I’ve been trying to learn Blender for some time now, as and when I had the inclination and/or the time.
I’ve watched a lot of Blender Guru’s tutorials. They’re really good, but I wasn’t progressing enough. Then I noticed he’d done a video on making a plan to learn Blender in four weeks. I figured that with my existing knowledge, I’d probably be well set to complete this plan, even if some of the topics he suggests that one needs to learn (particularly composition and lighting) don’t exactly float my boat right now.
Blender Guru’s 4 week plan
Week 1 - the Basics:
- Task: watch the basic 🍩 tutorial
- Homework: create something similar by yourself (e.g. a cupcake or a cookie 🍪)
Week 2 - Lighting, Photorealism, Texturing & Composition:
- Task: watch the beginnner’s tutorial on lighting 💡
- Practical: re-light and re-render your donut scene 5 times in different ways
- Task: watch how the tutorial on photorealism in Blender
- Task: watch the anvil tutorial
- Homework: create something similar by yourself (e.g. an axe or a hammer 🔨) and try to replicate a photo 1:1
- Task: watch how the tutorial on composition
Week 3 - Environments
- Practical: create 5 different renders on your anvil, using your knowledge of composition and lighting
- Homework: create something completely new by yourself (e.g. a lantern 🛋)
- Task: watch the tutorial on render optimisations
- Task: watch the tutorial on micro displacements
- Task: watch the tutorial on tiling textures
- Homework: create an environment of your own (e.g. a desert)
Week 4 - Research, Technical & Aesthetics
- Visit Artstation ([https://artstation.com])
- Task: watch the tutorial on on importing FBX models (from [Mixamo|https://mixamo.com])
- Homework: add the Mixamo character to your environment
- Task: watch the tutorial on understanding colours
- Practical: try to improve the lighting in your environment
- Task: watch the tutorial on compositing effects in Blender
- Homework: add glare, barrel distortion, a vignette and sharpening to your environment
-
Homework: create a new character in an environment, using everything you’ve learned
In any case, this is the plan he recommends. Let’s see if I can stick to it. I plan to do a post at every stage, starting, of course, with donuts. Wish me luck! 🍩