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Blender Courses by Thomas McDonald
BlenderZen courses are taught by Tom McDonald, who has 150,000+ students on Udemy. Each course below links to Udemy through my instructor link. Start with 3D Printing if you’re not sure where to begin.
Which Blender course should I start with?
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New course · Fix AI 3D models
Fix AI 3D Models in Blender: Repair for 3D Printing & Games
Find and fix reversed faces, holes, bad scale, broken UVs, missing textures and AI script errors before you ship a model.
AI tools can now turn a sentence or a photo into a 3D model in seconds. The model usually looks fine in the preview. Then you put it in a game, send it to a 3D printer or give it to a client, and it breaks. This course teaches you how to check an AI-made model in Blender, find what is wrong with it, and fix it. Each lecture teaches one skill on its own demo model, then you open a challenge file with a broken model in it. At the end you put it all together with a 13-step production checklist and take the final test.
Each challenge file is a Blender file with a broken model in it, delivered by MESHGEN-7, a made-up AI. A small panel inside Blender lists the tasks, gives you hints when you ask, checks your work as you go and times you, so you can win a gold, silver or bronze medal.
What the course fixes
| Problem in the AI model | What you do in Blender |
|---|---|
| Reversed faces: parts of the model turned inside out, so they show holes in a game engine | Find the faces that point the wrong way and turn them back the right way. |
| Holes and non-manifold edges: the surface is not sealed | Select the open and non-manifold edges and close the surface. |
| Duplicate vertices: points stacked on top of each other that cause dark seams | Merge them with Merge by Distance. |
| N-gons and slivers: faces with too many corners, or long thin triangles, that shade badly | Find the bad faces in Edit Mode and clean up the topology. |
| Self-intersections, and a model that is not watertight for 3D printing | Check it with Mesh Analysis and the free 3D Print Toolbox extension, then make it watertight. |
| Wrong scale, unapplied rotation, an origin in the wrong place, or a model that lies on its back after export | Apply rotation and scale, place the origin correctly, and export it so it stands the right way up in other apps. |
| Textures that do not show, missing or pink textures, and messy UVs | Fix the image texture nodes, sort out missing or packed textures, and repair overlapping, stretched or mirrored UVs. |
| Far too many polygons, and floating junk left behind by the generator | Reduce the polygon count with the Decimate modifier and remove floating junk and hidden copies. |
| Python scripts written by AI assistants that crash, or run without an error but give the wrong result | Read the error in the Info editor and Python Console, then debug the script. |
Questions about Fix AI 3D Models in Blender
Who is this course for?
Anyone who uses AI 3D generators or AI-written Blender scripts and needs the results to actually work: game developers, 3D printing hobbyists, 3D artists and freelancers who deliver models to clients. It is an intermediate course, not a first course in Blender.
What do I need?
A computer that can run Blender 4.2 or newer. Blender is free, and the latest version is recommended. You should already know the Blender basics: moving around the 3D View, selecting and moving objects, and switching between Object Mode and Edit Mode. A mouse with a scroll wheel helps, but the lectures also show the on-screen buttons you can use instead.
Do I need to know Python?
No. No Python experience is needed; every script line is explained.
Do I need an AI tool?
No. You do not need any AI tool. Every broken model is included in the challenge files.
What is the final test?
After the 13-step production checklist, you get a desk lamp with ten hidden defects that the challenge will not name for you. You find and fix them on your own.
1. 3D Printing from Zero to Hero in Blender – FDM & MSLA · 10.5 hours
Learn 3D modelling for 3D printing in Blender: FDM, MSLA resin, STL export, slicing, and models you can actually print. You build real projects end to end (door grip, vase, phone stand, coin, phone case), check them with the 3D-Print Toolbox, and print on filament and resin machines, or send them to a print service.
Who it’s for: Beginners who own an FDM or resin printer, or use a print service, and want models that print at the right size first time.
Free guides: Find the thin walls before your slicer does · Blender units and scale for STL export
2. Architectural Design & Animation in Blender · 8 hours
Model a house in Blender at real-world scale, add Archimesh doors and windows, then animate a walkthrough and a build-sequence reveal. For beginners and architectural designers who want layout, modelling, lighting and construction animation in one path.
Who it’s for: Beginners and designers who want to model a house from a floor plan, add doors and windows, and animate a walkthrough.
Free guides: Add Archimesh doors · Add Archimesh windows
3. Interior 3D Modelling & Rendering – Blender 3D · 13.5 hours
Model and light photorealistic interiors in Blender: PBR materials, stills, animation and 360° views. Kitchens, living spaces and bedrooms, with MeasureIt keeping the dimensions honest.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants photorealistic interior stills, animations and 360° views of kitchens, living spaces and bedrooms.
4. Python Scripting for Blender: With Practical Projects · 3 hours
Learn Python in Blender with real tasks: custom UI panels, bpy, automation, and a CSV data-visualisation project. Made for people with little or no coding experience.
Who it’s for: Blender users with little or no coding experience who want to automate repeat jobs and build their own panels.
5. Architectural 3D Modeling & Rendering: FreeCAD & Blender · 6 hours
Model in FreeCAD, then clean up and render in Blender and present in Twinmotion. Real-world scale, no paid CAD.
Who it’s for: People who want to model buildings to real-world scale in free, open-source CAD and render them in Blender.
6. Model & Rig a Car in Blender for Beginners · 7 hours
Model a car body and wheels, then rig it with drivers and controls for a short drive. A better first modelling-and-rigging project than a character: clear pivots, hard-surface forms, then bones.
Who it’s for: Beginners who’ve done the basics and want a first modelling-and-rigging project that’s simpler than a character.
7. Video Editing in Blender – Beginner to Pro · 3 hours
Edit video in Blender’s Video Sequence Editor: cuts, text, audio, transitions, motion graphics and export. No paid editor needed.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants to cut, title and export videos in Blender’s Video Sequence Editor without a paid editor.
Sort Files by Type with Python
Automate file organising with Python: paths, loops, file types and a safe dry run to sort any messy folder.
A short first Python project from Thomas McDonald. It’s a beginner Python course, not a Blender course. You write a script that sorts a messy folder, like Downloads, into subfolders by file type, using the os and shutil modules, loops, if statements and dictionaries. A dry run comes first, so nothing moves until you’ve checked it. No programming experience needed, and every lecture comes with a downloadable workbook. It’s useful groundwork if you want to start scripting later.
More courses
- 3D Architectural Design Mastery with Blender
- Model, Rig & Animate a Character: Blender to Unreal
- Blender, Twinmotion: 3D Modelling, VR & Arch Viz
- Architectural Cinematic: Blender to Unreal Engine
- Free: A Practical Introduction – Modeling & Animation in Blender
Short Blender tutorials, now and then
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