Hi, not sure if this is where I am suppost to post this, but I’m going to get a training DVD for christmas, and I’m not sure which one to get. I’m relatively new to blender, haven’t done much yet, but know the basics. I was thinking I should get Blender Inside out, or maybe Venoms Lab 2. Seeing as many of you have probably purchased DVDs I was wondering if I could get some advice. Thanks!!!
Welcome to the forums!
There are many good choices, but even though I’ve ordered a few I haven’t had a chance to watch much of the more recent ones.
I’m sure someone will be able to point you to a few reviews or recommend a helpful set for someone starting out. Do you have much of a specific interest - modelling, animation, rendering, etc?
In all honesty,i’d say you’d be better off getting a citizen subscription on blendercookie.
you can get a 4month membership for the price of a dvd,all the videos and files are available for download until your subscription is over,and right now they cover most topics.
It depends on what you want to learn. If you’re just getting started, I wouldn’t get any of the DVDs. Most of them cover more advanced topics than you really need to be worrying yourself with as someone new to Blender. If you insist on getting one I’d go with Venom’s Lab 2, but you’ll be suited just as well with many of the free tutorials on the internet. I’d also recommend anything from Blender Cookie, Sebastian Koenig, or Nathan Vegdahl. It really depends on what you want to be able to do. You might also consider getting some tutorials on general 3D, not just specific to Blender, because many of the principles will carry over between packages and there is a lot more coverage in certain areas from external sources than there are specific to Blender. I would start with any of the ‘start to finish’ series on Blender Cookie though. Lots of great information to be had.
The training DVD’s directly support the Blender Foundation. They are supported by other avenues, but from what I understand the DVD’s are a real big part for them. Lets all chip in and follow the OP’s lead, grab a Blender DVD for Christmas!
+1 for the blender cookie subscription. It’s cheap and covers basic and advanced topics. Plus you also get videos for Gimp and Unity too.
Wow, thanks for all the feedback! Didn’t think I would get so many responses so quickly! Never underestimate the blender community!
I was seriously considering getting a citizen subscription on Blender Cookie, but I’m a student, so I really wouldn’t have time to do much with it, so I’m going to watch their free stuff for now, and perhaps consider becoming a citizen for summer vacation.
I don’t have a specific interest right now, I just want to gain more knowledge and be able to use Blender competently before I go for something more specific (humane rigging, for example)
So, maybe I’ll get Venom’s Lab 2 and see where that leads me.
But, as m9105826 said, I’ll definitely be scouring the internet for tutorials.
As far as I know cg cookie makes regular donations to the foundation anyway.and i’m sure a chunk of what they donate comes from their citizen sales.
I have gotten a citenzenship with CGCookie and it has been awesome. I have learn’t so much, and they pretty much have most of the topics that I have wanted covered
Some of the Blender Foundation DVDs can be found on YouTube since they’re Creative Commons. This channel for example. Obviously buying the DVDs goes towards helping Blender out so they’re worth collecting regardless. I haven’t checked out the Blender Inside Out DVD yet, but anything with Jonathan doing it is pretty good.
This sounds like a great idea buy one but the selection at the moment is a bit underwhelming. The one DVD I would buy Humane Rigging I already have the others are not interesting to me at all. I am not into VFX more trying to crack low poly stuff so that rules out a few DVD’s that looked interesting.
If you’re a beginner don’t buy “Blender Inside Out” - it’s for advanced users coming from other packages. Rather get Venoms Lab 2.
I just bought the animation bundle from Blender Cookie. Still going through the fundamentals course, but two thumbs up so far. If time permits, I will be writing a review of the bundle while I take a break from real work and work on my 2013 reel.
For those who speak german are these DVDs very good. I’ve bought the first and the second one for myself what was very helpful:
http://www.galileodesign.de/katalog/buecher/titel/gp/titelID-2273?GalileoSession=26640889A5.-I1-H3-w
http://www.galileodesign.de/katalog/buecher/titel/gp/titelID-2856?GalileoSession=26640889A5.-I1-H3-w
http://www.galileodesign.de/katalog/buecher/titel/gp/titelID-3042?GalileoSession=26640889A5.-I1-H3-w
The german company AgenZasBrothers offers very good Blender tutorials:
http://www.agenzasbrothers.de/tipps-tricks/tutorials-blender/
Otherwise I recommend youto watch the videos by Andrew Price from Blender Guru. He makes very, very good step by step tutorials:
http://www.blenderguru.com/
Another +1 on the blender cookie subscription. Dvd’s are more tangible and would be a more “real” present instead of a silly coupon, but that’s up to you to decide.
I was very pleased with my blender cookie subscription (1 month), because for that limited time you get unlimited acces to any tutorial you want. But it’s all digital.
Either way you’re going to learn a lot from them and I wish you the best with either choice.
Although Blender Inside Out is advertised for experienced Maya/3DS/etc…users, I found that the videos start with Blender basics, build on themselves, and work well as an introductory resource for starting Blender users. I’ve not watched Venoms Lab 2 so I’ll take your word there.
Yeah, I was reading comments on blender cookie that agreed with your opinion- It starts from the basics and gets more difficult- that’s why I considered it. Also, it says it focuses on the how, not the why- but the blender wiki should cover the how, so that seems good…
Maybe I should order both…
I’ll definitely check on the citizen subscription in summer- December/January is way too busy a time for me, and I don’t think I would make the most of it.
+1 for the CG Cookie subscription. I don’t know where I’d be without them…Having them as members of this forum helps too…
If you are after a DVD from them - I bought the Sci-Fi Vehicle one - amazing. Taught me from absolute beginner of Blender to where I am today…well…maybe not today as I’m computerless at the moment, but you get the idea!