BFM Keymap for Blender 3.4+

Invest in yourself by purchasing the BFM Keymap to completely transform your general Blender workflow, whether you’re a Source Filmmaker user (SFMer), you’re coming in from other 3D applications, such as Maya, Modo, Unity, Unreal Engine, Z-Brush, or Houdini, you’re a Blenderhead, or you’re a 2D Artist coming from Photoshop, Krita, Paint.net, or GIMP.

In general, the BFM Keymap is more friendly to SFMers, and people coming from industry standard software, even more friendly than the official Industry Compatible Keymap, but that doesn’t mean the BFM Keymap ignores the Blender workflow. Blenderheads can still use Blender the way they know how, with only some slight modifications with this keymap.

After downloading the keymap package for your respective Blender version, and launching said Blender version, go to Edit > Preferences > Keymap, click on the Import button, navigate to the folder that you just downloaded, go into it, and click on the BFM python file to import the keymap.

Why do I need this? Aren’t the default keymaps good enough?

The default Blender, and Industry Compatible keymaps are decent, but they both have their flaws that are eliminated entirely with the BFM Keymap.

Blender Keymap:

Shift ~ is used to activate View Navigation – Walk.

The Blender keymap relies heavily on the Numpad, Home, Page Up, and Page Down Keys, which not every keyboard has.

Blender keymap has broken functionality in the form of Numpad 0 for Frame Selected. The period (.) key is always going to result in the Pivot Point Pie Menu, and even if you remove the operator, or change the Pivot Point pie menu to a different key, the . key for Frame Selected still will not work.

The function keys for the editor type menus are completely random. I couldn’t even begin to make sense of them outside of Shift F5 for 3D Viewport, Shift F1 for File/Asset Browser, and Shift F3 for Node Editors.

Confirmation menus for delete, and setting keyframes.

Standard Number keys turn on and off collections in Object Mode (And Pose Mode pre-4.0) in the order of their creation, which means depending on how you organize your scene, might be constantly changing.

No hotkeys for Gizmos.

Industry Compatible Keymap:

There is no hotkey for Walk Navigation.

The Industry Compatible Keymap uses the function keys for going directly to any viewpoint without a pie menu.

Editor Type hotkeys are completely removed. Not even remapped, just gone.

Standard number keys go to different modes, however, that mostly applies only to Mesh, and Grease Pencil objects, as objects that only have 3 or so modes, such as armature and curve objects don’t use the full row.

Hard time following tutorials using this keymap, despite the claim that you should be able to follow most Blender tutorials when using the Industry Compatible keymap, because the Industry Compatible keymap is very minimal, to its own detriment.

Relying on the gizmos in Edit Mode instead of using the modal operators to teach Industry Compatible keymap newcomers.

Toolbar and Sidebar hotkeys aren’t in every editor, and when they are in an editor, it’s either one, or the other, meaning it’s often a guessing game, although you can rest safe knowing that there is no sidebar key for the Graph Editor, even though the modifiers in the Graph Editor are incredibly powerful.

Benefits and Features

Use the power of Source Filmmaker’s hotkeys to drastically improve your experience with the 3D Viewport by using Left Click for Walk Navigation, CTRL Left Click for Select, and Deselect, and M to set a keyframe automatically for Location, Rotation, Scale in Object Mode, and Pose Mode.

Improve your experience in the Graph Editor by using the standard number keys to automatically set up the various tangents/interpolations, and M to set a keyframe on only selected channels, and, improve your overall animation experience by using the bracket keys to jump to the previous, and next keyframe, up and down arrows to go to the beginning, and end frame, and I, and O keys to set the start, and end frame at the current frame.

Say goodbye to having to choose between the Blender keymap and Industry Compatible keymap if you’re used to standard 3D applications.

The BFM Keymap combines the hotkeys of both keymaps, which means you can use the industry standard W, E, R keys to bring up the Move, Euler, and Resize gizmos, with Middle Mouse to go into modal mode when using the gizmos, F to Focus on Selected, and Alt Mouse Navigation to Orbit, Pan, and Dolly respectively, while still being able to use G for Grab, R for Rotate, and S for Scale, Shift Right Click Drag to manually move the 3D Cursor, T and N for the Toolbar, and Sidebar respectively, T for Interpolation menu in the Graph Editor, V for the Handle Type menu in Curve Edit Mode, and the Graph Editor, Alt F to Flip Direction in Armature Edit Mode, CTRL Alt S to Scale B-Bone in Armature Edit Mode, and Pose Mode, among other Blender hotkeys.

