Feature proposal: Link to newbie tutorial video

Introduction:

We have all been newbies at some time, I can remember my time vividly. I did not know what Blender was about, was confused about the interface that was different. First, I totally did not get it at all. I wished I would have had the feature I’m proposing at my disposal for help.

Problem:

Blender introduces an unorthodox, but learnable, new interface concept. Newbies can be very confused and even turned away from the software when they try to “intuitively” get the interface and learn as you go. Currently, there is a link on the splash screen to the manual, but the manual does not really explain it well in my opinion: It is more for reference and not for first timers.

Solution:

Include a link on the splash page
“New to Blender? Confused? Check out these resources!”
And link to a page where top front you find a youtube tutorial video that covers the basics, how the interface works etc…So with 2 clicks a newbie can learn about the basics of blender really easy.
This tutorial video should be an officially sanctioned one, so that quality is maintained and improved.
The UI of Blender is often misunderstood by newbies, with a little help and friendly introduction, we can actually win people over and they will undertstand why Blender is the way it is and why it makes sense and why Blender and no other 3D Software is as simple to use as MS Word and requires some learning to properly use it.

Update:
The text could also be
“Are you a Blender Newbie? Blender has an unique efficient UI. Watch these tutorials to get started!”
Any suggestions on how this could be written short and snazzy? Comment on this post!

I agree. Perhaps the basics tutorials at CGCookie (accessed by clicking the big blue Learn Blender button at the top of the pages here on BlenderArtists)

sfrederick2
Biloxi, Mississippi USA

Hmm, I don’t see that big blue button here on the page, do you have a link?

Disable your add blocker

Done, now it works. Really good tutorials, they would be ideal.

Does anybody know who I need to talk to to make this real? Who is in charge and maintains the splash screen?

I wonder how many new Blender users could be won that currently don’t understand the UI and get turned off by it, since they don’t realize that it is just different to what they know. But learning the basics with a tutorial, being properly introduced, the frustration goes away and they “get it” from the start.

To do complex things efficiently, we unfortunately most of the time cannot rely on intuition alone, but need some RTFM to get the philosophy, or WTDT (watch the damn tutorial) :wink:

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Doc/Contact#Requesting_Features

There are just so many tutorials out there, that I think it would be a good idea to simply link to some official-documentation site in which suggested videos (“among oher things”) can be more easily listed, and maintained.

In any case, this can be accomplished with a simple macro.