Not actually new but...still a noob. I want to learn Blender real quick. I can model a donut, cup and light bulb but I want to learn more...More...MOre...MORE...MOOOOORE!!!!
Oh and my interests are:
hi aye :)
Theres an absolute tonne of great stuff in the blender bootcamp and other flows and courses.
Have a click and look through the blender title on the left <--
I found some tank blueprints and I'm modeling it with a few timelapses to help. Why don't you try some? With a timelapse you get the additional challenge of trying to find out how they did it, a skill that will come in handy when you work on your own projects.
I feel like the flows are the way to go. I'm also not a complete beginner but starting over with the Introduction to Blender Flow has taught me a few things I didn't know despite feeling I was a little past those steps in my learning. It's a different approach to the usual 'here's how to make this thing' style tutorials and I feel like it's better providing me the tools and knowledge to make my own creations more easily.
I will say one thing, there's a lot of stuff to work through that will have you watching and listening and taking information on board rather than following along and actually interacting with the program. At least as far as what I've gotten stuck into so far.
There are exercises that have you get your teeth into Blender but otherwise it's probably easy to allow yourself to sit back and listen. Don't do just that. Make sure you put some time into the exercises and challenge yourself to work through them relying on your memory of the previous content rather than following along with solutions. Pushing vertexes around and actually having to be aware of the decisions you're making feels a lot more valuable to me than following someone step by step as they say "do this because this". Take them as challenges and look at the solutions only if you get stuck or after you've finished to see how you could have maybe done it differently.
Good luck, and have fun.
Agreed, the CGCOOKIE flows are definitely the way to go if you want to force yourself through the Blender basics.
TIP: No matter how fast you want to learn Blender, you've GOT to get your Blender-basics right, since it will enhance your productivity later on in your Blender life / carreer:
So start here: (and simply skip the parts you think you already know):
1 - Blender Foundation - First Steps series
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kes2qmijy7w&list=PLa1F2ddGya_8V90Kd5eC5PeBjySbXWGK1
2 - CGCOOKIE - The new and fresh Mesh Modeling Bootcamp:
- https://cgcookie.com/course/mesh-modeling-bootcamp
3 - CGCOOKIE - Introduction to Blender Flow - for the more advanced topics
- https://cgcookie.com/flow/introduction-to-blender
Besides this approach, it is always good practice to scrape the rest of the Internet, find other:
- Blender / modeling related tutorails (since there are tons out there)
- Artists who are busy working in the area you are interested in (for example: Blender Artists )
to take a side-track / deep-dive into any subject you need for you own projects.
Keep those screenshots coming!
The first recommendation is to watch Andrew Price's talk on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists and then start developing the habits. And then watch it again. I keep it bookmarked and watch it every few weeks as a reminder of what habits I need to continue work on. I've presented it to friends and coworkers as not just for artists but anyone wanting to learn a skill. I'm now working with our HR department to utilize it as a foundation for personal development training at work.
Second is to start at the basic courses and flows and start working through them. Even if you feel you are beyond that because having a good foundation is going to make everything else easier. My first introduction to Blender was watching live streams of artists in the cosplay community using it for 3D printing. I was amazed at the stuff they were doing at the time. Now that I've been learning on here, I find it painful watching them now. They haven't gotten any worse, but they also haven't gotten any better and I see them struggling with the same things they were struggling with over a year ago.
Third is get involved beyond the courses you want to take. This could be separated out into different ways but since they are all optional on their own, I encourage you to at least do one of them. Watch courses beyond what you are wanting specifically to know, you will pick up tips and tricks that relate back to what you are wanting to do. Do the examples in the courses along with doing the exercises for even more practice. Grade exercises but also read the comments made on them to learn from the feedback given as well, you might be doing the same things and not realize until you see it pointed out. Watch others work through following artist time lapses on YouTube or live streams on Twitch to help get a feeling of how the small technical steps are combined into effective workflows. And one you are obviously doing by posting this topic is get involved with community discussion.
Fourth, and I can't stress this one enough, remind yourself daily that what you are doing is awesome. It is easy to fall into the trap of watching artists that have been doing this full time for years and then comparing ourselves having only done it for a short while part time. The truth is by even trying it you are already above average since the majority of the population has probably never heard of Blender, let alone used it. Even amongst the community, your voice is still valuable and don't be afraid of providing feedback on work that you might consider better than yours. Best case scenario is you noticed something they didn't or had forgotten about and they will thank you for that making you feel great. Worst case is you point out something but was intentional on their part and they might explain why they did it that way giving you an opportunity to learn from them.
It seems like I could go on forever, but I'm going to cut myself off at a fifth and final tip. Don't focus on learning just from experts. Watching other beginners not only shows us a level of skill that seems more within our grasp, but is usually closer to our own work to notice the individual things they are doing better and how instead of clouded within the 582 things an expert is doing better that can be overwhelming to take in.
Consider that number interchangeable with any high number, and not related to anything specifically. The point is that worrying about the many things a more experienced modeller or artist is doing can serve to dishearten you and slow down your learning progress. Sure, looking at pro work can be very inspirational sometimes but you have to remember to remind yourself that they were right where you are now once.
582 was because of the 600 things they are doing, even pros can suck at a few of them ;)
Although I guess you could ask, "What's so special about 600?", because after all, isn't 600 just as arbitrary as 582? I guess humans just have a bias toward round numbers.