Link to Newbie Video Tutorials in Blender Splash Screen
Summary:
Blender has an unconventional, but very efficient UI. Many newbies might not get this and it will leave them confused. It is important to get them on the right foot when they start and show them the idea and philosophy in Blender.
Proposal:
Include an addition to the splash screen: "New to Blender? Get up to speed with our special and very efficient UI in these video tutorials: youtube.com/playlist " Add a checkbox "don't show this again" to help pro users. The interface is (wrongly) perceived by many new users as cumbersome and/or confusing, this would be a big step removing this problem, since once a user "gets it", his experience with Blender will improve radically. Many products have this, but since we have a non standard, but especially powerful UI, it is doubly important. Especially also to explain, why right click can be advantageous, but also explain how and where it can be switched to left click, if somebody chooses to go with the conventional way. This should also elaborate on what Ton Roosendaal calls "the non blocking UI"
The Videos:
I don't know which tutorials should be used, the above is one possibility that looks OK, there might be people with more overview what is available currently to make that choice.
Execution:
This could be easily done, but could have a big effect: Not just bring many new users to Blender, but also keep them using it frustration free.
The link should go to officially sanctioned tutorial videos that are current for the release that the user is using. These tutorials could also be linked in the help menu, in case somebody looks for them there. Video of course is much more accessible than text and written documentation for many, this would not replace the official docs, but complement them.
I'd like to invite comments how how this proposal could be made better, please consider that the focus of this is to help newbies, as advanced users obviously have no need of this. I for myself wished that Blender had this feature years ago, as I have looked for tutorials and found some, but usually individual videos, nothing comprehensive that included all different categories of Blender lore like "the UI", "modelling", "animation", "UV Textures", "Rendering", "Physical simulations" etc... I was also never clear if these were the videos I was supposed to watch, the official ones that included all the details.
13 Comments
So, I just checked, for perspective: This proposal has been open since September 2015!!!! (on the original website right-click to select) Which is now about 6 years ago. So considering how simple this is and that the devs have not found time in 6 years for something like this, we have to assume that this is dead and will never be done.
So just looked at the splash screen of Blender 3.0 alpha and nope, nothing there yet. This would be so useful for newbies.
Initiated in 2018, this is still not done, which is a shame in my view.
So, this is still not done. Is this such a bad idea that it gets ignored by the devs???
* @markustheswiss * i think it's more like "everybody thinks their idea is the thing the devs need to be working on right now and they have their own priority list". Keep your shirt on, it will happen eventually.
But think about how powerful this is and how trivial, this is done in 1 hour max, it is a super simple request, nothing that takes days or months in work. The investment is small, the payoff is huge. It will happen eventually is not a good assumption, some things will never happen, simple as that, because nobody cares or nobody even sees this here.
Let's ask to Andrew Price if he would be up to the task of making a mini series for beginners for the 2.8 like he already did in the 2.79 (Forcing him to use the right click to select, though)
@pietrobelgioco: Oh, is he usually using left click? I have not noticed, I switched to left click many years ago, that's maybe why I haven't seen it as something special. I think left or right click can be a thing of preference and that neither one should be force-imposed on users. I struggled for a long time with right click to select, I have been working in IT for many decades and it is so ingrained in me that right click to select was something that constantly and repeatedly tripped me up and I failed to adapt to it at all. I'm so glad that they made it an option that can be changed.
I do like this idea and its already available in many other applications. Upvoted.
Can I suggest the link takes a user here:
cloud.blender.org/p/blender-fundamentals/
@ammusionist: Yes I think that's the right place. We could also add the regular documentation. docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/
I agree, and I think something like this is already planned for the "Blender Newbie Experience" initiative. There was something about it on the 2.8 roadmap but I can't find a link to it now- maybe somebody will chime in with a link before I can hunt it down..
@eldee.smith: developer.blender.org/T56510