Blender Training: Beginner

Blender has a lot of tools and features, but structured, instructor-led training can make the learning process much easier. Starting with the fundamentals gives you a solid understanding of how Blender’s modelling, materials, lighting, cameras and animation workflows fit together.

Yes. You’ll learn hard-surface modelling techniques for creating clean, detailed objects with more complex and controlled geometry.

Yes. Modifiers are an important part of an efficient Blender workflow, and the training introduces ways to use them to create and modify geometry without repeatedly rebuilding your models.

Yes. Boolean techniques are covered as part of the modelling workflow, allowing you to create complex forms by combining or subtracting geometry.

Yes. You’ll learn how curves can be used as part of the modelling process and how they can help create different types of 3D forms.

Yes. The training covers materials and textures, giving you the knowledge to create and customise the appearance of your 3D objects.

Yes. Lighting is an important part of creating convincing 3D scenes, and the training covers different approaches to lighting models and environments.

Yes. You’ll explore lighting techniques that can be used to create realistic and visually appealing scenes, including approaches suitable for interiors, exteriors and studio-style environments.

Yes. Blender can be used to create detailed architectural models, interiors, environments and rendered visualisations, making it useful for architects, interior designers and visualisation artists.

Yes. The training covers modelling, materials, lighting and cameras that can be combined to create detailed interior environments and visualisations.

Yes. Blender is well suited to creating detailed product models, materials, lighting setups and high-quality renders for presentations, advertising and marketing.

Yes. Camera setup and composition are covered so you can frame your 3D scenes effectively and create still images or animated sequences.

Yes. You’ll learn the fundamentals of animation and how to create movement within your Blender scenes, including camera-based sequences and walkthroughs.

Yes. Blender can be used to create animated camera paths and walkthroughs through architectural, product or other 3D environments.

Yes. More advanced training introduces sculpting workflows, allowing you to work with more organic and detailed forms.

Yes. Blender provides modelling and sculpting tools suitable for organic forms, characters and other detailed 3D objects.

Yes. The training introduces workflows for preparing models for physical fabrication, which can be useful when creating objects intended to be manufactured or produced physically.

Yes. Advanced Blender training covers dynamic simulations, including rigid bodies, cloth and fluid dynamics.

Rigid-body simulations allow objects to interact according to physical properties such as collisions and gravity. They can be used to create more realistic movement and interactions between objects.

Yes. Cloth simulations are covered, allowing you to create realistic movement and behaviour for materials such as fabric and clothing.

Yes. The training introduces fluid dynamics, allowing you to explore simulations involving liquids and other fluid effects.

Yes. Blender’s simulation tools can be used to create realistic interactions involving objects, cloth and fluids.

Yes. Cycles, Blender’s path-tracing render engine, is covered as part of the advanced rendering workflow.

Yes. Eevee is covered alongside Cycles, giving you experience with Blender’s real-time rendering workflow.

Cycles is a path-tracing renderer designed for highly realistic results, while Eevee is a real-time renderer that can produce high-quality results with faster feedback. Understanding both gives you more flexibility when choosing a rendering workflow.

Yes. The training covers advanced rendering techniques, lighting, materials and render settings to help you produce more polished and realistic results.

Yes. With appropriate modelling, materials, lighting, cameras and rendering settings, Blender can produce highly realistic images.

Yes. You’ll learn how to adjust rendering settings and optimise your scenes to achieve a suitable balance between image quality and rendering performance.

Yes. Blender can be used to create animated 3D objects, cameras, environments and effects, making it useful for motion graphics and visual content.

Yes. Blender is widely used to create 3D models, environments, animations and other assets for game development workflows.

Yes. Blender can be used for modelling, animation, visual effects, simulations and rendering within film and television production workflows.

Yes. Blender can be used to create product visualisations, animated graphics, promotional imagery and other 3D content for advertising and marketing.

Yes. Blender provides tools for modelling, materials, lighting, cameras and rendering that can be applied to architectural and interior visualisation projects.

Blender can perform many of the tasks associated with professional 3D modelling, animation and rendering software. Whether it can replace another application depends on the specific workflow, industry and project requirements.

Both applications provide powerful 3D modelling, animation and rendering capabilities. Blender is open-source and offers a broad range of tools within one application, while Cinema 4D is particularly established in professional motion graphics and visualisation workflows.

Both can be used for professional 3D modelling, visualisation and animation. Blender provides a broad all-in-one toolset, while 3ds Max has long-established workflows in areas such as architectural visualisation, design and certain animation pipelines.

