Blender is an open source and free 3D computer graphics modeling software 3D graphics for games, animated videos and films, creative art, visual effects, and 3D printed models. Blender’s a huge group of features which include 3D modeling, texturing, rendering, sculpting, fluid and smoke simulation, animating, UV unwrapping, rigging and skinning, particle simulation, soft body simulation, match moving, camera tracking, video editing and composting.

Learning Blender can help you in many ways; if you were an artist then learning Blender can help you find a job in the film/gaming industry. If you’re an Engineer and you’ve made a 3D model using SolidWorks/Solid Edge/Inventor and you want to bring your model to life you can use Blender to render and create texture for your model. If you’re an idea and you want to create a short video about it (like the block phone video that Motorola eventually backed) then Blender can help you create that video. If you want to make a living from creating short animation videos on YouTube then blender can help you do that.

This post is a road map for those who’re willing to start learning Blender online for free from scratch. Please note that the sources stated here are for total beginners and they’re fully structured courses so you won’t find a link to a single video or a reply to a forum post.

Start Learning Blender for Free from Scratch

Gryllus

Gryllus is the first free online outlet where beginners can start learning Blender through video tutorials, you don’t need to register in order to have access to the training video, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The course is divided into 14 lessons; each lesson is divided into tutorials and each tutorial covers certain topics in blender. The course covers the majority of the topics that a beginner should be familiarized with in order to start using Blender.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to a new window where you shall find the lesson video tutorials, just click on the tutorial and the video will start.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners to start from and follow along. The course covers the majority of the topics that a beginner should be familiarized with and the instructor makes it very easy to follow along.

Cons

The course covers an old version of Blender, though that won’t be a big problem for beginners.

Verdict: This is the best place for any beginner to start from.

Roy the Artist

Roy the Artist is the second free online outlet where beginners can start learning Blender through video tutorials, you don’t need to register in order to have access to the training video, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The course is divided into 25 lessons; each lesson covers certain topics in blender.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the lesson’s video tutorial.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners to start from and follow along.

Cons

The course covers a very old version of Blender.

Verdict: This is a good source for beginners to start from, but Gryllus covers more topic than it.

CG Cookies

CG Cookies is the third free online outlet where beginners can start learning Blender through video tutorials, you don’t need to register in order to have access to the training video, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The course is divided into 6 lessons; each lesson covers certain topics in blender.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the lesson’s video tutorial page.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners to start from and follow along.

Cons

The course covers an old version of Blender.

Verdict: This is a good source for those who’re interested in getting a general idea about Blender.

Show Me Do

Show Me Do is the fourth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Blender through video tutorials, you don’t need to register in order to have access to the training video, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The course is divided into 6 lessons; each lesson covers certain topics in blender. What is unique about this course is that it starts from the very beginning of modeling by defining the very basics of it (e.g. what is a vertex, what is an edge, what is modeling, etc.).

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and the video tutorial will start.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized. It starts with explaining what is modeling and the various terminologies that you might be exposed to in the modeling industry.

Cons

The course covers an old version of Blender.

Verdict: The first lesson in this course is a must for any beginner to be familiarized with the terminology of the modeling industry.

Game from Scratch

Game from Scratch is the fifth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Blender, the tutorials on this source is mainly text-based though there are some videos in some lessons. You don’t need to register in order to have access to the training video, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The course is divided into 5 sections, each section is divided into lessons, and each lesson covers certain topics in blender.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the lesson’s page. Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized.

Cons

The course is text-based which might be a problem for some beginners.

Verdict: This’s good source for beginners who prefer text-based tutorials.

Auckland University

Auckland University is the sixth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Blender, the tutorials on this source is mainly text-based though there are some videos in some lessons. You don’t need to register in order to have access to the training video, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The course is divided into 10 sections, and each lesson covers certain topics in blender. The tutorial is a text-based tutorial.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the lesson’s section on the page.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well- organized.

Cons

The course is text-based which might be a problem for some beginners.

Verdict: The course doesn’t cover every topic a beginner should be familiarized with in order to start using Blender.

Bottom Line

The recipe for learning Blender:

Any beginner should start with the first lesson on Show Me Do to understand the modeling terminology. Gryllus is the best video course for any beginners to start from. Game from Scratch is the best text-based course for any beginners to start from.

Remember that the first step is always the toughest step, and the aim of this post is to provide you with resources that will help you take your first step in Blender.

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