The first step to working in Blender is to install it.
(If you are on Oregon State University campus, you can find Blender pre-installed in the Valley Library workstation computers.)
- Navigate to https://www.blender.org/ and install the latest version of Blender
- Familiarize yourself with Blender, there are many tutorials online and one of the best ways to learn is to do it yourself. To get started try some simple things to get the basics of the software down.
- Luminous Labs Blender introduction
- Blender Guru’s Donut tutorial for beginners
- Ducky 3D’s Geometry Nodes tutorial
- Next, determine your needs in Blender and install any Add-ons. For our use here, we will focus on Biochemistry. (Physics, Materials science, robotics, and other disciplines are all possible in Blender so reach out or search the web for more info.)
- Investigate the three major options for working with Biochemistry and Blender
- Brady Johnson’s Molecular Nodes
- BDB Add-on presented by Dr. Verena Resch of Luminous Labs
- BioViz Studio Web interface
There are many alternatives to visualization of molecules, and some of them may be useful in addition to Blender. Please visit RSCB PDB for a list of tools.