No longer will you have to deal with needing a Numpad, function keys, Home, Page Up, or Page Down Key to use Blender to its fullest potential if your keyboard doesn’t have those specific keys.

All the numpad number keys are replaced with their standard number row counterparts, without you needing to activate the Emulate Numpad toggle in Edit > Preferences > Input.

All function keys for the different editors are replaced with holding Shift CTRL, and using the entire standard number row, Backspace, I, and P, rather than having them removed entirely.

Every instance of Page Up and Page Down is replaced by some combination of a modifier key (Shift, CTRL, Alt), and either the up or down arrow.

Shift C added for the Frame All operator in every editor where the Home key exists for Frame All.

The Tilda hotkey’s previous functions from the Blender keymap have been remapped entirely, as the BFM Keymap use Left Click for Walk Navigation instead of Shift ~, and V for the View Pie Menu instead of ~.

CTRL ~ to toggle show gizmos has also been completely removed, as using W, E, R for the Move, Rotate, and Scale gizmos means toggling the show gizmo overlay off is shooting yourself in the foot.

Not as many confirm delete dialogues or menus wherever possible, making this keymap similar to the Bforartists experience.

The BFM Keymap, similar to the Industry Compatible Keymap doesn’t bring up an insert keyframe menu. Instead, we use the M hotkey to automatically set a keyframe for Location, Rotation, Scale in Object Mode, or Pose Mode, and on Only Selected Channels in the Graph Editor. We have also removed the delete menu from Object Mode, Mesh Edit Mode, Curve Edit Mode, Grease Pencil Edit Mode, the Graph Editor, Dopesheet, and the Particle Editor in 3.3, and Armature Edit Mode, Metaball Edit Mode, Lattice Edit Mode, and Pose Mode in 3.6+, meaning you don’t have to hit an Xtra button when you want to delete something.

Bonuses for Purchasing

By purchasing the BFM Keymap, you will gain access to my Discord server, where you can talk with me about the keymap, as well as offer suggestions for hotkeys...as long as there’s no conflict with other keys.

You will gain the Optimal Preferences add-on, allowing you to set up the optimal preferences for Blender animation in one click. You can also offer suggestions for the Optimal Preferences add-on in the Discord server.

For bonuses, you will receive my startup file custom made for animation, and the BFM Keymap Complete Guide, which is a complete guide teaching you how the keymap works, along with some basics of Blender/Bforartists.

You will receive the BFM UI Theme, which makes the Blender UI look more like SFM’s UI.

Coming Soon for Bonuses

Ultimate SFM to Blender/Bforartists guide, which is a complete guide on everything an SFMer needs to transition over to Blender/Bforartists. (Currently still a work in progress)

FAQs

FAQs #1 Why Can’t I Left Click Select in 3D Viewport?

Even though the standard Left Click to select is the way many applications select items in the 3D Viewport, including Blender 2.8, it has been changed to CTRL Left Click, with Left Click now activating Walk Navigation. This is because Source Filmmaker, this keymap’s namesake uses Left Click for Walk Navigation in the 3D Viewport, with CTRL Left Click to Select. You can still use the standard Left Click to select in the Outliner, Graph Editor, and every other area, however.

FAQs #2 What Happens to the Numpad, Page Up, Page Down, and Tilda keys now that they are free in the BFM Keymap?

They are free to be mapped and used however you prefer. They are completely free keys.

FAQs #3 None of the standard number keys are working. What am I doing wrong?

You need to disable Emulate Numpad if you have it enabled. You can do this by going to Edit > Preferences > Input, and under the Keyboard drop-down, make sure Emulate Numpad doesn’t have a checkbox next to it.

FAQs #4 Optimal Preferences Add-on is throwing me a StopIteration error. How to Fix?

