Truth is, a lot of new users bounce within the first few days or weeks. It’s not because Blender isn’t amazing — it’s just got a steep learning curve. The interface can feel confusing at first, the controls take getting used to, and it takes time before you start making stuff that looks cool. If you’ve ever opened Blender, stared at the screen, and thought “what do I even do with this cube?” — you’re definitely not alone. 😂 The good news? If you can push through those early hurdles (think: 2-4 weeks of practice + tutorials), things start to click. And from there, it gets really fun. So if you're starting out, stick with it! Your future self — and your renders — will thank you. 💪✨ #Blender3D #BlenderCommunity #3DArt #Learning3D #BlenderTips #KeepGoing

This quick tip is from t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶ ̶A̶g̶e̶ our course PRINTLAB: Your Guide to 3D Printing with Blender and a Prusa printer. Not intended for the forging of soul-binding artifacts.

The course BASEMESH is 25% off on Superhive Market - this weekend only (ends Monday, May 26th) Do you want to build 3D characters but don't know where to start? Are you're overwhelmed by the thought of creating them from scratch? The default cube can be kind of intimidating... This course is designed to give you a head start on the character creation workflow: Start with a BASEMESH! Reliable pre-made character models are not only an effective way to speed up the process and establish good topology early. The truth is, all your favorite pros use basemeshes too. Sure they can also build characters from scratch - and we teach that elsewhere - but the efficiency of a basemesh makes it a standard tool for 3D character creation.

How to get the perfect clean topology, ideal for further sculpting.

This quick trick is from our course BCITY | Building a Procedural City Generator with Geometry Nodes 🌆 From the moment Geometry Nodes hit the scene, Blender artists have wanted to generate procedural cities. While several commercial add-ons exist to achieve city generation in a variety of ways and quality - what if you want build your own from scratch? This is precisely the goal of the BCITY course! Mike Hodgetts is a bona fide node wizard and he's here to guide you step-by-step through his process of developing a city generator!

💡 Triangulation isn’t consistent across 3D software—Blender, Maya or Unity may all handle it differently. If you bake maps on a non-triangulated mesh, it can lead to shading errors later. Always triangulate your low-poly mesh before baking to avoid issues.

💡 Normal maps simulate small surface details without adding geometry. But DirectX and OpenGL handle the Y-axis differently: 👉 DirectX Normal Maps: Y-axis (Green channel) points down Typically use left-handed coordinate system Green areas on the normal map might look darker. 👉 OpenGL Normal Maps: Y-axis (Green channel) points up Uses a right-handed coordinate system Green areas usually appear lighter. 🎯 Why it matters: If you use the wrong format in your engine or shader, lighting will look off—like bumps are inverted. You can fix this by inverting the green channel if needed.

Save these preset and have them ready to go without having to re-create them each time 💪 This quick tip is from our course DRAW! An Introduction to Blender's Grease Pencil

The LUMINOR course is slated to release this summer (2025). Join the CG Cookie newsletter for the most up-do-date info: https://b3d.cgcookie.com/065p53 Vintage cameras are an excellent project to refine your hard surfaced modeling, texturing, materials and rendering skills. There's no better candidate to teach this than Ewa Wierbik-Ziąbka; an accomplished professional 3D artist won best product design in 2024 for her Leica M2 vintage camera render over at Blender Artists. See more of Ewa's work: https://www.artstation.com/ewawierbik "WHO IS CG COOKIE?" We are real people! (OK, maybe some of us are cyborgs - we don't ask.) CG Cookie is a small crew of Blender artists, baking fresh videos for the Blender community. 🍪 If you love what we do, consider enrolling to http://cgcookie.com to stream 100's of Blender courses with passionate Blender instructors there to answer your questions. "WHERE SHOULD I START LEARNING BLENDER?" For Blender beginners, we have a free tutorial series "Getting Started with Blender" https://rb.gy/khqdl7 "I WANT MORE CG COOKIE IN MY LIFE!" Got it. Here's where you can reach us! http://instagram.com/cgcookie http://twitter.com/cgcookie http://facebook.com/cgcookieinc Want Blender news in your mailbox? Sign up here for spam-free newsletter https://cgcookie.com/newsletter #CGCookie #blendertutorial #b3d

If you want to dive deeper into texture baking, watch our course BAKE: Texture Baking in Blender. It's included in every CG Cookie membership: https://b3d.cgcookie.com/3rnxy6 The course is also available as a standalone on Superhive (formerly Blender Market): https://b3d.blendermarket.com/upizyo

This quick trick for reversing a shape in Blender is from our course SHAPE: Add shape keys to your Blender rigging toolbelt 🛠️

Spencer Magnusson (DreamWorks) reveals one of his favorite coding trick's: when using Python in Blender, there is no 'object menu' in edit mode... That's where Python Tool Tips come in 🛠️

Now you can animate with non-overlapping strips in a clean, organized way! Perfect for modular actions & better control. Our animation trainer Wayne Dixon breaks it down.

