Object Types
Reference
- Mode
Object Mode
- Menu
- Shortcut
Shift-A
New objects can be created with the Add menu in the 3D Viewport's header.
- Mesh
Objects composed of vertices, edges and polygonal faces and can be edited extensively with Blender's mesh editing tools. See Mesh Primitives.
- Curve
Mathematically defined objects which can be manipulated with control handles or control points (instead of vertices), to edit their length and curvature. See Curves Primitives.
- Surface
Mathematically defined patches that are manipulated with control points. These are useful for simple rounded forms and organic landscapes. See Surfaces Primitives.
- Metaball
Objects formed by a mathematical function (with no vertices or control points) defining the 3D volume in which the object exists. Meta objects have a liquid-like quality where when two or more metaballs are brought together, they merge by smoothly rounding out the connection, appearing as one unified object. See Meta Primitives.
- Text
Create a two-dimensional representation of a text.
- Volume
Container for OpenVDB files that is generated by other software or Blender's Fluid Simulator.
- Grease Pencil
Objects created by drawing strokes. See Grease Pencil Primitives
- Armature
Used for rigging 3D models to make them poseable and animatable.
- Lattice
Non-renderable wireframes commonly used for the deformation of other objects with help of the Lattice Modifier.
- Empty
Null objects that are simple visual transform nodes that do not render. They are useful for controlling the position or movement of other objects.
- Image
Empty objects that display images in the 3D Viewport. These images can be used to aid artists in modeling or animating.
- Light
Empty objects that emit light and are used for lighting the scene in renders.
- Light Probe
Used by the Eevee render engine to record lighting information for indirect lighting.
- Camera
This is the virtual camera that is used to determine what appears in the render.
- Speaker
Empty objects that bring a source of sound to the scene.
- Force Field
Empty objects that give simulations external forces, creating movement, and are represented in the 3D Viewport as small control objects.
- Collection Instance
Lets you select from a list of existing collections. Once selected, an empty object will be created, with an instance of the selected collection (collection instancing active).
Common Options
You can change the options of the object in the Adjust Last Operation panel just after creating it:
- Type
You can change the type of some objects after their creation with a selector.
- Radius/Size
Sets the starting size.
- Align
Rotates the new object so that it is aligned in one of the following manners:
- World
Aligns the object to the global space axes, i.e. the object's front faces the negative Y axis (default).
- View
Aligns the object to the view space axes, i.e. the object's front faces the viewport's point of view.
- 3D Cursor
Aligns the object to match the rotation of the 3D Cursor.
- Location
Objects are placed, by default, at the position of the 3D Cursor. These values let you place the object in an other position.
- Rotation
Values let you rotate the object so that default rotation is overridden.