Mari is a 3D painting and texturing software used worldwide by professional as well as amateur digital artists working on various projects ranging from animated videos to games. Mari was used in movies, TV shows and games like; Avatar, Thor, Game of Thrones, The Witcher 3 and many more.

Learning The Foundry Mari would be very helpful for digital artists working in the gaming and movies industry and for those who are willing to start their career in these fields.

The aim of this post is to present and compare between free online sources that beginners can rely on to learn Mari, the sources stated here are full-structured courses that beginners can follow along.

If you just want the bottom line (the road map to learn Mari) and you don’t wish to read the entire article then go to the “Bottom Line” section at the end of the article.

Getting Started with Mari Online from Scratch

The Foundry Website

The Foundry Website is the first free online outlet where beginners can start learning Mari through video tutorials, you don’t have to register to have access to the training. It’s worth noting that The Foundry is the company currently developing Mari.

Structure: The training is divided into 4 sections, each section is divided into video lessons that covers the various techniques and tools available in Mari.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the video lesson you’re interested in and a new window will popup and the video lesson will start in that window.

Now the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The training covers many tools available in Mari.
3. The training is well -structured for beginners.

Cons

1. The training isn’t well-organized for beginners and might be confusing for some.

Verdict: This is the best free online outlet where beginners can start learning Mari through video tutorials.

Digital Tutor YouTube Channel

Digital Tutor YouTube Channel is the second free online outlet where beginners can start learning the basics of Mari through video tutorials, it’s worth noting that Digital Tutor is a famous paid outlet for those who are interested in learning the various software used by digital artists.

Structure: There are 9 video lessons that covers the very basics of Mari, it’s worth noting that the videos available are the free videos available on Digital Tutor website.

Interface: Standard YouTube interface.

Now the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The training is well-structured and organized for beginners.

Cons

1. The training only covers the very basics of Mari.

Verdict: This is an excellent free online outlet where beginners can start learning Mari through video tutorials.

3D Tutorials

3D Tutorials is third free online outlet where beginners can start learning Mari through video tutorials, you don’t have to register to have access to the training.

Structure: There’s no real structure in this outlet it’s just a huge collection of 82 video lesson that covers the various techniques and tools available in Mari.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the video lessons you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the page where the video lesson resides.

Now the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. A huge collection of video lessons.

Cons

1. Lack of structure and organization.

Verdict: Though this outlet has a huge collection of video lesson it’s not suitable for complete beginners to start from.

VisualFX Hub

VisualFX Hub is the fourth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Mari through video tutorials, you don’t have to register to have access to the training.

Structure: The training has no real structure it’s just 32 video lessons that are provided by various illustrators.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the video lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the page where the video resides.

Now the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.

Cons

1. The training isn’t well organized or structured for complete beginners.
2. The training covers old releases of the software.

Verdict: The tutorials available aren’t not properly organized or structured for beginners which makes this outlet not the best source for beginners to start from.

Bottom Line

The recipe for learning Mari:

1. The Foundry Website is the best outlet for beginners to start learning Mari through video tutorials.

Remember that the first step is always the toughest step, and the aim of this post is to provide you with resources that will help you take your first step in learning Mari.