Blender Course Progress

 As part of the 705 unit, I started to learn how to use Blender, I want to use Blender as my 3D modelling, sculpting and animating software as I can then use one software for the majority of things I need to do. Having never used Blender before I had to start from scratch with this, I bought a blender course bundle and have started on the 3D modelling course, which takes you through using the blender interface and also starts teaching you how to model by creating a castle. 

I have completed the first section of this course, which is learning the basics of the interface, how to add and manipulate objects, how to add materials, how to add textures, how to use the node system and how to render image outputs. Here are the outcomes of this section of the course. 

I have now moved on to the main course which is a step-by-step course to build a castle, this will help me to learn the interface in more depth as well as different tools and actions that I will need to model elements for my project. 

So far I am really enjoying this course and I like the Blender interface. I did learn 3D at university (using Maya) however I never went into much depth with this then and have since forgotten how to use it. I struggled a lot when learning Maya and because of that I ended up hating the program I never thought I would do 3D again after this, so I was rather shocked to find that I was enjoying this so much. I think a large part of this is from using the course as it means I have step-by-step videos, that talk you through each section very clearly, I also like that I can go back to past videos should I need to. I think completing these courses will help me to learn the 3D skills I need to complete my project but it will also give me the confidence that I need to work in 3D. While I have learnt digital sculpting software since university (ZBrush) and feel relatively confident with at least the basics of this software, I had found that 3D modelling was very different, I enjoyed ZBrush as it was more like using real clay as opposed to a very technical system and because I have practical sculpting skills I believe they helped me greatly, with 3D modelling I only had the bad experience learning Maya to go on and was not confident in my ability to use it in my project, this course was definitely a right move for me as I already feel like I will be able to do the 3D modelling elements of the project as it is nowhere near as complex as I remember, and it does build on existing practical (model making) skills that I have similar to ZBrush using my practical sculpting skills. 

I am very keen to progress with the course and learn to 3D model and also progress on to how to sculpt and animate in the software. It should be much easier for me learn how to use a single software as opposed to multiple, it means I will be able to focus on a single interface and go more in-depth with my learning and knowledge. I also think that gaining confidence in one 3D software will help me have the confidence to approach and use others should I need to, many of the controls, shortcuts and tools are the same in different software and is only a case of finding them, once I have learnt more Blender I will have the base knowledge to draw upon and then branch out further into different software. This will definitely help me with the project overall as there are going to be situations when I need to use different software.