http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?317041-Insane-Bump-2-0-overhauled-Crazy-bump-alternative

Yep. It would behoove TGC to work on some sort of support for pipelines with Blender; as I see that Epic (UE4) has now pledged over 13K to the Blender foundation, specifically for work on an improved pipeline from Blender to the UnReal Engine. Time stands still for no one.

Let me know when they fire the gorilla they hired to design their UI and camera controls, now THAT would be an improvement, lol!

But yeah, that's pretty neat, 3DSMax is great but it's clear its designed for 3d scenes within the program rather than asset creation.

I guess i'm just jealous that blender works for so many people while it and I just can't get along, lol!

There's a whole course for intro purposes on this site:

http://cgcookie.com/blender/

Along with plenty of other helpful vids and info; I'm signed up for a 3 month period, well worth it. Especially since it's also for other programs and engines.

Blender is awesome! I have the original CD about somewhere from an old Computer show . Still, it has taken me since then to now to actually get into it properly. The interface, as said above can be frustrating, and has often led me to uninstall and forget it many, many times! I've got over the controls issue now, and have finally started making some decent stuff! Well, I think it is anyway I actually feel half competent with it now An undo helps It took em long enough to add one!

I've been in the same boat with Blender over the past 10 years or so! I would try it, get frustrated, put it aside, and either find something else that was free or pay for it (Truespace (before Caligari was shut down and it became free), Milkshape, Ultimate Unwrap and many others; 3D Studio Max is simply out of my budget as a hobbyist). Those were all very good and capable programs, but that Blender shortcut was always staring at me on several different desktops over the years. It wasn't until Reloaded came about that I actually took the time to sit down and start learning it. I bought a couple books and also started watching some amazing tutorials on YouTube. An absolutely amazing and powerful program! And it's free!!!