Blender 2.42 Has Been Released

bartv writes "Blender 2.42 has been released. It features an impressive list of new features for professional users. The most important improvements are: a new render pipeline, node editors for compositing and materials, support for anisotropic materials, improved fluid simulation and new character animation tools. Most of these features are the result of the production of Elephants Dream, the first Open Movie. During this project, Blender's lead developer Ton Roosendaal was coding the features that were required by the artists to produce their movie."

I'd like to see more.

[suso]

See, the best invention really is neccesity. They should try to make a movie every year or two.

What have they done for the UI?

[Tablizer]

The UI was natoriously difficult the last time I tried Blender. I agree that there may be a method to the madness, but why not have a mode for those who want instant gratification by using "expected" conventions? It could increase interest and hobbyists. I realize that some don't like watching impatient newbies infesting forums and fan sites, but if you want a product to survive, you need new blood. Today's snot-nosed newbie may be tomarrow's programmer for a great new feature.

Re:eh hem.

[ari_j]

You need a quote checker, too. "Necessity is the mother of invention." and "The best invention is necessity." do not mean the same thing. :)

Wow...

[dubmun]

Blender has really come a long way since we tried to use it to program our game Log Cabin Adventure in it back when I was getting my BS in CS. I always liked it's UI better than 3DSM but it seems like their feature sets are getting closer and closer as well.

Re:What have they done for the UI?

[gihan_ripper]

Having spent many many hours playing with Blender, I can say that the UI is not the major hurdle. It takes at most one hour of sustained effort to get to grips with the UI — the main problem is actually doing creative things once you've mastered it. 'Modelling', the art of constructing 3D structures out of mere electrons is the most time-consuming part of the process. My advice is to steer clear of Blender, unless you find that your WoW addiction still leaves you with time to kill.

Re:eh hem.

[suso]

I wasn't quoting your mother. I wasn't quoting anyone. I was just SAYING IT ON MY OWN.

Re:What have they done for the UI?

[SB_SamuraiSam]

Wait, what? Steer clear from Blender or 3D modeling in general?

I'm not trying to troll, but...

[oldosadmin]

Has anyone seen Elephants Dream? It's a horrible movie. Sure the 3d stuff is cool, but that's not what I want advertised everywhere as "the product of open source". The movie is *bad*. We're talking worse than Gigli, seriously.

Re:It should be named Blender 3.0

[Speare]

Seriously, look through the back changelogs-- there's a HUGE list of new features and capabilities and tweaks and improvements on EVERY dot release. Yet it's still binary-compatible with ancient .blend files (and the ancient versions of blender can load the newer .blend files ignoring for future parameters). Pretty impressive really.

Re:What have they done for the UI?

[Lumpy]

the UI is no more difficult than Maya or lightwave. All of these kinds of apps are simply really stinking hard to use to begin with because of the complexity you are looking at.

The only things I find annoying about the UI was that if you accidentally clicked in the tools fram and tried to use your scroll wheel you can mess up the ui location and size. Everything else is pretty darn useable for the amount fo power thay hand you.

Re:What have they done for the UI?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, why was this modded insightful? No evidence is offered, just a vague comment that 3D modeling is time-consuming and therefore stay away from Blender? Gimme a break.

Re:eh hem.

[Score Whore]

It has nothing to do with being stupidly technical. It has to do with language. When it is said "necessity is the mother of invention" anyone with even a little bit of intelligence can identify that it's not a literal statement of fact, it's figurative. That same person will then think about what it might mean. Then being the marginally smart person they are, they will see the idea being expressed and the particularily articulate way that idea was expressed.

Your statement of "the best invention really is necessity" makes very little sense. At it's most literal, no one will agree with you. What is so great about necessity? Even taken figuratively... well, there's nothing figurative about it. If you've heard people say that and you connected it to the famous "necessity is the mother of invention", then you either didn't understand what they said or both you and the speaker aren't very good at the english language.

