Blender 101

Blender is a program for 3D: you build characters, objects and whole worlds in it, give them colour and material, make them move with a skeleton and turn them into images or films. Blender is free and open source.

1. 1.1 Blender belongs to no single owner: the Blender Foundation and many volunteers develop it in the open.
2. 1.2 One program for the whole chain: modelling, material, rig, animation, rendering and export. On top of that: sculpting, simulation, 2D drawing with Grease Pencil and video editing.
3. 1.3 Current version on : Blender 5.2.3 LTS (released 22 October 2026). LTS means “Long Term Support”, so it is maintained for a long time. According to blender.org, Blender 5.3 is expected on 10 November 2026.
4. 1.4 In this tutorial you build your character: a simple blocky person with a skeleton and two animations. In Godot 101 it then walks through a game.

Blender is not the only 3D program. Many studios use programs that you have to rent. The table shows what they are meant for, what they cost and which licence they use.

Prices as of , taken only from the makers’ own websites. Prices change often and depend on the country. Check them yourself before buying.

1. 2.1 For games and for learning, Blender is all you need. What you learn there also helps you in the other programs.
2. 2.2 You never own the subscription programs: if you stop paying, you can no longer open them.

1. 3.1 Interface: in the middle the 3D Viewport, top right the Outliner (list of all objects), bottom right the Properties (settings), at the bottom the Timeline. At the top, the tabs (workspaces) switch between Layout, Modeling, Shading, Animation and more. N shows and hides the sidebar.
2. 3.2 Modelling: Tab switches between Object Mode and Edit Mode. G moves, R rotates, S scales. In Edit Mode, E pulls faces out (Extrude) and Ctrl+R cuts a new edge all the way round (Loop Cut).
3. 3.3 Material: in the Shading workspace you give objects colour and surface. The standard building block is called Principled BSDF: colour, gloss, metal and more in one.
4. 3.4 Rig: a rig is the skeleton made of bones inside an Armature object. With Object ‣ Parent ‣ With Automatic Weights (Ctrl+P) you attach the model to the skeleton. Blender works out which bone moves which part.
5. 3.5 Animation: you set a pose and press I for a keyframe. Blender calculates the frames in between. A finished movement is called an Action. You organise several actions in the Action Editor and the NLA Editor.
6. 3.6 Rendering: Blender has three render engines. EEVEE renders in real time and is fast. Cycles traces light rays (path tracing) and is more accurate but slower. Workbench is for previews and working on the model.
7. 3.7 Export: File ‣ Export saves for other programs. For game engines such as Godot you use glTF 2.0, which is already built into the program.

1. 4.1 Free: Blender costs nothing: no subscription, no registration and no internet connection needed while you work.
2. 4.2 Free (GNU GPL): you may use Blender for any purpose, change it and pass it on. blender.org sums it up as: “Free to Use. Free to Change. Free to Share. Free to Sell Your Work.”
3. 4.3 Commercial use: you may earn money with your images, characters and films, for example in a game you sell.
4. 4.4 Your work belongs to you: according to blender.org, everything you create with Blender is your sole property, including the .blend files. The GPL covers the program, not your character.

Blender 5.2 LTS is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. The values come from blender.org (as of ).

1. 5.1 Graphics card: it needs OpenGL 4.3 or Vulkan 1.3. That covers roughly NVIDIA from GeForce 900, AMD from GCN 4th generation and Intel from Kaby Lake.
2. 5.2 Older Macs: Blender 4.5 LTS is the last version for Macs with an Intel chip.
3. 5.3 Screen and mouse: 1920 × 1080 pixels and a three-button mouse are recommended.
4. 5.4 Download: only from blender.org/download. There is an installer and a portable version that runs without installing.

You build a simple character from boxes, give it a skeleton and two movements: idle (standing and breathing) and walk (walking). At the end you export it for Godot.

6.1 Get ready

1. 6.1.1 Start Blender and choose File ‣ New ‣ General. Delete the cube: click it, X, Delete.
2. 6.1.2 Check under Properties ‣ Scene ‣ Units: Unit System Metric, Unit Scale 1.000. Then 1 unit is 1 metre.
3. 6.1.3 Save right away with File ‣ Save As as figur.blend. After that, press Ctrl+S often.

6.2 Body made of boxes

For each part: Add ‣ Mesh ‣ Cube, then type the values into the sidebar (N) under Item. All sizes in metres, location is the centre of the box.

