I am a total noob to Blender. I have downloaded 2.57.0 for use on a computer running Windows 7.
I am already very frustrated. I have clicked on Help to access the instruction manual and do the first tutorial, making a gingerbread man. It’s clear that the manual illustrations for the tutorial do not at all match the visual appearance of the Blender version I’ve downloaded.
Because I’ve had to guess at what I’m looking for, it has taken me two and a half hours to find various buttons and tools and change views and delete things and select things. This seems pretty nuts to me.
How can this version of Blender have an instruction manual that doesn’t provide accurate illustrations? Is there an alternative manual somewhere online?
The manual for 2.5 is incomplete, and in my humble opinion, 2.5x is incomplete. I’m a total newb to Blender too, and decided the best way to learn is with 2.49. That version is mature and stable, documentation is complete and there’s tons of tutorials if you’re into them (I’m not). The price I’ll pay is having to learn the new interface and other changes in 2.5. I’d rather do that than battle with 2.5, wondering if I’ve discovered a bug, a missing feature or whatever. With 2.49, I can always safely assume that if something doesn’t work, it’s probably my fault.
With 2.49, I can always safely assume that if something doesn’t work, it’s probably my fault.
You’ve probably not looked at the current 2.4x bug tracker then. They will of course not be fixed.
If you are just starting to use blender there is no reason why you should not use 2.57. There are tons and tons of resourses available for it and I find it as stable as 2.49.
Well, just about every morning I log on here and check out a thread or two I come across a report of something that is in 2.49 but missing in 2.57. This morning it was the Bevel tool, yesterday it was something else. I find this too off-putting to deal with. No wonder there is no list of missing features, I get the feeling there are too many half-missing features for such a list to be easily compiled. Plus, the manual, it’s far from complete, right? I need references such as the manual, not narrative tutorials.
I don’t want to be a 2.57 basher, I’ll need it soon for the smoke. But for learning, 2.49 is for me. Though you’ve kind of unsettled me now with talk of bugs…
Until I can locate tutorial information relevant to 2.57, I would certainly appreciate your insights.
I have gotten to this point in the tutorial I am using (creating the static gingerbread man); it is from 2.49 information:
Mirror modeling
To model symmetrical objects we can use the Mirror modifier. It allows us to model only one side of Gus while Blender creates the other in real time. Go to the Editing context (F9), and find the Modifiers panel.
Note that on a small resolution monitor this may be off the screen. Clicking one of the downward pointing arrows in the top left of the other panels minimizes these panels so you can see the panel you desire.
My problem is that I simply cannot, by looking at my computer screen, locate the mirror modifier in 2.57. (Blender instructions, whatever version, are not what one might call “intuitive,” and the button set-up is not either.)
I certainly appreciate input related to tutorials for 2.57. This information doesn’t answer one burning question: why would the Help button for 2.57 bring up the manual for 2.49?
It seems a little Microsoft-y that a version of Blender would be released without documentation of some kind related to that specific version. I understand that, in the digital age, technology evolves too rapidly to be careful and thorough about EVERYTHING before something is released, but geez Louise, 2.57 is not 2.49. If there is documentation for 2.57, why doesn’t that pop up when I click the Help button?
Just being cranky after spending 2.5 hours on a tutorial advertised to take 30 minutes.
My problem is that I simply cannot, by looking at my computer screen, locate the mirror modifier in 2.57. (Blender instructions, whatever version, are not what one might call “intuitive,” and the button set-up is not either.)
Anything you are trying to find in 2.57 - just tap your space bar and type it into the box next to the magnifying glass - that helped me a lot. Maybe also try using 2.49 and 2.57 side by side til you get far enough to understand the similarities.
Thank you so much for updating that tutorial. i have tried and failed 3 seperate times to learn the 2.5 UI. I love the increased functionality of the software but i think 2.5 is seriously hindered thanks to its abortion of a UI. many functions are hidden and hotkeys were un-necessarily changed and its darn near impossible to actually configure my screen the way i like it.
while im making an honest effort to learn 2.5 id love some help. one of my biggest issues is the button panel. it seems like all of those nice and compact options that used to sit lovingly at the bottom of my screen are now scattered all over the UI and are formatted in such a way that i cant quickly do anything at all. plus now 50% of my desktop real estate is covered with useless UI that only works either verticaly or horizontally.
is there any way to force the UI to be more like 2.49 or do i have to spend the next week relearning and wrestling with the program?
I’m really always staggered that people find the new UI difficult to understand. Things are layed out logically rather than in 2.49 were they were a hodge podge than evolved rather then was designed. Overall its really not that different. some shortcuts changed, so what you’ll remember them after half an hour. A layout like 2.49 will just make things frustrating, the buttons window is designed to ber vertical, it just doesn’t work horizontally however much you try, so just get over it. If you really don’t get it, you’ll just have to go back to 2.49. If you want more of the 3dview just go fullscreen, not a big deal.
No need for the tone mate. Remember, for someone who hasn’t experienced the new UI like yourself, its not logical, its “new”.
i AM trying to learn 2.57 because i know that it is a better product. Im just having difficulty relearning everything that iv just learned within the last month. i think the problem here is that im trying to tackle it like an update to the program iv been using for the last month, when i SHOULD be looking at it like a program iv never used before
Yeah, the UI argument baffles me as well. It was due to the fact that the UI and the menu layout changed that really brought me into Blender. Always hunting and back and forth with 2.49 and earlier, now things are grouped together more logically. The vertical layout is just as efficient as the horizontal, and looks like a list format that our eyes and brain can deal with better. Things you don’t need can be collapsed and the workspace arranged any way you like. The space bar search and the dynamic space bar bring the most common used features to you at the press of a button, without having to hunt through the menu bar. It really lowered the learning curve for me adapting to a new piece of software.
Like I have said before, you will never be as slow as you were before learning the software. UIs change all the time, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, but everyone who has use any software for a short amount of time to years has to face the dilemma of changing UIs and processes.
yeah, going from 2.49 and being able to see every button (my brain must be weird, iv always been able to instantly what i need in those groups) to having many functions and buttons changed and moved around is whats messing with me the most. now if only i could find the bevel function… oh speaking of witch (not sure how strict this forum is about staying on topic). has the bug that made bevels in some instances make way more vertices than was needed fixed? my mechs have needed manual face modeling way too many times when a bevel just wouldnt work.
Can any of the more experienced 2.5 users verify whether or not Blender still has what used to be the [ALT][U] undo list from 2.49? Did the developers choose to trash this feature or have I missed the new shortcut key? Using [spacebar] search doesn’t come up with anything much for either “undo” or “history”.
My current thinking is that the Undo list is no longer available, although with chains of [CTRL][Z] working it might still be around… but where? Would the devs have wanted to get rid of this useful feature?
