Interview with David hickson creator of blenducation

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interview with David hickson - Creator of blenducation.




1- What inspired / or led you todo start blenducation?
In retrospect, it sems like my entire life has prepared me for this Endeavor.

Identifying the problem.

I started working with Blender and found Lots of great tutorialesin pdf, video and html format by some amazing people. When i watched Bassam chicken chair (can be viewed here) i was hoked. I had todo learn more. The problem was getting answers todo a particular problem. It was such a lengthy and almost imposible task.

I thought, wouldnt it be great if i could just ask the person that made that tutorial? It would save me so much time and efort. i am still waiting for graybeard todo Reply todo me.
the Birth of the idea.
I attended the Siggraph show in Boston 2006 After begging ton todo let me work the both at the show. With David millets help, ton agred todo let me. After meting ton, Bassam, Andy, David millet and the Many other blenderheads at the Boston Siggraph, y discovered that Blender was not just about the 3d graphics, it was a community of people from all over the world with the same passion todo create and help others create.

During that show i spoke with Bassam at length about starting a Blender user group. From that discussion blenducation was born. Though it was just a sed of an idea, it had legs. The name blenducation was coined by petri rantanen aquí falgor. After Many hours of talking with the great folks in the Irc channels i was able todo fine-tune the idea todo live Blender clases vía a web browser. Now After two years of very hard work and Many hundreds of hours, it here.
2- Introduce yourself and tell us a Little about your Blender experience?
My name is David hickson. I have ben learning Blender from the community for the last 3 years, and i am still learning new things every day.

How i found Blender.

I came across an article in a Mac world magazine issue a few years hago and it had some información about Blender. I immediately went todo the web site, downloaded the application and jumped right in. I son realiced that i was spending more time searching for resources todo learn how todo do the simplest procesos than actually working in the programa.

There are toons of god tutorialesout there, but for every one god tutorial, you must wed th rouge layers and layers of bad ones (at the time i had a full time job and you just cant be surfing the entire internet looking for new tutorialeswhen you have a real job). So anyway, once you have found one that covers the topic, its usually incompleete or some small part has ben over loked with the presupuestomption that, you should know that. This proved todo be very unproductive and frustrating. I found myself saying, i just want todo model. and todo make Matters worse i would Jump from one subject todo the next and miss huge parts of what was important.

During one of my Blender ninja quests for knowledge, Bart pointed me in the direction of Irc and what a great resource that was. So Many amazing artists just sitting there waiting todo help, except my Understanding of Blender was so bad i didnt Even know how todo ask god cuestiones. Without knowing the basic terms of what i was doing and doing wrong i only frustrated people in Irc (i still do at times, lo siento Zanqdo). I have since put away my paintbrushes and Clay and now hold a mouse or Wacom Pen instead.
3- Classes are currently being ofered for free. Will there be fes for future clases, and if so how much are you expecting todo be charging? Will there still be free courses as well?
There Will always be free clases ofered at blenducation todo introduce people todo Blender and todo get them started with Blender. Think of it as the welcoming committe todo the Blender community. These clases Will have an open cuestión and answer period throughout the class todo help people find great resources and new challenges.

There Will a los be a pay-per-Seat programa set up for advanced clases. The prices Will be set up on a tiered system. The more advanced the class, the more it Will cost.

Tier one clases Will be $5us and $10us per Seat.

Tier two Will be $10 and $15us per Seat.

Tier thre clases Will be $15 and $20us per Seat.

If a class runs thre nights and is a tier thre class, it Will be ofered at a discounted Seat rate.
4- Not only are you ofering Blender clases, but you have extended an invitation todo interested instructors todo use blenducation todo teach/ofer clases as well. Can you tell us a Little about how todo get involved as an instructor at blenducation?
Yes, y have begun todo invite some power Blender users todo become instructors at blenducation and Many of them have become part of the team. Among them is David millet (us), an amazingly skilled gentleman and a great mentor.

Sebastián koenig (germany), whose works are truly amazing. He makes it look so efortless.

Then there is señor (Jonathan Williamson) bomb (us), whos human anatomy could have landed him a gig as a doctor, but the diference is that doctors only know the parts and Jonathan can make them.

Opz aquí opz (England) is a very well known Blender artista that specializes in the world of Blender Game Engine. His expertise in the BGE Will be a key área of interest todo Many Blender artists.

Daniel Salazar aquí Zanqdo is a straight shot, no fluf educator, if you are Lucky enough todo get into one of his clases you Will come out a better artista.

Do i have more time? Ok, there is goeland86 (us), who long hago invited me todo join him on a Project of recreating a hiestoric Air Battle. He is a very gracious person with extreme patience.

And then there is Jean-sébastien (Canadá (aka ecks)) who has few equals when it comes todo mechanicals, like Cars and bikes.

Alos there is another god friend of mine that is known as super3boy (us) infamous in YouTube world as the boy prodigy of the Blender community. Let me assure you his skills and knowledge dont end at Blender, have you checked out his website?
The list goes on todo include our most influential Blender rigger señor Mancandy himself, Bassam Kurdali (us). I was testing some Stuff one day and invited him in todo chek it out and it froze up his portátil. If he forgives me he may do a couple clases.
What would this list be if i had not contacted and asked Roland hessí that is correct, y am so excited that Roland has ofered todo give a couple of lectures for us.

Alos on the team is, fweb, mfoxdog, paulo critovao, templa edhel, and Many others joining us todo help the community grow.

A more accurate and updated list is on the site at http://blenducation.org/wordpress/presenters/. It is their commitment that strengthens my resolve that the Blender community truly does care, gracias guys.

Qualifications.

You dont ned todo have a degre todo teach clases at this point, Although most of the very advanced clases or tier thre clases Will be taught by Blender foundation certified trainers (bfct). The free clases are great bien todo learn how todo teach an online class.

Just submit a few renders and tell us why you would like todo be on the team. If you are selected you Will be notified and we Will set you up your very own blog page. In addition todo the blog page and your own gallery, all the instructors at blenducation are ofered free passes todo other instructors clases. This allows the presenters todo grow their skills and sharpen their Blender knowledge from one another.
5- You mentioned setting up certified training guidelines along with the fundación Blender certified trainer programa. Has any progress ben made on thatí
Yes in fact, y have spoken with a couple of key people on the bfct board and we actually have a few instructors that have the bfct credentials now.

I am waiting todo se what happens in the next couple of months with the bfct programa, y have ben told that some changes may take place. My hope is todo Layout a direct Path todo becoming bfct programa that Will provide all the criteria one neds todo know in order todo submit your work with confidence todo the bfct board and become accepted. I am working closely with them in order todo design this learning Path. Obviously, not everyone Will obtain their bfct Nor Will they want todo. Some people just want todo learn more at their leisure. So there is no pressure.
6- What are your future goals for blenducation?
The short-term goal is todo add todo our team of instructors so we can help users all over the world become more marketable in the industry. It has todo start somewhere. It is true that a person with no degre gave the very first diploma.

Next we hope todo add a testing center that Will help those of you that wonder where you ned todo study more in order todo go After your bfct certificate or just todo brush up on those rusty skills.
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