Hi everyone, I wanted to start a thread where I link all the resources (files tutorials ETC) that have made a big difference or has saved me time. A lot of them are more obscure thing that I didn’t know how to do and had to go digging. I would love if everyone else could share the best resources that they’ve found. My aim with this thread is have a handy place for everyone, beginner, intermediate or advanced to refer to for useful, handy or interesting things.
This is what I will start with, very useful for those who wish to go a bit further with their rigs. Check out the rest of this guy’s channel its full of informative content, for anyone who wants to learn or polish rigging or animation.
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NOTICE: This post is a wiki, this means any user with a trust level of 1 or higher can edit it to add more resources. Feel free to add to this post to help building a list of Blender resources. Please follow the following guidelines though if you choose to edit this post:
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Here are my top blender resources / tutorials:
Extensions / websites / apps:
GarageFarm This is a render farm that allows you to upload Blender files and have them rendered using powerful computers in the cloud. A render farm is useful if your computer can’t handle rendering a scene or if you need a render completed quickly. GarageFarm is not free (for pricing information visit the pricing calculator here) but you do get $25 of free credit to start with, no credit card needed.
UV Maps+ This free Blender addon made by the Blender Artists user @JR3D allows you to mange UV maps easily, it removes the 8 maps limit and allows you to sort your maps using serval options
Blender Checkpoints this extension allows you to create organised checkpoints so you can restore your Blender file to a different version ( I love this one as it stopped me from constantly pressing save copy).
Blender PowerSave this extension allows you to configure autosaves, auto backups etc.
Node Wrangler This free built in extension is extremely helpful for helping you to easily manage and organise your Geometry node and shader node trees. It come pre installed with Blender but needs to be enabled.
Screencast-Keys This extension displays you recent keypresses and mouse clicks in the corner of your Blender window, this is useful if you want to record tutorials or for recording videos of issues you are having for uploading as bug reports or to posts in the Blender Artists forums.
BlenderKit This extension allows you to download free and paid models, textures, HDRI’s, and scenes. Some of the assets are free whilst some require a subscription. The quality of the assets varies since they are made by different people/
Poly Haven This free extension / website allows you to download free HDRI’s, textures, and models. I regularly use Poly Haven to get HDRI’s and occasionally for objects / materials. In my experience I have found the assets to be extremely high quality and reliable.
Blender Launcher V2 this free app allows you to easily manage multiple versions of Blender, it lets you select where you want to install them all and then allows you to manage the different versions of Blender you run. For example you can test out the beta / alpha builds of Blender at the same time as using the LTS build of Blender for your projects, or if you have a plugin that only works in an old version of Blender you can install 5.0, 4.5, and 3.0 alongside each other. It also has the option to set Blender Launcher as the default app to open .blend files, allowing you to select what version of Blender to open the file in.
Flamenco This official Blender project allows you to easily configure a render farm with multiple computers, setup is complicated but it works very well once you have configured it. You will need a network storage location that all the computers can access, a NAS works best but a PC running an SMB share will also work.
Tutorials:
Beginners:
Blender quick start guide for absolute beginners This tutorial teaches you the absolute basics of Blender, it shows you how to move arround, rotate, move and scale objects, etc. By the end you have a very simple snowman render. The tutorial is 20 minutes but it will probably take you longer. If you have never opened Blender before I would say this tutorial is great.
Animate a character in Blender This tutorial is good for beginners who have a basic understanding of Blender, if you are completely new to Blender this tutorial will be too complicated. The instructor does move fast so for new users it can be confusing to follow. Thank you to @Ninjacatgeorge for recommending this tutorial.
Grant Abbitt YouTube channel The user @thorn mentioned that for beginners this channel has some good content, although I have no experience with their tutorials. The Blender for complete beginners tutorial playlist looks good if you haven’t used Blender much before (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn3ukorJv4vuU3ILv3g3xnUyEGOQR-D8J&si=L5zTdPVE0uVx962X)
Retro PC in Blender tutorial This is a relatively simply Blender tutorial that teaches you the basics of modelling and lighting by creating a retro PC
CBailyFilm This YouTube channel has lots of different tutorials on animation but it also covers some modelling. This channel makes the retro PC in Blender tutorial which is rather simple but also does make some more intermediate videos, but the majority of them I would classify as beginner friendly, although intermediate users may want to take a look.
Configuring a shadow catcher for HDRI’s This is something I personally had issues with in the past, I had added a HDRI for the first time but the objects in the scene looked like they where floating. I discovered that I needed to add a shadow catcher. I recommend this tutorial and if you run into any issues (like I did) I created this post on the Blender Artists forum (Object looks like it is floating after adding HDRI - #4 by BG_Division), this is the link to the answer.
Realistic still fire tutorial this is a quick Blender tutorial that teaches you the basics of fire simulations in Blender, by the end of the video you will have a fire simulation that looks good in still renders and animations. This is the tutorial I used for my weekend challenge entry number 1158 (Challenge #1158 "heater" (29/08/25) Entries CLOSED - #4 by Withers99)
Blender tutorials by Himel 356 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUxaUQtTTNAj3OJ6yydbdncaMC1KrZKrp) for general Blender videos and (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUxaUQtTTNAgcz5N230jrrPezEq0NHXMC) for Blender rigging tutorials. The user @thorn recommended these short videos, from what I have seen they look very good. I haven’t used them much yet but they look like they cover good content. As they are short if you did lots of them you would gain a wide variety of skills.
Intermediate / advanced
Polygon Runway this free YouTube channel has loads of tutorials and tips, some of the tutorials are rather complicated (particularly the animation ones) but some of them are relatively easy for an intermediate user.
