2.81

Deselect all with a single pressing of the “a” keycode

Since Blender 2.80 the deselect all function – complete deselection of all objects or geometry – has been switched from a single press of the “a” key to a double “a-a” or a combination of “alt+a” keycodes. To return the deselection function to a single “a” press, we can edit the settings of the selection operators. Or, since Blender 2.81, a special checkbox is provided for this in the keyboard shortcuts settings.

  • Open the “Preferences” window
  • Switch to the “KeyMap” section
  • Turn on the “Select All Toggles” checkbox in the “Preferences” subsection
  • Save the settings by pressing the “Save Preferences” button in the upper right corner of the window.

Now the selection of all objects/geometry and their total deselection will be performed by pressing the single “a” key.

Switching between coordinate systems

To switch from a global coordinate system to a local coordinate system of an object, we need to multiply the global coordinates by the inverted matrix of an object:

To switch from the local coordinate system of the object to the global coordinate system, we need to multiply the local coordinates by the matrix of an object:

How to make node connections in Blender 2.8 not straight, but curving as before

In Blender 2.8 node connectors in the “Shader Editor” window are straight by default, unlike earlier versions, where they bent curving. To return the usual connections bend, change the following settings:

  • Open the “Preferences” window
  • Switch to “Themes”
  • Expand the “Node Editor” tree branch
  • In the “Node Curving” field, set the value greater than 0. 0 means straight lines, the larger – the greater bend. A value of 4 corresponds to the bend that was in Blender 2.7x versions.