Blender 4.4 Basics Course

Lesson 1 • Navigating the 3D Viewport

Teaches orbit, pan, zoom, and view presets using mouse, keyboard, and numpad. Fluid viewport navigation is prerequisite to every modelling and rendering task.

Lesson 2 • Working with Files and Projects

Explains .blend file structure, saving strategies, and asset linking basics. Proper file hygiene prevents data loss and supports team collaboration later.

Lesson 3 • Installing and Configuring Blender

Covers downloading, installing, and setting up Blender 4.4 for optimal performance. Establishes the baseline environment every subsequent chapter depends on.

Lesson 1 • Selecting Objects Effectively

Introduces click, box, circle, and lasso selection methods along with selection modifiers. Accurate selection is the entry point to every editing operation.

Lesson 2 • Organising the Scene with Collections

Teaches creating, nesting, and managing collections for scene organisation. Structured scenes reduce clutter and enable efficient rendering and export workflows.

Lesson 3 • Duplicating and Instancing Objects

Distinguishes between copy, linked duplicate, and collection instances. Efficient duplication strategies reduce file size and speed up scene assembly.

Lesson 4 • Object Origin and Coordinate Systems

Explains global, local, and custom coordinate systems and how object origin affects transforms. Understanding origins prevents common misalignment errors in modelling.

Lesson 1 • Topology Best Practices

Explains edge flow, pole management, and quad-dominant topology for clean deformation. Good topology is essential for animation, subdivision, and UV unwrapping.

Lesson 2 • Edit Mode and Mesh Components

Introduces Edit Mode, mesh element types, and selection modes. Understanding mesh topology is the prerequisite for every modelling and sculpting technique.

Lesson 3 • Modifiers for Non-Destructive Modelling

Introduces the modifier stack with Subdivision Surface, Mirror, and Solidify as primary examples. Non-destructive workflows preserve flexibility throughout the design process.

Lesson 4 • Essential Modelling Operations

Covers extrude, inset, loop cut, bevel, and merge as the core mesh-building toolkit. Combining these tools enables construction of virtually any hard-surface shape.

Lesson 1 • UV Unwrapping for Texture Mapping

Covers seam placement, unwrapping methods, and UV layout optimisation in the UV Editor. Accurate UVs are required for any image-based texture to appear correctly.

Lesson 2 • Principled BSDF and PBR Workflow

Teaches the Principled BSDF shader and its key parameters for physically based rendering. Mastering this single node covers the majority of real-world material needs.

Lesson 3 • Introduction to the Shader Editor

Orients students to the node-based Shader Editor and its relationship to the 3D Viewport. Node thinking is the foundation for all material and compositing work in Blender.

Lesson 4 • Image Textures and Texture Painting

Explains loading image textures, setting colour space, and painting directly on 3D surfaces. These skills enable custom surface detail beyond procedural approaches.

Lesson 1 • Camera Setup and Composition

Covers camera properties, depth of field, and viewport composition guides. Camera control translates artistic intent into the final rendered frame.

Lesson 2 • Rendering with EEVEE Next

Configures EEVEE Next for real-time quality output including shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion. EEVEE is essential for fast iteration and interactive previews.

Lesson 3 • Rendering with Cycles

Configures Cycles render settings including samples, denoising, and light paths. Cycles produces photorealistic results and is the industry benchmark for Blender output.

Lesson 4 • Lighting Fundamentals in Blender

Introduces point, sun, spot, and area lights with their key parameters and placement strategies. Proper lighting is the single greatest factor in render quality.

Lesson 1 • Skinning Meshes with Armatures

Explains automatic weights, weight painting, and vertex group management for mesh deformation. Accurate skinning ensures the mesh follows the rig without unwanted artefacts.

Lesson 2 • Graph Editor and Curve Interpolation

Teaches F-curve editing, handle types, and interpolation modes for polished motion. Curve control is what separates mechanical animation from natural, expressive movement.

Lesson 3 • Keyframe Animation and the Timeline

Introduces keyframes, the Timeline editor, and playback controls for basic object animation. The Timeline is the entry point to all time-based work in Blender.

Lesson 4 • Constraints and Inverse Kinematics

Introduces bone constraints, IK solvers, and control bone setups for animator-friendly rigs. Constraints reduce manual keyframing and make rigs intuitive to operate.

Lesson 1 • Fields and Attribute Manipulation

Explains the field system, named attributes, and how to read and write per-element data. Attributes are the data layer that makes procedural systems context-aware.

Lesson 2 • Building Parametric Assets

Guides students through building a reusable parametric asset with exposed group inputs. Parametric assets are the deliverable format for modern procedural pipelines.

Lesson 3 • Procedural Animation with Geometry Nodes

Animates geometry node parameters and uses the scene time input for driver-free motion. Procedural animation reduces keyframe overhead for repetitive or complex motion.

Lesson 4 • Geometry Nodes Editor Overview

Orients students to the Geometry Nodes workspace, node categories, and data flow logic. Understanding data types and flow is prerequisite to building any node graph.

Lesson 1 • Colour Management and Grading

Explains ACES, Filmic, and AgX colour transforms and how to apply look grading in Blender. Consistent colour management ensures renders match across monitors and delivery formats.

Lesson 2 • Exporting Meshes and Animations

Covers FBX, OBJ, glTF, and Alembic export settings for game engines and DCC pipelines. Correct export settings prevent scale, axis, and material errors in target applications.

Lesson 3 • Working with Render Passes in Compositing

Teaches combining diffuse, specular, shadow, and AO passes for flexible post-processing. Pass-based compositing gives artists non-destructive control over every lighting element.

Lesson 4 • Compositor Editor Fundamentals

Introduces the node-based Compositor, its render layer input, and basic colour correction nodes. The Compositor is where raw renders become polished, deliverable images.