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Your first sculpt in 10 minutes

This page gets you from an empty window to a saved sculpt. You only need a mouse.

  1. Start a sculpt. Press Ctrl N. Pick Sphere, leave the size, and choose Standard detail.

  2. Add clay. Press 1 for Add and drag across the ball. Clay builds up under the brush. Make the brush bigger or smaller with [ and ].

  3. Turn the view. Drag with the right mouse button to orbit. Drag with the middle button to pan, and use the wheel to zoom. Press Home to reset the view.

  4. Carve. Press 2 for Carve and dig a hollow. Or stay on Add and hold Ctrl: Ctrl inverts Add, Carve, Inflate, Shape and Mask.

  5. Smooth. Hold Shift and stroke over the bumps. Shift smooths with any shaping brush.

  6. Try symmetry. Press X to step through the mirror axes. With mirroring on, every stroke happens on both sides.

  7. Undo. Ctrl Z undoes, Ctrl Y redoes. The history list in the top bar jumps back several steps at once.

  8. Save. Ctrl S. Shapeaway files end in .shapeaway and hold the clay, paint, objects, camera and a thumbnail.

Next, follow Sculpt a duck from a ball of clay, or read The interface.

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