Why Blender
I've played with blender even before it came to be free software. I will not discuss the general advantages of using free software here, there's better places to see the benefits.
3D is an area that both attracts me and at the same time pushes me back because of the complexity involved. Even if you master modelling, you can fail at lighting, texturing (and animation). Only those with enough persistence can create decent work. That also explains why my 3D works can never be described as complex ;)
Blender has a very active developer, but also user community. Unlike other
free software projects, majority of users are on the MS Windows platform. If
you visit irc.freenode.net and join the #blendechat
channel, there's almost always someone nice to help you when you're stuck with
a problem.
Tutorials
- Absolute Vertex Keys
- Relative Vertex Keys (both slightly outdated by shape keys)
- Curve Deform.
- Taper.
Gallery
Here's some projects that involved blender in one way or another.
