Blender 2.3 Guide Sold Out

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manual23.jpgWe were contacted by Blender.org’s e-shop manager Anja who told us that after selling 4,000 copies, the Blender 2.3 Guide is now sold out and that they will not be printing any new ones. At this moment, you will only be able to find the 2.3 Guide on Amazon.co.uk

There’s still a supply of the initial batch of lower-quality 2.3 Guides available (the big problem being that all the images are printed too brightly), which you can get at a discount price of € 15,- while supplies last. A downloadable version of the 2.3 Guide will appear in the e-shop during the next few weeks.

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    • Steve

      No doubt good incentive to start producing a more up to date Guide in the new Year? hint hint

    • UglyMike

      4000 copies? Does this include both the washed out and the seccond run sales? Is this amount satisfactory? More than expected? Less than expected? How much did the Blender 2.0 guide sell?
      I think it’s a good thing that it is sold out. It was getting long in the thooth, although the basics are still there of course…
      So, bring on the next one! …and Bugmans animation book! Already have Olivier Saraja book! I want a dedicated book on the simulation/physics stuff (rigid body, soft body, particles, fluid,…)!!
      My Gameblender book is also outdated! Gimme a new one! Get cracking, writers! Customers are waiting!

    • Cinmay

      I have the 2.3 guide and I love it but I find that to get the up do date information I use the online doc’s. I don’t see the need for printing another paper guide. Rather we should focus on maintaining the online doc’s.

      That is my opinion. What do you guys think?

    • http://3d-synthesis.com ROUBAL

      Hi! For people who could have a fear about purchasing the first edition, which is supposed to be “washed out”, I want to say that it is the version that I have purchased when the book was released, and I found it totally readable.

      Only very few pictures showing some Ipo curves on grey background pushed me to put my glasses.

      So if you have no books about Blender, it is the moment to buy this one at a good price !

      Even if Blender has grown up and if the GUI has changed a bit, it is still a very important documentation source that you can always keep close to you !

    • Peter

      I have the 2.3 Guide, and I still think it’s very helpful when I simply haven’t gotten around to learning about a particular tool. An up-to-date version of the book would be a great thing for the Blender community.

    • http://www.feeblemind.org olivS

      To Steve (and others requesting a new book): perhaps you have missed this article (less than one month old) about an upcoming book for Blender, covering the basics, produced by the blender Foundation:

      http://www.blendernation.com/2006/11/17/upcoming-book-blender-basics/

      Cheers,
      olivS

    • http://www.root42.de/ root_42

      I think a new printed guide would be great. I own the 2.0 edition of the blender manual, that’s still the one with ring binding and riffraff design. Also I own the 2.3 edition. A big problem of that is that there are a lot of spelling and grammar errors, which makes reading it a bit tedious. If there is a new edition, like a blender 2.4 guide, it should have more people proofreading it. But I am definitely for doing such a thing. Also ring binding it is a MUCH better idea, since my 2.3 guide is almost falling apart by now, compared to the old guide, which is still in pretty good shape. :)

    • http://- doods

      123

    • http://www.feeblemind.org olivS

      root_42: isn’t it the 1.5 guide that was ring-bounded and with a design by riffaraff? as far as I recall, 2.0 was glue bounded and the design by Samo… perhaps I’m wrong, I don’t have any manual within reach to check right now ;-)

    • Sandra Gilbert (dreamsgate)

      Yep it was the 1.5 guide that was ring bound, all books/manuals since then have been glue bound.

      As for the 1st prints of the 2.3, I have that one and have never had any problem. Some images are light, but still legible enough. Besides, mine is signed :P

    • http://mmas.unca.edu/~wlbowlin/ Bmud

      I was just at Amazon last week having my eye on this book. Erwin and I decided it was time I redeemed that 50$ i won from the physics contest (I wasn’t so interested in a Collada book…) and I decided I’d have him get me the new character animation book simply because it was newer. I feel like I’ve read through the 2.3 guide without ever doing so because I’ve seen screencaps before. It’s certainly a beautiful book and it reminds me of those younger Blender years which is fun, but I’m excited about learning about some new stuff. Maybe the next Blender book I’ll buy.

    • http://mmas.unca.edu/~wlbowlin/ Bmud

      Wow I’m impulsive… Look at me buying one… Only cost me 10$ though. Thankyouu PSP contest. ;)

    • http://www.cginsomniac.com Brian

      I do hope they’ll take into consideration ring binding for the new book. I think thats the best way to bind a book like this and I remember myself and others jumping for joy simply because it wasn’t glue bound.

