I was thinking of buying your Blender Basics and Basic 4 packages to get me started on Blender. I have *some* experience of 3d packages, so i'm not a total noob to the science, but a total noob to Blender.
I've been toying with the blender 2.5A2 package, but i noticed that your courses are based on the 2.4 interface. The UI is so vastly different (better, i think) in the new version, that it's been like pulling teeth to get my head around a few free tutorials on 2.5, that were obviously meant for 2.4.
I was just wondering if and when you had plans to move the courses to 2.5, i would definitely buy both packages if so!
That's a great question. I chose to use 2.49b because 2.5 was (and is) in the alpha stage of development (not even beta yet). It is still changing often, there are missing features, and bugs. For production work I recommend 2.49b. When you are working on real deadlines, you want stable software. One of the things I love about Blender is its stability.
The roadmap for 2.5 is that it will go through 4 beta stages AFTER the alpha. After that, the official production version is to be version 2.6. I might do courses with 2.5 once it is in beta, if I feel it won't be a frustration to the serious learner. In there interim, I'll start with my casual (and free) tutorials "Bits of Blender". I'm working with 2.5 now, but I still get frustrated when functionality has not migrated from 2.49b yet (which is to be expected), I don't want to propagate those frustrations to students.
Now to address your situation specifically. If you were new to 3D, I'd consider suggesting you wait depending on a variety of factors. If you were experienced at other 3D packages, I'd say don't wait. Moving from 2.49b to 2.5 is not hard, many things have moved and have different icons, but they are not hard to find. 99.9% of the old functionality will be in there plus a lot more new functionality. But you fall in the middle with *some* experience. If you plan to do real jobs, I'd consider 2.49b to save potential heartache. The nice thing about it is there is an enormous amount of learning material using that UI. If you don't have any urgency, then wait a couple months. HTH
Thanks a mil for the speedy reply! Not in any special rush, but i'll take a look at the community forums to see if i get a feel for the progress of Blender 2.5. If it looks like it's taking too long, i'll just download 2.49 and get your courses.
You're welcome! Here is a link to the roadmap, there are no dates, but it gives you an idea of where Blender 2.5 is and where it still has to go: http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-250/
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of buying your Blender Basics and Basic 4 packages to get me started on Blender. I have *some* experience of 3d packages, so i'm not a total noob to the science, but a total noob to Blender.
I've been toying with the blender 2.5A2 package, but i noticed that your courses are based on the 2.4 interface. The UI is so vastly different (better, i think) in the new version, that it's been like pulling teeth to get my head around a few free tutorials on 2.5, that were obviously meant for 2.4.
I was just wondering if and when you had plans to move the courses to 2.5, i would definitely buy both packages if so!
Thanks & keep up the good work
Patrick
Hi Patrick,
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question. I chose to use 2.49b because 2.5 was (and is) in the alpha stage of development (not even beta yet). It is still changing often, there are missing features, and bugs. For production work I recommend 2.49b. When you are working on real deadlines, you want stable software. One of the things I love about Blender is its stability.
The roadmap for 2.5 is that it will go through 4 beta stages AFTER the alpha. After that, the official production version is to be version 2.6. I might do courses with 2.5 once it is in beta, if I feel it won't be a frustration to the serious learner. In there interim, I'll start with my casual (and free) tutorials "Bits of Blender". I'm working with 2.5 now, but I still get frustrated when functionality has not migrated from 2.49b yet (which is to be expected), I don't want to propagate those frustrations to students.
Now to address your situation specifically. If you were new to 3D, I'd consider suggesting you wait depending on a variety of factors. If you were experienced at other 3D packages, I'd say don't wait. Moving from 2.49b to 2.5 is not hard, many things have moved and have different icons, but they are not hard to find. 99.9% of the old functionality will be in there plus a lot more new functionality. But you fall in the middle with *some* experience. If you plan to do real jobs, I'd consider 2.49b to save potential heartache. The nice thing about it is there is an enormous amount of learning material using that UI. If you don't have any urgency, then wait a couple months. HTH
Regards,
John
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteThanks a mil for the speedy reply! Not in any special rush, but i'll take a look at the community forums to see if i get a feel for the progress of Blender 2.5. If it looks like it's taking too long, i'll just download 2.49 and get your courses.
Cheers,
Patrick
You're welcome! Here is a link to the roadmap, there are no dates, but it gives you an idea of where Blender 2.5 is and where it still has to go:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-250/