ZERO to HERO - Blender 5 Beginner course

Name: ZERO to HERO - Blender 5 Beginner course
Rating: 4.7 (142 reviews)

Go from absolute beginner to 3D character artist in Blender

Created byNIkolay Naydenov

Last updated 5/2026

English

What you'll learn

Learn Blender 5 from scratch
Learn how to make a complete 3D game character in Blender from no knowledge of the program
Modelling, sculpting, retopology, UV unwrap, baking
Learn Blender for 3D character creation

Course content

1 section • 45 lectures • 20h 33m total length

Introduction3:22
Belnder basics22:41
Learn Blender basics by navigating the 3D viewport with the middle mouse and keyboard shortcuts, then add, move, rotate, and duplicate objects to build a snowman scene.
Finishing the snowman22:22
Finish the snowman in Blender by applying mirror and other generate modifiers, then use all transforms and edit mode to build and mirror features, duplicate parts, and refine placement.
Modelling a pawn18:20
Build a Blender pawn by shaping a sphere and cylinder, adding loop cuts and bevels, and refining with insets, while organizing the model in a new collection for the outliner.
Modelling a Queen29:40
Sculpting in Blender essentials31:42
Sculpting rabbit head and ears26:29
Learn to sculpt a rabbit head and ears in Blender using sculpt mode, draw and grab brushes, symmetry with control tab, and remesh and mirror workflows.
Sculpting basic torso and legs32:34
Learn to sculpt a basic torso and legs in Blender 5, a beginner course that builds essential sculpting skills.
Making the arms and hands27:10
Starting the kimono29:00
Refining the kimono sketch25:06
Refine the kimono sketch by sculpting a forward S-curve, adding volume with grab and clay strips brushes, and retopologizing for high and low poly while managing symmetry and the belt.
Retopology for cleaner mesh start39:08
Learn retopology to start with a cleaner mesh in Blender 5, as part of the zero to hero beginner course.
Retopology part 247:20
Master retopology in Blender through part 2 of the zero to hero Blender 5 beginner course.
Working on the face and eyes25:08
Explore Blender basics by sculpting a rabbit character’s face and eyes, using tools like remesh, retopology, subdivision surface, and orbit around selection for precise modeling.
Retopology of the head part 137:29
Retopology of the head part 224:47
Learn Blender retopology for the head by placing a plane, enabling snap to surfaces, extruding and refining topology in edit mode, and using symmetry for a clean low-poly result.
High poly of the head31:44
Making the belt26:33
Craft the belt for the kimono in blender from three belt meshes (six pieces), using scale, duplicate, and sculpt tools, then prep for later high poly to low poly retopology.
Finishing the belt high poly22:43
refine a belt high-poly using edit, object, and sculpt modes; add subdivision surface and solidify modifiers, crease edges, and sculpt folds for a detailed finish.
Refining the clothes and arms29:23
Coloring with vertex paint29:42
Refining everything32:08
Starting the sword24:11
Learn to refine a rabbit character in blender, decide between quick vs perfect results, and model a stylized katana and wakizashi sword with bevels, guards, and a mirror workflow.
FInish the sword25:45
Model a sword and scabbard in Blender using extrusion, mirror, and array with solidify for high-poly detail. Apply subdivision and creases to shape clean, render-ready geometry.
Making the hat texture and normal map29:56
Starting the retopo for the low poly27:55
Retopo all the way, the top kimono42:33
Another retopo top kimono style24:54
Learn retopology techniques in Blender by creating and merging polygons, aligning symmetry with a mirror, and refining the low poly to match the high poly for baking and texturing.
Finishing the kimono retopology22:56
Retopo the hands and feet30:58
Retopo the sword and adjust head34:09
Retopo the sword and adjust the head in Blender, guiding you through beginner-level workflows to create clean, optimized models.
Start UV Unwrapping30:04
Finishing the UVs33:09
Start baking textures in Blender34:10
This beginner Blender course introduces how to start baking textures in Blender, guiding you through the essentials of texture maps and practical steps for baking in a 3D workflow.
Baking Normal map and Rougness map26:51
Baking the sword and fixing some things30:43
Introduction and baking in Substance painter23:03
Learn how to prepare and export low and high poly models for Substance Painter using FBX, ensure UVs and shade smooth, triangulate where needed, and bake maps.
Substance painter workflow30:37
Finishing the textures in Substance35:26
Finish textures in Substance to complete your Blender 5 beginner course skills, transforming basic texture work into polished materials.
Assemnling and adding some lights23:07
Assemble and light a Blender rabbit, fix textures across modes, duplicate and merge the eyes, set up sun and rim lights, and prep for rigging.
Making a rig and pose25:05
Learn to build a full armature rig in Blender, from creating bones and extruding them to weight painting, automatic weights, and posing in pose mode for a character.
Finishing the pose21:36
Finish the pose by aligning the arm and placing the swords, then create a shadow plane with a simple shader for a transparent background render, and prepare a turntable render.
Making turntable and shadow plane19:30
Learn to build a turntable animation in Blender 5 using an empty axis to rotate the model and a transparent Eevee shadow plane with keyframed rotation, using linear interpolation.
Render and last adjustments16:08
Render and troubleshoot in Blender using eevee, ensure a transparent background with rgba, and set 4k image or animation output. Post-process in Photoshop or Canva to refine brightness and color.
Goodbye5:57
Explore a complete Blender 5 beginner journey from basic models to a game-ready character. Learn high and low poly workflows, textures, baking in Blender and Substance Painter, rigging, lighting, rendering.

Requirements

No previous experience with Blender needed.

Description

in this Blender 5 course, we will go From ZERO to fully ready 3D Game HERO character .

We will learn how to model and sculpt in Blender 5, but also how to retopologize and UV unwrap, and how to Bake maps, rig, pose and render.

We will start slow, explaining everything multiple times over the course, so we can learn by practice and repetition.

My name is Niko and i am 3D artist and tutor with over 30 000 students in my courses for Blender, Anatomy, Zbrush and 3D Character creation. I have 2 youtube channels - Speedchar and Speedchar Live, where you can find lots of videos about character sculpting, anatomy and Blender.

In the beginning we will get familiar with Blender 5 navigation and tools and make some simple shapes like Snowman, chess Pawn and chess Queen, to hone our newly found skills. Then we will jump into sculpting, where we will do simple head to explain all the needed brushes and tools there. After that we will start to make the high poly of our hero rabbit character. It will take some time, since i will be explaining everything again and again because repetition is the mother of knowledge.

Then we will make retopology to make the low poly, same as professional character artists are doing. After, we will go trough UV unwrapping, so we can have a texture, and then learning how to bake both in Blender, and also in Substance painter.

At the end we will make a rig for our character and pose it for a final beauty render and turntable animation.

This course is for those who want to learn Blender and for those who want to make 3D characters, but are still beginners.

At the end of this course, especially if you do everything in practice, you will have knowledge of the whole 3D character creation pipeline - High poly, low poly, UVs, baking and even some texturing.

I explain mostly Blender in this course, but also a bit of basics in Substance painter for those who chose to use it.

Who this course is for:

Beginner 3D enthusiasts seeking to learn Blender
Beginer 3D character artists