Intoduction
I've often receive e-mails where people ask for more or less specific info on how to get along best while learning Blender. Sometimes all people need is to get a hang of what the whole community and the documentation around the application Blender looks like. So for me not having to repeat myself, I've written down 10 tips here for beginners wanting to learn Blender. I'm merely describing my own method, and how I do/have done, and I hope someone will find this useful.
I am assuming that you at this point have begun learning Blender. What I'll try to, is to give you some general tips you'll be able to use to work your way up the ladder and become a better Blender artist. Some of these tips are composed primarily of common sense, so you might already have figured out much for yourself.
Tip#1: Discipline, drive & curiosity
Before you begin learning Blender (or anything else), be sure that you're willing to learn and do some work for it yourself. No one will serve everything for you on a golden plate. Be determined to learn things yourself! You'll get very far, if you have the curiosity and drive to learn everything that comes within range of you. Be 100% devoted and focused on your target: Learning Blender.
Tip#2: Use those search engines!
Yeah, this is probably easy for me to say, but it's true. Too few use search engines (Google, Yahoo etc.) as much as they could. Some even never do! Always try search engines first, and try different keywords. In most cases, it's the fastest way to get your question answered or problem solved. Way faster than dropping someone a mail, posting on a forum, often even looking in the manual. It's true!
Tip#3: The manual
Some people tend to disregard the manual, claiming it's useless too big and too hard to understand for normal people. Well, in Blender's case at least, that's not true. We have a great and evolving BlenderWiki covering many aspects of Blender. It might seem a bit big in the beginning, but take a bit time to read and you'll quickly come to love this gem.
Tip#4: Forums have search functions, you know?
In forums (like the Blender Artists Forums) many questions have been asked in the past. It is very likely that the question you have already has been asked and answered numerous times before. Forums have search functions, so always try to use those to quickly find the answer you're looking for. There's no sense in posting if someone has asked the same question 1000 times before! It's so much faster to search first!
There are complaints over the search functions in many forums. I agree that they aren't as effective as the common internet search engines out there, but often a combination of a few keywords will get you something useful. In many forum's searches it's clever to use capital "AND" between the keywords. This makes the search show threads where all the keywords are in, instead of just some of them.
Tip#5: Aim realistic
Avoid undertaking huge projects straight away. Rome wasn't build in one day. It's much better to keep your projects down to a size where you'll be able to finish them of well, yet still feel challenged. Big unfinished projects don't do you as much good as small finished ones. Finishing something is much more satisfying than giving up because you aimed too high.
Tip#6: Feedback & criticism
Show your works to others. Let them tell you what they think is bad, and how they think you should improve upon it. This is called constructive critique, and being able to use that the right way will be one of your greatest forces. Avoid being overprotective of your work. Listen to every opinion, consider everybody's viewpoints and don't hesitate to change things. It's valuable to be able to see your mistakes when somebody point them out. Receiving constructive critique is all about being humble - not proud.
Tip#7: Competition
There is always someone who are better than you are. Don't let that get to you. Being jealous won't get you anywhere, neither will feeling bad about yourself and your 3D abilities. For all time people have been comparing themselves to one another; this can have some advantages, but mainly drawbacks. Try not to compare yourself to anyone other than yourself and your past achievements - at least not too much. This is quite tough actually, but a good thing to keep working on.
Tip#8: Watch & learn
When you're away from the computer use your eyes. By looking closely at the real world, observing, you'll get so much better at replicating it in 3D. Don't take anything for granted. The world is a spectacular and unique place. If you want to model, let's say a pencil, have a look at the real thing, find pictures of it on the Internet, etc. These pictures are called reference images (or "refs" in short). Use these whenever you can. It'll make your work so much better.
Tip#9: Have fun!
If you're not enjoying learning Blender 3D at all, maybe you should consider if it's the right thing for you? Also, remember that you can have fun and get some serious 3D work done at the same time. Having a good time makes you learn faster and your work better.
Tip#10: Teach others what you have learned
Teaching others makes you understand things even better. Share your experiences as much as you can and you'll be rewarded too. Yet, remember also to teach people to figure things out for themselves, like in some of the tips above. They'll benefit from the independence the rest of their lives.
Conclusion
As I've already said, most of these tips can be compressed down into two words: common sense. This will get you very far. Take these 10 tips as you please, like them, or don't. It's all up to you. This is merely my personal view on things; it may be useless to some, and useful to others. Hope that someone will benefit from the tips above - after all that is the main purpose of them.
Happy learning!
//Mathias
Figure and rig design: Jason Pierce
Have you found something not making sense, spelling mistakes or typos? Or have you got any questions that you feel I didn't answer? Contact me, and I'll try to see if I can help you/improve upon this.
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