I'm trying to learn to use blender, but I find the interface is weird to say the least...  looks like it is all keyboard shortcut driven, which I'm not used to.  Suffice to say I can't even do basic things like move the camera up or down, left or right, select edges or anything.

My first goal is to try and use it for UV mapping and then move on from there if I can.

Blender Cookie!  I learned rather quickly from their site and I eventually purchased a subscription to I was able to download the .blends and the associated resources, as well as their video.  For myself it has been worth more than the books I had purchased.

http://www.blendercookie.com/

I second that motion, DigitalGem. Blender Cookie has the skinny on the newest version of Blender, which when you're like me, makes the difference between "getting it" or "being completely lost". Well worth the subscription!

I third it. Blender Cookie is the best. And if you're trying to learn Blender 2.5x, they have more tutes on the new version of Blender than anyone.

This course is also worth mentioning. It's an actual course taught in some schools. For free :).

Laurie

I would go for Blendercookie as well. All the tuts there are well demonstrated and easy to follow. One of its plus's is that when things don't work out as expected, an explanation of why its happened and how to recover usually follows. This isn't everybody's cup of tea during a tutorial but knowing what to do when things go wrong is also part of the learning curve.

Look through all of the tuts there, even if you're not particularly interested in that area as you will pick up things that will make life easier in all areas.

Knowing the shortcut keys just makes things go that little bit faster as in any other program and getting to know the most common will make things easier. Pretty much all the commands you will need can be selected via the menu bars as well if you want the point and click approach. The lesser known shortcuts will come as and when you need them. The section at the bottom of the link that LaurieA gave above lists the most common ones.

Another one to look at is Blenderguru.com. Andrew waffles a bit but does show a lot of good info, particularly about using nodes.

Okay, I'm trying to do the blender cookie tuts, but my version of blender 2.49b looks different.  It doesn't have the things on the side and it's a different color.

Quote - Okay, I'm trying to do the blender cookie tuts, but my version of blender 2.49b looks different.  It doesn't have the things on the side and it's a different color.

cough blender 2.5 cough

@Winterclaw - While 2.49b is the latest OFFICIAL release of Blender, the future of Blender lies with the 2.5X line.  The current beta, 2.56a is quite stable, but you will occassionally come across somethings that aren't quite solid.  I have both installed on my system, but am using 2.56a Beta almost exclusively.  To add more to that argument, there will be a line of books coming out very soon (one is already out) that focus exclusively on the 2.5X/2.6 Blender interface.

Most of the tuts at BlenderCookie are focused on the 2.5X/2.6 interface.  You can find OLDER tuts that are using the 2.49b, but you have to go back a ways.

Hope this helps!

If you're just starting out with Blender, do yourself a favor and learn on the new interface ;o).

Laurie

Quote - If you're just starting out with Blender, do yourself a favor and learn on the new interface ;o). Laurie

I thoroughly agree with Laurie on this, and I've used Blender for quite some time now. It took some real nutting out to get comfortable with Blender 2.4x and I'm finding it quite a challenge to get my head around the new Blender only because of the differences. Oh, and the improvements!!! and new features and WOW this is like a whole new programme! I wouldn't waste my time with Blender 2.49b unless you like delving into arcane, unique programmes... if so, be my guest.

I keep 2.49b around because there are still things that haven't been fully implemented in 2.56a, but they are few and far between (and for my purposes, largely irrelevant).

Okay thanks guys.  When I saw the newer versions were beta I DLed the last official one because betas can be meh from my experience.  So I guess I'll get the newer version and play with that next.  I'm sure I'll be back asking more questions soon.  ;)

1- you can have as many versions of Blender as you like: just install using the zip installer and not the exe one (unzip in different directories). On Windows you can have only one associated with the .blend files; to create/update the association, run from the command line the version you select using the -R option (to get a complete list, run it with the --help option);

2- for some super learning resources, see the links in this post from my blog.

Happy Blending!

search the archives on cookie and you will find tuts for 2.49 as well

also there is blender guru and even blender games

most of the tuts for the 2.5 series work in 2.49 if you open the hotkeys menu in a subwindow

also in the last 3 years i have never had a blender that wasnt a beta or lower, there is always too much development to ever call it done

the blender wikki  noob to pro    is ok for most references but lacks correct methods for complex meshes

I've learned a lot about Blender via blendervideosdotcom.

I also learned a thing or two about particles on the youtube website. A lot of tutorial videos.

Blenderguru is where I learned how to create some awesome weather effects like rain and lightning.