It is with great pride (and just a tiny bit of fear) that I announce BlenderNation Links! I'm hoping that it will solve the biggest challenge for Blender users: finding quality and up to date tutorials, downloadable models, textures, books.. BN Links is a community-driven website where authors can leave their links and tag them. Our link browser allows you to drill down to exactly the kind of content that you're looking for.
For example:
Looking for Spanish tutorials on modeling? We have that. An English tutorial that covers both rendering and texturing, for intermediate-level users in PDF? We have that, too. Downloadable models under a Creative Commons license? Check. Or maybe you're just looking for English videotutorials for advanced users? Try here. Oh wait! Some good books on lighting and rendering. Just what you needed.
Go on - try it and see if you can find anything you like. Please note that we've just begun filling the database so there are only about 60 links in the system now - hopefully this will increase rapidly after today!
Of course you can leave comments for each link and these comments will be mailed to the link's author.
Where do you find BN Links?
To access BN Links, follow the 'BlenderNation Links' menu at the top of this page, or use the link in the sidebar on the homepage.
Would you like to add your links?
Like I said, BN Links is a community-driven website. You can enter your own links - read more about how to apply for an account here.
The Future
BN Links is not finished yet. One of the most important new features will be community ratings and sorting of links by their popularity. For now, I first need to see how our (old!) server holds up under the load. If everything goes ok, then I'll activate new features one by one. Of course, if you have suggestions for new features or link types, let us know!
46 Comments
FANTASTIC! This will be a big help to everybody.
Yeah can't wait to see what comes up :)
wow fenomenal ahora mas facil encontrar la informacion que uno quiera y en el idioma que le agrade.
thank you so much blendernation :) i am very happy
Wow, some of those tutorials are ancient, I love it! The cutting through steel is one of the first tutorials I ever did, 7 or so years ago (Blender 1.66!).. Good collection so far.
"up to date tutorials"...
Like blengine said, some of those tuts are prehistoric.
The concept is quite good, but I think some of the content should be rethought. Cheers!
I have been waiting for this! Thanks Bart :)
realy good idea.
It's looking really nice so far.
The upcoming community ratings system will make this one of the most powerful Blender resources around!
Perfect place for blender users!
Just what the blender users need.
Thank you.
here is a suggestion to help finding things faster
in terms of links for tutorials and models
would it be possible to group for different types
like for instance
Ex 1 : Human - Hand - faces- feet
Ex: 2 : mechanical things like Cars- airplanes - ships - train
Ex 3: curves Nurbs modelling - logo
Ex: 4 landscape -
Ex: 5 - mapping technic
EX: 6 - lighting technic
Ex 7 - rigging
Ex:8 animation
Ex 9 : Scripts
for science - ect..
and with time i'm certain there will be more categories!
i mean with time it would l become much easier to find things around
and its not easy but worth the extra to make life easier for user to find things as fast as possible
but also there is the problem of maintaining the system
many links might not become available with time or change name ect..
good luck with this
happy blendering
This will help many people, good idea
I feel nostalgia for these ancient tutoriales, the first ones that i know when i was learning blender.
Good initiative !
I would highly suggest that you point out is it's a Video or HTML tutorial.
P.S
I got several GB of Blender video tutorials I've downloaded in the past few years.
If you want me to upload them somewhere please contact me.
Although in many tutorials I can't remember where I got them from, but some have links and indication inside the video.
The must is to create a default GNU Developer Lessons and split it from user lessons .
A manual must to be in set to follow its simple datailed explanation about the every function .
That is a developer lesson for developer and big professional about how to made its
GNU Lessons .
With plus available wide specific user lessons from all the world .
Thanks for the comments!
@blengine: yeah, I couldn't bear NOT to include these :) Hundreds of people still read them every day, imagine that!
@rickyblender: do you mean model type subcategories? I've been thinking if this is possible. Let's first wait and see how many models are actually published before we subcategorize too far.
@MaximB: we do. For each tutorial, you can indicate whether it's HTML, PDF or Video. If you think those tutorials are worth while and it's ok rights-wise, then sure, we'd love to include them!
@Lucas da Costa Dantas: incomprehensible as always. I suspect you're a bot!
Well done Bart!!
it's a brave challenge you've set yourself, as was Blender Nation (although this just sort of took off), and if anyone can do this, you can!
Nice one dude! Cheering you on!
My last comment was not about that nice organizated search engine ,
but about a organizated "book lesson" for a default GNU Lessons from the developers .
That to explain the functions at the every detail that only who made are able to show .
A book to show how to use by example its tests for create video tutorials in detail
about its blender functions .
Cause a tutorial is about to copy something that the real knowledge is not very seem
cause its hidem about something else to complete ."The tutorial object"
But simple objects about extude ?