    • argunda

      Uh, this is not good! I recently convinced my animation teacher to switch to Blender and she is looking forward to ordering Blender3D Guide books. What should I do now?

    • Solhex

      Only 4000 eh? and some of those in poor condition after years of thumbing. I couldn’t have learned to use blender without a copy on my lap as I blendernized the night away. It looks like I might have a potential collectible on my hands too, all I have to do is wait a couple of years and then hit some rare book auctions. I’m looking forward to another hard copy though, it’s definitely easier to use a book while you’re working no matter how big your monitor is.

    • Tweeker

      I have this book, bought it at a Barne’s & Noble store in the U.S. about 2 years ago. Looks like I now have a “collector’s item”, which will be worth a lot of money some day!!

      Before I bought the book, I knew nothing about Blender or 3D. I reluctantly dropped $50.00 on this book, mainly because of the color renders in the middle of the book. The rest is history, Blender is great!

      Since I bought this book, I never again saw it on the Barn’s & Noble store shelf. Wonder why?

      I’m really looking forward to the “Blender Character Animation” book in early 2007.

    • http://harkyman.com harkyman

      argunda: The upcoming book from the Foundation is being written with new users and educational settings in mind.

      The Character Animation book is going to be great, too (I’ve read it, mostly).

      Also, after the Foundation’s next book, I’ll most likely be working on one of my own, looking to see what the highest demand is around the world. :)

    • http://harkyman.com harkyman

      Erk — I also forgot to mention that binding hasn’t been decided yet on the upcoming book. I know what I prefer, but we’ll see what the budget allows.

    • Eric Havard

      Having a book sell-out is never a bad thing for the publishers, writers or that of the community at large. It’s one of those signs that you underestimated just how large the target market is/was or would become. The only bad thing is trying to figure out just how many units of the new version to print! The longer it takes to get the new edition to print the more of a vacuum that will be created because of the last edition being sold-out with people wanting one! And with all the talk that will happen within the 3D community about something very good doing this well, get your copy early! Hats off to you blender, good job!

      Hey…if there is a way to prepay for the new edition please let me know! I’d hate to miss-out.

      FTD

    • inazuma

      If anyone who has real knowledge of the actual costs for production wants to to email me, I may be able to assist in this matter. Digital print and a real affordable press is what my business is built upon. While my business is based upon wide-format stuff – I also have a good reference for all things small-format. And, as always, my love for opensource is paramount.

      And ANY suggestions regarding binds are welcome, of course.

      K

    • http://harkyman.com harkyman

      inazuma: thanks for the offer, but in addition to the Blender things that I do, my day job is as an IT Manager and digital prep guru at an independent commercial printer. We have a digital press too (which rocks, as I’m sure you know), but something of this scale is more cost-effective on the big iron. At our shop, we’ve found that if we’re running more than 2000 sheets of paper through the digital, we can give a better cost printing conventional. We have our own bindery and run a pretty end-to-end operation. That said, my company isn’t printing the book — an actual publishing house will almost certainly be handling that, due to their delivery channels and several other efficiencies they can provide.

      Eric Havard (and everyone else): The book will absolutely be available for pre-order. Just not yet.

    • Renato Perini

      harkyman, I can’t wait for *your* book… :P
      If I have to express some preferences, as said before from someone, I’d prefer a book that talks about Game Engine and all the new stuff that comes from Bullet 2.x or something that speaks about all the physics stuff recently added (particles, hair / fur, softbodies, fluid, etc. etc.)
      Oh, and I want a signed copy :P

    • Tony

      I also think a really thorough book on the Game Engine would be great.

      Also, YafRay and other rendering options aren’t very well served with documentation either. The 2.3 guide hardly does more than mention that YafRay exists, but it’s not trivial to get started using it. It’d be cool to see a big book on rendering and compositing in Blender and friends.

      A-a-and softbodies, fluid and physics! A-a-and Python!

      I’m happy to let my copy of 2.3 become a collectors item. The future looks pretty bright for Blender books…

    • broken_sword

      I have a got a copy of the book myself, in 2040 (that’s when I’m 60 years old), I’m going to auction my blender 2.23 guide for £ 100.000 or more :D ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

      re: yafray: the docos in their website are more than enough to scratch our head till we go bald…