Popular Questions from the Community:
In a recent email I asked you:
"Got a question about The Nature Academy? Hit reply and ask me!"
Well... you did. I got heaps of questions. So to help everyone, I've taken the most popular questions and answered them below:
1. What is The Nature Academy?
The Nature Academy is an online membership site that gives you instant access to exclusive nature tutorials and resources. The course goes for 13 weeks in total and gradually walks you through creating complex nature scenes in Blender.
2. How and where do I sign up?
Right here! You can start creating nature in just 5 minutes :)
3. Is there a course schedule I need to adhere to?
Nope! Each week a new tutorial will be made available to you. But you can revisit older weeks at any time. There is no schedule. Just log in at your own time and watch the tutorials at any time.
4. Will my membership expire?
Never! You will remain a member for the lifetime of the site.
5. Is there going to be a DVD version?
No, sorry. Training DVDs can quickly become outdated, so I've made the decision to only put The Nature Academy online.
6. Can I download it?
Yep! Each video includes a download link underneath it for easy saving. Or you can just stream it off the site.
The Nature Academy is open! JOIN NOW.
59 Comments
jos.805 said: It’s Feb 15 2012, does this mean the course wont be available until Dec 7 2012?
Guest says: no
Guest says: nope, right now it’s available all the time :)
tildee said: Hello. Which time is the 11am EST on the 7th of December in European time in Germany?
Guest says: According to my calcs, I make it just over 3 hours from now - which makes it 2am Thursday morning in AEST (Brisbane) and, uh, 5pm Wednesday in Germany! :)
Pete said: And lo, 11am EST came and went and the Nature Academy has not reopened. Which leaves me standing here pounding on the door, begging to be let in… :-) (It also raises the question of which EST we’re talking about?)
Oh well, I guess I’ll come back tonight… :-)
RickG said: Sorry,didn’t know that but he means EST North America. At least from my experience with him through the class, that’s what he always meant
Guest says: No worries. I’ll know for next time! :-)
goeksel said: Hi Andrew,
I would like to attend the course. But I have some concerns:
I am complete novice in Blender or 3D. I’m just going to learn Blender. Your trailer has me, as well as all your other work, really impressed. Now I’m not sure if this course is right for a novice. I am not only interested in natural scenes, but generally in 3D scenes. Will there be any other academy in the future from you, which includes several topics?
Another point that makes me skeptical is my bad English.
I look forward to your reply.
Göksel
RickG said: cgcookie has some free tutorials specifically for beginners.
Guest says: Thank you all…
Alexis said: What about specs?
What render engine are you using? Internal? I’m excited about the Cycles conversion, that’ll be swank.
There was some other program you said was used for the tree tutorials? Arbor… something or other… is it free too or is that an additional cost?
Do you work with just the final image render or do you go over animation?
All the same, I think once I’m finally moved I’ll get this! Cheers!
Sourabh said: arbaro is a software for making trees and you can download it for free off the internet.
the only other external software is the ivy generator ( which is also free)
i dont know about the last 4 weeks, but andrew said he kept external softwares to a minimum (unless they were really good at a function and sped up the work a lot) so that it is easy to follow and the tutorials as simple as possible.
also any other software he uses will be free as he said that he didnt want to bind anyone who bought the nature academy, to be forced to buy anything else to get the full benefit of the tutorials
everything is done in the internal rendering engine.
the animation tutorials are bonuses available for only some of the scenes (like grass, trees, ocean etc. where the actual elements are moving..not for the ones with just camera movement (like rocks or mountain)..
hope that answers all your questions
leomoon said: The link in #3 is wrong:
http://thenatureacademy.blenderguru.com/fe/thenatureacademy.blenderguru.com
I can’t wait for this to open. I hope it’s not so expensive.
Kingsley said: Hi Andrew, Thanks for the OTHER FREE tutorials.Regarding this Academy.What about those who have no access to plastic cards? Can I pay by bank to bank transfer? What are the requirements? Sorry for all these questions.
Guest says: Question #2 says there will be an option to pay through paypal on a weekly basis, if you don’t already have one open an account, I have used paypal in the past no need to worry about security there. The Fact that we will be able to pay weekly is HUGE.
Thanks for that Andrew! I may be able to join this time around after all.
Guest says: Ya! Payall still needs plastic Cards right!?
Brandy said: Something tells me this whole Nature Academy thing, is gonna be interesting.
GREG P said: The concept of weekly payments is excellent, I wanted to join the last Nature Academy, but failed to get the cashola happening on short notice, and “missed the boat”. Thanks, now I am getting pretty excited about it, the results from other students are really great! Blender Guru is awesome!
Erwin said: Well it’s about time…..just kiddin’. That’s great news, and I’m looking forward to the numbers and pay per week option
Bob Marshall said: Hi Andrew. I’ve been really busy this year and have only just managed to get back in and continue my Nature Academy course. I was just about to log in to get the videos for Plants – week 4 when I noticed that it’s now unavailable. When you reopen on the 7th Dec, will I still have access to the original course material? Thanks. Bob
Aaron Symons aka Wet Sponge said: The course is reset for everyone. So you’ll now have to wait for that tutorial to be ‘unlocked’ in order to view it again.
Seeing as he’s now keeping it open forever, you should have access to all tutorials and materials for life after the 13th week. :)
Bob Marshall said: Oh I understand. That’s great, thanks :D
Guest said: Could it be translate in french??
Guest says: not in near future, I guess, but he has got Text versions of all the tutorials, so probably you can understand those, if you’re problem is english pronounciation.
Andi Drajan said: Awesome! I’m definitely getting it this time. I followed the grass tutorial and I was hooked. Never thought I could create such realistic nature on a computer.
Guillaume said: “however I can tell you that it will include an option to pay weekly.” Oh yeah ! Very Good Idea :)
bshep said: Awesome!
Samuel said: DUDE! I sooooo wishssssssssssssss I could do this!! however I don’t have the $$ right know….. but trust me!! I will!!
Luke said: So it’s going to be around $200 again? That’s alot of money bro. You should also just sell the tutorials individually. Like: “Learn how to make an ocean scene” and sell it for like $20. I’d buy that. but $200 is just getting ridiculous. I’d rather join blendercookie where I get a wider variety of tutorials but for half the price.
Guest says: No the Andrew has spent a lot of time teaching for free… He’s good at what he dose, has been poring money into the Blender projects (including into their new film project “mango” and I think its damn well time he got rewarded for his work. Your not going to find a better blender teacher out there. I do agree that I would like to see things cheaper maybe $15 a month with lots of updates and new tutorials (I’d pay for that) But I really like what hes got going on with the Nature academy. And will probably buy soon.
Guest says: probably you’ll get the next academy cheaper, if you signed up for the nature academy before, so the price would be ok.
But for me it’s impossible to join, I’m still a student and really can’t afford this :(
Andrew should do some student pricing! :)
Dancing Elf said: i can not wait for this! so excited for the coarse to re open! :D
matthew@blendswap.com said: Can’t wait, hope I have enough in savings to join, weekly payments will defiantly help.