Hi, I first tried Blender a few years back, but gave up on it because of what I thought was a weird interface and some limitations (>whisper< not to mention the fact that I really suck at any sort of 3D modelling). Since then, I've discovered that you can pay a lot of cash for a 3D program, then find that it has an even weirder, less intuitive interface than Blender, and lacks a lot of Blender's features. So, I'm back exploring Blender, and have forgotten even the tiny amount I once knew. Any other newbies here? I guess I'm looking for a couple of Blender-learning buddies. Maybe we could work through tutorials & compare notes & results, maybe we could set some sort of (very simple) challenges... That sort of thing, just to keep the enthusiasm going. Morph

I guess I've been working with blender too long to call myself a newbie anymore (although I'm hardly an expert, either)... You're welcome to post wip's in the forum though, critiquing stuff is way easier in the forums than the gallery, and it's been kind of quiet here lately. A simple, unofficial challenge sounds fun, though :)

Im just starting in 3d and have settled on using Blender Wings Poser and Shade and want to learn Python too if I can. Think Ill be leaving the animation part alone for the time being just start with modelling and texturing. I have learned one thing-there is a lot to learn!

Blender blows me away- it is just so full of features and surprises. I found the tuts and help in the help menu were of the most use. I don't think there is a way around the tuts when you start out- invest the time and it will pay off-big. I am an advanced beginner after 3-4 months. I had an evaluation copy of Cinema4D I was struggling with at the time I found Blender. Now, I am not even looking back. Considering the price, it is a no-brainer, and I intend mastering Blender. Hopefully...

The thing that strikes me about Blender this time round (having wasted too much cash on 'real' programs in the meantime) is that Blender isn't just a great program because it's free... but actually it's a great program because it's better than some software that costs hundreds of dollars. Would any other learners be interested in starting a sort of 'assignment' thingie? It could be something as vague as 'model' a weapon. Newbies like me might struggle to produce a simple untextured sword (or club... or rock!), while those with a bit more know-how could produce a tank or battleship or something... just a thought. I think that having some sort of definite task and associated deadline might help me (us?) learn the program more quickly than just fiddling around reproducing tutorials all the time (Not that I'm dissing the tutorials - I find them an amazing help).

The 2.4 is at Release Candidate 1 now (I am playing with 2.4Alpha 2). When it goes final (not too long I hope) and then we can use 2.4 Blender and 2.4 Python I would be happy to do some stuff together. Maybe we could use one of those social sites like backpack and everyone could put stuff there, links images etc etc. Its difficult to do group stuff in a forum.

Thanks for the info on version 2.4, any idea if the manual will finally be updated also?

Bring it on! Having used Cinema4D, Bryce, Poser, Extreme 3D and a few others (I even downloaded AND INSTALLED Maya3D student version!!!), I am convinced that the best is Blender. It is up to us, though, to use it and make it famous.

Think they are quite a bit behind on the manual so many recent changes; probavly have to wait for that but the support around is good enough to manage without it ftb.

Attached Link: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro

Some new knowledge given in a nice and beginner-friendly form would be great... I say it "looking at" Haloedrain and other more advanced users... Since Blender 2.40, the manual will be nastily obsolete. Although the Wiki "Noob to pro" site (see the link, please) is much better, but... Im reading Polish forum posts by Grzybu and other advanced users of 2.40 and Im enraged I stop understanding what they are speaking about!! It would be excellent to make some explanation of the new features, e. g. how to use hair, water, etc... Things that were totally out-of-reach when T. R. was writing his great book:)

Message edited on: 12/02/2005 14:04

Attached Link: http://grzybu.com/images/3d/head_20051121_hair.jpg

Message edited on: 12/02/2005 14:03

I was really hoping the manual would be updated. Probably would have bought it since I preffer a real printed manual over the PDF type.

Eek! Me, advanced? Well, I don't mind writing tutorials for stuff (when I have the time...darn classes), but I haven't really been using the new features in 2.4 yet (again, time...)--and I certainly don't understand Polish forum posts either! ;) Morphy - your "assignment" idea sounds cool, I'd participate :)

Morphy - your "assignment" idea sounds cool, I'd participate :)<< Well, why don't we give it a go... I know it's getting into a busy time of year for some people, so we could make the first one easy and sort of open... Like 'Model something in keeping with the holiday season.' That way, it could be as simple (?) as a Christmas stocking or Hannukah candle, or as complicated as a Tree or Reindeer... or a Santa. If we were to go for it, how about the end of the year as a deadline?

Hi Morphy I'd love to see this happen. We tried a Themed Challenge before. It really didn't catch on. But, I like your idea of keeping it simple. Maybe...keeping it to something specific, but simple? Nick

Maybe something like a weekly speed modelling challange would work better? Model a particular object, and do it as fast as you can as many times as you want, then post a wireframe in the starter thread along with a description of the method you used (if you can remember, lol).

