Most people learn Blender by teaching themselves.

This was the case with me. While I was encouraged by online tutorials and inspired by other people’s work, the majority of my knowledge came from getting my hands dirty with the program. I pressed random keys and clicked vaguely-labeled buttons until I became competent enough to model and animate comfortably using Blender.

But this semester I decided to take a class in Maya. Even though I will still enthusiastically use Blender (and continue to update The Blender Show), I would like to learn other interfaces and methods. Because of my lack of formal training, there are plenty of 3D topics that I don’t know about or understand. I tend to stick to whichever method I am shown first, so I am sure I have inefficiencies when creating in the Blender interface.

The class has just begun. Maya seams clumsy and awkward so far; it feels like I am manipulating the objects from inside a space suit. Being able to identify operations based on function and translate that into various programs would inevitably make me a better animator.