Introduction

Previous to the release of Blender, I spent a number of years accumulating "mature" (discontinued) hardware with hopes of building an animation workstation and started saving money to purchase the expensive software. By the time I had enough money for the first software package, I changed my mind (based on cost), gave up on my dream of learning animation, and replaced my 16 year old broken television. Approximately one month later, Ton Roosendaal released Blender for the Alpha, which is now allowing me to complete my dream.

In the past, when I wanted to learn about something new, I would take a course in school. My present situation does not allow me this luxury and these pages are based on what 'I' am doing to learn about 3D animation using Blender.

Books

In the opening pages, I have a picture of my current animation book library. If you missed it, you can look at it here .

If you are really serious about animation, your first book should be The Illusion of Life - Disney Animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Some folks believe this the 'bible of animators' and I agree, because it is a wonderful book that covers most aspects of animation.

If, after reading the above book, you still feel animation is for you, get the Blender V1.5 Manual. The manual is not a tutorial, it is a reference book with some examples, and is necessary if one is to pursue animation using Blender.

The next book one should add to their library is Digital Character Animation by George Maestri. This book has many examples and tutorials that can be used with Blender and is the book that has taught me the most about 'hands on' animation. I will reference a number of examples from this book and show how I enmeshed it with Blender.

Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques - Theory and Practice by Alan Watt and Mark Watt is a book of my personal choice. It consists of theory, graphics algorithms, provides a number of C coded examples, and more. It is a complex book and requires a knowledge of geometry. It helps me understand the principles and foundation of Blender. In my opinion it treads the border of graduate study and is not for everyone; however, it is one of my favorites.

In due process of time I will research what books schools recommend and include them here.

Online Tutorials

A lot of the folks who use Blender and participate on the Blender News Server have provided excellent tutorials. I have listed as many of these I could find on the Introduction page. They show and teach a lot about the use of Blender and I recommend each one be studied and played with.

The Blender Manual

There are a small number of tutorials and examples in the Blender manual. I have practiced these until I can do them from memory. In the process of doing them, I have discovered Ton uses what I call the "adventure method" of teaching, where he gives one latitude for learning. The term 'adventure method' comes from how I taught students to learn about computing, where the first month would be spent playing an old text game called "Adventure".

My best advice is to try and duplicate the examples in the manual and not entirely rely on the 'step by step' procedure. In other words, experiment 'a lot' with what Ton has provided.