This lesson is going way too fast...

"However once we get into the specifics of types of map baking we're entering into intermediate and advanced levels "

I have to disagree slightly here. If it's a beginner course where we don't know what baking is or what types of maps there are and what they do, I think it's exactly the place where you want to explain this. Showing texture baking from a bird's eye view would work as part of an explanation to what baking is but you can't start baking normal maps when we don't know what they are or what they do. I think the main problem is pacing and Baking should be it's own section separate from UV mapping.

Sorry not trying to come of as preachy but it's really frustrating because even knowing what the types of maps are I still feel lost.

Thanks for taking the time to read feedback.

I'm going to offer my perspective as respectfully as I can.

I appreciate the frustration that some have experienced while watching this, but I personally feel it's down to a misinterpretation as to the purpose of this course. Granted, a lot of the other videos you could follow along as it progressed and recreate the steps, but that wasn't really the intention, in my view, of this course at all. It's an "Introduction" to Blender which, using someone else's analogy of a new starter at a company, is like the first part of the meeting where your new manager quickly goes over "these are your responsibilities". They wouldn't expect you to be able to go off and fulfill your job, it's just an overview of what you'll be doing with more in-depth and detailed looks into your responsibilities following later.

This course is the same, it's just introducing the concepts to you, covering the Blender set of tools and features available to you and giving you an idea of their application and results. Whetting your appetite for what other videos/courses will be covering in detail. I think we can all agree that an Introduction is not meant to fully detail something, more to give us a brief overview of something before we engage with that something and learn about it properly.

I'd recommend people simply watch the video, listening intently, and maybe making notes about what's covered, to understand what Blender is capable of. Then, as you move on to other courses that are more specific, you will suddenly learn a huge amount more about a particular feature and have the "oh, I remember this!" moment.

3D modelling is a vastly deep and complex discipline, and fully detailing all of these features in the first course for beginners wouldn't be an effective way to create engagement and spark interest. A video fully detailing all of the ins and outs and options of baking would be hours long and would likely fail to properly impart any meaningful knowledge without context. This course is to give you an overview, with in-depth and context rich courses continuing the topic separately when it's applicable and appropriate.

Hi Kent! Glad my reasoning/rationale wasn't too unresonable or irrational! I do understand the feedback, though, and agree that rerecording the course for Blender 2.8 is a valid and worthwhile investment. My answer was merely an attempt to alleviate frustration on all sides and give my perspective.

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you at CG Cookie for the great content! Times have changed a lot recently and you guys are doing an incredible job of improving your communication and value of the content, keeping it relevant, fun, and informative.