// Terms: 45
Glossary
Short definitions of every term used in the sessions. Each term in a block text links here, and each entry links back to the blocks where it appears.
A
Apply Transform
Bakes an object’s scale, rotation and location into its geometry (Object → Apply → All Transforms). Without it Boolean, Merge and exports can go wrong.
AR (augmented reality)
Showing a 3D model “in real space” through a phone camera. On iOS it is Quick Look, on Android Scene Viewer; no separate app is needed.
Armature (rig)
A skeleton of bones that moves a model’s mesh. You build it for a specific movement you already imagine.
B
Bevel
Chamfers a sharp edge (Ctrl+B) and removes the “plastic” look of a low-poly form.
Blockout
A rough build of a form from simple blocks with no detailing. The goal is the proportions of the whole, not beauty.
Boolean
A modifier that cuts or adds volume using the shape of another object. Fast but fragile: it often leaves a messy mesh.
C
Challenge
A harder version of the same task for those who finish sooner or already have experience. Not a separate track — an add-on.
Checkpoint
The real artifact a block ends with. Keep intermediate versions as separate files (_step1.blend, _step2.blend) so you can catch up on anything you missed.
D
Decimate
A modifier that quickly simplifies a mesh that is too heavy. A rough option, not a substitute for manual retopology.
E
Edge flow
The direction of edge loops. They should run around a joint, like rings around a finger, not through it.
Extrude
Pulls a face or an edge out into new geometry (E). This is how a nose, a bump or a barrel “grows” from a cube.
F
FBX
The most proven format for the Unity and Unreal Engine game engines.
G
GitHub Pages
Free hosting for static pages. The club’s site lives there — and so will your portfolio pages and AR showcases.
GLB
A compact 3D file format that opens reliably right in the browser. Good for the web, Godot and your own AR showcase.
I
Inset
Creates a smaller face inside the selected one (I) — it prepares an area for the next Extrude.
K
Keyframe
A saved position of an object at a given moment in time. A few keyframes make a simple motion loop.
Knife
Cuts the mesh along any line you draw across the surface (K). Unlike Loop Cut, the line doesn’t have to be a straight loop.
L
LOD thinking
Different levels of detail for different parts or distances: a face seen up close deserves more polygons than a shoe sole.
Loop Cut
Adds a loop of edges across a form (Ctrl+R) — an area for local detailing.
M
MatCap
A shading mode with a reflective material and no textures. On a bad mesh the reflections “swim” — a quick visual test of topology.
Material
A description of a surface’s color and look. Assigning materials to faces colors the model without UV unwrapping. Export needs a real material with a Base Color.
Merge
Joins vertices or separate objects into one mesh (M → At Center / By Distance). A simple, reliable way to assemble a model from parts.
Mirror
A modifier that mirrors half of an object across an axis: edit one half and both are done. Turn it on first.
model-viewer
A Google web component: it puts a GLB model into an ordinary page and opens AR on a phone with one tap.
Modifier
A non-destructive operation on a mesh (Mirror, Subdivision Surface, Boolean, Shrinkwrap, Decimate). You can change or disable it until it is applied.
N
N-gon
A face with five or more corners. It quickly fills a flat area but deforms poorly, especially in a bend zone.
Normals
The directions faces “look” in. A face with a wrong normal turns black or disappears after export. The quick fix is Recalculate (Shift+N).
O
Origin
The object’s pivot point for rotation and scaling. Mirror, moving parts and rigs all depend on it.
Orthographic view
A view without perspective (Front, Side, Top). These are the images you need as references, because perspective distorts proportions.
P
Parent
A “parent — child” link between objects (Ctrl+P). A moving part then rotates about the right point, not an arbitrary one.
Pole
A vertex where too many edges meet (typically a triangle “fan”). Bad in a bend zone because the mesh deforms unpredictably there.
Primitive
The simplest ready-made 3D shape: box, sphere, cylinder, cone, torus, plane. Every blockout starts with primitives.
Q
QR code
An image a phone scans to open a link. Generate it only for a published https:// address, never for a local file.
Quad
A four-sided face. The basis of a clean mesh: it supports Loop Cut, Subdivision and predictable deformation.
R
Reference
An image you check your model against: front view, side view, blueprint. Real proportions instead of “by eye”.
Retopology
Building a new clean mesh over an old form — by hand or with help from Shrinkwrap and Decimate.
Rigify
A Blender add-on with ready-made rig templates (meta-rig → Generate Rig). It gets you a result in one session without building every bone by hand.
S
Shrinkwrap
A modifier that pulls a new clean mesh onto the surface of an old form. Place it above Mirror and Subdivision in the stack.
Silhouette
The outline of an object that reads at a single glance. If the silhouette isn’t recognizable, details won’t save it.
Subdivision Surface
A modifier that smooths an angular form into an organic one. It is not a “beauty button”: it amplifies the topology you already have — messy or clean.
T
Topology
How the mesh is built inside a form: how many and what kind of faces, where the loops run. It decides whether a model survives bending.
U
UV unwrapping
Flattening a 3D model onto a plane, like an apple’s peel, so you can paint a texture on it. The club deliberately skips it at the start.
V
Vertex Paint
Painting directly on vertices or faces — another way to get color without UV unwrapping.
Viewport
The Blender window where you see and edit the 3D scene.
W
Weight Paint
Painting by hand which part of the mesh belongs to which bone. A quick patch for places where Automatic Weights got it wrong.