How to Create a Group of Objects in Blender

In Blender, the primary way to group objects for organizational purposes is by placing them into a Collection. This allows you to manage multiple objects together while keeping them as individual entities.

Grouping objects into Collections helps streamline complex scenes, making it easier to hide, show, select, or manipulate sets of objects simultaneously. As the reference notes, even when objects are grouped in a new collection, "each cube is still an individual object."

Understanding Collections in Blender

Collections act like folders or layers for your objects, lights, cameras, and other scene elements. They are managed in the Outliner editor, typically located in the top-right corner of the Blender interface.

Steps to Create a Group (Collection) and Add Objects

Here's a common method to group selected objects into a new Collection:

1. Select the Objects: In the 3D Viewport, select all the objects you wish to group together. You can do this by Shift + Clicking on multiple objects or by using box selection (B) or circle selection (C).
2. Press the Group Shortcut: With the objects selected, press the shortcut key M. This brings up the "Move to Collection" menu.
3. Create a New Collection: In the "Move to Collection" menu, select "New Collection".
4. Name the Collection: A prompt will appear asking you to name the new collection. Type in a descriptive name (e.g., "MyCubes", "BuildingParts", "CharacterOutfit") and press OK or Enter.

The selected objects will now be moved from their current collection(s) into the newly created collection, effectively grouping them together within the Outliner.

Alternatively, you can:

• Manually Create a Collection: In the Outliner, click the "New Collection" button (often looks like a folder with a plus sign). A new collection will be created.
• Drag and Drop: Select objects in the 3D Viewport or the Outliner, and then drag them from their current collection name onto the name of the target collection in the Outliner.

Benefits of Using Collections

Using Collections for grouping offers several advantages:

• Organization: Keeps your scene tidy, especially with many objects.
• Visibility Control: Easily hide or show an entire collection by clicking the eye icon next to its name in the Outliner.
• Selectability Control: Toggle object selectability within a collection.
• Rendering Control: Disable or enable rendering for entire collections.
• Scene Management: Collections can be linked or instanced across different scenes or Blender files.

Action	How Collections Help
Managing Many Objects	Provides structure in the Outliner.
Hiding/Showing Parts	Quick toggles in the Outliner.
Working on Specifics	Isolate parts by hiding other collections.

Remember, putting objects into a collection groups them organizationally, but they remain individual objects that can still be selected, edited, or manipulated independently.