The good news however is that a lot of the tutorials that have been requested have already been made by other members of the community.

I’ve compiled this list of the most useful blender tutorials that I know of. I’ve gathered these from various sources including vimeo channels, twitter, forums, youtube and other insider sites that I know of.

I hope you can take something from it!

1. Creating a glow and falloff effect

2. Creating an atmospheric effect in Blender’s compositor

3. Animating a Pumpjack using Constraints

4. Destroying a Mesh With External Particles

5. Animating Cracks

6. Learning 3-point Lighting

7. Creating a studio backdrop

8. Adding extra detail with the Displacement Modifier

9. How to create masks in the compositor

10. Using the Array Modifier to create Spin Duplicates

11. Adding custom brush keystrokes

12. How to Download a Test Build

13. Lighting in Blender

14. Creating an eyeball

15. Using Mesh Lighting in Blender 2.5

16. Modeling a Palm Tree

17. Modeling a realtime stone

18. Creating a wooden barrel

19. Terrain sculpting

20. Texture Splattering

21. Setting up a blender spline

22. Creating texture maps of trees

23. How to use Angularmaps

Hopefully there’s something in there you can use! If you know of another blender tutorial that needs some love, post it in the comments and I’ll add it.

Rainy Night by Morteza Najafi

Goldie by Maurice Panisch

Morning by Morteza Najafi

Porsche Speed by Daan Pol

Dirty Car by Jiwoong Chung

Power by Morteza Najafi

Green Snake by Ahmed AL Barazengi

Nissa Skyline Gtr 34 by Alessandro Baldasseroni

Honda Civic by Alexander Neskoromyuk

Mantis Burn by John Kearney

Crash Kiss by Nicolas Crombez

Snow Buggy by Marek Denko

HH-60G PAVE HAWK MEDEVAC by Andre Cantarel

Okay that last one’s not a car, but can you blame me?

If you liked this post, you might also like 20 Architectural renders that break the mold.

Have I missed one? Post a comment!

1. CrazyBump

This amazing program creates detailed bump maps from any still image you throw at it. Watch the video on their homepage to see a demonstration. It’s simple, easy to use and the results are speak for themselves. Be warned, once you’ve used this program, it’s hard to live without it.

Price: $99 Personal / $299 Commercial License

Buy: crazybump.com

2. 3d World Subscription

Photo by: Hideki Saito

It’s certainly not the cheapest magazine around, but the value you get more than makes up for it. Every issue is jam packed with articles from industry professionals, an inspirational gallery of works, making of feature films and tons of tutorials.

Price: Yearly subscription – $80 UK / $90 Rest of the World

Buy: myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

3. CG Textures Membership

It’s no secret that the best place to find textures is CGTextures.com, but whilst the website lets you sign up for free, you are restricted to a tight download quota and smaller sized textures. A paid membership solves all these problems as well as giving you full access to their full sky map range, basically meaning it pays for itself on the first day.

Price: Starting at $65 a year

Buy: cgtextures.com

4. Digital Lighting and Rendering

This best selling book has become the industry standard for learning how to light your scene. From sub surf scattering to caustics, this book will teach you how to make your scene ridiculously good looking. If you’re serious about 3d, this book deserves a spot on your shelf.

Price: $37.80

Buy: amazon.com

5. Graphics Tablet

Photo by: andyp_uk

Whether it’s for 3d sculpting or just sketching out your ideas in photoshop first, a graphics tablet is definitely a good idea. A mouse can be cumbersome to work with at times, so it can help to work at the speed of your thoughts with a much more natural solution. Concept artist, David Revoy recommended the Bamboo Fun as an all round, cost effective tablet with more than enough features for what most artists will need.

Price: $299

Buy: wacom.com.au

So those are my 5 recommendations, what invaluable products do you recommend?

Are my renders perfect? Absolutely not. My portfolio is riddled with flaws. In fact almost every single piece of my artwork violates at least one of these ‘rules’. This article is to share what I’ve learnt as an artist and as an onlooker.

Here’s my top ten pet peeves…

1. There’s no point It doesn’t tell a story, it’s not advertising anything and it’s certainly not pretty. What exactly is the viewer getting from this? Nothing makes me close the window faster than a piece of art with no clear objective.

