Parenting – Blender 2.80 Fundamentals

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This tutorial is part of the Blender Fundamentals series, produced by Dillon Gu.

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Parenting in Blender #

Parenting in Blender is a fundamental technique for creating hierarchical relationships between objects in your scene. It allows you to control multiple objects as a single entity or create complex systems with objects influencing each other’s transformations. This guide will provide an overview of parenting in Blender and how to utilize it effectively in your projects.

Understanding Parent-Child Relationships #

In a parent-child relationship, the parent object influences the child object’s transformations (i.e., location, rotation, and scale). When you move, rotate, or scale the parent, the child object will follow the parent’s transformations. However, the child object can still be transformed independently of the parent.

Creating Parent-Child Relationships #

To create a parent-child relationship in Blender, follow these steps:

1. Select the objects you want to parent. First, select the child object(s), then hold down the “Shift” key and select the parent object last.
2. Press “Ctrl+P” to open the “Set Parent” menu.
3. Choose the parenting method from the menu options. The most common option is “Object,” which establishes a simple parent-child relationship.

The child object(s) will now follow the parent object’s transformations.

Clearing Parent-Child Relationships #

To clear a parent-child relationship, follow these steps:

1. Select the child object(s).
2. Press “Alt+P” to open the “Clear Parent” menu.
3. Choose the desired option from the menu. The most common option is “Clear Parent,” which removes the parent-child relationship while maintaining the object’s current transformation.

Parenting Methods #

Blender offers several different methods for establishing parent-child relationships:

1. Object Parenting: This is the simplest form of parenting, where the child object follows the parent object’s location, rotation, and scale directly.
2. Vertex Parenting: This method involves parenting an object to a single vertex or three vertices of another mesh object. The child object will follow the movement of the parent’s vertices.
3. Armature Parenting: This method is used for rigging and involves parenting a mesh object to an armature, allowing the armature’s bones to control the mesh’s deformations.

Using Parenting in Animation and Rigging #

Parenting is crucial for creating complex animations and rigs. Here are some common use cases:

1. Rigging Characters: Parenting plays a crucial role in rigging characters for animation. The mesh object is typically parented to an armature, which controls the deformation of the character. Additionally, objects like clothing or props can be parented to individual bones.
2. Animating Complex Objects: Parenting can be used to create complex animations by organizing objects in a hierarchy. For example, animating a mechanical assembly with multiple moving parts can be accomplished by creating a parent-child hierarchy of objects.
3. Creating Constraints: Parenting can also be used to create constraints between objects, such as having an object always point toward another or follow a path.

Understanding and utilizing parenting in Blender is essential for creating complex scenes, animations, and rigs. By mastering parenting techniques, you can build intricate relationships between objects, allowing you to develop compelling and dynamic projects with greater ease and efficiency.