blender.org — Mainly thanks to the realization of the Elephants Dream open movie, the open source 3D application Blender 2.42 has been released. It's overflowing with new features aimed for CG movie production such as a rewritten render pipeline, node based compositing, motion blur and materials, upgraded video editor, and much more.
Jul 15, 2006 View in Crawl 4
hunkadoodleJul 16, 2006
Yeah, it will take me a day to finish reading all the "much more" added since 2.41! Check out a list of everything here:<a class="user" href="http://www.blender.org/cms/Changes_since_last_ver.727.0.html">http://www.blender.org/cms/Changes_since_last_ver.727.0.html</a>
Closed AccountJul 16, 2006
This looks like another good time to post a link to <a class="user" href="http://penguinpetes.com/b2evo/index.php?title=stealth_bombers_are_more_difficult_to_op_1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1">http://penguinpetes.com/b2evo/index.php?title=stealth_bombers_are_more_difficult_to_op_1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1</a> . A little lecture I posted out of the goodness of my heart to help people understand *why* program interfaces are "difficult".
plastic3dJul 16, 2006
I've been using 3DS MAX since DOS v2... I personally am downloading the app RIGHT NOW, it's looking really good and to the point that it's pretty solid toolset. The keyboard shortcuts will help us all with speed and relief from Tendonitis.
dragJul 17, 2006
""oh that's right. I questioned a feature in an open source project. Damn it, I forgot, open source is the bible here. '''Noooo.....You didn't understand why a animation suite needs the ability edit video. People tried to point out the fact that's it's pretty freaking obvious WHY you would want one.It's like asking why the hell Microsoft Office has a a spreadsheet editor and has database features when it's used for writing word documents. It's pretty obvious when you look at it.Blender is a full computer animation suite. Full execution from modelling wireframes, skinning, animation, effects, and video compisition. The only thing it realy doesn't do is editing textures. For that you use the same thing they did when they made the 'Shrek' film.. You use Gimp. (no they didn't use photoshop for textures)Also keep in my its a COMPOSITOR. Not a Non-linear video editor. It's not designed to do the same thing that you do with Cinelerra, Kino, Pitivi, or Diva. (or their propriatory counterparts like Avid). Although Cinelerra certainly can do composition also.So it's not as alien as you think.
povrazorJul 17, 2006
Yes, CTRL+Z does undo.
frickindealJul 17, 2006
The main drawback of an investment in time learning Blender is that there are really no jobs available animating in it. Until it is used by some major animation shops that actually employ people (and I'm sure there are a few examples, but good luck finding work with a resume that states "Blender Skills" as your primary asset) people aren't going to devote the hours of time needed to learn a complicated, deep app like Blender without the chance that their hard work might be rewarded monetarily. And don't think "oh, they could put out an independent piece that shows their talent and be rewarded for that by a major employment contract". That happens RARELY.For now, my time would be better spent learning Maya or XSI or Lightwave. At least there are jobs available.For the hobby market, it's an entirely different story. Blender is a powerful app and even if you don't care to model in it (and it's modeling tools aren't exactly on the cutting edge, see Wings3D for a nice freeware modeler), it's still an excellent package for the money ($0.00). Yafray has come quite a long way and is a decent renderer, although I've not seen many projects using it yet.So for now, it's Maya/XSI/Lightwave, probably in that order, if you want to find a job :-)
hsaitoJul 19, 2006
The problem is that there's not even a vague "standard" of what 3D software interface to be.Since things projected on the screen is 2D representation of 3D, and most of us has 2D mouse, it's not a easy thing...
vezquexJul 21, 2006
This is great and all, but just wait and see when the graphics are eventually done in OGRE. Then it'll be ready for prime time.