BlenderNewbies - a resource for learning Blender 3D
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Friday, February 19, 2010

Blender 2.5 Alpha 1 officially released!



The Blender Foundation and online developer community have reached another milestone in the development of Blender 2.5!

You can check it out at:
http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-250/


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Friday, February 12, 2010

Announcing the BlenderNewbies Blender 2.5 Training DVD Pre-Order

I'm very happy to announce that I've begun production on my next Blender Training DVD!

This DVD will cover Blender 2.5 exclusively and will contain many hours of new and unpublished tutorials. There won't be any 2.5 versions of any of my existing tutorials so this will be fresh new content!

The training will be mostly small project-based tutorials so that what you learn is in the context of a real project scenario. This helps you understand not only How to do something, but also helps you have a better understanding of Why and When. Also, the project-based tutorials will allow you to repeatedly experience the full workflow so you develop a better understanding of how things work together.

In addition to the project-based tutorials, there will be several quick tips and technical demonstrations.

All of the tutorials will be broken up into sections lasting no more than 30 minutes so you can always have time to sit down and complete a lesson (no long tests of endurance and patience).

The level of the training will be for Beginner- to Intermediate-level users. Keystrokes will be shown as needed. If you're just getting started with Blender or 3d graphics, this DVD will be of tremendous value to you. However, no one really likes their results to look like beginner stuff, right? So, the lessons will be taught so that the results you get will be something you'll be confident in sharing with others. Bad lighting and crazy texturing will not be taught. :)

As a Blender Foundation Certified Trainer, I'm very serious about the tutorials I create, so the attention to detail and quality will be high (content, product materials, packaging, and delivery). The focus will be on teaching, instead of merely demonstrating. Also, there will be skill-building elements included such as exercise files, puzzles (crosswords, word finds, etc.), and short tests.

So, what will the DVD cover?























and more!

(In no specific order at this point)

  • Interface tour QuickStart videos for the user interface
  • Easiest approach to learning how to model a human head with good topology
  • Rendering tips
  • Lighting tips
  • Several short modeling exercises (with texturing)
  • Animation basics
  • Animating a bouncing ball
  • Modeling and animating a spacecraft
  • Sculpting basics
  • Basic Video Editing
  • Using text in Blender
  • Smoke basics
  • Cloth basics
  • Particles basics
  • Hair basics
  • Composite Nodes basics
also
  • Plenty of links to helpful resources within the Blender Community
  • HTML interface for the disc contents

This list will likely change to some degree based on Blender's development. However, I will be sure to post information throughout the DVD's development to provide sneak previews, updates, and specific tutorial titles. A lot of smaller details (modifiers, interface elements and tools, etc.) will be covered within the context of the projects and in Reference videos.

What will the DVD not cover?
  • In-depth rigging
  • Game engine
  • Python programming
  • In-depth character animation
  • every aspect of Blender

The DVD will cost a modest $35 USD plus shipping. It will consist of two FOUR DVD-ROM discs.

NOTE: Due to the increase in the number of discs provided (from 2 discs to 4 discs), the cost will increase to $50 USD plus shipping after May 13, 2011.



Update: Official Release Date Changed...
Update: Partial Mindmap of DVD Structure...

Update: Some content examples...
Update: Bouncing Ball tutorial example...
Update: More Bouncing Ball lessons...
Update: LOTS of Trees in Wide Open Spaces
Update: more updates...
Update: New Tutorial for 2.5 DVD ("yardwork")
Update: 2.5 DVD Update
Update: DVD update: Bearsly Junior Learns a Lesson


Update: News: BlenderNewbies DVD Update (texturing sample)
Update: For Pre-Order Customers Only, providing temporary download links for groups of the video tutorials from the DVDs.
Update: Final Update

Order below:

Shipping cost:
  • $3.00 U.S. deliveries
  • $4.00 Canada
  • $9.04 International




I'm really excited to finally get started on this project and I look forward to creating a top-quality resource for getting you up to speed with Blender 2.5!

Thank you for support! Please feel free to ask any questions or comment.

Kernon