From modeling a sci-fi helmet to shading a pancake hobo, we have produced many flashy tutorials over the years. But our most popular course is the most elementary one: Blender Basics, a 6-lesson course that introduces Blender to absolute beginners.
Earlier this month, it hit a huge milestone, clocking over 1,000,000 views from CG Cookie users. Not bad for a course that's just about to turn 2 years old!
A Course That Everyone Can Follow
The author of Blender Basics is Jonathan Williamson, who remembers why he decided to create the course.
"People kept saying to me, 'Blender is too hard, the learning curve is brutal, the UI is awful'. I don't find any of those things to be true," he says.
"Sure, Blender's interface has its quirks, but it's easy to overcome them and use them to your advantage."
Read: "A Good Mesh Is Like a Good Brew", Says Jonathan Williamson
Covering The Basics in 36 Minutes
Jonathan set out to create Blender Basics for learners with no previous experience in 3D after he noticed that many Blender tutorials assume that learners already know the basics.
"I always had beef with that," he laughs, "that is why in all of my courses, but this one in particular, I do my best to make zero assumptions about what the student knows or does not know," he explains. "I think this approach is what has helped the course do so well and to stay so relevant. Practically anyone can follow it."
"A good tip for Blender beginners is changing to Left Mouse Select from File > User Preferences > Input"
In a little over half an hour, Jonathan goes over the key concepts of Blender, focusing on the viewport and covering the technique for adding and manipulating objects.
Our user Nightchangers is one of many to confirm that he was successful: "Jonathan picks up the Basics and explains each step thorough explanation of function and short key. I ended making a very basic portfolio in the first month of CG Cookie citizenship," he says.
That is awesome to hear. The best place to start is always the basics!