BlenderNewbies – A Beginner’s Resource
In a recent post we spotlighted a video tutorial available on BlenderNewbies. Now we will take a quick look at BlenderNewbies itself.
The website is designed as a beginner’s resource. A place for new users of Blender to go, a place to start and get a handle on the software. You’ll find posts ranging from neon effects in Blender, to the latest, a video tutorial on how to create special effects to your Blender camera.
BlenderNewbies has a set plan in mind and they have roadmaps in place of where they will be going. BlenderNewbies quotes:
Hey, just wanted to let you know that I’ve added a new feature to the blog called “Coming Soon”. It’s located in the sidebar and will contain a list of what’s currently in the pipeline. There is the slight chance that the order may change because, if something is taking longer than expected to produce, I may elect to temporarily jump to something that I can more quickly finish. In any case, the order will be updated to keep you informed so, you can count on the order to reflect my current intentions.
Some of the things that they have posts planned for:
- Camera Control
- Titling Techniques
- Pivot Power
- Quiz
- Using Your Mouse for Animation
- The Power of Blender Screens
- Controlling SubSurfed Edges
Hey Kermon ! :)
I think that you really found a niche there.
Beginners really need a place where they can feel absolutely comfortable and you are giving them that.
I guess that there are only so many subjects that can qualify as newbie stuff : yet that is a lot of subjects and you’ll be busy for quite some time to come.
I salute your effort since nothing can be more important than starting on good basis.
Jean
Thanks Jean!
Remember those posts we had about the “snippets”? Well, I haven’t quite given up on them but, I can see that it would be a lot of work. I’m hoping that, in the future, I’ll be able to extract “snippets” from my own tutorials and use those as reference material, that’s a long way down the road though. I’m also really looking into the animated GIFs that you suggested (see the Camera Control Lesson 1 tutorial). I think they might work ell for a lot of things, good suggestion!
As far as newbie material goes, I’ve decided that any subject is fair game as long as it is covered with the clarity that beginner’s might require. I’m also trying to figure a way to make the tutorials tolerable for more advanced users as well. I guess, eventually, I’ll find the right balance and workflow.
Thanks for compliments…it’s tough sometimes.
Yeah. Great work on the website. At some point you should consider moving it to your own domain. Will give it a better sense of reliability.
@Brian:
Thanks! Actually, I already have the domain secured. It’s, of course, http://www.blendernewbies.com. Currently, it just points you to the blogsite. It will take some time to move everything over to the site. Right now, I want to focus on content so when the site goes “live”, it will be more than just a shell. I don’t think I’ll take the time to design the site from the ground up, it’s just too much to do so, I’m still deciding on a template that I can easily modify for my needs. Sooner or later, it will be up-and-running.
@Brian:
I just realized you were the one who posted the article! Thanks for the plug!
No responses since September 26?
If you are sticking to your monthly publication schedule, I can’t find anything that looks like it is a follow-on to this introductory piece. I’ve looked through the Octobe and November archives. Where will follow-on appear?
As a genuine newbie both to Blender and to 3D graphics, I think there are some basic topics that a newbie needs to understand, and such understanding might eliminate the need to ask a whole set of specific questions.
For example, Objects. Objects are the meat and potatoes of Blender and other 3D apps. Under its Add menu, Blender offers groups or classes of objects. But I can’t find anyplace that discusses even just the classes of objects in the Add menu. What are meta-objects and NURBS good for? What’s the Empty object? What’s the Lattice for? I’m not much interested in finding out one by one through finding appropriate tutorials – I’d like to see a review of object classes and their members — doesn’t have to be a tutorial. Brevity of presentation and concerns about experienced users seem to me to be beside the point in educating newbies. Give me a point by point explanation, then tutorials will be a lot more effective.
Objects is just the start! Tutorials that use two or three buttons in a tab in the Button window really leave me feeling frustrated. What are all those other buttons for? Why not take on a project of dealing over time in depth with the content of a whole tab – tab by tab? Tutorials are fine in their place, but a dry old explanation of an object class or a Button window tab may be what’s needed for a newbie.
Sorry for unloading
Dick
Thank you for the input, Dick. It’s very helpful to know what is needed. Thanks.