A Question about leaning Blender (or any software) as an adult
5200north
Posts: 249
I was just walking my dog and thought I put this out to see if you guys had any thoughts or advice.
I really like working in Daz3d. I'm just doing is for my own enjoyment and it seems like if I look hard enough if can find any object that I'd want to use in Daz somewhere out there and I figured out how to chop it up and give it some new textures if needed and that's usually been enough.
But I'd really love to learn Blender (free, lots of tutorials and add ons) and make stuff from scratch. For example, I've yet to see a motel room that looks right as their either super high end or they look like someone just got murdered in the room and I like the more realistic stuff.
My question, I've gotten a few tutorials and they are all great but I'll sit and follow along and get it, but if i get up and get a glass of water when i return I've retained almost nothing.
I used to be a natural student - other students would ask if they could get copies of my notes, I'd usually read a whole textbook the first week and that would be enough, . I graduated in the early 90's with a 3.6 GPA , but today if you asked me to tell you how to rotate around an object in blender, I’m lost.
Have anyone else figured this out. I was really hoping my brain would last longer than 50 years.
I’m honesty a bit concered about this.
any input is alway appreicated.
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Comments
I'm also a somewhat older blender learner, and a bit of advice that I found and that worked for me was to yes, do the tutorials, but once you have the basics, find some 'personal project' to work on also, and start putting what you learned in the tuts into practice on your own as well as continuing with tutorials.
And yes, early attempts will suck, no matter what your project is, and you will end up doing things again (and again) as you learn more. And you will run into things that you don't know how to do yet, keep those aside for after doing the right tutorial.
So whether you want to model your own space shuttle, or a Ferrari Testarossa, or a medieval city or whatever, just dive in and start putting things into practice.
Oh, and 'doodle' - take a cube and start making random shapes with it, insets, subdivisions, etc. anything you can remember how to do. Trash that cube LOL.
And keep in mind, you don't have to know everything about Blender, just the things that you need to achieve your modelling goals.
Set your goals on what you want to do and watch tutorials on just that. It might sound simple but don't bother learning how to sculpt yet if you don't need to. If you don't do something in Blender very often, or get really good at that something, you'll probably forget the next time you try to do it. The great thing about blender is that you don't have to be good at all of it to use it. In your case, start by figuring out the room you want to create. Get some reference photos. Find something close in the daz store or one of the other sites. With blender you can download Blender, OBJ, and FBX files and use those so your library automatically expands. Once you have all the assets you want, export to blender, figure out what you want to create and watch tutorials on how to create those things for your room. You'll need to learn modeling and texturing at the least to accomplish your task. In doing so, you'll learn a bunch of other stuff like UV's and array modifiers if necessary. For me, this has been the best way to learn. I've never watched a full tutorial on UV's because I think it is such a boring subject, but I know enough to get by.
Learning Blender takes a lot of time. Don't think you can't do it because of your age or whatever other reason. Someone on here had said something like 'if it was eay, it wouldn't be fun' and that is so true.
Speaking as a 70 year old and also someone who could concentrate and figure things out quickly when I was younger, I find the hardest thing is to retain what I learn. If I watch tutorials (and I have sat through many hours of Blender tutorials) and then don't have a reason to use what I've just watched, I will forget 90% of it very quickly. I watched one the other day only to realise that I had watched the whole thing a few weeks ago and almost forgot the fact that I had ever seen it before.
I wish that DAZ Studio had some of the features that Blender has. Not sculpting or mesh editing but animation, physics, Eevee, etc. I would much prefer to do it all in DAZ Studio because, after 18 years, I'm comfortable with the interface and know where to find things. But yes, I would also like to make props, etc., but I need to buckle down and set myself a project goal otherwise I will continue watching tutorials and forgetting them.
Yeah, I'm old and I struggle with Blender. Tried a few years back, but couldn't make much headway. I did a LOT of tutorials, and I had a project to work on, but the project was just too big- needed me to know pretty much ALL of Blender to do it. Now I'm going back to it but trying to use Daz so I can learn a much smaller subset of Blender. Problem is, there's a lot of arcane knowledge required to do those steps in DAZ, too, unless you can afford to just buy all the bells and whistles, which isn't really an option for me. Right now I'm struggling with how much Daz to learn vs how much Blender to learn.
Basically I want to be able to buy DAZ figures, clothe them in DAZ, export to Blender and do pretty much everything else there, so I'm trying to figure out how the DAZ to Blender Bridge works- or maybe I'm trying to remember how to pose things in Blender- but so far I haven't got that to work right. Basically, completely mastering Blender is not going to happen any time soon, if ever, and having enough cashflow to buy my way through DAZ is out of the question, too.
I find it natural to learn blender. It is always evolving so there's always new things to learn. I do not know everything about blender, probably only 10% or so. But when I'm looking for a new subject I can always quickly find good tutorials on google. Then it takes some time to learn the new subject depending on the complexity.
