Codecademy

Trying to learn anything new can be a daunting task, especially when you don’t know where to start. Luckily, there’s quite a few ways (specifically, free) to learn out there. Google is your friend when trying to find these learning resources, but even if Google doesn’t directly lead you to something useful, you might find, for example, an article on a blog that points you in the right direction.

Talking specifically about me at this point; I am trying to get into web design / development. Having exhausted “funding” for schooling on a previous venture, I am looking for free ways to educate myself. To start, I already have some experience with HTML and CSS, so I just need to expand upon this by diving into Javascript and PHP or ASP (planning to focus on PHP). Coding is not a foreign concept to me as I already have a little experience with BASIC, C#, and Actionscript. So the syntax is not voodoo magic to me, since code syntax doesn’t change THAT much from one language to another. It’s more of a matter of learning the various built-in functions / methods of the languages and checking out libraries written in said language.

But for someone starting out, it can be tough. Sure, you could read tutorials like those at http://www.w3school.com to get started, but if you are a “hands on” learner like myself, you might find what the guys over at http://www.codecademy.com have put together much more helpful. At least, in regards to HTML, CSS, and Javascript. It looks like they are currently adding Python to the list. Codecademy’s exercises “walk you through” a particular subject; telling you how to go about doing something and then letting you type it out yourself before proceeding to the next exercise.

I’m actually going through the exercises on Codecademy right now to reinforce any previous knowledge of mine. I believe in having a firm foundation before building skywards, otherwise you might find yourself without a leg to stand on.

Trains, “Planes,” and Automobiles

Continuing my way through the Blender tutorials, next in line was (more or less) learning how to use a plane to create terrain: using proportional editing (the equivalent to Max’s soft select) to create hill or mountains with the next part being creating a volcano, albeit in a very rudimentary form. This tutorial also had you play with lights and a very basic texture just a little bit. Much more on that later, I’m sure. For now, here’s the volcano.

Learning Blender

I needed a good free alternative to those other overpriced packages, like Max and Maya, so I decided it’s time to actually learn how to use Blender. I’ve been reading and watching a couple tutorials so far and I’m certainly picking up on the GUI. It was a little awkward at first, especially right clicking to select stuff, but I got use to it fairly quickly.

I started with the overly simple tutorials. Figured it’d be the best way to get up to running speed. The link below is the one I’m currently going through and it’s been very useful so far at getting me going.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro

I just finished up creating a simple humanoid and rigging it with bones. Sure, it’s not the best looking and it certainly won’t deform properly right yet, but that wasn’t the point of the exercise. I’m not planning on focusing on character modeling and animation anyways. I’m trying to learn Blender to create environmental objects for levels.

Here’s a render of the simple humanoid for great justice.