Books to Help You Fly High
Blender is one of the most essential software programs in the toolbox of both amateur and professional 3D designers. It’s free, downloadable, and more importantly, it can create quality models on the same level as those from pricier programs.
Blender is a great piece of software that can be used for modeling and sculpting 3D models, and each of the toolsets is extensive. Blender is especially adept at the creation of organic shapes, creatures, and faces. Usually, living beings have complex surfaces, where primitive shapes will not do.
Yet, Blender isn’t easy on the novice. For one, it was initially made for commercial video production, meaning it provides no hand-holding and isn’t necessarily intuitive. Second, it has tools for animation, rendering, motion tracking, and more. As such, it’s very easy to get lost in the myriads of tools.
To better understand Blender, books are a great place to look for help. Towards that end, this article presents some of the best for learning how to use Blender. We present eight of our favorites, organized according to their content.
Note that the following list includes the most current and up-to-date books, as Blender is constantly evolving. Though changes are often slight from one version to the next, there can be a big difference if you’re a beginner and are using a book to navigate the interface. If the book was published more than five years ago, it can feel really prehistoric!
Blender, Simply Explained
- Title: Basic 3D Animation and Modeling in Blender for Beginners
- Author: Adriel Samaniego
- Published: 2019
Let’s start with the basics. This is a short, fun e-book designed to provide a hands-on experience. In particular, you’ll get into Blender by designing some cute, low-poly animals. As usual, it begins by discussing the interface and navigating the menus. If Blender requires an ocean of knowledge, this book is a nice way to get your feet wet.
It was published in May, 2019, directly to Kindle, Amazon’s reading device, but you can ask Amazon to print a hard copy and have it shipped to you. Both options are very affordable.
As a bonus, the author has videos of some projects that aren’t in the book. Check them out via his YouTube channel, Blender Savage.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: A gentle way to ease into Blender, this book is perfect for newbies.
- Skill level: It starts at zero and it doesn’t get too high, which is good for beginners.
- How much modeling? Half the book is about modeling. It covers a bit of animation, too.
Blender, Not for Dummies
- Title: Blender For Dummies, 4th Edition
- Author: Jason van Gumster
- Published: 2020
Blender isn’t really for dummies, but you get the idea. This book starts from the very basics and covers an extensive introduction of the history and origin of Blender. It can really help the reader understand why Blender works the way it does with some of its quirks and shortcuts. It dissects the subject so carefully that it even explains in detail how to use whichever kind of mouse you have.
Once you’ve mastered the mouse, options, and menus, this book continues to teach you about modeling through sculpting, meshes, and primitive shapes. Chapter 5 is titled “Create anything you can imagine with meshes”. It really covers all the bases.
Further chapters can be quite interesting but may be irrelevant for 3D printing hobbyists, such as texture, lighting, and rigging. As such, it might be good to have this book on hand when the time comes to do some rendering of pieces for promotional material.
Strictly speaking, the first six chapters are helpful for 3D printing, and the last two give tips for more effective working and finding help from the community.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: It provides an exhaustive explanation of the user interface.
- Skill level: It presents the very basics as well as explains quite advanced material.
- How much modeling? 8 of 18 chapters are helpful for 3D printing enthusiasts.
Graphic Types
- Title: The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics: Computer Modeling & Animation, Fifth Edition
- Author: John M. Blain
- Published: 2019
The fact that the first 10 chapters are spent on tools and modifiers is a testament to both the complexity of Blender and the thoroughness of this book. Blain does a good job of breaking down the steps and providing real hands-on examples of models, such as an airplane and a humanoid.
It’s one of the longer books solely on Blender right now, however, only about a third of the book deals directly with topics that might help with 3D printing. After that, it covers rendering, animation, and rigging. A few other subheadings could be useful, for example, how to install add-ons.
This is the fifth edition and the author has been writing about Blender since 2012, so you’re almost guaranteed that the author will continue producing updates as new versions of Blender are released.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: It has a great explanation of tools and modifiers.
- Skill level: Beginner to intermediate.
- How much modeling? About one-third of the book is dedicated to modeling including a bit of sculpting as well.
Character Creation
- Title: Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D Animated Characters, 2nd Edition
- Author: Oliver Villar
- Published: 2017
An oldie, but a goodie. Though the 3rd edition is almost here (set to be released in July 2020), the current edition is very comprehensive; it analyzes almost all of the tools in Blender’s toolbox and takes care to demonstrate their use through the creation of a 3D character.
Although it starts with the basics, this book doesn’t feel like its meant for beginners. Unlike the other books on this list, after discussing interface, it goes on to talk about rendering and lighting. If you read it sequentially, it’ll take you some time before you get into modeling. But once you get there, it really goes in-depth.
