I’ve been messing around with blender for quite some time, probably since the late versions of 1 but granted I havent spent the whole time messing with it. I find texturing stuff quite easy and still have massive problems trying to model things. Should I keep at it?
i have been using blender for about 5 monthes now.The first time i started up blender i was quickly baffled at the user interface…there were too many buttons and settings and i was worried that this was beyond my reach…however since i had a powerful determination to learn it…i continued playing around with it and learning it step by step…and now i know almost all of the interface.My point:keep on practicing and messing around especially on the areas you need work…after abit of practicing assign yourself a little task or final project…post that up on the forum…get crits and keep on improving.NEVER GIVE UP!
I first picked up Blender in 2002. At the time I was using an un-licensed copy of Cinema 4D and wanted a more legal solution. It was 2.25 and I didn’t have time to get used to the interface so I put it down again.
About 3 months later, I was researching 3D game solutions for a design company I was working for. The project didn’t end up coming off, but I gave Blender enough of a look-see to get hooked. The 2.3x interface was much improved and I was soon taking part in weekend challenges and animation contests to get the hang of this new-fangled program!
I use it in many different aspects now in 2 and 3D, and may also be using the new bullet plug-in in conjunction with GIS data to produce interactive maps. Maybe more on this later!
I started in early 2003. I really did all the tutorials I could get my hands on. I “got it” pretty fast because I actually love the interface. Modeling is one of my strong points now (organic is not perfect yet). The best way is to practice doing some tutorials then use your new found skills to make something of your own
I started in June this year, and learned by working through the Noob to Pro tutorials, and occasionally testing myself by trying to model something (computer screen’s a good one to try). The best way of learning the hotkeys, or at least the way most people find easiest, is to remember a word beginning with that letter that has something to do with its function, like “grab” for G (used to move objects) and “pull off” for P (separates something from a mesh in edit mode).
I started with blender in summer of 2005 in the time between school and university. So I had tons time to do tutorials and stuff. Thats why I learned the main hotkeys quite fast.
Btw, if you want to improve you modelling skills than join the speedmodelling contests. 
I don’t think you can put a tick on the calendar and say “that’s the day I ‘got’ Blender”. Some things come easy, others take longer.
I found I focused on one bit at a time and just messed with it till it started to make sense (always working through tutorials of course). I didn’t care if I fully understood all the possibilities of everything I was messing with - just that I knew enough to get by with it if I needed too.
That process continues to this day. I still haven’t really tried UV unwrapping (I did a tutorial once, failed, and haven’t tried since). I know I could do it if I sat down with a tutorial and just slogged away till I “got” it but it’s not important just yet. I haven’t tried fluids at all and have barely messed with halos and particles (I made a firework once and that was that).
Just keep doing stuff and if one thing is frustrating you (like modelling) then make some time to focus on that and only that. Just make stuff and read, make stuff and read and don’t necessarily worry about finishing anything - for now.
The other way I learned a lot was by trying to find answers to other people’s questions, though this works best for functionality questions than modelling etc.
typical Blender learning curve:
installs
tries
drops
… time passes by …
installs
tries
drops
… time passes by …
installs
tries
gets it!
loves it!
This is what happened for me. First attempt in 2001.
A lot of people hear about Blender and it’s capabilities and try it, only to discover they aren’t able to make a MMORPG in a few days, so they quit. Those people are impatient and lack the character to learn something.
Others are like Ubuntuist and pick it up, leave it be, pick it up again and do that until something fall into place and suddenly they’re on the road to Blender Mastery.
I kind of “get” Blender now, but there’s still lots to learn. Maybe if there were menus for every action together with the hotkeys, I’d have learned a lot more already.
Ah well… Let’s keep on blendin’ 
I can’t for the life of me figure out how to model anything organic. I’m ok at objects but organic seems imposible. i’m such a perfectionist that i’m never happy with the result and nothing ever seems to work. I once spent half an hour modeling a nose and scrapped it because I couldn’t get it “bulbous” enough. If you guys know of a tutorial that will help me with my organic modeling abilities I’ll try it. I’ve searched and searched but can’t find much.
p.s. Isn’t there a tutorial on modeling natalie portman? Could someone post a link please.(I need to learn how to use referance photos.)
I think I “got it” around 2.25. That was when I actually tried to learn it and do a tutorial(which was not a beginner tut, I learned…). After that tutorial, I had a relatively good
knowledge of how it works, and I started down my path of doom.
I ran through the standard “make a ginger bread man” tutorial, pounding my head against the wall. The interface fought me at every step. I was becoming frustrated.
On day five, I ran Blender as always to continue with the tutorial, and suddenly everything was easy. Sort of like riding a bicycle.
The main thing is to keep in mind “one hand on the keyboard, the other on the mouse.” The main difficulty is memorizing the hot keys. I’d suggest printing out a list of the more important ones and sticking it to the wall next to the monitor.
http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/lib/54223045235521/Key_Commands_Handout.pdf
from
http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55205
yeah keep at it man.
it’s not really “getting it”, its just learning the various tools, and then experience. keep making stuff, while trying to use good principles for modeling or whatever. every time you make a, well, head for example, it’ll look better and take half the time.
Sounds to me like you just need to work on observation more. A lot of people that have problems with organics don’t dolly around their viewport enough. Some people have a tendency to keep their viewport static or even worse, set up in quad style CAD viewports. If you don’t have it already set up like this… try single viewport, perspective mode and memorize the shortcuts for pan, zoom and rotate and use them often.
M3ta - check out “a better face tutorial” by TorQ…and then check out the whole “pole” thread on subdivision modeling forums or whatever it’s called.