Learning Blender. Or, beating myself on the forehead with a brick

605 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by CLStone, Mar 5, 2015

Dennis E. Taylor

Discussion Starter · Mar 4, 2015

Okay, not literally. But it would probably be more enjoyable :-[

. I'm currently teaching myself Blender, with the idea of doing some SF illustrations for my WIP at some point. Holy... Talk about non-intuitive!

I'm not saying it's bad software. And you can't beat the price

. Anyone else have any experience with Blender?

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· #2 · Mar 4, 2015

bizmuth said:
Anyone else have any experience with Blender?

Sort of. I downloaded it, tried it and then determined it was worth paying the money for a commercial application that had a more intuitive interface and with which I could actually accomplish something.

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Peter Spenser

· #3 · Mar 4, 2015

bizmuth said:
Holy... Talk about non-intuitive! I'm not saying it's bad software.

Yes, you are, and you should. If it's profoundly not intuitive, then it fits one of the definitions of "bad software."

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CLStone

· #4 · Mar 4, 2015

I dabble with Daz Studio, sort of almost not exactly the same thing, but the software is free, and you get temporary models to play with. There's also learning courses available so you can get the hang of it without buying and models or items. A few are free, and some you can pick up for cheap.

So I can't speak for Blender, but if you want to try 3D work without going broke, I'd try Daz and take a few of the classes and see if working with it might be better.

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· #5 · Mar 4, 2015

CLStone said:
So I can't speak for Blender, but if you want to try 3D work without going broke, I'd try Daz and take a few of the classes and see if working with it might be better.

But be cautious that using DAZ can be addictive and you could go broke once you start buying models and clothes and props and settings and so on. And then they have their big sale where you end up buying more stuff and then you need to buy more stuff to go along with that stuff.

It can be like digital crack. So be careful.

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· #6 · Mar 4, 2015

1) I'd strongly recommend sticking to your core competencies. You can get a very good cover for a few hundred dollars. You can even crowd source it at a site like 99designs.com or designcrowd.com if you want lots of ideas.

Learning Belender or other 3D software is a fun experience (well, if you're interested). However, it does very little to make your book better or give you the sort of cover that'll sell.

I spent the better part of a month learning 3D software and 3D programming and doing a prototype (things like 3D spheres, patterning, using the accelerometer to create simple games). It's a very tough area. People who do good work have spent 5-20 years. And you can get them to do illustrations for you for quite a reasonable price.

***

If you absolutely must do your own stuff, then first start with something simpler like GIMP (only 2D I think). Then look at the absolute best software you can find, regardless of price. The time it saves you will end up being a lot more than what you spend on it.

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CLStone

· #7 · Mar 5, 2015

Dan C. Rinnert said:
It can be like digital crack. So be careful.

Yeah, crazy addicting. Just try to keep book writing first before you let yourself play for the day.

But you can also get free items on occasion, and deals, and there's places online that will give away free items, too. It's more work to shop around for those, but you can find them.

But yes, I've spent way too much money on those models.

And lighting packages. And Lux stuff. But it's a hobby for me. I try to catch the sales when possible.

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