Blender anyone?

Started by inkydigit, June 01, 2009, 10:34:00 AM

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inkydigit

I have just got a copy of Blender, does anyone use it here?and could you point me in the right direction for some tutorials etc, I am using a Mac, but I am sure that wont matter!!;)
cheers
J

buzzzzz1

There are tutorials on the blender website and there are also a couple of blender users at Rendus3D which I am sure would be glad to help. Hillrunner and Criss come to mind.
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reck

Inky take a look at Blender Underground, especially their video tutorials. They are the best videos i've found and really go into detail.

http://blenderunderground.com/


Klas

The video tutorials helped me a lot, but it's hard to listen if english is not your native language:
http://www.blender.org/education-help/video-tutorials/

scott8933

Also there are several books on Blender, available from the blender.org e-shop page: http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/ or Amazon, or even your local Borders if you're really in a hurry.

When I asked around, "Essential Blender" and "Bounce, Tumble, and Splash" seemed to be the most recommended ones. Both include disks with tutorials.

I believe if you buy direct from the blender.org site, the authors or the Blender Foundation get a little more of the proceeds.

neuspadrin


inkydigit

thanks everybody...I will investigate and start experimenting...
cheers]
inky

schmeerlap

There is so much documentation on Blender its a case of finding the right trees in the forest. For me the best hard copy book is The Essential Blender, followed by the recently published Blender For Dummies, both are available from Amazon; I'm still waiting for Blender For Those Who Need A Good Kick Up The You-Know-What. Also check out this excellent free pdf: Blender Basics Book 3rd Edition which you can find here: http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55205

John
I hope I realise I don't exist before I apparently die.

Henry Blewer

Hey,
I use Blender. I love and hate it. If you have any questions, send me an email. I'll be glad to help.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T

inkydigit

thanks njeneb....much appreciated!

TheBlackHole

I tried Blender. HATED it. They say that once you learn the interface it's efficient, but I'd rather have an inefficient interface that's easy to learn than an efficient one that is almost unusable.
They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

reck

I understand what you're saying. In most "normal" software you can use the interface buttons and menus to perform functions and then later move onto shortcut keys to improve efficiency.

In Blender you really do need to know the shortcut keys pretty early on because a lot of the functionally is hidden away in different parts of the software and it's a non-intuitive interface at that. After using Blender for a few years I've got used to the shortcut keys and I've learnt where all the different options are located and it's quite nice to use now, but this is because I went through the slow torturous process of figuring out where everything is and how it works.

It's correct what the pros say I suppose in that it is quite an efficient process once you understand the software, the problem is getting there in the first place. For new users Blender has to be one of the most daunting bits of software around.

There is some good news though, Blender is having a big makeover. Version 2.5 is currently being developed and I have to say the new interface is a big improvement on what we have in 2.49. It's more user friendly in terms of the look with more icons and a more responsive interface, but there is also a nice search tool that you can bring up with the space bar.

It might be time to take another look at Blender with version 2.5, it really is a very powerful bit of software and the rate at which they keep adding new features seems to be increasing. If you can get past the steep learning curve you're going to end up with a nice bit of free software at your disposal.

Henry Blewer

I still love Blender and hate it a the same time. Lately my biggest problem with it is the lack of real scale. It need metric units, (can can convert most US measurements to metric in my head). The Blender Unit just does not cut it.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T

TheBlackHole

Quote from: njeneb on February 15, 2010, 07:47:13 AM
I still love Blender and hate it a the same time. Lately my biggest problem with it is the lack of real scale. It need metric units, (can can convert most US measurements to metric in my head). The Blender Unit just does not cut it.
Anim8or has that problem too, but I'm used to it.
They just issued a tornado warning and said to stay away from windows. Does that mean I can't use my computer?

glen5700

Here is some stuff on youtube, a lot on smoke - you can see I just searched for ver. 2.5

HTH,
Glen

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blender+2.5+tutorials&search_type=&aq=f