Blender questions.........

[RAMWolff44]

Hi Dan and whoever else uses this amazing but confusing program,

I was wondering if there was a step by step tutorial that would take a newbie, like myself, through the process of creating a simple and more complex (but not to) object(s)?? I looked on elYsiun and they just don't have allot of tutorials there and most are pretty advanced!

What I mean is a tutorial that would, at the same time, introduce interface as well as walking the newbie through creating a simple and slightly more complex object(s).

I downloaded the user manual but it's just SO MUCH and sometimes just jumping in and getting your hands dirty is the best way for many of us to learn but the artist that puts the tutorial together would have to do "baby steps" along the way so as not to loose the newbie right out of gate.

I open up the program and there is the default square object loaded up in the center. I know if I left click it will select it but then it's very hard to get it to rotate or deform, seems like it should be a bit more intuitive and maybe it is but my mind has not grasped the concept yet. So sometimes there is an artist that knows just how to present a tutorial for newbies in a concise and detailed way while explaining what tools do, where they are located and how to make them work.

Thanks and sorry if I'm asking for too much hand holding but 3D is of interest to me but it's a bit more to learn than 2D vector!

[RAMWolff44]

Hi Dan and whoever else uses this amazing but confusing program,

I was wondering if there was a step by step tutorial that would take a newbie, like myself, through the process of creating a simple and more complex (but not to) object(s)?? I looked on elYsiun and they just don't have allot of tutorials there and most are pretty advanced!

What I mean is a tutorial that would, at the same time, introduce interface as well as walking the newbie through creating a simple and slightly more complex object(s).

I downloaded the user manual but it's just SO MUCH and sometimes just jumping in and getting your hands dirty is the best way for many of us to learn but the artist that puts the tutorial together would have to do "baby steps" along the way so as not to loose the newbie right out of gate.

I open up the program and there is the default square object loaded up in the center. I know if I left click it will select it but then it's very hard to get it to rotate or deform, seems like it should be a bit more intuitive and maybe it is but my mind has not grasped the concept yet. So sometimes there is an artist that knows just how to present a tutorial for newbies in a concise and detailed way while explaining what tools do, where they are located and how to make them work.

Thanks and sorry if I'm asking for too much hand holding but 3D is of interest to me but it's a bit more to learn than 2D vector!

[danifou]

Hi Richard,
Did you try " Your first animation in 30 + 30 minutes" It it the chapter 4 of the manual. It 's the basic tutorial that covers want Blender can do.
Once you've done it, you'll be hooked to Blender forever
Basically, you will:
- model;
- render a still ;
- basic lighting ;
- aplly materials and textures;
- rig the model with an armature of "bones" and "skin" them ;
- do some posing and
- animate your model.
It's the first tutorial I did with some of my students (14-15 years old) and they did it in ~75 minutes.

To rotate or move a vertex or vertices, you need to be in Edit Mode. Since you have to use your mouse and keyboard, go and look the Keyboard reference in the help Menu.
You can do a lot of things if you're in Edit Mode and/or Object Mode. Confusing at first but after the little tutorial you should get the hang of it.

As for the cube, lamp and camera that appears when you start Blender, you can move them to another layer. That is covered at the beginning of the tut.
I got my UI setup like this : camera and lamp of layer 20 so they are not in the way. I deleted the cube. To keep those settings, press Ctrl + U and without moving the mouse LMB click.

Anyway, go through the tut and manual, it's worth it.

You can get a really big list of Blender tutorials at http://membres.lycos.fr/bobois/Liens.../big_list.html. It's a compilation of tutorials. Some are obsolite because they used an older version of Blender but you still can apply the principle.

Hope this helps you.

Dan

[RAMWolff44]

THANKS Dan!!

I found a site that's got a whole page dedicated to Basic Blender know-how. Working my way through the L O N G list. Weeding out all the dead links and foreign links that won't do me any good.

Got confirmation that my Blender Bundle is on it's way to me. Has an 800 page book and a CD filled with textures and a few other things. Looking forward to recieving it, esp for the book and textures!!

[truckerette49]

Thanks Dan I am syncing it as I type
Truckerette49 aka Judy Riggs