Blender OMG

It is rare that technology has me wishing to be a much earlier adopter. Blender has me wishing I was into animation as far back as GIF animation. Oddly, it isn't the hard things in blender that are hard, it is the simple things.  For example, to make animated water is really easy. Click the fluid tab, choose the limits of your animation (bounding box, obstacles), and select your fluid options which are extremely nicely laid out.

However, moving about the screen and putting things together - that takes days. I've never been so frustrated with what should be simple mouse and keyboard controls. Oh, and it isn't just keyboard controls. You have to know which section of the program you are in since keyboard controls are re-used or moved around. There's a terrific video about what needs to be fixed, I couldn't state it better. Intuitive design is a must. http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_2735267151&feature=iv&src_vid=yIedljapuz0&v=xYiiD-p2q80

That being said, I made my first model, had my modelling friend remake it a million times better in 1/10th of the time, then made my second model, etc. Will I become a professional modeller? To be honest, I like the creativity. However, the tool is outrageously complex.  I feel like I'm back moo programming but with a much more verbose and abstract language. Oddly, I'm not programming at all, just moving about.

Did I make all of the newbie mistakes? Most likely, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjMaAw2BjFE. However, you have to make the mistakes to get some idea of the flow of things. There is a flow, it's just really hard to understand at first.  The basic flow goes think about what parts need to be together or separate, then carefully build those parts (organic modellers beware, if you're animating later organic modelling is bizarrely weird to break apart - I made a part of my first model organic, really bad idea and cost me hours of keyboard control nightmares). Modify until it looks good, but don't apply - or at least try not to. Texturize. Include all of your textures and test that they are included. Then do advanced stuff like animation. Seems simple, but since the newb doesn't know how to animate yet - it is rather difficult to guess how to properly separate your pieces - oh and all of the videos seem to tell you to apply your modifications - Yikes! So many more issues arise. Don't apply until you absolutely must. Blender will let you see your unapplied mods for a reason.

However, for all those attempting to learn, despite the fact that he uses Maya controls - which actually locks you out of some features so you'll have to keep switching keyboard controls, I highly recommend
cannedmushrooms - http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms

My second and third choices let me down a great deal. They kept skipping key presses/clicks or assuming knowledge that took me hours to gain.  However, once you have some background knowledge, the advanced courses by blenderguru (http://www.blenderguru.com/page/3/) are awesome.

For those looking for something quick to feel like they've accomplished something, check out this fluid tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgdGV0yaoM4 by Special Features.

Off to the next project at the moment, though. So, I'm going to leave the rest of my learnings from Blender far behind me and remember that next time I try, make the house first (cannedmushrooms way of teaching you basic navigation), make the cone second (box modelling in a nutshell), then worry about what I'm trying to accomplish third.

For those looking for a blender modeller, I'll put you in contact with my tutor, Bleu is available. Just ask me about modelling and I'll send you on over to him. He's the one that did all of the work I was attempting to accomplish in 1/10th of the time.