A while back ago i published the "learn blender completely for free" blog on this website, along with a video version on youtube. Some concerned readers told me that my list of resources that are currently full of 2.7 stuff, would be outdated as soon as 2.8 launched. At the moment we are very close to the launch of 2.8, a release candidate is due to launch on the 11th of July. So let us consider the facts, the launch of blender 2.8 will not cause my list of resources to be outdated. In fact, 2.7 tutorials will be worth watching for quite some time yet. It is difficult to say for how long, but during the time the 2.5 version of blender have been available there has been 2.4. tutorials that have had a huge impact on artists learning blender for free and even for artists spending their money to learn faster. In fact, i am going to talk about a spesific tutorial series that is stil standing it´s ground, and will even after the release of 2.8.
But first, let´s list some good reasons why you should stil watch 2.7 tutorials, and why the resources i have listed wont become outdated.
The first thing that comes to mind, is that most of the channels, blogs and the forums on the list have already started the transition to blender 2.8. By doing that they are signaling that they intend to hang around after the jump to the new version. And the old tutorials will not be outdated for sometime. Not everything in blender 2.8 is changed. There will be changes to the ui, some of the tools might have changes to them and some tools might be gone entirley like the "remove doubles" tool which is now replaced by "merge by distance". In addition, there might be entirely new tools as well. All you need to do to get back into modelling with 2,8, is to find some videos explaining the new features and the changes to the software. This will be relatively easy as they are numerous already. And if you already know well how blender 2.7 works, it will take a minimal amount of time to get going in 2.8. If you havent used 2.7 and are starting out using blender for the first time in 2.8, i will stil encourage you to watch old tutorials.
During the years, 2.7 tutorials have become numerous. It will take some time, in fact years for the number of tutorials for blender 2.8 to become as high, and the versatility to become as good. For 2.7, you can find many tutorials on a subject that are well worth watching. For 2.8 it could be you wont find any good ones for your favourite subject in blender. The conclusion is that not only will it be worth watching or reading older stuff. In fact, you will in no way want to miss out on it!
To illustrate how older tutorials and stuff can be awesome learning resources, i want to mention the Porsche modelling tutorial series by Jonathan Williamson for Cgcookie. The series was originally created for "Cgcookie", or "Blendercookie" which the name was at the time. It was one of the courses you could watch if you had an active payed subscription plan at their website. Nowadays you can find it for free on the Cgcookie youtube channel. It has made it´s stand against time and is stil one of the best car modelling tutorials out there, payed or free! And it will in my opinion stil be after the launch of 2.8. It tackles car modelling and topology in a great way. And that´s not the only thing, it starts out in blender pre 2.5 and transitions into 2.5 during the course. It is a tutorial series you would want to watch even though it´s one of the really old ones out there!
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Cgcookies youtube channel.
Porsche modelling series.
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