Texturing course by Blender Guru , this free video teaches you how to create realistic textures, it shows you lots of different skills and I would definitely recommend it if you want to learn more about texturing.
Make a Cinematic Motorcycle Race Animations in Blender (THIS COURSE IS PAID FOR, ALTHOUGH IT IS OFTEN ON DISCOUNT FOR £14.99). Whilst this course is paid for it is often on a deal for £14.99, I highly recommend this for any beginner / intermediate user who wants to take there skills to the next level. I am working through it at the moment and it is brilliant. Some of the sections are complicated but the instructor responds to messages really quickly to give help if needed. I have completed this course and you can see my final render in my post on the Blender Artists forums (Cinematic motorcycle race)
Creating 3D environments in Blender THIS COURSE IS PAID FOR, ALTHOUGH IT IS OFTEN ON DISCOUNT FOR £14.99) I am currently working through this course and it is incredible, the concepts are advanced but the instructor makes it simple enough for an intermediate user, I would not recommend this for a beginner though. The instructor does start the course with several non practical lectures talking about inspiration etc, which I personally don’t like but after the first few lectures the course is practical learning. The instructor does also move rather slowly which I do find slightly annoying, but for a newer user this is probably a good thing. Although this is personal preference to what you like. You can see my renders from this course here and here
Blender car tutorial playlist whilst this tutorial claims to be for beginners the instructor does move fast, I would recommend it for intermediate or advanced users. The end result looks amazing though at the end.
Blender Node Tree Organisation CookBook This free tutorial on the Blender Artists website provides great tips for helping to keep your node trees organised, preventing complex trees from looking messy and hard to use.
Procedural brick wall texture tutorial this is a free tutorial by @RyanKingArt , it shows you how to create a procedural brick wall texture. By the end of the video you have a texture that you can easily edit to create various different kinds of brick walls. This is the tutorial I used for my weekend challenge entry number 1158 (Challenge #1158 "heater" (29/08/25) Entries CLOSED - #4 by Withers99)
Ryan King Art YouTube channel The Ryan King Art YouTube channel is a great free YouTube channel with lots of tutorials. There are a wide variety of tutorials available, covering both simple and complex topics.
Rigging
Humane Rigging as been for a long time the best resource for learning rigging theory in blender. While it was made in 2.79 it’s still useful today !
Geometry nodes
Johnny Matthews channel : A good place to learn the basics and fundamentals.
Erindale Channel : Beginner and advanced stuff, from one of the best procedural artists in blender. Interesting for material and other stuff too!
Max Edge : A bit old but a couple of very good VFX oriented tutorials.
Entagma : Very good tutorials too, from well known Houdini tutors. The first tutorials uses old version of geometry node and are no longer compatible.
Contributors:
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It’s certainly one of the most watched, but a beginner should spend the time somewhere else.
I recommend Grant Abbitt:
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Thank you I never knew about that channel, the donut playlist may not be great for complete beginners, but I would say for people who haven’t done much Blender before it’s good. You probably do need foundation knowledge though.
I have edited my post to add some more info.
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I hope you don’t mind I have edited my post to include that link, I mentioned you for recommending it. Let me know if you want me to edit what I wrote or delete it.
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I agree I think that a doughnut is fine to learn but it’s easy to want to give up because you can’t make something cool right away. I don’t even eat doughnuts and it was just boring to me, so I went and found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imbIsNAvUpM
I would first recommend any beginners to watch a video on the basic navigation and mesh operations, and it’s definitely a little bit more complicated but it’s pays off, it really feels like you can make something cool.
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I feel like this would be good for more experienced beginners
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Great thanks for your input I will edit my post and add some extra details and videos.
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I have made some edits to my post let me know what you think.
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Just out of interest @thorn why don’t you reccomend the donut tutorial, I have reccomended it to people before and they seem to have enjoyed it, and created some nice renders? I also personally find them good tutorials but it’s nice to get someone else’s opinion.
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There are better teachers, with better material, that teach more actual skills in every single way than BlenderGuru’s donut. He skips So. Many. basic fundamentals that it’s tragic. And spends 16 hours doing it.
Blender is not the first 3D software I’ve used. I have years of experience in other things. But when I first downloaded blender a couple of years ago, I went to YouTube to find a good introduction video thinking that it would quickly get me started on the particulars of blender.
After about 16 minutes into the first donut chapter, I was thinking how the hell is this the most popular blender tutorial on the planet? (And I did skim through some other chapters, just to be sure my impression was correct.) And the answer is simple. True beginners don’t realize how bad his teaching is. They don’t know how many basic, fundamental things he’s leaving out, because they don’t know these things exist.
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Yeah that does actually make sense, when I started with it I just thought it was the most popular surely it would be good. I then did serval other tutorials that filled in the gaps, I still personally think it’s an OK course but I do now see there are better ones.
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I have made some more edits to my post to add some extra information @thorn, let me know what you think.
I think the disclaimer language you have there improves the mention, yeah.
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A youtube teacher I found very helpful when learning Blender was Himel356. His videos are very short, and each has a specific task that’s easy to understand the goal of - and, usually limited to a very small selection of tools. It’s not a series; each vid stands on it’s own.
I often did several of these a night, and quickly got familiar with so many areas of Blender’s methods of doing things.
General Blender tips:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUxaUQtTTNAj3OJ6yydbdncaMC1KrZKrp
Basic rigging tasks tips:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUxaUQtTTNAgcz5N230jrrPezEq0NHXMC
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Just added them links to the post.
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