2. You use pre-made content Stock models are great for studios who want to save time and money by purchasing a pre-made model. But it has absolutely no place in your portfolio. Personally I find no pride in showing someone a render that I haven’t created entirely by myself, but that’s just me. If you don’t know how to model it, why not learn?

3. You’re copying something far more successful I love Wall-E as much as the next guy, but that doesn’t mean I try to mimic what a professional studio has slaved over for years on end. Why? Because unless it’s an uncanny comparison (which it won’t be) viewers will only spot its flaws.

4. You didn’t plan it on paper first It’s easy to tell when an artist failed to put their idea on paper first: it’s a confusing mess. They started with an idea, skipped the planning stage and jumped straight to their 3d program. Most artists cannot model/texture/render in 3d at the same speed as their imagination. The best thing you can do is put it on paper as soon as the idea strikes you, that way you have a reference in 2 weeks time when you’re sitting at your computer and asking, “what was I making again?”.

5. It’s cliche If I see another cave troll or big breasted warrior I’m going to puke. Be original and create something that everyone hasn’t already seen a thousand times.

6. It’s a test render Hey cool, you just got your head around the new array modifier! Don’t post it on the net. Test renders are exactly that. Tests. They are a learning experience that should remain on your hard drive.

7. It’s poorly lit Let me say this once and for all: Dark is not moody. If you want to create a moody atmosphere there are plenty of ways of doing it, but making your scene dimly lit is not one of them. Pick up a copy of Jeremy Birn’s Digital Lighting and Rendering to learn how to light your scene like a pro.

8. You don’t realise it sucks No one likes receiving bad feedback on their artwork, especially after you’ve spent weeks creating it, but to tell the hundreds of posters that they “just don’t understand it” is like throwing salt on the wound. If you want to progress as an artist you need to be able to take critiques on-board and learn from your mistakes.

9. It’s boring architecture Archiviz is great skill to have under your belt. There’s a lot of work available and it pays quite well, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring and emotionless. Read my post on 20 Architectural renders that break the mold or watch Alex Roman’s amazing short The Third and the Seventh and you’ll pick up dozens of ways to make still architecture interesting.

10. It’s overly post-processed There’s nothing wrong with fixing the colour levels or altering the contrast in Photoshop, but when you start adding filters and chromatic aberration to hide your own incompetencies there’s a problem.

Well that’s me finished, what are your pet peaves?

So whether it’s the stunning visuals or great storytelling, these are the short films that stuck with me well after the credits roll.

6. Kiwi!

Made by Don Permedi as part of his thesis animation, ‘Kiwi!’ quickly turned into a cult hit as people around the world fell in love with the adorable kiwi and his quest to fly. With over 22 million hits, and a #1 ranking in the Top favourited Animation and Arts category, ‘Kiwi!’ is one of the most watched 3d animations worldwide. This is just further proof that in order for an animation be liked and accepted by people other than your 3d buddies, you need a great story. It’s something we’ve all been told countless times before, but with the evidence right in front of us, it’s hard to ignore it.

There’s a good interview with Don here where he talks about the processes he took in making the film. Be sure to also check out his equally impressive showreel.

5. Burning Safari

Fun, fast and never a dull moment, Burning Safari packs a powerful punch from start to finish. I wish I knew more about this film but sadly I do not speak french and can’t even tell you the name of the studio. (Someone want to help me out?)

4. Yankee Gal

Set in World War II, Yankee Gal shows a pilot’s dream-like moments between life and death. The amazing visuals combined with the superb audio effects, make for an amazing short that stays in your mind long after it’s finished.

3. Cubic tragedy

This film gets a mention because as someone that does a lot of 3d modelling, I can’t help but laugh raucously at it’s inside jokes. It might not make all that much sense to the general public, but it definately strung a cord with the 3d crowd, winning first prize at the 2005 siggraph short movie festival.

2. Bunny

1. Ark

This gets better everytime I watch it. The lighting, visuals and animation are all fantastic, but it’s the story that blows me away. I won’t say anymore for fear of spoiling it, but it’s got to be one of my favourite animations of all time. More at TheArkFilm.com

I hope you enjoyed this list. I plan to post more in the future, so if there’s a particular film you’d like to see mentioned, drop me a comment below!

Have I covered everything? Leave a comment below if I’ve missed anything!