I am interested in programming and animation. My dream is to one day make a tool that will some how make 2D animation simpler by rendering 3D models in traditional 2D styles.

I figure the best way to start learning if this dream is even feasible is by learning how Blender works, as it's an open source 3D art and animation program that also has 2D animation capabilities and a tool that blends 2D and 3D called Grease Pencil.

The problem is I'm not sure what I have to learn or where to start. I'm a novice programmer and I have never worked with a large project such as blender. I understand its mostly written in C but I am still learning it and have no experience with graphics rendering.

What skills do I need to contribute to the Blender Project? When will I know I'm good enough to contribute to it? Any good tips on how to navigate the documentation and source code and how to understand it?

Some background on where I'm at: I'm a college drop out who was studying physics. I was good at math and passed up to Calc 3, but its been awhile since I've studied math. Never took linear algebra. I have the most experience with Java. I have a fundamental understanding of computer science. I know what operations, classes, and functions are. I could probably write a calculator app or a note taking app.