Which Blender?

[RedSquirrel]

No you dont have to download 2.3 just go to http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro

[Trojan123]

Am I to assume that this Noob to Pro is updated for 2.4? the screenshot on the page is 2.36, and the text at the top of the page reads "This Wikibook was voted Book of the Month (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:Book_of_the_month) for July 2005!"

A random sampling of the pages show that they were updated this year, but it would be nice if somewhere it plainly stated "All Pages and tutorials updated for Blender 2.4x".

SB

[Inktvlek]

I think RedSquirrel meant http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/Manual

that is the most up to date manual, a lot of stuff has been updated to 2.4 (even a lot more than noted on that index page)

[thondal]

if you want to learn the basics and some handy modeling tools go to
http://www.bl3nder.com/tutorials/
and go through those tutorials... very good;)

-thondal-

[RedSquirrel]

Both wiki's are useful(so it would be a good Idea to scan through both), and I think both are updated regularly (more or less when someone feels like they want to add something to it).

To be honest I have always found it helpful in the past to look through blenders release logs http://www.blender3d.com/cms/Releaselogs.34.0.html to see whats changed, or what has been added. :hmm:

[Talion]

the realease logs are more helpful for people who are comfortable with the previous version though

[Trojan123]

And this is where I am at: I saw the new version of Blender 2.41 availavble for download, and I say "wow o.k.- I'm gonna ditch Truespace and start to learn a better program".

In other words: they don't become more of a Noob than me. I have downloaded the beginning pages of Noob to Pro, and have started going through the Blender manual.

Here's the thing: I read the tut, and it makes reference to a tool or procedure that isn't reflected in the proggy. Sionce DL'ing 2.41, I have figured out that modifiers have moved, bones can be extruded and subdivided, etc. It is a bass-ackward way of learning a new app. And, un-necessarily slow and painfull.

Yes, I appreciate the program. Yes, I appreciate the user base. Yes, I am willing to do a little work to learn this thing. All I want is some clarity, and a lot less guesswork.

SB

[bigkahuna]

Yes, I appreciate the program. Yes, I appreciate the user base. Yes, I am willing to do a little work to learn this thing. All I want is some clarity, and a lot less guesswork.
Unfortunately, as good as Blender is, documentation lags well behind the latest improvements. Keep in mind, everything you see is created by folks who volunteer their time. So in order for the documentation to get better, somebody needs to voluteer their free time to improve it.

Everyone learns a new app differently. The way I learned was to plod along through the program, search (sometimes forever) for a button to do what I wanted, and failing that, do a search on Elysiun.com. I can honestly say that after about a month and a half, I'm feeling about as comfortable with Blender as I did with some of my mainstream apps.

If you need a book (some people, including me, seem to find it easier to read than webpages) there's a user's guide for version 2.3. Yes, it will be substantially differnt than 2.41, but you could download and learn 2.3 and when you become comfortable with that move up to 2.41. I considered doing that, but I found the "plodding" method better...

Good luck!

[LetterRip]

Hi,

I'd suggest you use the 2.33 blender with the published manual since that is the one it is based on. Then you can use the release logs to bring you up to date with the latest blender.

Or you can use the wiki.blender.org manual with the released Blender, the manual is mostly up to 2.40/2.41 but not completely.

LetterRip

[Womball]

I don't think blender has changed in overall usage that dramatically except in animatio. You can still use most of the older tutorials to learn it, and if you get stuck ask on #blendechat on the irc channel freenode.net or here. On elysiun, the topics have a tendency to get buried. Although it is a still an extremely good resource.

[Callab]

Here's a good Blender 2.4 guide...

http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55205

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