I'm a blender newbie. But I'm amazed by some of the stuff people makes in blender.
To me blender got an "alien interface" that's hard to get used to. ..i hope I'm wrong.
I have been using Amapi3D since 1998, and i love it, cause it's very easy to get great results in short time.
But unfortunately after Eovia took over the development of Amapi, it has become strange. Now I don't want any newer version of amapi then 6.1.
From my point of view, the development of Amapy is lost.
Now I'm looking for my future replacement.
Does any blender users got enough Amapy experience, to tell if blender is a good replacement for me?

The main reason I entered this blender part of the forum, is cause I was locking for some Blender freestuff to download, so it probably could help me take a look at blender stuff at my own computer, but i didn't find any?
Does anybody knows of a good place to download blender stuff?

I tried amapi once a few years ago and I thought the Amapi interface was strange ;p Of course, I thought the same about blender, but now I've gotten used to it and other applications that I was used to feel awkward. Unfortunately we don't have a freestuff section for Blender here. Try the Blender model repository There are also some blend files for download here

Amapi was one of the 'Paid for' apps I've tried in recent years. I must admit I liked the interface, but I found the program crashed more often than I would have liked. I also found that the upgrade prices got (for me) prohibitively expensive. One of the nice things about Blender is that it's not a continual drain on the ol' finances, trying to stay current. I suppose the basic interface question is, when you get used to it, how rapid/speedy does it make your workflow? I'm beginning to suspect that with Blender, the 'when you get used to it' may take a little longer, but that when you get a grip on it, it's really second to none. On the matter of 'weekly (or whatever) challenge, I would definitely love to give it a go. My particular problem is my total lack of skill and talent!! At present I'm still slogging through the manual and the tutorials. But I think it would be super if once every week or so, one of us noobs would say, why doen't we try to make a (whatever) this week, and us other noobs would say, Ok, let's go!

I'll try to remember to check this forum every day. I've been using Blender since July I think, making things for use in Poser. I would say that I'm not very good with modeling in general, but I've figured out enough to do my simple Poser projects.

By the way, I didn't find it hard at all to use the interface. I don't think Blender has a weird interface per se; but I suspect that most people who get it have tried other modeling programs before, and the prior experience with a different interface makes it harder to learn a new one. I was a blank slate when I started with Blender, and that's probably why I didn't think it was too hard to learn.

Well, I started learning Blender and C4D almost at the same moment. I managed to post some Cinema 4D images here but I was unable to get past the first steps in Blender. What is most disturbing in Blender is that you have just to KNOW where a particular button is or how to do a given action. As somebody wrote in one of Blender forums, many buttons are not where you expect them to be. Its a program for people who really like remembering thousands of pieces of information and have easy access to the tutorials. I prefer products that leave much my "computing power" free for thinking how to do the things themselves, not how to struggle with the interface:P If you want to achieve some goal in Blender, you usually have to find a tutorial or post a thread at a forum. I hate it. I prefer programs that have some clear logic in their interfaces, allowing me to figure things out by myself. Blender has different logic in every window! For example, different windows use different modes of selection, behave in totally different ways, etc. Yesterday I installed Maya PLE and I just figured the basic usage out by looking at the interface like never before! Try this with Blender:P I think a system of tabs dividing the interface into several cards where all the options are visible and easily accesible is far easier than all those idiomatic windows, hotheys and hidden options [Configuration window!:P] in Blender. Id actually write a new interface to it if I could program! Its extremely important that so powerful package was made free, but it still deserves major improvement to make it really user-friendly as for me. The best proof that its a true view is the very existence of this and many other discussions about if Blender is really so hard to master.

But I think it would be super if once every week or so, one of us noobs would say, why doen't we try to make a (whatever) this week, and us other noobs would say, Ok, let's go! Why don't you go ahead and start then, Morphy? :)

I'm really good at Rhino and fair at wings. I just got into blender literally an hour ago because it exports into the 3D Myst games. Right now I'm looking at everything and going Um...

Why don't you go ahead and start then, Morphy? :)<< Well, being shy & retiring & all, I don't like to appear in a group and start throwing my weight around :) Also, I'm pretty tied up trying to produce the last 5 pages of a Christmas comic strip (with Poser), so the deadline is pretty tight. But once I get that out of the way, yeah, even if nobody else wants to join in, I might start posting a message every week or two saying: "I'm going to try to make a (whatever) this week - anybody else wanna play?" But it will probably have to wait until after Christmas!

@electroglyph - if you've got the bandwidth, check out the video tutorials on the interface: http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Getting_started.400.0.html

Yes, those vid tutorials are absolutely wonderful.

Just got Knology DSL. The java test said I'm downloading at better than 3MB/sec. Thanks, I'll start watching.

Hello everyone. My opinion on the Blender interface is that it is very powerful, thus it has a very steep learning curve. I try and retry that flexible GUI. I hope to eventually get a handle on the GUI. Video tutorials... hummm.