Hello, thank you for taking my time to read my thread. I am in need of assistance for information on which book would be recommended for learning the fundamentals of Blender. I have seen many on amazon, but they are quite expensive. And I am nervous of whether or not they are worth the dough. I found some of these.
and a book that’s coming soon.
Please tell me your knowledge of the above, and any other suggestions. Thank you.
I would not recommend any blender book.
If you are total beginer, here is series for most basic stuff
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjEaoINr3zgHs8uzT3yqe4iHGfkCmMJ0P
If its a book, it not guaranteed that author knows anything about software,teaching or presentation. There are everything you need for free, and paid for advanced stuff.
Search specific topics, and\or visit https://www.blender.org/manual/ and search for a feature or button you don’t understand.
I see, thanks for your suggestion! I’m currently looking at the manual, so it’s as if I’m reading a book! Thanks man =]
If you are interested in using Blender for visual effects you can find my book in Amazon as well. Just check my profile signature.
Thanks, SamCameron, for referring your book. (And for putting it on Kindle =] ) And thanks Wakka, for the link to the manual and videos!
I have the previous edition of ForDummies book and I can recommend it to anyone beginning. I’m sure the latest edition is even better.
After that it’s not so obvious which book is any better than another. That’s why Youtube way is great.
For hard surface modelling I highly recommend Incredible Machines: https://www.packtpub.com/hardware-and-creative/blender-3d-incredible-machines . It’s not for total beginners.
the author of the for dummies book is a member and a regular here, cant remember his forum name at the moment but he told me not to get for dummies as a noob, that it was not a beginner book which i assumed from the title. it might be fweeb the moderator. but that was for the 1st edition, he might have noobed it down a bit since them. the comments from people who already knew the basics were positive tho.
many of the authors are regulars here. that said any book that promises “teach your self 3 different softwares in 24 hours” i would be leary of. it takes a long time to master any software. mastering 1 in 24 hours would be impossible for 99.9% of people let alone 3. and those with memories that let them master 1 in 24 hours would probably be able to do all 3. but if we were those people we would be writing the how to books not reading them.
Yes, I wrote Blender For Dummies. Generally speaking, the For Dummies series is primarily meant as a beginner’s reference. As such, you shouldn’t expect to see a lot of tutorial content in the book. It’s meant to give you an understanding of the tools available in Blender. That includes how things work in Blender and more importantly (IMHO) why things work the way they do. That said, I built a supplemental website for the book that does have a lot of written tutorial content. And, of course, if anyone ever has a question or issue with the book, I’m more than happy to answer. Just send me an email or PM.
That’s my pitch. 
thats another plus, you can find most of the authors on this board and they are willing to help. its actually a friendly place despite the on going feuds of a few.
I second, and third and fourth and fifth (etc.) this. The book is, indeed, incredible. I’m about more than halfway through it. That spaceship project is a doozy, but dang cool once you’re done. Yes, it’s intense and definitely not for beginners. But I’d say (to Nintenboy) still give it a go. You may surprise yourself. Here’s a cool tidbit. I actually messaged the author (Christopher Kuhn) and asked if he used any other software, just out of sheer curiosity. His work is incredible, insanely high poly count. I thought he had some trick up his sleeve. He said sometimes he uses the other big ones out there, but pretty much sticks with Blender for modeling. So…for what it’s worth, there ya go.
Once, thank you all for the suggestions! I am currently starting to take the CGcookie course, and am looking to purchase a book soon. Thank you for everything!
I’ve bought a few books, only to find that books didn’t seem to be my cup of tea. Video tutorials work well for me. I’ve been hacking through them for years. But in the last few years…here are my fav youtube channels (blenderguru being one of them)
BlenderGuru https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOKHwx1VCdgnxwbjyb9Iu1g
This guy is awesome, fairly clever, and has good explanations as to why and what he’s doing.
BornCG https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdioEctcBLd2nw2aQkl8msw
This guy is also really good. And pretty comprehensive. He has been a goto for me for about a year.
Darrin Lile https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyu4kn_ROhA34jug2g_AwJA
Also runs Blender101 at https://blender101.com/
Darrin is a certified Blender Instructor and also really good at explanations. His youtube is free of course, and most (if not all) of his youtube content is also free on blender101. Blender101 also has some subscription based contect too.
Those are my personal favorites and go-to tutorials. All of them cover the basics to advanced.
Also check out https://www.packtpub.com/. They give away a free technical ebook every day. Very often it’s Blender based or Unity or Unreal. I check that site every day and have gotten about 3 free blender books in about 2 months.
Happy Blendering!
Emo
Thank you! I’ve been browsing around packetpub and I am very pleased with their selection!
Emo10001
I think I just fell in love with you. Thanks for posting.
A very nice list of books, but mine (artist and blender core developer) is missing 
It’s super comprehensive, has 917 professionally laid out pages, features 1200+ illustrations and 250+ demo files.
If you want to ask me anything about it, have a look here: 🔥 It's finally out: The most comprehensive and in-depth Blender handbook ever!
And if you want to check it out directly, head over to https://plasmasolutions.de/the-comprehensive-handbook/?be=2
I’m super happy to answer anything you want to know,
Cheers, Tom
Blender for Dummies might be exactly what I need. I am following these really great videos on Text manipulations from littlewebhut on YouTube. I keep thinking of things I would like to do with what I am learning but I don’t know why I am doing what I am doing. With some theory I might begin to learn how to apply these concepts to other situations.
For instance, now littlewebhut is showing how to wash dirt off of text with a water hose (kinda sorta thingy). he adds a lot of different shaders in to the mix and I don’t know what they do except for in that single instance. he can’t explain it, or his 30 minute video would be 3 hours and that would really degrade teh power of his brief, but very good, videos
Is Blender for Dummies like a text book in school. Start at Chpt. 1 and keep going to the end, with one chapter building on the previous. OR is it more like an Encyclopedia, where you look up things.
I need a systematic approach to learning this so I can get a framework to think about all the cool stuff I am seeing and figure out how to apply it myself.
All the books in the original list are pretty out of date these days, and 2.80 is going to make them even more obsolete.
I’ll cast my vote for Tom’s “Comprehensive Handbook” which I have and find to be really excellent, covering all of 2.79 in good depth.
https://www.plasmasolutions.de/the-comprehensive-handbook/?be=2
More the latter than the former. You can work through it from cover to cover, but it’s primary purpose is as a reference that you can use to look things up.
Well, I’ve always said that there is nothing “dumb” about the For Dummies® series of books. I actually know some folks who have contributed chapters to some of them, and their editors are very demanding … which is part of what makes the series so good.
But today, given that Blender is changing so darned fast, I think that on-line sources (including e- books) are probably the better way to go. I can’t help but notice that paper computer-books are disappearing from bookstores. I do find it a little tedious that so much material is put out as “YouTube videos” of decidedly varying quality, but there are providers – like the ubiquitous “Cookie” monster – who have certainly made a good name for themselves in that space. (They sell courses and even one-on-one mentoring.)
I would like to add my book to the list as it’s one of the first written specifically for Blender 2.80.
3D Computer Graphics Using Blender 2.80 - Modelling Methods, Principles & Practice
The Book includes reference chapters and structured practical projects that lead a new or experienced user from adding the first primitive object to creating a fly-through animation of a complex spiral staircase scene.
A chapter by chapter break down of the book can be found on my website: http://www.robertburkeillustration.co.uk/book_3d_modelling.php