OT: Training with Blender

[Shikarnov]

Greetings,

First, I apologize if this isn't an appropriate topic for this forum, and if it's not, Ptrope, would you please move it to the correct place.

I work in marketing and communications. I build graphic identities, stationery packages, collateral systems, websites, etc. And with more and more frequency, I find clients looking for ways to explain concepts that are tragically cumbersome with static illustrations, but which animation could dramatically simplify.

To that end, over the years, I've made attempts to get into some 3D work with Blender, but due to a number of factors, never got very far past creating rather rudimentary shapes. And I'm not sure why, but the video tutorials online just make my head spin. The first one or two in a series make sense, and then the next one will take a leap that seems to skip several important steps.

I've seen the amazing things you guys in this forum have been able to accomplish, and can think of no place better to look for help. So, if any of you are in the business of teaching your craft (or just feel like giving it a shot) I would dearly love to make some kind of a deal for periodic classes.

Please PM me with details if you can help.

Thanks in advance,

Z

 

[Starscape]

I've never been able to get to grips with video tutorials myself. Fortunately, I learnt the basics when most tutorials were mainly text and pictures.

If that's more your thing you could try an older version of Blender (say 2.4x) that may still have some non-video tutorials out there.

Or there's a few books out there, e.g. "Blender for Dummies", "Blender Foundations: The Esstentail Guide...", that may help to get you started.


Hope you get something sorted.

 

[Shikarnov]

Hi. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm with you on the idea that text will probably be better suited for me than video...

I read the descriptions of "Blender for Dummies" and "Blender Foundations: The Esstentail Guide" and they seem to be about using the program specifically, but not about 3D design in general... Is there a good title that might cover both in parallel?

Thanks again,

Z

 

[Starscape]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "3D design in general". I haven't read the books myself, but it seems they include tutorials on build models/scenes etc. They may not be the type of things you want to model in the long run, but you should be able to apply those techniques to build whatever you want.

http://www.blenderfoundations.com contains the resources for the "Blender Foundations:..." book. It's mainly images, it might give you an idea of what it contains.


If you search the book section on Amazon for "Blender 3D" you'll find plenty of books on the subject, just be careful on the version they apply to (anything refering to v2.5 or above should be okay for the latest versions of Blender).