Yes. Blender can be used alongside Adobe applications for tasks such as creating textures, editing rendered images and incorporating 2D graphics into 3D projects.

Yes. Blender supports a range of import and export workflows, allowing 3D assets to be transferred between Blender and other applications where compatible formats are available.

You can learn Blender on a reasonably modern computer, although more powerful hardware becomes increasingly useful when working with complex scenes, simulations and high-quality rendering. A dedicated GPU, sufficient RAM and fast storage can significantly improve the experience.

Yes. Blender can be used on a laptop, provided it meets the software’s hardware requirements. A laptop with a capable processor, sufficient RAM and a dedicated GPU is preferable for more demanding 3D work.

Blender skills can be useful for roles involving 3D modelling, visualisation, animation, motion graphics, games and digital content. The relevance will depend on the particular role and the software used by the employer.

Yes. Blender can be used for a wide range of freelance projects, including 3D modelling, product visualisation, architectural imagery, animation and motion graphics.

Yes. Blender is open-source software and can be used without purchasing a traditional software subscription. This makes it particularly accessible for people who want to learn professional 3D skills.

Yes. Blender has a broad range of tools, but beginners can learn it effectively when the software is introduced in a structured way. Instructor-led training can help you understand the fundamentals without having to work everything out independently.

A combination of structured training and regular practice is an effective way to learn Blender. Instructor-led training can help you understand the correct workflows from the beginning, while continued project work helps develop speed and confidence.

Yes. Drawing ability is not required to learn Blender. The software provides tools for modelling, materials, lighting, animation and rendering that rely on technical workflows as well as creative skills.

No. You don’t need advanced mathematical knowledge to learn Blender. Some areas of 3D work involve technical concepts, but the fundamental modelling, animation and rendering workflows can be learned without advanced maths.

Yes. The training is designed around practical projects and workflows, helping you understand how modelling, materials, lighting, cameras, animation and rendering work together rather than simply learning isolated tools.

Our address is: 3 Laybourne House, Admirals Way, London, E14 9UH. We are located only a couple of minutes’ walk from both the Canary Wharf and South Quay stations.

The courses start at 10am and runs until 4pm with a lunch break and a couple of short coffee breaks throughout the day.

We usually have between 4-7 students per class. So it is a very small group, which means you get a lot of individual help and attention.

If you are booking a course as an individual, payments are due at the time of booking. If you are booking through a company and you have an existing agreement with Docklands Media, you can pay on previously agreed terms.

You can pay for your training course via BACS (direct bank transfer), by using any credit or debit card including VISA, Mastercard or AMEX. We use Stripe for payment processing so the entire payment process is encrypted and secure.

We provide the workstations, notepads, light snacks, biscuits, coffee, tea and chocolate (lots of it!) during the course, so you don’t need to bring anything along.

If you feel more comfortable using your own computer, you certainly can. Just make sure you let us know ahead of the course, so we can prepare a workstation for you to connect your laptop.

If you are attending a public scheduled training course with other students, then you would be following a pre-determined outline. This is to ensure that everyone benefits from the training. However, if you would like to use your own files during the course (perhaps you are working on a project that you’d like to use as a case study), check out our Tailored Training page.

You can join the course online instead of travelling to our London studios. You will take part in a live classroom session with real instructors and students, interact, ask questions, and follow demonstrations just like being in a physical class. Online courses run on Zoom or Teams and are more affordable than in-person training. During the course, you will watch your instructor’s screen and practice on your own computer. If needed, the instructor can guide you by taking control of your mouse. To join online, you need: a decent broadband connection (HD video call quality), headphones or speakers and a microphone. Optional: a dual-monitor setup to follow instructions on one screen and practice on the other (a single monitor works too).

If you're joining the course remotely as an online student, then yes. If you don't have the license for the software yet, you can also download and use the free trial version during the training. After the course, you will need to get a full license in order to continue using the software. If you're attending the course in person at our offices, we would be providing the computers and the software for the duration of the training.

Yes – as long as you give us 10 days’ notice, you can postpone your course to another date without any charges. For full details on cancelation and postponing, please refer to our T&Cs.

Yes, we have a limited number of paid parking spaces allocated to students on site. If you require parking, please mention this at the time of your booking as the spaces need to be reserved in advance.

Yes, there are a plethora of restaurant and cafe options within walking distance to our studios.

Yes, you can bring your own lunch and store it in one of our fridges. We also have microwaves and sandwich makers available for you to use.

Unfortunately not. We are on the first floor of a three storey building and there are around 10 steps you would need to climb to get to our offices.

