Blender's Outliner provides intuitive controls, primarily the "Eye" and "Camera" icons, to manage the visibility of objects within your 3D viewport and their inclusion in final renders.
The Outliner is a powerful panel that lists all data in your scene, allowing you to organize, select, and manage objects efficiently. Controlling an object's visibility is a fundamental aspect of working with complex scenes, enabling you to focus on specific parts without distraction.
Understanding Outliner Visibility Controls
The Outliner panel, usually located in the top-right corner of Blender's default layout, displays a hierarchical list of all objects, collections, and data blocks in your scene. Next to each object's name, you'll find a series of icons that govern its visibility and other properties.
Hiding Objects in the 3D Viewport
To hide an object from your immediate working view in the 3D viewport:
- Locate the "Eye" icon: Next to the object's name in the Outliner, there is an "Eye" icon.
- Toggle visibility: The "Eye" icon toggles the visibility of the object in the 3D viewport. Clicking this icon will make the object disappear from the 3D viewport while still remaining in your scene data. Clicking it again will make the object reappear.
This feature is incredibly useful for de-cluttering your workspace, allowing you to concentrate on specific elements of your scene without other objects obscuring your view.
Hiding Objects from the Final Render
Beyond just hiding objects in the viewport, you can also control whether they appear in your final rendered images or animations:
- Locate the "Camera" icon: Next to the object's name in the Outliner, you'll also find a "Camera" icon.
- Toggle render visibility: The camera icon toggles the object's visibility for the final render. If you want to hide an object from appearing in the final render, toggle the camera icon off next to its name in the Outliner.
This means an object can be visible in your 3D viewport for editing but completely absent from your final output, or vice-versa. This flexibility is crucial for render layers, proxy objects, or temporary visual aids.
| Icon | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Viewport Visibility | Toggles whether the object is visible in the 3D viewport. Hides the object from your editing view. |
 |
Render Visibility | Toggles whether the object will be included in the final render output. Turning this off hides the object from your final image or animation. |
(Image source: Blender Manual)
Step-by-Step Guide to Using Outliner Visibility
- Open Blender and navigate to your scene.
- Locate the Outliner panel, typically in the top-right area.
- Find the object you wish to hide in the Outliner's list. You might need to expand collections (by clicking the arrow next to their name) to find nested objects.
- To hide in the 3D viewport: Click the "Eye" icon next to the object's name. It will dim or turn off, and the object will disappear from your 3D viewport.
- To hide from renders: Click the "Camera" icon next to the object's name. It will dim or turn off, ensuring the object is excluded from your final render.
Example: Imagine you're modeling a complex engine. You can toggle off the "Eye" icon for the engine casing to work on the internal components without visual obstruction. Later, when you're ready to render, you might keep some temporary guide meshes visible in the viewport but toggle off their "Camera" icon so they don't appear in the final image.
Beyond Basic Visibility: Other Methods & Tips
While the Outliner is the primary tool for managing visibility, Blender offers other related methods and tips that complement its functionality.
Collection Visibility
You can also manage visibility at the collection level. In the Outliner, each collection (represented by an orange square icon) also has "Eye" and "Camera" icons. Toggling these icons for a collection will affect all objects within that collection, providing a quick way to hide or show groups of objects.
- To hide an entire collection from the viewport: Click the "Eye" icon next to the collection's name.
- To hide an entire collection from renders: Click the "Camera" icon next to the collection's name.
Temporary Hiding in the 3D Viewport (Non-Outliner Method)
For quick, temporary hiding directly in the 3D viewport, you can use keyboard shortcuts:
Hkey: Select an object in the 3D viewport and pressHto hide it.Alt + Hkey: PressAlt + Hto unhide all hidden objects.
Objects hidden this way will also show their "Eye" icon toggled off in the Outliner, indicating their viewport invisibility. This method is often faster for on-the-fly adjustments.
Local View
Local View (/ on the Numpad) is another powerful feature for focusing on selected objects. When in Local View, only the selected objects are visible in the 3D viewport, hiding all others. This is a temporary isolation mode and does not alter the visibility settings in the Outliner for the hidden objects. Press / again to exit Local View.
For more detailed information on Blender's Outliner and visibility settings, refer to the official Blender Manual.
