Blender Object Mode and Scene Hierarchy

Understand how objects, collections, and the Outliner work — before touching any mesh geometry. Here’s how to do it in Blender on macOS, step by step — part of the free Blender beginner curriculum.

Lesson 2 of the Blender curriculum. Next up: Edit Mode and Mesh Geometry.

What you’ll do

• Identify the three default scene objects: the Cube mesh, the Point light, and the Camera
• Left-click to select an object; Shift+click to add to selection; A to select all; Alt+A to deselect all
• Move (G), Rotate (R), Scale (S) selected objects, and constrain to an axis by pressing X, Y, or Z after the shortcut
• Press G then X (or Y or Z), type a number, then Enter to move by an exact distance
• Duplicate an object with Shift+D (free duplicate) or Alt+D (linked duplicate that shares mesh data)
• Add new objects with Shift+A (Add menu): Mesh > Cube, UV Sphere, Cylinder, Plane, etc.
• Delete selected objects with X or Delete
• Read the Outliner panel (top-right of screen): see parent-child relationships, collections, and visibility toggles (eye, screen, and render camera icons)
• Move objects into collections with M
• Apply transforms with Ctrl+A > Apply > All Transforms — understand why unapplied scale causes modifier problems later

Do it hands-free with Skilly

Reading steps is one thing; doing them while the menus are in front of you is another. Skilly is a voice-first tutor for macOS: you ask out loud — “where’s the object panel?” — and it answers while moving your cursor to the exact button, watching your actual Blender window. It’s the same Blender curriculum these lessons come from, taught live instead of read. Free to start.

Keep going

This is one stage of the full Blender beginner curriculum. Continue with Edit Mode and Mesh Geometry.