It explains how to model not only arms and legs, but also all the little features – fingers, wrists, the neck to the jacket. This is a very detailed walkthrough. If you’re looking to print people or animals, this is one of the best books out there.
Villar also teaches you the technical aspects of modeling, including analyzing the personality, style, and the context of the character. You’ll be thinking not only as a 3D printing expert, but also as a movie director, analyzing the gestures and expressions of your creature as you design.
While the tools covered aren’t exclusive to the modeling of faces and bodies, it’s worth noting that this book doesn’t cover the modeling of vehicles, machines, or buildings.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: Very detailed explanations help in the design of 3D characters.
- Skill level: From beginner to advanced.
- How much modeling? A big portion of the book is dedicated to detailed modeling of humans.
Sci-Fi & Machines
- Title: Blender 3D Incredible Machines
- Author: Christopher Kuhn
- Published: 2016
If your goal is to print machines and sci-fi pieces, this is your book. It guides you step-by-step on how to create four different machines: a pistol, a spacecraft, a robot, and a low-poly racer. Each object has separate sections for modeling and rendering. And if you’re only interested in the former, this book is conveniently organized so that you can skip the parts that don’t pertain to 3D printing.
After a short introduction, Kuhn launches straight into modeling a sci-fi gun, with very detailed explanations of every tool and step. This level of detail leaves little room for introductory chapters dedicated solely to the user interface, shortcuts, and menus, which is why this book is not recommended for beginners.
One negative aspect of the printed version is that the images are very dark. You do have the option to download a PDF file with the color images, but it may feel cumbersome to use a physical book in conjunction with a reference PDF. If you prefer an electronic version, the full book is also on sale for download, with the color images in all their glory.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: It contains intricate examples and very detailed steps.
- Skill level: Intermediate to advanced.
- How much modeling? About have of the book is about modeling.
Architecture
- Title: Blender 2.8 for Architecture: Modeling and Rendering with Eevee and Cycles
- Author: Allan Brito
- Published: 2019
We’ve got a book on characters, another for machines – it’s time for something to help you with architecture. Written by the prolific Blender author and architect, Allan Brito, this book will teach you how to make buildings and edifices.
In order to accommodate structural design, Brito takes a different look at working with Blender. Right from the first pages, he’ll help you to customize workspaces and work with parametric design. Using his setup, dimensions take the center stage, driving all other parameters.
Since this book is centered around architecture, it contains information on how to import and process CAD data. It also explains how to use drawings as a reference when modeling.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: Architectural and parametric modeling.
- Skill level: Intermediate to advanced.
- How much modeling? Some sections are for rendering, but this book is mostly about modeling.
Pure Modeling
- Title: Blender 3D Modelling: A Concise Guide to Version 2.8
- Author: Sim Pern Chong
- Published: 2019
The nice thing about this e-book is that it’s solely centered around shape creation, as Chong covers rendering and visualization in another book. Though it starts with the basics, it doesn’t dwell on them, instead quickly launching into the topic of interest: modeling. Following three substantial chapters on the topic, the final chapter talks about tips for navigating the menus, camera positioning, and some modeling tips.
This book is relatively short compared to others on this list, but it’s nice to have material completely focused on modeling. That way, you don’t have to read a lengthy introduction about tools and menus that, in the end, aren’t relevant.
Note that this is an e-book, and there is no printed version at the moment.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: It’s for beginners, and it only covers modeling.
- Skill level: Beginner to intermediate.
- How much modeling? 100%!
Advanced Modeling
- Title: 3D Modeling in Blender – Tools, Tips and Tricks
- Author: Robbie Tarte
- Published: 2017
This is a very comprehensive book in the sense that it intends to cover different kinds of modeling – meshes, primitive shapes, sculpting – and includes several subtitles for the various tools available. Similar to the previous book on this list, it’s focused only on modeling, and thus avoids spending time on topics that you won’t need if you’re interested in 3D printing.
This book is well-formatted and doesn’t overwhelm the eyes with too many images per page. It goes step-by-step until it gets in-depth with modeling.
As you might expect, this book wasn’t written for beginners. At the very least, readers should have an elementary knowledge of the user interface. The good news is that, assuming you already know something about Blender, you can jump around and go straight to your area of interest.
In a nutshell:
- Why it’s on this list: It’s great for intermediate users and only covers modeling.
- Skill level: Intermediate to advanced.
- How much modeling? It’s 100% meshes, primitive shapes, and sculpting.
License: The text of "Blender Books: An Overview" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.