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New Blender Released
An anonymous reader writes "Blender, the cross-platform, open source 3d suite, has released version 2.43 along with a website redesign. This version brings powerful new features within reach of every person. These features include sculpt modeling, retopologizing tools, render passes, render baking, support for multi-uvs, enhanced fluid simulator with particles, new rigid body engine, numerous new compositing modes including defocus (DOF) node and much more. Feature videos are also available."
Blender is absolutely amazing software ... i've used it since 2.39 (I believe thats the release) ... and it's came a long way. It's helped me learn opengl and appreciate the difference between what an artist and a programmer can do. It's a great tool and a definite "must play with" for all developers. I only hope the skeleton & mesh export examples have been tightened up to include more documentation.
I've used blender before, and the tutorials out there stepped me through the interface quite nicely. I prefer their e-shop to a donate button, and just look at all the goodies you can have by supporting this project, including a guide. Well done. I just wish they'd update the Gamekit package (but no biggy, I'll order it anyway).
I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.
I prefer GtkRadiant.
For the last 2.5 years I've been anouncing every major release of Blender on /. (this is more of a minor one) and no one cared. Now it's posted before I even noticed that 2.43 is up - and I've checked every day the last 2 weeks. Now the site is overrun and I can't get my copy. .. Wonderfull.
BTW:
1.) The new website (a new template for Typo3, their CMS, looks cool but it's way to wide and/or inflexible.
2.) Blender seriously rocks and is closing in on the big players in 3D quickly in terms of usability and featureset. Amonst the new ones: The integrated compositor now has alpha blending and pass rendering which has me ditching my video tools. No need for Final Cut Pro for Renders anymore.
Support the team. And thanks to them for yet another great Blender release. Can't wait to lay my hands on the 2.43 final.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
I've heard this critisism from people before, but usually because it is different to what they're used too rather than because it is actually bad.
I've sat and watched my brother, who is a professional 3D animator, using Max do do some relatively simple task with a path and was amazed at how long it took him. I'd been learning Blender and could accompish exactly the same result in at least a third of the time, and I'm a newb. I just happen to be uncorrupted by Max's UI.
He had tried Blender and found it difficult to use. I strongly recommended going through the tutorials, he took the time and now raves about how quick and easy it is to do complex tasks that used to take for ever.
I'd rate Blender up with Apache and Firefox as showcasing excellent OSS
I don't therefore I'm not.
Good post!
This has been similar to my experience as well, making Battlefield 1942 objects(models) with Kubuntu Dapper and Blender compared to my buddy with Win XP and 3D Studio Max.
I think it's all according to what you are used to.
I teach Firearms Safety and Marksmanship, and have found that the n00bs usually do much better than the 133t
bunch. With the n00bs, you don't have to break bad/inefficient habits, but it's at the same time tough to break out of the mold when you are accustomed to a certain concept.
After making a cheat sheet for translating functions between photoshop (5.0 w/ Win 98 I think) and Gimpshop, that did not seem too steep of a learning curve.
Hint: If you haven't guessed yet, I'm a 3d n00b...just giving my perspective.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
I use Maya and Lightwave as well as everything from Modo to VUE 5 on a daily basis. The Blender UI sucks. The learning curve is rediculouisly long and in the past the documentation was poor. Everyone seems to feel the obligation to reinvent the wheel with UIs but it's counter productive. Simple logic here. Blender has features you'd expect in software costing $1,000+ yet even free it has a relatively small user base. Got to be a reason and it's simple, the UI. Not everyone has the time to learn a completely new UI structure. Maya is the most complex software for animation availible yet I could do a lot the first day and find things like physics easier than any other software I ever used. I still can't do basic navigation with Blender and I have spent some time with it. Most of it is hidden which makes it hard to use. There's a major menu at the top that's completely hidden and you have to pull it down to access it. If they ever want Blender to be a serious competitor instead of a curiousity stop adding features and fix the UI. Personally my favorite UI is Modo. Not an animation software but I had a working knowledge of it in two days and it's the most powerful modeller out there. Maya has a good UI to emulate or even something like Lightwave which is fairly easy to use, the physics are a pain but at least I can model and render a shot in it.I could give some one a pretty good working knowledge of it in a day. Standard conventions are there for a reason. I'd rather get my thrill out of using a software than mastering a hostile interface. How many pros use Blender? How many animated films or TV shows have been done with it? Elephant Dreams was a short and it required a lot of customizing at the time to do it. People download it but how many really use it? Even most of the ones that can't aford software use pirates rather than Blender. The features are really impressive but who cares if it's a nightmare to learn and use? If you expect people to adapt to your software rather than the other way around most will use something else. Zbrush took that stance and now they have stiff competition from friendlier UIs like Mudbox and soon Modo. They must be sweating bullets as they should. Telling me your UI is superior doesn't impress me when I find it a pain to use. Programmers tend to design UIs that make sense to them and not to artists. Modo and Mudbox were designed for artists and they have very devoted followings because of it.