Change in Blender 2.8, is it that drastic?

Hypothetically, if I am to become a Blender instructor and want to start a Blender course. Should I wait till the Blender 2.8 is released? Considering that Blender 2.8 comes with a completely new UI, features, and workflow? And more importantly, would the hotkeys change?

In other words, would the training material sound so outdated that the students will feel they need another course for 2.8?

Thank you.

  • ottawablenderguy replied

    I think there'll still be a market for 2.79 (and earlier) tutorials. Keep in mind that unlike other 3D software, Blender's earlier versions are available in perpetuity and a lot of people will delay adopting 2.80 until they know it well enough to use in production or (at least) feel comfortable with it.

    When 2.5 was released, people continued to do 2.49 tutorials for quite a while afterwards. In fact, I've seen questions asked about 2.49 as recently as six to eight months ago.

    As long as the version is identified at the beginning of each tutorial so the student doesn't feel misled, I think you'll be fine.

  • Catherine Irkalla(catherineirkalla) replied

    It mostly likely depends on what the nature of the training is. If its a super basic intro to blender and a guide to its user interface that, I expect, would probably need a 2.8 version once its available. If its instruction on mesh modeling or sculpting then I think the vast majority of it will still apply to 2.8

    Of course who knows when 2.8 will be available and delaying content until a future release can mean waiting a lot longer than expected and in the meantime people are still interested in learning 2.79.

    It might depend also on if you are making like "the definitive blender course" that you don't want to have to update for a long time, or if you are making "how to model a house in blender" that you would probably do another version of in a year or two anyway.

  • Ronald Vermeij(indigowarrior9) replied


    I think this is an important change in the upcoming Blender v2.8
    The complete removal of the Blender Internal Render engine.

  • abedd replied

    Thanks for the inputs! does anyone know if there's a plan to change the hotkeys? I kind of feel that changing the hotkeys could be more detrimental than anything else.

    Anyone has inside info :) ?

  • Catherine Irkalla(catherineirkalla) replied

    abedd AFAIK there will be some general workflow changes that may mean using different hotkeys because the workflow is slightly different but I'm pretty sure there would be an uprising and revolt if there were major changes to the hotkeys

  • Ronald Vermeij(indigowarrior9) replied

    abedd: If you want to have the latest up-to-date news on Blender 2.8 take a look over here:
    - Blender Today broadcast on Youtube
    - Blender developer blog
    - Blender Developer Talk (chat / forum)


  • abedd replied

    I couldn't add a reply because of a banner in the bottom that is finally gone :)

    Thank you all for the input. I'm convinced that Blender education should continue with whatever current version is, even if the upcoming new version is around the corner and is a complete overhaul and game changer.