Understanding the Properties editor
After the 3D Viewport, the Properties editor is probably the second-most used editor type in Blender. You use buttons and values in this editor to modify the attributes of your scene and elements within it. Because this editor can manipulate so many parts of a scene, it’s broken down and organized into a series of subsections known as contexts.
Active Tool: Contrasted with previous versions of Blender, releases after version 2.80 feature the concept of active tools where you can select a tool to work on something in your scene. I cover this more throughout the book, but for the time being, it’s worth it to know that this tab of the Properties editor is where you can find settings and controls for whatever tool you have active.
Render: The Render context has controls that determine what the final output of your scene will look like when you decide to render it to an image or video. Chapter 16 covers these properties in more depth.
Output: Whether you render to a still image, a sequence of images, or a video, Blender needs to know how that image data should be saved to your hard drive. The Output tab of the Properties editor is where you set those parameters.
View Layer: You can organize the output of your scene in view layers, useful for compositing different render outputs into a final image (see Chapter 18). The properties in this context give you control over organizing your render layers.
Scene: The properties in this context dictate the nature of your scene, including things like the active camera, units of measurement, and the strength of gravity if you’re using simulated physics.
World: The buttons and values in the World context control the environment that your scene is built in. They have a large influence on the final output of your scene.
Object: Any object in your scene is going to have its own set of properties that you can modify. The Object context allows you to make changes that affect an object as it relates to the scene.
Modifiers: A lot of work goes into building 3D models, so it’s to your benefit to take advantage of your computer and have it do as much work for you as possible. Let it take care of boring procedural steps like mirroring parts of your object or making it smoother while you focus on the more interesting steps in the process. Modifiers are great tools to facilitate these kinds of healthy shortcuts, and allow for more advanced uses in animation. This tab is where you manage those modifiers. You can find out more about modifiers in Chapter 5.
Particles: In computer graphics, particle systems are often used to create special effects or manage the behavior of groups of objects. This context of the Properties editor is where you manage particle systems in Blender. Working with particles is a pretty advanced topic. Chapter 14 gives you a brief introduction to the possibilities that they have.
Physics: In the spirit of making your computer do as much work for you as possible, having the computer simulate physical behavior in your objects is sometimes helpful. It lends realism to animations and can often help you work faster. The Physics tab gives you controls for simulating physics on your objects. See Chapter 14 for more on these topics.
Object Constraints: When working in 3D — particularly with animation — it’s often useful to constrain the properties of one object to that of another. Constraints automate parts of your scene and help make it much more manageable. Chapter 12 goes into constraints more deeply.
Object Data: Buttons and values in the Object Data context change slightly depending on what sort of object you’ve selected, but their primary purpose is to give you the ability to work with the fundamental structural elements of your object. “Object Data” is a generic term. Think of this section as properties based on what you’ve got selected. Even the icon for Object Data Properties changes depending on your selection. For example, if you have a camera object selected, the Object Data tab would hold camera properties, and the icon for this section looks like a camera. If you have a curve object selected, the icon looks like a curve and on support forums, some users may refer to it as the Curve Properties tab.
Bone: The Bone context is available only if your active selection is an Armature object. Armatures, sometimes called skeletons in other programs, are used for animation in Blender and they consist of a set of bone sub-objects. The Bone tab of the Properties editor is where you can adjust attributes of a specific bone that you’ve selected in the armature.
Bone Constraints: Similar to the properties in the Object Constraints tab, this context helps you manage constraints. The difference, however, is that this subsection is available only if your active selection is an Armature in Pose Mode, and it’s for managing constraints on bones rather than objects. Chapters 11 and 12 cover constraints and the use of constraints on bones.
Material: The controls in the Material context of the Properties editor allow you to dramatically change the appearance of objects in your scene. Chapter 8 goes into this context in much more detail.
Texture: You can use textures built in this context as custom brushes when painting and sculpting in Blender. This context is where you can edit those textures. You can find out more on texturing brushes (and your 3D models!) in Chapter 9.
Navigating in Three Dimensions
The 3D Viewport is probably the most-used editor in all of Blender. The purpose of this section is to guide you to understanding how to wield this part of Blender like a virtual 3D ninja!
All right, so perhaps I am a little over the top with the whole ninja thing, but hopefully this section takes you at least one or two steps closer to that goal.
Orbiting, panning, and zooming the 3D Viewport