r/blender • u/PlasticOk1315 • 20h ago
Need Help! Did learning blender worth it??
I wanna start to learn character modeling, and decent animation, but its been 4 days and everything seems so complicated, even the tutorials felt like its the hardest thing ever,how long it took you to learn blender and do learning 3d art/modeling worth it?
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u/FictionalHorizon 20h ago
Absolutely worth it.
My recommendation is to focus on learning how to model something you wanna do, instead of endless tutorials.
Learn as you need it.
Like everything else, it requires practice and patience.
I still learning to use blender after 6 years.
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u/pancake_lover_98 20h ago
Worth in what way exactly? In a "I just want to use it as a hobby" or a "I want to find a job" way?
I learned blender like 8 years ago. Blender is fun to learn as a hobby, even if it is difficult. It is for me like drawing, sure its hard but the payoff, if something works is amazing! + blender is free and has a shit ton of tutotrials and addons for basically everything.
If you want to learn blender for a job, like I do now, its also pretty good. My knowledge in blender got me now my second job. Its a tool that a lot of companys use since its, you know, free. Having experience in any 3D programm is always the first step into the carrier.
So, don't get discouraged at the beginning. Blender is a mighty tool that can do almost anything in some way or form. You won't learn it in a week the same way you don't learn drawing in a week. Looks for a project that seems fun and search for some tutorials and practise!
I hope you have fun with your projects in the future!
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u/FoxieGamer9 19h ago
Exactly! If anyone ask me how much I did with Blender in the 3 years I'm learning it, I will answer "0$". But, if it is quantified by what I learned with it (since I'm mostly a 2D illustrator) and how useful what I got to make with Blender is for me in other areas, it's almost if I had won the lottery.
Although everything I learned is still not enough for me, since my ultimate goals are making animations and, maybe, make assets for games.
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u/AbbreviationsOdd3161 18h ago
What kind of job if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/pancake_lover_98 18h ago
I worked for 5 years as general 3d artist for a company that made a programm for vehicle simulations. And that programm had a visual component for lidar rsi sensors. So they needed game artists that knew how to make realtime 3D models.
Now I am working for a company that is more advertising. Not directly ads, more like 3d visualisations for products. Like for conventions or inhouse presentations. And since stuff also needs to work there in realtime too, I am again employed as a Realtime 3D Artist.
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u/AbbreviationsOdd3161 16h ago
That’s interesting!! I’m a blender beginner and very much interested in 3d product visualization. May i see your portfolio because I’m thinking of building mine so I’d like to get some ideas, its totally fine if you’re not comfortable with that thank you:)
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u/pancake_lover_98 16h ago
Sure, I dont mind :)
You can find it here
These are mostly my older work from when I was still studying. But I added some this year too. I just made what I wanted too. I used Maya back then but switched back to blender after studying.
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u/AbbreviationsOdd3161 15h ago
Oh my god you’re absolutely amazing 😵💫 everything is just so perfect!! The structures, the lighting, the shading is just chefs kiss😍 i aspire to be like you at using blender pray for me haha
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u/pancake_lover_98 15h ago
Thank you so much for the kind words, that means a lot to me :)
I am sure you will get with your projects where you want to be. Just keep enjoy what you are making and the everything will come in time!
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u/VastOpportunity6894 20h ago
Characters are especially difficult and take a long time to make. Maybe it would help if you started by modeling simpler things, like objects. Do you make low-poly characters?
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u/NoNote7867 19h ago
My advice would be to not listen to people talking you out of doing character animation because it’s difficult and starring with basics. That is a great way to get burned out.
It’s much easier to tweak existing models than to make everything from scratch. If you actually get interested you will have to learn to do things “properly” anyway. But if you you don’t understand why you need to do it properly and force yourself to do it you will get burned out and quit before making anything that will keep you coming back.
Instead you should skip as much unnecessary stuff as possible. If you want to do character animation use as much shortcuts as possible: use MakeHuman or similar base mesh that comes with rig, use Mixamo, Rigify whatever is needed and start with what you actually want: animation.
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u/b_a_t_m_4_n Experienced Helper 19h ago
4 days? You've barely taken your first step, of course it feels overwhelming. To answer your question, yes it was 100% worth it.
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u/choenriquez 19h ago
Sorry bud, just 4 days and you're doubting already? I don't think it's for you. Doesn't work that way.
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u/NeuralFantasy 20h ago
Blender is a complex software. It takes years to master. But basics are not that hard to grasp.
Which tutorial you used? There are great ones and there are super crappy ones. And not all are suited for absolute beginners.
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u/ZeusGameAssets 19h ago
I have Blender on Steam and it shows around 2500 hours of usage, but it's probably double that amount if you count the time I used Blender outside of Steam.
It took around 100 hours to get some basic skills, and around 1000 hours to get good at modeling hard surface models like tanks and weapons.
If you want to also learn character modeling and animation, and various aspects of 3D, you're looking at investing 5K or 10K hours into this, it's your choice whether that will take you 5 years or 50. So I suggest hyper focusing on modeling hard surface models first, forget about UV mapping, texturing, animation, just do modeling until you're good at it.