Get ready for CORE - streaming now - http://cgcookie.com/p/core In this live stream, @KennyPhases will be creating a Geometry Nodes Aerodynamic Simulation (visual)! *NEW* CORE Fundamentals: Perhaps our most ambitious undertaking yet, CORE Fundamentals, will elevate your Blender skills. All 9 courses will be released together, all recorded in Blender 4.2. Our expert instructors are working daily on the most important bundle of courses to drill down on your Blender skills and achieve your dreams as a 3D artist. 9 courses, 8 instructors, 1 epic journey for Blender Artists. CORE Fundamentals will be streaming on CG Cookie https://b3d.cgcookie.com/6y8jnv and is currently available on Blender Market https://b3d.cgcookie.com/9borh8 Stay informed and follow along as we prepare to launch CORE https://b3d.cgcookie.com/v0uaiy Free Assets (used in this video): http://polyhaven.com Kenny Phases YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/kennyphases _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "WHO IS CG COOKIE?" We are real people! (OK, maybe some of us are cyborgs - we don't ask.) CG Cookie is a small crew of Blender artists, baking fresh videos for the Blender community. 🍪 If you love what we do, consider enrolling to http://cgcookie.com to stream 100's of Blender courses with passionate Blender instructors there to answer your questions. "WHERE SHOULD I START LEARNING BLENDER?" For Blender beginners, we have a free tutorial series "Getting Started with Blender" https://rb.gy/khqdl7 "I WANT MORE CG COOKIE IN MY LIFE!" Got it. Here's where you can reach us! / cgcookie / cgcookie / cgcookieinc Want Blender news in your mailbox? Sign up here for spam-free newsletter https://cgcookie.com/newsletter #CGCookie #blendertutorial #b3d

Texture baking is the process of transferring ("baking") data from a model into an image. Why does it matter and what to look out for when baking? Let's bake it down 💪

AI is becoming hugely popular for scripting...esepcially for first-time coders. But each shortcut may come at a cost. Spencer Magnusson (DreamWorks) has a word of warning for those who may rely too heavily on technology: real skill cannot be replaced.

Get ready for CORE - streaming now - http://cgcookie.com/p/core In this live stream, @KennyPhases will be creating a Geometry Nodes Droplet Generator! *NEW* CORE Fundamentals: Perhaps our most ambitious undertaking yet, CORE Fundamentals, will elevate your Blender skills. All 9 courses will be released together, all recorded in Blender 4.2. Our expert instructors are working daily on the most important bundle of courses to drill down on your Blender skills and achieve your dreams as a 3D artist. 9 courses, 8 instructors, 1 epic journey for Blender Artists. CORE Fundamentals will be streaming on CG Cookie https://b3d.cgcookie.com/6y8jnv and is currently available on Blender Market https://b3d.cgcookie.com/9borh8 Stay informed and follow along as we prepare to launch CORE https://b3d.cgcookie.com/v0uaiy Free Assets (used in this video): http://polyhaven.com Kenny Phases YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/kennyphases _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "WHO IS CG COOKIE?" We are real people! (OK, maybe some of us are cyborgs - we don't ask.) CG Cookie is a small crew of Blender artists, baking fresh videos for the Blender community. 🍪 If you love what we do, consider enrolling to http://cgcookie.com to stream 100's of Blender courses with passionate Blender instructors there to answer your questions. "WHERE SHOULD I START LEARNING BLENDER?" For Blender beginners, we have a free tutorial series "Getting Started with Blender" https://rb.gy/khqdl7 "I WANT MORE CG COOKIE IN MY LIFE!" Got it. Here's where you can reach us! / cgcookie / cgcookie / cgcookieinc Want Blender news in your mailbox? Sign up here for spam-free newsletter https://cgcookie.com/newsletter #CGCookie #blendertutorial #b3d

Stream (along with hundreds of courses) at CG Cookie: https://b3d.cgcookie.com/lxaq92 Standalone Purchase available from Superhive: https://b3d.blendermarket.com/tsbONW Drawing on his 10 years as a game artist, Chunck Trafagander is back with a brand new course that aims to be the last texture baking course you'll ever need! In only 2.5 hours, Chunck will guide you though the nuanced art and science of baking textures with Blender. From the difference between openGL and DirectX, mid-poly meshes, rays and cages, mesh triangulation, and more. "WHO IS CG COOKIE?" We are real people! (OK, maybe some of us are cyborgs - we don't ask.) CG Cookie is a small crew of Blender artists, baking fresh videos for the Blender community. 🍪 If you love what we do, consider enrolling to http://cgcookie.com to stream 100's of Blender courses with passionate Blender instructors there to answer your questions. "WHERE SHOULD I START LEARNING BLENDER?" For Blender beginners, we have a free tutorial series "Getting Started with Blender" https://rb.gy/khqdl7 "I WANT MORE CG COOKIE IN MY LIFE!" Got it. Here's where you can reach us! http://instagram.com/cgcookie http://twitter.com/cgcookie http://facebook.com/cgcookieinc Want Blender news in your mailbox? Sign up here for spam-free newsletter https://cgcookie.com/newsletter #CGCookie #blendertutorial #b3d