1. 6.2.1 Left means the character’s left. It faces −Y, so towards you when you look from the front with Numpad 1. Its left leg is at +X.
2. 6.2.2 Select all parts (A), click the body last and join them into one object with Ctrl+J. Name it Figur in the Outliner.
3. 6.2.3 Use Ctrl+A ‣ Scale to apply the size, so that Scale is 1 everywhere.
4. 6.2.4 Origin on the ground: Object ‣ Snap ‣ Cursor to World Origin, then Object ‣ Set Origin ‣ Origin to 3D Cursor. Now the origin sits between the feet.
5. 6.2.5 Colour: in the Shading workspace click New and pick a colour under Base Color.

6.3 The skeleton (rig)

1. 6.3.1 Add ‣ Armature. Name the new object Rig. Press Tab for Edit Mode.
2. 6.3.2 Place the bones as in the table. Head is the start, Tail the end. Pull new bones out of a tip with E and type the values in the sidebar under Bone.

3. 6.3.3 Go back with Tab. Click the Figur first, then the Rig with Shift (it must be selected last).
4. 6.3.4 Ctrl+P ‣ With Automatic Weights. Now each bone moves its part of the character.
5. 6.3.5 Test: select the rig, Ctrl+Tab for Pose Mode, click an arm and rotate it with R. Does the arm follow? Then cancel with Esc.

6.4 Two movements: idle and walk

1. 6.4.1 Switch to the Animation workspace. In the Dope Sheet, top left, choose Action Editor. Keep the rig in Pose Mode.
2. 6.4.2 Click New and name the action idle. Frame 1: select all bones (A) and press I. Frame 25: tilt Brust slightly forward with R X 3, raise Huefte a little with G Z 0.015, select all again and I. Frame 49: same as frame 1, so everything back to 0 and I.
3. 6.4.3 Click Push Down in the Action Editor. The action moves onto its own NLA track. Only then is it included in the file later.
4. 6.4.4 New again, name walk. Frame 1: Bein.L 30°, Bein.R −30°, Arm.L −25°, Arm.R 25° (always R X and the number), select all, I. Frame 13: everything the other way round, I. Frame 25: same as frame 1, I. Frames 7 and 19: everything at 0, Huefte 0.03 up, I.
5. 6.4.5 Push Down again. In the NLA Editor you now see two tracks. Give them the same names as the actions: idle and walk.
6. 6.4.6 Optional: a third action jump (bend, up, land), not looping. Also with Push Down.

6.5 Export for Godot (glTF 2.0)

Choose File ‣ Export ‣ glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf) and set on the right:

1. 6.5.1 File name figur.glb, then Export glTF 2.0. The rig and both animations are now in one file.
2. 6.5.2 Check: File ‣ New ‣ General, then File ‣ Import ‣ glTF 2.0 and open your file. idle and walk should appear in the NLA Editor.

1. 7.1 Copy figur.glb into your Godot project folder. Godot imports the file by itself the next time you switch to its window.
2. 7.2 In Godot 101 you put the character into a CharacterBody3D and steer it with W A S D or the arrow keys.
3. 7.3 The AnimationPlayer in Godot knows your actions by exactly the same names: idle and walk. That is why the names in box 6 are fixed.
4. 7.4 Godot 101 uses Godot 4 (as of: 4.7.2 stable).

On to Godot 101 →

All pages accessed on . Prices and versions change; check again yourself when needed.

1. blender.org/download · version 5.2.3 LTS, date, platforms
2. blender.org/download/requirements · system requirements
3. blender.org/about/license · GNU GPL licence, ownership of your work
4. Blender Manual 5.2 · glTF 2.0 · export settings, actions and NLA
5. Blender Manual 5.2 · Rendering · EEVEE, Cycles, Workbench
6. Blender Manual 5.2 · Armature Parenting · With Automatic Weights
7. Blender Manual 5.2 · Action Editor · Push Down, Stash
8. Blender Manual 5.2 · shortcuts G, R, S, E, Ctrl+R, I, N, Ctrl+J, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+P, Tab, Ctrl+Tab, Numpad 1
9. autodesk.com · Maya · prices for Maya and 3ds Max, Indie, education
10. maxon.net/en/buy · Cinema 4D and ZBrush (subscription)
11. sidefx.com/buy · Houdini Apprentice, Indie, Core, FX