On that last tutorial (Telescope) that was nice to no only see what a extrude can do
but also "in detail" how can be done .
That its dont need to be build on some sort of art ,but focused on how to use its functions .
PLUS ,user lessons are able to "buld something" that the Default GNU Lessons made it
easy for acknowledge .
This new search engine can also be useful for search those Official GNU Blender Lessons .
I mede it easy better now ?
@Brat: Where can I upload them ? (it can take a few GB, OR I can find you links to some of them).
@MaximB: oh! Ehm, we don't provide upload space for that, sorry :-/ So links would be preferred yes! Once they're available, just sign up (see the post) and you can enter the links.
Thanks!
Bart
Wonderful! Just what we need. I've not been to the site yet (waiting for the dial-up connection), but have you considered making these searchable by the version of Blender that they're made for? I see the version number on some of them, but not others.
Crap. Nevermind, I see the versions listed at the top of the page. Excellent work!
I think Lucas da Costa Dantas is trying hard to deliver some message, but he's probably using some sort of automatic translator or something...
@André Luan Chiquetto Nascimento:
Wow... it's not every day you run across Scyther and Rapidash on a Blender site! That was cool...
And Bart, you deserve a commendation for all the work you do around here. Thank you!
This seems like a great idea. Good work Bart.
Now it just needs to grow.
This is brilliant.
Thank you.
It will really help me in using Blender.
Yeah, don't get rid of the old tutorials. I love those old things and although it may take a bit of work to adapt them to newer releases of Blender, they are still very useful in my opinion.
How can I ever thank you for this, after all those countless hours of scrapping, digging....
This is the best thing that ever happen since elvis have left the building.....
THe path ahead is going to be a better sail...... thank you blendernation.....thousands thanks and praise.....
I could almost smell the grass on the otherside of the fence now......
AWESOME. I might try my hand at making some simple tutorials. I think i got one on my website.
Thanks indeed... may this grow with the community!
Awesome, this'll really come in handy
I have some tutorials, I think some have disappeared from the internet, almost i can`t find these, but, without me being the original author of this tutorial, I can publish it anyway?
I like the idea to collect tutorials. But on the long run I see some problems comming up, because I can`t see any kind of quality management concerning the tutorial links. All articles on blendernation are supervised by editorials, the link collection not. This "free drift" may create problems.
@Bart,
This is great! May I ask, what software you've used to make this database? I'm trying to make a links website and I'm really stuck. Is this a wordpress add-on?
Cheers!
Ro
@zaniocz: short answer: no. Even though they've disappeared you don't have the rights to that content (unless they were published under an open license of course). The best thing to do is to try and contact the original author and ask if you can re-publish it.
@Toni Grappa: community voting should take care of a large part of the quality management. Good tutorials will float up, crap will be buried. On top of that, I'm still here as well - I'll try to keep the site clean of real rubbish.
@Sorbus: It's a wordpress add-on that I created myself.
Why not just call it links. You'll hate me for that cause i know its much more than an ordinary list of links. :-) but just to keep the site uniform... ;-)
Of course, I mean, the tutorials have the author's name, not mine lol, it would be unfair , it is best to try to contact the author as you say, thanks
Awesome! Good job!
Awesome! Great job, Bart!
Hmmm. Why not name it "links"? We are at blendernation.com already, so we don't need "blendernation links"... ... apart from that: *thumbs up!*
Nice! Can't wait till this gets nice and filled up.
A small gripe though.
It would be really nice to have the Thumbnail link directly to the tut/material/model.
I Instinctively go to click on the thumb, and then have to go click on the header.
Its not a huge issue, but would be nice to have. (Gotta save that 1/4 inch of mouse movement)
In addition to Materials and Models links, there could be also Nodes setups (compositing) and Scripts. There are a couple of node setups around (i.e. linear workflow setup), and giving them a place may be a way to encourage sharing them a little more.
Nice feature, seems very useful to me.
What about a link-category named "Blogs"?
I will make the same critique of BlenderNation Links that I think has been a problem with BlenderNation for a while. It's that for a long time the thumbnail picture has been pretty useless, but it is always a link to the picture file's URL. Who cares? Then the title word link goes to a single-serving page that lets you read the description you just read only so you get access a "link" link.
I say scrap the second level pages, make the titles and the pictures for each link just go to the link. No more messing around.
I think this could make for a nice logo ;) :
TOUGH BLENDING MADE EASY
I really do like your approach, looking forward to see more (although it's quite a bit already)!
@zaniocz: If they are mine then go ahead.
@Bart:
Real challenge indeed. You know me to kick stuff in the ground the moment I see them, but you are special to me.
At first sight I'd say it could use a specialist looking at the usability of the site, I know just the guy who can do that for you,.. O wait... lol.