Book Review: The Essential Blender

Blender is a free computer program that lets the user create fabulous 3D animations and pictures. The program can be downloaded from the website www.blender.org. The software is very powerful, letting the user create stunning images and animations that are similar to those created by animators in professional studios. I know this sounds too good to be true. You may be wondering, "Where's the catch?" Here it is. The program is not easy to understand. Many would-be animators give up almost immediately. There are a couple of different reasons for this. Primarily it is because the user interface is unfamiliar. Typically, programs on one computer look and feel like other programs. We can easily find the "Save As" option without consulting a manual. Blender is completely different. Add to this the fact that creating animations is also complicated and you have a recipe for disaster. There is one hope: a book titled The Essential Blender.

The Essential Blender has been published by the Blender Foundation. This is a group organized by the creator of Blender to share and advance the software. The book has been written with the complete beginner in mind. Each chapter takes the reader one more small step into the complex process, and reveals the power behind Blender in a way that everyone can understand.

The reader begins by learning where to get the software and how to install it on their computer. They then will learn how to build a 3D model, color the model, and place the model into a complete 3D world. They will learn how to place bones inside the model and, using the advanced animation timeline, move those bones to make their character walk, jump, pick up things, and talk. The reader will learn how to add hair to a character and flames to a fire. There are chapters that explain the basics of lighting and rendering images to create a stunning 3D effect. By the time the reader reaches the 15th chapter they will be surprised by how much they have learned and what they can do with the program that once seemed impossible to understand.

I highly recommend The Essential Blender to anyone who desires to learn 3D animation or who has been struggling to learn the Blender software. The book can be purchased at the larger book stores or ordered online. It is not a cheap book, but then I have yet to find a good, current computer book that did not cost a few more dollars than I usually like to spend. And if you're like me, you would rather pay for a quality book than struggle to learn without one.