll be trying that when I get home. Thanks!

[@vheypreexa]

@@ArtisansofVaul that's exactly right

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@@vheypreexa Just tried it and it works with scaling and rotating too (though this last one isn't the easiest to manipulate). Absolutely fantastic and thanks again for mentioning this! It's exactly why this channel is so rewarding, you get great people willing to share their tips too.

[@cathalfeeney]

Great video. One thing I wanted to point out tho is that numpad 9 doesn't just change to bottom view, but it flips the view. So if you were in front view and pressed 9 you would be in back view

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Oh! That's some great info! Thanks so much!

[@cleverrus9832]

Shift+7 - ingeniously! Thanks

[@ArtisansofVaul]

It can be a total life saver

[@gregq8]

I started out with Grant Abbitt's videos so I've been a numpad purist since the very beginning, I didn't even know what the gizmo is for until I was a grown man... Shift+7 is MVP for those "oh no I shouldn't have angled this" moments. The alt method seems like the best way tho, I must try getting used to it.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Love Grant's videos. They taught and continue to teach me so much. Totally agree and the Shift+7, absolutely saviour!

[@stephen285]

omg why didn't I find this sooner - THANKS tons!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

No problem 😁

[@kainv.9221]

Dear Artisan, do you use Grid Modeler and/or Bend Face Add-ons by Kushiro? Just wonder, if those are worth buying

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I have recently purchased Grid Modeler but I haven't had a chance to try it yet so I can't really recommend. It does look useful from the videos I've seen though.

[@sudd3660]

i bought a tenkeyless keyboard recently, and it sure gives me more ergonomic positions for typing and using mouse. but i bought a seperate little numpad keyboard that i have on the right side of my mouse. now i find it easier to use the middle mouse button drag method for navigation. but in f11 screen for organizing my renders i still press the numpad keys for reset zoom. and booleans. and when you do multiplication in number windows i think numpad + - / * is needed. If you did not know, holding alt +middle mouse button will center your viewport camera to that area your mouse is.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

That's an awesome tip on using the alt+middle mouse button. I didn't know that!

[@MrTonski1]

You forgot to mention included Pie Menu addon for viewport, which is disabled by default

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Really good point. I rarely use it as it takes longest (for me at least) but it should have been mentioned. Thanks for that

[@stormycatmink]

Not sure why this is even useful, but another one I found by accident is on the numpad there's 2 which switches to orthographic view and drops your view angle down a notch. Likewise 8 goes up. 4 and 6 for left and right. Again, not sure this is really useful. Too big of a jump for fine control, too small too look around. Hand back on the mouse would be easier.. but it's there. The other one is numpad 5 swaps between ortho and perspective. The toggle to orthographic may be an addon like machine tools helping there. I know it had some option to help auto-swapping perspectives in there somewhere. I'm also still finding new shortcuts, so I keep going back to tutorials from different people to see what I missed from the learning I did earlier.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

5 is useful for sure! Thanks for pointing that one out. As you say I'm not sure the others are that handy though maybe if you have your hand off the mouse and on the keyboard.

[@NotSoMuchFrankly]

Seven Month Later...as you mention, for newbies: -Numpad5 to toggle perspective and Numpad0 to toggle camera view are both standard Blender defaults. (Assuming you don't turn on 'Emulate Numberpad' in User Preferences->Input->Keyboard) -Autoswapping perspective is on by default in Blender currently, I believe. I like to turn it off so I can control when I switch back and forth to perspective or orthographic. (Found in User Preferences->Navigation->Orbit & Pan) -In that same section just below you can turn the 2, 4, 6, 8 (Numberpad) keys into a useful turntable camera by changing the values to something like Smoothview: 200 [milliseconds] and Angle: 3.000 [degrees]. Just hold down the keys for a moment depending on how long your OS is programmed to wait before repeating keys. Milliseconds appear to matter less when you're using a small number for degrees. YMMV What Machin3 Tools does add is a pie menu for tab that lets you toggle object/edit mode with up or pick vertex, edge or face selection mode. I love that even though I'm not one of the pie menu purists.

[@JohnWBoltJr]

Alt middle Mouse! OMG you saint! If I had money right now i would send you a bucket full! excuse me while I spend the rest of my day on your KZbin page!