One of the windows needs to be set to the Graph Editor. If you moved the bonus startup file into C:/Users/USER/AppData/Roaming/BlenderFoundation/Blender/BlenderVersion/config, you should start with two Viewports, the Outliner on the left, and the Graph Editor on the bottom in your Animation Workspace.

FAQs #6 How was this keymap created?

The BFM Keymap was created entirely using Blender’s in-built keymap editor, with the Blender keymap being used as the base.

Who is the creator?

David Eugene Rozier Jr was born on 1998 as the smallest baby born in the state of California, weighing only 744 grams, and the FIRST black baby born in Newport Beach, California. He has had heart-lung surgery, brain surgery, multiple eye surgeries, and more after he wasn’t supposed to make it more than 7 hours. He has cerebral palsy, and is legally blind.

David Rozier Jr. has been using Source Filmmaker for 8 years since 2014, and Blender for 5 years since 2019, and is very familiar with the BFM Keymap.

Logic/Ergonomics

One of the things that the Blender keymap does extremely well is mapping actions alphabetically, or explaining the keys in a way that makes sense, such as G for Grab, R for Rotate, S for Scale, E for Extrude, I for Inset, Shift S for Snap Cursor, Shift D for Duplicate, CTRL J for Join, Q for Quick Favorites.

The Industry Compatible keymap does this too if you think of W for Walk, E for Euler Rotation, R for Resize, in addition to CTRL D for Duplicate, and CTRL J for Join.

The BFM Keymap continues this logical process with using M for setting a keyframe (aka a Bookmark in SFM), Shift E for Extrude, Shift M and Alt M to Mark and Clear Seams, CTRL H to hide the Header, Shift CTRL Q for High Quality Normals, CTRL M and CTRL Alt M for Mark Sharp and Clear Sharp, CTRL V for the Vertex Menu, CTRL E for Edge Menu, CTRL F for Face Menu, CTRL U for UV Unwrap Menu, U for Unit System, Shift U for Length Units, Alt U for Mass Units, and much more. Ergonomics isn’t just about key positioning, but also taking letters of the function into account to make things easier on your brain.

Consistency

There is an extreme amount of consistency between editors. For example, Shift Alt Right Click will always bring up the Pivot Point menu, Shift M and Alt M will mark and clear seams in both Edit Mode, and the UV Editor, meaning you can use the same muscle memory in every editor, unlike the default keymap where you have Shift C for Frame All only in the 3D View, but not for the Graph Editor or 2D View Button List.

The UV Menu hotkey in Edit Mode was even changed from U to CTRL U to keep it in line with CTRL V, CTRL E, and CTRL F for the Vertex, Edge, and Face menu.

What Makes Your Product Unique or Special?

You’re not going to find anyone else who is dedicated enough to combine Source Filmmaker experience with Blender experience, while including a lot of useful custom hotkeys AND has been in all kinds of keyboard situations to where they go through and adjust every instance of broken functionality. This keymap took me years of learning almost every area of Blender, and FULLY studying both the Blender keymap, and Industry Compatible keymap.

Main shortcuts:

Left Click in 3D Viewport for Walk Navigation, WASD for Move Forward, Backward, Left, Right, Z, X for Move Up and Down.

Alt Left Mouse, Alt Middle Mouse, Alt Right Mouse to Orbit, Pan, Dolly.

F to Focus on Selected.

WER for Move, Rotate, Scale Gizmo, with Middle Mouse optimization from Industry Compatible Keymap for the “GRS” manipulation that Blender is known for.

Right Click for Transform Orientation Menu in Object, Edit, Pose Mode.

M to set a keyframe for LocRotScale, and Only Selected Channels.

Shift Alt Right Click for Pivot Point Menu.

Standard number keys for different views in 3D Viewpoint, Shift number keys for different modes.

Number keys in the Graph Editor for the different tangents.

Shift CTRL Number keys for different editor types.

Shift E to Extrude, CTRL R, and Alt C for Loop Cut and Slide, I for Inset, Shift W to Subdivide, Shift F to Fill, Shift X for Snap Element, Shift S to Snap Cursor.

X, and Delete to delete automatically in Object Mode, Edit Mode, Graph Editor, and Dope Sheet.

And so much more. Be sure to check out the documentation for a full list after purchasing the appropriate tier.