Setting and using a background image in Blender 2.63

[Rolig Loon]

A quick question for users of Blender 2.63 (or 2.64 ....): How do I load a background image so that I can see it and use it as a guide while I'm creating a mesh in Edit mode?  I'm thinking of something like Gaia Clary's Lighthouse exercise, in which you have a photo to work from and want to use it as a template for constructing the outline of your object.  Gaia's tutorial is fine, but it was done for Blender 2.49.  Now that the UI is all different, I can't figure out how to do the same thing.

[Drongle McMahon]

2.64: 3D view, View->Properties; then in Prperties bar, expand "Background Images". You can specify different images for each direction.

[Rolig Loon]

Thanks, Drongle.  That's what I'm doing, but I don't see an image when I do that.  If I already have a mesh model and am in Textured Solid mode in 3D view, the loaded image ends up on my model, so I know that the image file is loaded.  However, if I don't have a model yet but want to display the image so I can use it as a guide while I create the model, the sequence you suggest doesn't put the image anyplace where I can use it as a guide.  I think there's a step missing.

It's quite possible that I'm misinterpreting Gaia's video. It was made with Blender 2.49, and I am barely a step beyond being a raw beginner, so I'm still easily confused.   I can imagine working in UV-Image view instead of 3D view, learning how to use the grease pencil to sketch in an outline, then somehow converting it to a NURBS and then to a mesh.  I've never tried that, though, and it seems a lot more complicated than the simple outlining process that Gaia was doing. 

[Masami Kuramoto]

Since Blender 2.58 it's also possible to attach reference images to Empty objects. This makes it easier to rotate the images, change their aspect ratio etc.

[Aquila Kytori]

hi

You have to be in Orhtographic view to see a Background image , in Perspective veiw it won't show up .

Shortcut key  is Numpad 5 to toggle from one to the other

 

Edited to add : after Masami's suggestion of using Empties you may find this of use : http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/blender-blueprint-problem/m-p/1659499#M16695 towards the bottom of the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rolig Loon]

@Masami -- Thanks!  I hadn't thought of attaching the image to an empty object.  I was wondering how I was going to be able to scale the image.  That makes sense.

@Aquila -- Thank you, too.  I never work in orthographic view, so that possibility wouldn't have ocurred to me at all.  As far as I can see, it's undocumented in Blender's on-line manual.  I appreciate the tip.  Thank you also for the link.

[Drongle McMahon]

Ah. I am always in orthographic view. Also, you can only see the backround images if you are looking exactly along the axes (numpad keys). However, you can scale and offset them in the properties panel (2.64 at least), so you don't need empties for that.

[Rolig Loon]

Thanks, Drongle.  Switching to orthographic view did the trick.  It's exactly what I was looking for.  One more tool to add to the toolbox.  It's also good to know about using empties too, though, because there doesn't seem to be any other way to rotate an imported image.  I'll need to experiment with that.

[Semmi Seraph]

I was wondering this too. I followed the steps but my image is still not showing up, even in orthographic mode. Any ideas?

[Rolig Loon]

Did you set a direction in the Background Image setup block?  If you select "Top", for example, you will only see the image if you are in Orthographic projection and are looking at your object in top view (down the Z axis).  If you look from any other angle, the image vanishes.  As Drongle says, you can set several background images so you can see them from different key directions.  It's pretty cool.

[Nacy Nightfire]

You can also just drag an image from your desktop or folder and drop it right into the Blender 3d workspace, and then change the scale and position from the Transform menu on the right (shortcut N).  The texture is automatically loaded into the system and it also appears in the uv section drop down menu for loaded textures.

Additionally there is a add-on that you might find useful. It is in the add-on list but is not activated by default.  It's called ImportExport: Import Images as Planes, which can also be used for reference.  It automagically loads the image to scale onto a plane, puts the plane into the editing space and loads a UV referenced to the texture in UV space.   

[Rolig Loon]

Now, that's neat!  Thanks, Nacy.