Blender Books

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:26 am

I have struggled with blender for a while and after hours of searching I found these .pdf books that I thought could help some of you who use blender.

They didn't came in order but I hope you have enough imagination to realize that A is first and C last...

angelus6 · Post by **angelus6** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:05 am

OH-MY-GOD! thankyou so much Joco. these are an awesome fine. i can't stand the monotonous guy voicing the video tutorials, to the point where i won't watch them

a great help seeing as Blender isn't anywhere near as user friendly a 3dmax, but at least it free

NEENJA · Post by **NEENJA** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 4:55 am

Sweet. I'm going through wikibook's Noob to Pro; I'll be interested in what another one would be like.

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:20 am

Well, the noob to pro contains most tutorials but this one is more basic instructions and it covers quite a few functions that arent described in noob to pro.

horodnicdragos · Post by **horodnicdragos** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:43 am

a great help seeing as Blender isn't anywhere near as user friendly a 3dmax, but at least it free

I find blender pretty easy. I've tried 3dsmax but I wasn't able to do something decent. The only thing I dislike at blender is the rendering engine which requires a lot of tweaks (lights, splited triangles etc etc) in order to look fine. Hey here's the cool thing. If it looks good rendered with blender it will also look good in-game.

Now back to the subject. I've downloaded them but there's nothing special I can learn from them. Maybe animation from the third one.

Nice one.

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:14 pm

Well, you find it easy and you are good at it but I believe there are quite a few with me that believe that it is quite hard to learn. When you have learned it i believe it is exelent!

The_Warder · Post by **The_Warder** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:39 pm

thanks for the find I am sorry I havent been active lately but remember if you need some questions answered please ask me.

NEENJA · Post by **NEENJA** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:53 pm

By the way, does anyone know of any published, hard-copy books on Blender? I've been looking around bookstores' technology sections, and there are all these 3DS Max and Maya books, but not one concerning Blender.

Oh, and also, I don't think 3DS Max is likely 3 grand better than Blender. Just my opinion.

--the NEENJA

angelus6 · Post by **angelus6** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:34 pm

it's not 3grand better, just 3grand more expensive.. and a LOT more user friendly and less intimidating on first use. never seen any blender books in teh uk, but there's gota be one

Chahiero · Post by **Chahiero** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 11:24 pm

There are no commercially published Blender books, just vanity presses that operate online. Google it and you'll find plenty

horodnicdragos · Post by **horodnicdragos** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:22 pm

Uhh...There is one which you can buy from their site.

http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/default.php?cPath=21

Chahiero · Post by **Chahiero** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:44 pm

That's self published by the Blender Organization

(And a little heady if you're not already familiar with Blender)

Post by **Haplo** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:50 pm

But it's still commercially published.

The_Warder · Post by **The_Warder** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:52 pm

there is a 400 page official animation book coming out.
http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Character-Animation-Blender-DVD/dp/0470102608/ref=sr_11_1/102-7037143-9743359

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:39 am

Are those PDFs available anywhere else? I can't seem to download the first one, it says the attachment doesn't exist anymore.

edit: nevermind, I found it.

NEENJA · Post by **NEENJA** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:32 pm

I got the one animation book, it's pretty good. I'll upload a render of the sample character you build when I have the time.

--the NEENJA

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:16 am

Is this one focused on blender?
Does it only deal with animation?

NEENJA · Post by **NEENJA** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:12 am

Yes, it's only on Blender. It's quite "patriotic" to the Blender community, actually. It does focus mostly on animation, but it does tell/show the reader how to model and texture a complete character to animate. It points out some really snazzy techniques and features, introducing the reader to how to model and texture with Blender. Once the character is done (it's a cartoony superhero) it goes on to bone rigging, shape key rigging, and facial bones. Then it tells you how to animate this stuff, with information on ipos, the NLA editor, etc. And it's all pretty easy to understand. The DVD includes the character at different stages for reference, and also the models of Emo and Proog in Elephants Dream, along with a character from the movie coming out, Plumiferos. All in all, this is a really great book, I would suggest it to anyone who is learning Blender.

--the NEENJA

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:46 am

Sounds great. was it expensive?

Halcyone · Post by **Halcyone** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:29 pm

Where did you get that first book, Bill? I can't seem to find it.

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:57 am

Here's a link to the page I got it from.

http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55205

It looks like a Highschool website, so I don't know how long they will keep it on there. If someday that link doesn't work a google search for "blender basics james chronister" should point you in the right direction.

NEENJA · Post by **NEENJA** » Sat May 19, 2007 12:59 am

It's not expensive at all; just 40 USD
Once I'm done with the hair, I'll upload a picture of what I came up with.

--the NEENJA

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Sun May 20, 2007 5:54 pm

What was the name of it again? I want it. Got to buy it

NEENJA · Post by **NEENJA** » Sun May 20, 2007 6:38 pm

It's Introducing Chacter Animation with Blender. By Tony Mullen. Published by Sybex.

And, as promised, here's a render of the character I made from the book's instructions:
[img]http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/2575/capblendyhd8.jpg[/img]
I'm not particularly happy with the face, but I figured I could just move on and start rigging it.

--the NEENJA

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Sun May 20, 2007 8:00 pm

Looking good! Good luck with the animation!

Jackleonfraust · Post by **Jackleonfraust** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:55 pm

anyone had luck with the blender/nif script?

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 7:44 am

How do you mean? With finding it or using it?

Octavo · Post by **Octavo** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:44 pm

Noooooooo!

404 file not found!

So close but yet so far...

Joco · Post by **Joco** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:50 pm

Hmm strange, I haven't done anything. Anyone knows why?

Octavo · Post by **Octavo** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:58 pm

It's just book A for me. Also it has the TR template so it isn't a connection problem.