Foundation: Blender for Visual Investigation

COURSE SYLLABUS

📖5 min read

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Course Description	The baseline course for Blender in visual investigation: the 3D world, data & methodology, the modeling skills, and the Blender setup investigative work actually uses. By the end you'll have a clean, reusable Blender template of your own.
Prerequisites & Corequisites	None — Course 00 is the starting point. A basic sense of what an investigation or reconstruction case looks like helps, but the course establishes the context in Module 01 (The 3D World).
Measurable Learning Outcomes (SLOs)	Explain why 3D reconstruction is a methodological tool; read a 3D scene (perspective, spatial relationships); document source data and decisions; model simple evidence-grade geometry; build your own reusable Blender template.

Course Description

This is Course 00 — the baseline. It makes you fluent in the parts of Blender that investigative work actually uses: reading a 3D scene the way an investigator does, organizing source data, and setting up Blender the way an investigator needs it. By the end, you'll have built your own clean, reusable Blender template.

It is built by composing the KB reference library: the course owns the prerequisite layer (the 3D world, data & methodology, Blender) as its own content, and points you to canonical reference pages — camera & perspective, measurements, and the modeling workflows — whenever applied depth is needed.

Prerequisites

None. This is the starting point. A basic understanding of what an investigation or reconstruction case looks like helps, but the course establishes the context in Module 01 (The 3D World).

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

1. Explain why spatial reconstruction is a methodological tool — not a visualization garnish
2. Navigate a Blender scene confidently (object mode, viewport, cameras, collections)
3. Read a 3D scene the way an investigator does: vanishing points, perspective, spatial relationships
4. Document your process: organize source data, log decisions, propagate errors honestly
5. Model simple evidence-grade geometry from reference material
6. Build your own reusable Blender template (clean, organized default scene) by following the Blender course videos

How to Use This Course

• Work through the numbered modules in order. Each assumes the ones before it.
• Modules embed the corresponding video walkthrough from the BVI series where present; watch the video, then read the module notes.
• The Reference rows in the Module Map table are shared KB pages woven into the sidebar flow — read them at the point they are introduced and keep them open for reference.
• The Final Project (inside the Blender module) is your capstone: follow the Blender course videos and build your own reusable Blender template — a clean, organized default scene you'll carry into every case.

Module Map & Progress Flow

The table below is the module map: each numbered module builds on the ones before it; the Reference rows (—) are canonical KB pages woven into the flow.

Module	Type	Est. time	Purpose	Outcome / deliverable
01. The 3D World	Theory	45 min	Give the minimal understanding of 3D: the logic of space, core paradigms (volumetric, point cloud, solid, NURBS, polygonal), anatomy of a model, and file formats.	Ability to read a 3D scene's geometry, topology, normals, and poly-count; choose a paradigm for a task
—	Camera & Perspective	Reference	—	Canonical page for perspective, vanishing points, and camera geometry, used by every technique course.
02. Data & Methodology	Methodology	30 min	Install the research lifecycle: define, collect, preserve, process, analyze, validate & report, collaborate.	A documented source registry and a defensible analysis workflow
—	Measurements, Scale & Dimension	Reference	—	Canonical page for the unit system, grid, object scale, and measurement add-ons.
03. Modeling Fundamentals	Skill	60 min	Bridge into the reference modeling layer: the investigator's modeling workflow and the key techniques.	Model simple evidence-grade geometry from reference material
—	Scale Estimation & Source Reliability	Reference	—	Canonical page for establishing scale from sources of different reliability tiers.
04. Blender	Skill	90 min	Meet the instrument: install, workspaces, object mode, shortcuts, extending functionality.	Comfort navigating object mode, viewport, collections, cameras
—	Final Project: Build Your Blender Template	Apply	—	Capstone inside the Blender module: follow the course videos to build your own reusable template.

Total estimated time: ~5.2 hours

How it builds: Module 01 gives you the 3D language (geometry, paradigms, file formats); 02 adds the research discipline (the data lifecycle); 03 the modeling skill; 04 the instrument (Blender), ending in the capstone — building your own working template.

Component Key

Every numbered module follows the same internal format:

1. Theoretical breakdown — what the concept is and why it matters
2. Guided walkthrough — follow along (video where embedded)
3. Standalone practical exercise — do it yourself, on your own scene
4. Knowledge check — verify you can do it before moving on

Shared Reference rows (—) don't follow this format — they're canonical pages to read where they're introduced.

KB Reference Pages Used

KB page	Used in
Camera and Perspective	01
Measurements, Scale & Dimension	02
Scale Estimation & Source Reliability	03
Geometric Reconstruction	04 (extension)
Polygonal Modeling	03

Resources

• Courses Overview — how courses compose the reference library
• Site Reconstruction Syllabus — the next step after this baseline

Sources

1. Blender System Requirements: official minimum and recommended hardware specs
2. Berkeley Protocol (UNODC): international standards for digital open-source investigations