If you are joining the course remotely online, the training materials are usually sent to you in the morning of the first day of your training. This is done via Zoom or Teams, so please ensure you are able to receive files through these platforms before joining the session. If you are joining the course in person, all of the files will be placed on your workstations before you arrive.

Most of our courses come with training materials that you can keep after the course. You can also keep all the files that you create during the course so that you can refer to them in the future.

Depending on which course you attend, you will need to have a computer that meets the minimum requirements for the particular software that will be used. Please ensure you check that you are able to install and launch the software before joining the session.

If you notify Docklands Media in writing and receive a response which acknowledges your notification at least 20 working days before the first day of your course, you will receive a full refund. If, for whatever reason, you withdraw within 20 working days the following fees will remain payable: 20 – 11 working days prior to course commencement: 50% of course fee 10 – 0 working days prior to course commencement: 100% of course fee

Yes, if you notify Docklands Media in writing and receive a response which acknowledges your notification at least 20 working days before the first day of your course, you will receive a full refund.

For any course related questions, you can either directly contact your account manager or email us at info@docklandsmedia.com

Yes - all courses come with a lifetime technical support. So if you have any questions about anything that you've learned on the course, you can contact us for assistance.

Yes - every public scheduled course comes with a free retake option that is valid for 24 months. Please note, this does not apply to private/tailored/custom courses.

Yes - at the end of each course, you will receive a certificate of completion from Docklands Media.

Autodesk and Adobe have their own certification exams, which you can take at the end of the course. These exams are optional and incur an additional fee. As a Certiport Authorised Testing Centre, we offer these exams to be taken either at our premises in London or remotely online as EFHs (Exams From Home). The Autodesk Certification Exam that you can take is called Autodesk Certified User. The Adobe exam is called Adobe Certified Professional. Both of these are available to be booked on their own or as part of your course booking.

Most of our public courses run during week days, but we can arrange a tailored training course for you during weekends or evenings.

You can book a course as far in advance as you like and up to the day before it's scheduled start date. However, since most of our courses get fully booked, it may not be possible to book with less than a couple of weeks' notice. That being said, it's always worth giving a shot and if the course is fully booked, we will let you know what the alternative dates are.

Our courses run quite regularly - roughly once every 6-8 weeks. You can always check the next available start dates for the courses on their corresponding pages, under the "dates" tab.

Yes - we can issue an invoice for your employee to pay for your course. Just make sure you select the "pay by invoice" option when making the booking and enter the details of your employee for an invoice to be sent to them.

Yes - you can pay for your course from pretty much anywhere in the world.

No, there are no hidden fees associated with any of the bookings. What you see on checkout is what you'll pay.

Yes - we cannot issue a certificate of completion without you completing the course.

If you aren't going to be available for part of your course, please do let us know in advance and we will do our best to provide you with a recording of the session(s) you missed. This will be subject to availability and GDPR rules as there may be others joining the same session, who may not want the session to be recorded.

Most of our courses are taught on Windows PCs. However, there is almost no difference between the two platforms when it comes to the actual software. So if you are a Mac user, you can still attend any of our courses and learn how to use the software. If, for any other reason, you'd like to bring your own Mac to the class, you'd be more than welcome to do so.

All of our instructors are certified trainers and professionals in their respective fields. They all have real life experience in design, animation, programming, architecture, modelling, vfx and CGI. So you will not only learn how to use a software, but will also benefit from their vast real-life experience. For more information about our instructors, please visit our About Us page.

The classes are relatively small, so you can expect to receive a lot of personal attention during the sessions. As long as your questions are relevant to the software you're learning and what is being taught on the course, you can ask as many of them as you like.

We are right between the Canary Wharf (Jubilee and Elizabeth Lines) and South Quay (DLR) stations. You can access both of these stations from pretty much anywhere in London. You can also take a bus to Canary Wharf and walk to our offices, which takes around 5 minutes. The buses that serve our area are: 135, 227, D7, D8 and SL4.

Although not compulsory, we do recommend having a webcam and turning it on to make the training experience more enjoyable for both yourself and others. If you don't have one, or don't want to be on camera, that's also perfectly fine.

Yes - you can let us know with at least one day's notice and we can move your booking from classroom to online. Going the other way (online to classroom) would be subject to availability.

Yes - as long as you let us know at the end of your first training day, we offer a full money back guarantee. We're pretty certain that you will enjoy your training session, but if you find it is not for you, we'd try our best to make things right. If you're still not satisfied, we'd be happy to offer a refund.