It is just natural that the first steps are harder. Then the longer you go the easier it gets.
Looks like there are several of us in this theme. I started making my own Blender videos in an attempt to remember how to do things. Heck, it took me two attempts to follow a Ducky3D tutorial properly and spin a sign.
Also, often I have found it is very important to follow a tutorial for the exact version of Blender you have, including the OS. Many Windows oriented tutorials are impossible to follow on a Mac, unless you have the extended keyboard and remember Command instead of Control. On my Linux machine, I don't have as much issue, except I use a trackball and not a mouse. Too many makers of tutorials assume you have a layout matching theirs and have memorized all of the non-intuitive shortcuts. Blender started as an Amiga program and it often shows.
Welcome to the club !!
It always help if we can limit what we want to learn at first . Find something which seem bring fun for you . No need to hurry integrating DAZ awesome character , because 3D art or images not just about character . Beside doing pose and animation is very hard if you never do that in another software .
I`m bit lucky since SCIFI objects and Neon art style always my thing . In short I find Ducky3D which not only help me to learn about creating scifi scenes but also start to understand about compositon - material - lighting and Shortkey as well . I wil suggesting you to start with something simple but the end result is awesome to post in your social media feed ;)
Believe me , dont start with bring DAZ figures at first . Learn how to tweak or change material from objects which you can download from SketchFab or Blendswap . Play with it until you`re feel comfortable to work in Blender`s shader and Layout Tab . Also Check tutorial in youtube about how the comic artist integrated Blender for their workflows . In my experiences there are lots of tips and efficient way to create your arts without knowing everything about Blender
I've found that I have to actually do things before I will remember how to repeat them later. I can't learn by watching a tutorial, I have to do it. I think it gives your brain more details to grab onto if you have context around the thing you're trying to remember. And, as usual, repetition is the key to all learning... gotta reinforce those pathways.
I also think it's like when they say you can never truly be fluent in a second language after 5 yeears old. That's hogwash. I think what they mean is that it takes time, dedication, and patience to learn a second language, things that many adults just cannot summon up. Maybe it's the same with Blender... there just aren't evough houors in the day for an adult with responsibilities.
5200north,
It's widely known that while the aging brain stumbles when recalling minutae, it truly shines when it comes to mastery of the big picture. To me that means that while while a youthful mind instantly recalls the WHAT and the HOW, it struggles to grasp the WHY and the WHEREFORE of things. Maybe there's a phase in our 30s when we are adept at both the details and the insights, but from middle age onwards the balance tilts irrevocably one way. That's just how life is. The key is to adapt and use our strengths to compensate for our weaknesses in order get the job done.
As a Blender user I've probably been at it for less than twelve months. What's helped is breaking down a task into a set of goals or operations. To keep a handle on the details, I use a crib sheet -- a text file -- with links to useful webpages or tutorials, plus my own itemized steps minus the fluff. At the start of every project I spend a lot of time on Google, which is hit-or-miss, but I've found that with time I focus on a set of recurring tasks. This is when my accumulated notes become a time saver: they hone my process and help me develop muscle memory -- my Blender Calluses, as I call it. As a tool, these notes help me forget about the minutae of the work and focus on the big picture, the major operations of the task. If I could use a tree as an analogy, it's all about tending the roots and the primary branches while minding lightly the shoots and the leaves. Finally, as people here have pointed out, we forget things once we stop doing them. This, again, is where my notes are a life saver. They spare me from having to start from scratch all over.
Cheers!
The process for learing for an adult or younger person isn't a lot different tbh - unless very young I spose.
I started learning Blender about 12 (maybe 13) years ago (in a serious manner); the original interface (2.49 was hideos - and you guys thought 2.5 was bad!) and I just couldn't get it.
However, when 2.5 appeared, I used a lot of CG Cookie tuts - and even paid for a couple of years subs, which isn't required now as ther eare lots of free ones. I would still consider CG Cookie though.
I got a pen and paper, and made a note of short cuts - they make the 3D experience much easier - even now I, I use short cuts as they are quite simply: quicker; you use two hands and not one.
Once I'd build up a collection of shortcuts, and got an idea of processes, I thought of something easy I wanted to test my skills on (my intention was to model cars). The car in my sig is one I created.
My one word of advise to modelling is: pay attention to geometry. When you're UV-upwrapping, if you have good topology, with loops that flow where you want to place seams - it will be much easier. Plus, with 'organic' modeling (people, animals), said geometry should ideally bare some relationship to muscles and bone structure. Although the same is true to an extend for any model. Another aspect of good topology, animation will be easier (although never easy - even close for me).
The biggest thing I could suggest is to use it every day. Even if it's just for a half an hour, open Blender up and get used to the basics like 3D navigation, toggling in/out of edit mode, importing/exporting OBJ, etc. It will get better.
