Links

If you've been bitten by the Blender bug (like I have) then you'll want to check out some of these great sites and books:

Sites

These sites are listed roughly in order of importance with the most important sites first.

• Blender.org Download the latest version of Blender here and consult the Blender documentation
• BlenderNation.com
• BlenderCookie.com
• Blendercookie.com/getting-started-with-blender This is a great place to start for it gives links to seven short (+- 10 minutes) videos designed for beginners using Blender 2.5.
• BlendSwap.com Lots of great Blend files for you to download free (you need to register free before you can download)
• The official repository of freely-downloadable Blender models:
• e2-productions.com/repository/
• BlenderUnderground.com
• BlenderGuru.com
• Nystic.com, home of Super3boy
• Brekel offers a free program that will let you connect your Microsoft Kinect 3D camera to your Windows computer and capture your human motions in BVH format for export to Blender.
• Mocap libraries: TrueBones
• Shapeways will print your Blender creations for you in 3D in your choice of materials (plastic, aluminium, stainless steel, coloured sandstone, glass…). Know that your model may need a lot of extra work before you can have it printed in 3D.
• Makehuman.org This free program lets you create customised human rigs with skeletons that you can import into Blender and animate
• Youtube has lots of Blender tutorials. Click HERE for the official YouTube Blender channel.Search also for videos by Ira Krakow and SuperBoy3.
• Vimeo has lots of Blender tutorials
• cg.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/blender/
• www.blenderartists.org/forum
• blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=62699&d=1233739698
• mchammond.com/Home/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=14

For more sites check out this page: http://www.blendercookie.com/2011/05/11/blender-community-starters-guide/

A 187 page PDF e-book for you to download for free

Books

• Blender for Dummies. Jason van Gumster Paperback: 472 pages. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Edition edition (6 May 2011) Be sure to get the 2011 edition and not the older edition. ISBN-13: 978-0470584460. Comes with a DVD. Book is based on Blender version 2.56a.
• A 187 page PDF e-book for you to download for free
• Blender Foundations, The Essential Guide to Blender 2.6 Roland Hess, Focal Press ISBN: 978-0-240-81430-8. Be sure to get the 2011 edition and not the older edition.A sitewww.blenderfoundations.com provides support materials
• Learning Character Animation with Blender Second edition by Tony Mullen. Sybex. ISBN: 978-0-470-42737-8 Be sure to get the 2011 edition and not the older edition. A website provides support materials. Note that the rig included on the site may not be fully compatible with the latest versions – it seems to work with Blender 2.56 but not with 2.57b (no FK/IK switching). You should look into this before buying the book – Check the errata page for the book.