When did Blender stop coming your way?

I'm curious about this too! Also started 2 months ago and have completed several courses, practising every day, but I still feel like I have no clue what I'm doing. And every exercise takes forever to finish (in my opinion), I have to start over a lot because I can't seem to fix the mistakes... So love to hear when the turning point comes :-)

After about 5 or 6 months of learning Blender, I began to feel like a good modeler.  I have the vehicle modeling class to thank for that.  However, hard surface modeling is about all I'm good at right now.

Hello
I also just joined like 2 Days ago i finished 2 courses already
https://cgcookie.com/course/learn-the-blender-basics
and then
https://cgcookie.com/course/mesh-modeling-fundamentals
the exercise first was a struggle but i am getting comfortabler already.
Of course to say i can make this in blender, i think it depends on what and how far
you proceeded with tutorials courses and flows (the exercises are great to do for practicing).
As for now i think i could model simple things like a house table maybe but i wont be able to make a human (or at least not a decent one (maybe a stickman xD)
I did spended quit a lot of time watching the video's and model along with it (even if he just explained certain tools.
That way you get to use them already a few times before you get into the exercise .
At least for me this method works well to learn things better or faster

About what kinds of models are you thinking when you feel like i need to watch more tutorials or courses ?

 

yyukinoh1989 I just did the corridor flyby tutorial, and I wanted to my twist on it and added a humanoid in pose to the shot. And I failed to pose the humanoid even though it took only 2 min to add model using the ManuelBastioniLAB addon.
Then I was like should I look up posing tutorial or finish the Animation part of beginners flow.

williamatics Could you share avg week hours spent on learning and/or active practice in those 5-6 months?  

@animeshux

I still need to look at videos of modeller (regardless which software though) to get a little inspiration on how to tackle a given project. I find the hardest is to actually start, hence me looking at awesome people for inspiration. 

I don't think you need to know how everything works before starting a bigger project of your own, but rather set yourself a goal similar to a CGC course (ex: model your own vehicle, or your own mask) and try whenever you can to add a personal touch instead of following exactly the instruction: imitate rather than replicate :) 

That way you'll find your own workflow. It takes time, of course depending on how much you spend per day/week and it also depends on individuals. I discovered blender in 2009, and used it very seldom until 2012-2013 ish when I got more serious in learning. Before I was just messing around or replicating videos: kinda cool results but not helpful for creativity. 

Also, surround yourself with people that share the same passion (meetup, cgc community, discord, you name it): that's what motivated me in 2012 when a colleague of mine was also a blender user. We got into it together and pushed each other forward. Very helpful to not be alone in the process !

The most important is to practive often. That doesn't mean 5 hours a day, but at least try to open blender everyday either mess with the cube or continue a project. 5 minutes everyday are better than 5hours in a row once per month :) Consistency is the key!

Good luck and happy blending

/Thibaut.

aanimeshux Probably from 30 minutes to 3 hours per day.  I don't know if that number is accurate; the amount of work I get done in a day varies.

Been doing this whole Blender shtick for about 6 months now, and only within the past month or so have I felt confidence to go out on my own. The most recent class was by far the biggest thing that pushed me in that direction. I've been doing Blender almost every single day since February, but my time varies wildly from 20 minutes a day to ~10 hours a day, though I'd say that 4 hours would be the average.

Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means great, but I at least now have the self assurance to look at something and think "Yeah... I could probably model that," with bad topology admittedly haha.

You should really join the upcoming class, it might be considered a bit basic for you considering you already seem to know your way around Blender but you never know what you might learn. Also do be careful of tutorial addiction, constantly looking at courses and thinking "Ooh I wanna do that!" and end up abandoning or stalling what you were previously doing, it's a problem that begets many of us but it will only leave you being confused and demoralized. By all means experiment and check out different things, just be sure to moderate it.