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Blender 2.46 Released
The Penguin Man writes to mention the latest release of Blender, the popular open-source 3D graphics suite was officially launched today. You can download it from Blender.org. The culmination of half a year's work has resulted in many new features including a new particle system, approximate AO, the new cloth simulation system, and much more!
If you want, you could wait for Blender 2.50. They plan to completely rewrite the interface which will allow users the power to create their own if needed.
Honestly, I've never found the interface too much of a problem. Sure, it's different but it has been designed well (mainly for speed). A 3D suite isn't something that's really meant to simple anyway.
You mean, like typing?
Only 8 minutes sooner and you would have been modded funny, bolstering your self confidence, getting you that new job that lead to a fabulous career, a beautiful wife and being selected for the first L5 station in space 20 years from now as someone recognized your screen name and remembered laughing at your post years ago....
Only... 8... minutes..
Instead, Anonymous got it this time. And now anonymous will get all the glory.. again.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
It's not exactly easy to use but you sure don't have to wait on it.
True, there's nothing worse than having to wait ten seconds before being flummoxed.
Blank until
Subject says it all.
I can't argue whether or not it's effective from the perspective of a person that "knows what they're doing", not being an artist myself.
I can argue though that I managed to pick up 3D Studio Max, install it, and punch out a relatively simple spaceship model for a game I was working on. I'd even say it was slightly better than typical programmer art, but that's me. I did this in about an hour. I did this without tutorials or having really touched 3DSM prior to that point. I had the option to try it and I did. I won't say the interface is brilliant, but it was at the very least obvious for basic things.
It took me a good part of that same hour just to figure out how I would achieve this in Blender because Blender's way is not obvious. I have to say I like Blender for what it is, I like the push to try something new, but not being an artist, I don't want to spend more time becoming familiar with something than the amount of time I'm actually going to spend using it.
It may be stupid, but there's something to be said for a program that's so dumb that even a person completely unfamiliar with the field can use it to do what they want without training.
If only they made the metal handle easier to grasp and that wooden smashy end less prone to breaking ....
It's awesome being me.
maybe, just maybe, Blender isn't for kids that just want to make a quick model of the Solar system for a school project.
For what it's worth, my daughter (10) tried blender just recently, and it wasn't the interface that made her give up, it was a lack of tutorials that matched the current version.
Advanced users are users too!
And yet, not too many people have heard of the very intuitive software package Art of Illusion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_Illusion
There are two camps:
1. People who want 3DS MAX/Maya/Lighwave for FREE and Blender happens to be the closest thing... so take that an MAKE IT MAYA.
2. People who have been using Blender for many, many years and have come to either appreciate or at least get used to the speed that the interface allows... ONCE YOU KNOW IT!
Given that the interface HASNT changed much in all this time... perhaps its time for the GIVE ME MAYA FOR FREE crowd to go and write their own FOSS 3D app.
PS. For all those Blenderheads out there who haven't already seen it... check out www.indigorenderer.com for photorealism.