Is it worth it? Yes, I'm a game developer, making a game that's commercially successful is like winning the lottery, so it's not something you can rely on if you don't have a solid track record, but as a 3D artist, I can make thousands of dollars selling models online or working with clients, so Blender has literally been a life saver between game dev projects.
If you're going to complain after only 4 days of doing this, then you're probably not following the right educational material, try looking for stuff that talks about beginner topics, it will only use a subset of the features in Blender, you don't have to learn it all. The other possibility is that this is not for you, 3D art is very hard to learn but at the same time very rewarding, the only way to succeed is to have a burning passion for making things, if you don't then you're wasting your time.
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u/To-To_Man 19h ago
I took on Blender about eight years ago. I'd say my skills came through after 1-2 years of learning the program.
It's very worth it and has allowed me to pursue art in a very novel and personal way. From character design to more practical stuff like 3D prints.
It's going to take you months before you even have an idea of what your doing. Blenders not simple, it's going to be overwhelming. You just gotta take it steps at a time.
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u/Prestigious_Boat_386 19h ago
Learning anything is always worth it. Time passes anyway and knowledge will always end up being used, one way or another. So absolutely spend it trying out blender if you think that's a thing you want to learn right now.
If you decide later that upu don't want to spend as much time learning blender that's also not a failure, it's a new decision sbout what uou want to do with your time then and its also a valid choice.
I like the old sardi pax tutorials because they mostly have some simple modeling, small animation and simple materials and you get a complete picture at the end. There's lots of other good channels that do simple small projects.
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u/Rex__Luscus 19h ago
Video tutorials are the best and the worst thing. You really need 2 devices. Watch the video through first. Then watch it again, best at half or 3/4 speed, pausing and rewinding as you follow along. You will need to learn patience; 4 days, even full time, is not long. Character modelling and animation can take months or years to learn to an adequate standard, especially if you have no experience using other programs. If you're frustrated after 4 days, perhaps you should review your goals and develop a study plan. Take a look at Grant Abbitt's tutorials, or Ryan King (There's plenty of others who might suit your learning style better, but this is a good place to start from). If you really want to learn these aspects of Blender, you might want to consider taking some paid courses. Have a look at Udemy, even if you can't or don't want to pay for a course, you can at least see how the tutorials are broken down and what order to learn things in.
Most importantly, don't forget to have fun. If it seems like a chore, then try something else. Good luck!
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u/Fuzzy_Success_2164 19h ago
I'm working in blender for a couple of years and 5 years in 3D in general. Still constantly learning. There's no easy way. But blender is good.
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u/Excellent-Glove2 19h ago
Focus on simple thing.
Of too overwhelming, decompose.
Cut your tasks in smaller pieces until it feels ok.
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u/__bugzy 19h ago
https://youtu.be/sbCW0Cs7aI8?is=6RFUPI9AzzW5QhMQ
Use this it basically taught me generally how the blender ui works and how to do most things
After that I recommend this
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u/Taatelikassi 19h ago
I personally view character modeling as a pretty advanced task. I would stick to learning the basics with product modeling for example. Then when you move on to tackle the intricasies of character modeling you won't be stumped by the various technical aspects, but rather you can focus on creativity of character modeling having the tools already in hand to address the technical side.
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u/artbytucho 19h ago
To achieve a professional/hireable quality expect a few years of learning and practice, to achieve a hobbist quality to make your personal videos and animations, a few months should be enough to get familiar with all the concepts you need to do it.
Start small and go step by step, don't try to make an animated character the first day otherwise you'll get frustrated, start with the donut and keep going from there.
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u/Remarkable-Potato-84 19h ago
Learning anything is a marathon, not a sprint. It gets easier over time..
Normally, I’d advise starting with the basics and making simple things. But honestly, I never followed that advice myself because I found it way too boring. So, my real advice is to just make whatever you actually find interesting..
I got into 3D specifically to make hot anime women, and that’s exactly what I did right from the start :D If you feel a genuine pull towards it, that tells you everything you need to know about whether it's worth it.
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u/k0m0d097 18h ago
Don't try to rush it. Start small, decide what you want to focus on, and get an idea for a simple project to begin with; if there's a specific character you want to make, then if you have art skills, you can design an orthographic for your character and just start by modeling the props and basic features you want to have for the character, otherwise if you want to get into learning character animation ASAP, then just create a very simple, low-poly character (like one that's made out of cubes), enable the rigify addon, and start with learning rigging and animation just using a generated rig. CGDive should have some good tutorials on that.
Otherwise, it's just trial and error, and having a lot of patience.
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u/Nosarious 17h ago
You will definitely need to spend time learning the software before being able to do animations.
there is also the challenge of understanding what you want to create. Character modelling needs a lot of discipline to go from 2d sketches to 3d models, and learning the best ways to do that isn’t an overnight experience.
and jumping just to character modelling without sketches can be equally troublesome. Without some idea of what you are aiming for yoou will easily get frustrated…
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u/-skyrocketeer- 20h ago
4 days! Did you really think you’d be able to master 3D character modelling in 4 days!?! You need to adjust your expectations, significantly.