OK, just wanted to get some opinions on how eveyone learned to use Blender. I have som background in Truespace, but nothing with this program. I was wondering if the free tutorials you run across online are good enough to pick up the programs workings, or if a manual should be purchased. Your opinions and feedback are greatly appreciated.
Another very good introduction can be found in the 3 pfd-documents (each about 3 MB, but not 100% up-to-date) at the following link:
http://www.statikonline.com/Blender/
On the subject of learning, is the 2.3 manual worth buying?
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Yes. There is also the psychological effect that you spent money for it - so you will actually read it.
You would think so, but even if I don’t read the whole thing it would be good to have around to look stuff up from time to time.
Thanks
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I taught myself. I had no experience in 3d and i just picked it up.
In the matter of the manual. I would get the Blender Bundle. You get a texture disc, the manual, and a game reference. 47.60USD. Not bad.
Be prepared for sections of the official manual that have not been written yet. Fortunately, for a newbie, there is more than enough to keep you busy 
Welcome to Blender by the way.
my learning path was a mixture of:
- online tutorials
- the knowledge base
- questions on chat
- later the official 2.0 guide
- very much work and enthusiasm, many many mistakes, and lot’s of trial and error.
- last but not least - elysiun.
book is good, especially before going to sleep (you learn better 
)
Thanks to everyone for their replies, I think Im going to work through the online links that were posted, and see where I can get from there, then I might invest in the books (I already have a copy of the Game Kit book). Thanks to everyone for their feedback, and thanks for the welcome, Im glad to be here.
The best thing with the book is that you can have it in front of you while Blender is on your computerscreen. I don’t like switching between the Blender screen and a browser for following instructions or looking up stuff. Same with PDF (tutorial) files: they are great for being viewed on screen but if I really want to use them I always print them out.
My learning path was a mixture of
-online tutorials
-questions and answers in forums
-reading the “blender book”
an easy way to solve a prob is to firstly searach the forum for the specific thread and open a new thread if you couldnt find what you were lookjing for.
i am still doing it this way!
well in my opinion the only way to learn unfornatly is practice and more practice
Oh yes, I am prepared to put in vast amounts of time and late nights working it through this stuff, I was just curious whether I should shell the $50 for the book or work through online first, I kinda figured it was going to be a combination of both, and its always good to have a book to refrence when you want to do something, just not sure of the key commands, thanks to everyone for posting to my first thread as a new member and keep the feedback coming. 