[@JohnWBoltJr]

PS, mine I have to hit middle mouse then alt or it does not work correctly.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@JohnWBoltJr Haha. Thanks man. I think you're probably right on the order though I hit them pretty simultaneously

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I hope you enjoy the videos 😁👍🏻

[@hupchik]

hey mate, you did a little mistake with names. Numpad1 is "front" not "side" and same about numpad3. first - X axis by default goes straight from left to right. second - if you open keymap>3D View>3D View(Global) there will be these shortcuts with description of view name. I'm using classic 3Ds max keymap for navigating (MMD for pan and MMD+Alt for rotate) and pie menu (`-button) for view change, and zoom MMD+Ctrl. also really recommend to use pen for blender, its much better for navigation and work for simple and complex projects especially

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thanks so much, great catch. I always remembered that X goes "across" because the letter looks like "a cross" from school so my brain is stuck with it and it means I click the X or y quickly to do what I want with grabing, rotating and scaling. I forget Blender doesn't use the same. Thanks for the comment 😁👍🏻

[@BriceKoua-11-11]

i've never looked at so much tutorials in my life XD

[@ArtisansofVaul]

😁👍🏻 Lmao. Hopefully that's a good thing

[@catbeef]

there is definitely a stock blender setting somewhere that lets you use the regular number row keys as numpad keys, because i use it and don't have a numpad!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Oh yeah but that's maybe the worse of all options (at least in my opinion). I need 1-4 for Machin3 Tools and that saves more time than using the numbers to shift views ever would.

[@OHMSdev]

How do I get the wheel graph like yours at @0:29? Im on 4.2

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thats from an addon called Machin3 Tools. It's awesome and has LOTS of other great features. You can find it here if you're interested: blendermarket.com/products/machin3tools/?ref=834 And I have a playlist of videos on what it can do here: kzbin.info/aero/PLnqmLZKRm5CYGKLbXGa3l74XPxTi45ft2

[@yourfriendlyneighborhoodla2091]

I have a question, do you mainly stick to small scenes or do you sometimes do large landscapes like for dioramas. If so how do you go about making landscapes like mountains or fields?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Awesome questions. I generally stick to small scenes but I have meant to do some things for a 6mm game that would include landscapes. What's also fun is that sometimes what would be a mountain/valley can at another scale become a waterfall, etc. I'll add it to the list of tutorials as there are some really fun things you can do there, especially as the starting points. By fields do you mean specifically grass? Or like farm land?

[@yourfriendlyneighborhoodla2091]

@@ArtisansofVaul What got me wondering is I recently read the Doom of Molech book for Adeptus Titanicus. In the lore it details the capitol city of Lupercalia being surrounded by mountains with large swaths of fields between them, with the capitol itself being defended by a Emporer class titan "Paragon of Terra" that has a full cover on essentially all entry ways to the city, and a large mountain range along one side of the city called Mt. Iron Fist. To counter this Horus uses a remaining gun battery from the Molech space fleet and shoots at Mt. Iron Fist from orbit, destroying it and the bunkers within the mountain that held reserve titans for the loyalists. Main point, I was wondering if you knew of a means to transition from rigid areas like mountains to smoother areas like fields. I've been messing around with the landscapes addon in Blender and feel like I should ask.

[@alex-qn5xp]

​@@yourfriendlyneighborhoodla2091 Try watching some tutorials about or just messing around with vertex displacement. It's really simple just paint or generate a black and white height map texture and plug it into the displacement of the default bsdf node. I don't know how much you know about blender or 3D in general but I would suggest doing your due diligence and researching how height maps and vertex displacement work. Good luck and have fun!

[@windy1844]

Have you had a look at the 'A.N.T. Landscape' addon that comes with Blender

[@yourfriendlyneighborhoodla2091]

@@windy1844 I have but im unsure how to actually take that and apply it to a base. I followed the videos has has on how to cut out a section of terrain and boolean it onto a blank base but ive had trouble getting it to work with ANT

[@MrCrazymmogamer]

Hey AoV o/ Could you do a tutorial about displacement modifier? Is it even possible to use it to add surface textures to for example a wall and at the same time make it 3d printable? I was playing around with it and there is so much problems when im checking my model with 3d-print addon. But im pretty sure that somehow people makes it work. For example all those dungeon tiles with those concrete noise textures etc. My biggest problem is when im trying to separate part of a model, than subdivide only specyfic faces on that seperated part, than use displacement map on selected subdivided vertex groups and join everything together. After that all the errors starts to appear (intersecting faces, non manifold edges etc).

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I've actually been helping someone with this exact problem. It often happens when generating something with so many small faces (which you need for the displacement modifier). In my experience there is always going to be some cleanup when working on something like this though, the biggest thing is reducing them so they are manageable. For example for the displacement you might want to confine it to one axis, that way you should get far fewer intersecting faces. So consider the tutorial on the list... it might just take a bit for me to get to it, maybe a couple of weeks.

[@MrCrazymmogamer]

@@ArtisansofVaul Would be great. Thanks for fast reply.

[@beddyboy]

Toggle Quad View, use the hotkey Ctrl+Alt+Q

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I'll have to have a look at that. Is it particularly fast to use?

[@beddyboy]

@@ArtisansofVaul try it maybe useful.

[@orpheuscreativeco9236]

WOW!!! Alt+Mid is awesome!!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Totally. I really think it needs to be mentioned more as I just hadn't heard about it!