- Greg
This is exactly what Andrew Price, the Blender Guru keeps preaching. Open Blender every day and make it a daily routine like brushing your teeth.
Yes, using it every day is the most helpful thing, especially if you repeat the same actions every time until you remember them. The problem with a lot of tutorials, including Andrew Price's, is that they involve extended projects rather than giving you a bunch of practice at the first things you learn, and then having you use them when you advance to new stuff, too.
As a 68 year old learning something new, I try to focus on concepts, ideas, and "what-to-do", rather than the mechanics of "how-to-do". I can always look up the "how-to-do" part once I have the concepts down. Due to my conceptual approach, I find that I learn software best from written instructions with illustrations (the old-fashioned way) and experimentation, rather than from Youtube videos, which tend to focus on the "how-to-do". Also, I have no patience for watching a 30 min video in order to extract the few seconds of what I really need to know. Some videos are excellent - Those I that I like tie concept to implementation.
I like to make and print out custom "cheat sheets" with my most commonly used keyboard shortcuts, menu command sequences and editing/modelling procedures. I print out one copy to hang next to my monitor. I print out a second copy that laminated and use as a mouse pad. I switch out these cheat sheats depending on the application/task that I'm performing. Dyslexics Untie!
I just installed Houdini 19 for more advanced VFX simulations
looking forward to the challenge
@wolf359 Really looking forward to seeing what a guy like you comes up with, with software like H19 :)
I work full time in construction, makes learning anything new very difficult. I am gone from like 6 AM to 6 PM every night. By the time I have supper eaten, cleaned up my mess, made my lunch and set up my coffee machine for tomorrow, I get like 1-3 hours tops for anything. I am trying to get into like a routine, but it's a pain in the ass trying to fit anything into so little time. Weekends just blur by, having to do stuff like laundry, clean the house, and in growing season tending the crops lol. I try watching a tutorial for like 30-45 mins, then using what I learned till I go to bed.
@TheMysteryIsThePoint
Thanks!
I can only afford the free apprentice version right now.
But thankfully apprentice supports exporting to VDB
Which my primary reason for getting into houdini
(Creating smoke pyro effects for use in Cycles/EEVEE.)
Monday was my first time ever touching Houdini and was extremely frustrating trying to follow several video tutorials on how to export a pryo sim to VDB from version 19, as they all had their different ways of implementing the complex procedural work flow
Today I decided to follow my intuition and common sense and figured it out, first thing this morning basicly on my own.
Still much to learn, of course, but this will be the solution I was looking for, as a VFX companion to Blender
Looks nice, @wolf359... my experience has been pretty much the same as yours. Everything that people say about Blender being hard to learn that I don't agree with, I instead think about Houdini :)
But it is incredibly satifying when you figure something out, and in retrospect it seems obvious. Houdini is just the best designed software I can think of... a daresay it is actually intuitive if you can get your brain into Houdini space, which I am just starting to really understand.
So I was in the same boat about 6 months ago. I am very fluent with Daz and Marvelous Designer and a bit of Z-Brush, but I really wanted to learrn Blender after seeing what amazing results were coming out of it. But I had heard how hard it was to learn, so I kept putting it off. Call it old-age fear, I guess. I am no way affiliated with Udemy or the guy presenting it, but after a few hit and misses with online tutorials on YouTube and other websites, I decided I wanted to take a full solution package to learn it. https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-blender-28/ I think its on sale right now actually. I used Blender 2.93 to learn it with no problems, even thoiugh the course is for 2.8. A few menus were in different places, so I just had to do a quick google on some occassions.With a complete lack of time myself due to my job, I did the course every other night, bit by bit, and kept notes, but the presenter really hammers in learning the shortcuts and explains things very carefully...and why you do them, so i found myself retaining what I had learned. I can now say I have the confidence to go forward and branch out to learn even more. I understand that everyone learns in different ways, but this course took away the fear and am so grateful for it. Now I am getting heavily into the animation side of things and even did a few ArchViz courses and finding that (who knew?) I'm not actually as terrible at it as I thought.
Wow, thanks very much for this link. Superb!
Another free blender course for beginners I can recommend :)
https://www.blenderbros.com/offers/zvoHFBps/checkout?coupon_code=HSJUMPSTART
and some more...
https://www.blenderbros.com/free-guides
Josh and Ponte are great tutors, they have some nice youtube vids as well.
PS: I'm in my fifties now, I have no problems learning new tricks, even as "old dog", hrhr... using Blender in my spare time for various needs on a weekly basis...
Cheers, A.
I made a Blender shortcuts for beginners sheet. It has just the basic stuff you really need to follow along with a lot of tutorials. https://www.deviantart.com/peggywalters/art/Blender-Shortcuts-for-Beginners-911923693 ;