I realize that english is a living language, but even so if you want people to take you seriously and be persuaded by what you have to say, you need to use the language in a skilled fashion. Being articulate, forming complex ideas with efficient use of words, and constructing logical statements is the very basics of being a proficient communicator.

Re:What have they done for the UI?

[joshier]

I have modelled in the past, and this poster above is nothing but a liar. You don't model from "electrons".. you model from vertexes, points and edges. You then use a smoothing tag to estimate a curv over the points, inwhich you can add more detail by adding more points.

Blenders UI isn't great for a total newbie I agree, but that's not to say it's hard. I thought 3ds maxes interface was hard at first compared to maxon cinema 4d, but I got used to that.

There's also lots of video tutorials for blender which is brilliant. and yeah, the above poster should in no-way of been modded "insightful"

Re:Not even close

[Qbertino]

"support for anisotropic materials"

Wow, so Blender is only 15 years behind the times now?

Sorry, I think I'll stick with maya for making movies

Sorry, but you're a dick. I hope Autodesk, Mayas new owner, makes you pay through the nose, Mr. Oh-I'm-so-professional Moviemaker. Allthoug I doubt you've got a legal licence. Then I hope they sue your ass off.
Finally Blender has overcome the largest part of it's shortcomings compared to bizarely priced 3D Studio Crap and Co. and all you've got is a wiseass remark. Let's see you're great "Maya Movie Work". I doubt it comes even near Elefants Dream in any respect.
In case you haven't gotten the drift yet: Blender is on the fast lane to becoming the 3D industries business model nightmare and allready is causing prices to drop and quality rising left, right and center. Try that with Gimp vs. Photoshop.

Bottom line: Quit being a jerk and give the Blender team some credit and cudos allready. If anybody deserves it in the OSS design app dept. it's them first. Many times over.

Re:I'm not trying to troll, but...

[SirSlud]

So you're looking down your nose at a strawman you think is looking down its nose at you.

Gotcha.

Lighten up. =) It is true that some people can eek out a deeper meaning in more abstract forms of communication; some people come out of a play going, "Okay, Tom ran away from his home, then screwed Lily underneath a tree in a park, then his brother came and got him, and they both went home." Some people (note I'm not saying better people, or more sophisticated, or more intelligent people) come away from some plays with the suspicion or hypothesis that the playright was making snide social commentary on social disenfranchisement brought on by the increased population growth of the suburbs. Anybody who looks down on anybody else for not interpreting art or theatre at the level the artist is intending to communicate is really no different than people who suspect everybody that likes 'arthouse' art is a snobby elitist .. you're both missing the point. Live and let live.

That said, I saw the movie, and I didn't think it was even meant to be particularly deep. I was annoyed by the dialog, but in its defence it was clearly translated, and not very successfully it would appear.

Funny comic, but coming from an arts background and knowing the scene pretty well, these 'art snobs' I hear so much are pretty damn rare (and I've never ever EVER seen one in a beret, lol.) It does seem to be a stereotype that lots of people can agree to hate tho .. it brings us together. :)

Re:My impressions of Elephant's Dream.

[symbolic]

But did anyone think that story was any good?

I did, for several reasons. Perhaps the most salient is that it wasn't the typical sugar-coated, start-to-finish, spoon-fed, junk. It was thought-provoking, and open to interpretation. This doesn't work with a lot of people, but it's only because they're too young to understand it, or they're old enough, but fail to allow themselves to think in more abstract terms.

3D needs better-written [books].

[Anonymous Coward]

"Blender hardly needs improvement (though the new particle/hair stuff is insanely cool,) it's the tutorials that need major improvement. You're not teaching anyone anything when you don't explain why you do this cut or select this part of the mesh. If you can't teach people the whys and hows, nobody can learn it. "Do this, do that" does nothing."

You do realize that there are nonprogram-specific books on modeling, don't you? They'll give you the "why". The "how" comes from understanding your tools. Everything after is just practice.