[@Impossible_Emporium]

What do you use for key presses on the screen?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Sorry, not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean what do I use to have the keys showing?

[@CosplayZine]

oh did you mention the ~/` botton that has the quick axis menu?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I should have done but to be honest I forgot because I hate using that. It seems the longest and not near my had/fingers 🤣

[@CosplayZine]

@@ArtisansofVaul Agreed. I accidently hit it after I watched the video and that's the only way I remembered it 🤣

[@CosplayZine]

My num pad 1 goes to front view and ctrl and 1 goes to back rather than side view as you're saying. On mine it says it in the top left hand corner what view I am currently on.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

😅 I guess it depends on what you consider the "front" of your model. To be fair really you're right but I always think of that axis as front not the side, but that's me being used to it from another program so for Blender you're very much correct.

[@CosplayZine]

@@ArtisansofVaul I feel like the best way to remember the "front" is 1 and Y axis is that it's basically the same in unity with x being the width. The other two are switched with z usually being depth but in this case it being height and y being length. (That is if your scaling along globally.) Didn't take me long to adjust because I mainly use num pad in blender. Alt middle click and moving the mouse is pretty nice so I might start doing that as well. Thanks for making a video on this topic.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@@CosplayZine No problem. I really like the alt middle click but Im still just so used to using the gimble I tend to do it automatically even now.

[@jeffreyspinner5437]

Bruh, I've been using a stylus and graphics tablet for a couple of years now as my "navigation" device because it's at least 2x faster than any mouse, keyboard and mouse combo. I use the stylus while using everything now... like Davinci Resolve too! Don't resist the true powa of the pen! Just turn up the pressure to max, or disable the pressure like you can in ZBrush... voila speed! A medium sized tablet is the fastest because your gestures can be the most efficient and small. I also like wearing that two finger nylon glove... makes me look cool (to no one). Imo, all PC games (Blender was developed by a PC game dev, the great Ton) are designed by mouse manufacturers to break and rebuy their products ad infinitum. I break this cycle of abuse of mice!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Ah... The eternal debate. Its interesting to hear the different sides of this. For sculpting I'm using a tablet every time but for hard surface work I need to keyboard for shortcuts too much. I did try using a tablet instead of my mouse for about a week and I just couldn't get a faster workflow. Maybe I should have stuck with it for longer but it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. A 3D mouse on the other hand, I'd love to give that a try.

[@jeffreyspinner5437]

@@ArtisansofVaul The fastest speed is obtained by applying both methods... I had to use the keyboard alt + ctrl + RMB stylus swipe to mute geonode wires. I use the logitech MMB and RMB (because there's a conspiracy of trying to break my stylus buttons too!) side buttons (I have a MMO gaming mouse) and my left hand is using the keyboard for tons of stuff with my right hand using the stylus as a pointer, drawing thing... Oh, I _am_ ambidextrous so when I'm on my potato and workstation I use a left handed mouse for the potato... so maybe that's why I'm fast too... idk. I find running multiple computers keeps my room toasty in winter and I have to redirect the central A/C to the computer room in the summer... don't tell grandma, she doesn't know. Like when editing in Davinci you should not have to move your left hand and use keybinds, I do that with everything, and use the stylus as a non-carpal tunnel rapier fighting speed pointer... dragging and moving your hand like you have a rapier is just faster, I promise.

[@Everyday_Foreman]

Have you tried the "~" key for navigating

[@ArtisansofVaul]

This might sound like the height of laziness but I just don't like it. I should have mentioned it but it's just too far from my normal finger position to be something I regularly use. I know some people like it a lot though

As I am lefthanded for me the numpad is not very good, too far from my hand. But maybe it is me 😅

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Understandable. I'd be using the final method if I was you (I use that more and more now anyway

[@lightningthebeast]

I accidentally discovered it too

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I'm surprised it isn't documented more clearly! But it does make for a great "oh wow!" moment as you realise 😅

[@عبدالسلامالعتيبي-ه3ج]

i made a key in my mouse for that to make it better

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Good plan.

[@rapex2729]

And how to move though tunnels of a cave? If you zoom in, you will be slower and slower. I need something to move foreward without "zoom in"

[@ArtisansofVaul]

So that wasn't really the topic of this video but the problem you're having of it getting slower is actually easily solved. I have a short on it here: kzbin.info20j--TDdSJE?si=9ZbT9YF2zzCRrRjD I hope that helps

[@rapex2729]

@@ArtisansofVaul Thanks, it helps a little bit but not as good as I hoped. If I scrolle to a wall it took very long to break though the wall but If I want to go a little bit behind, I imidiatly pass the wall and need again many many mouse scrolls. And If I use shift+middle click. How can I turn around centered at my position? I turn around a not visible point infront of me. It's a reasone why I have trouble to navigate.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@@rapex2729 You can also use the menu to change how you navigate so you can change it to navigate around the selected objects origin as well.