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If you've ever thought about making professional-quality animations but decided not to because of the cost of the software, your excuse just got up and walked out the door. Blender is a free, open-source 3D rendering program that puts the power of the medium back into the hands of the artist.
Blender features a laundry list of animation essentials that can be broken down into categories: Interface, Modeling, Rigging, Rendering, Animation, UV Unwrapping, Shading, Physics and Particles, Imaging and Compositing, and Real Time 3D/Game Creation. The interface, though loaded with complicated tools, is remarkable for neither obscuring nor interfering with the image being worked on. A brief sampling of tools and functions includes 3D paint for vertex weighing, polygon meshes, 2D and 3D procedural brushes, edge rendering, textures, collision simulation, and support for around two dozen 2D and 3D file formats. Extras can be added with Python scripting, and since it's open source, many scripts can be easily found for download in the user forums.
Blender is not for the faint of heart. Learning to use it is time-consuming and best done by following the detailed tutorials available on the Blender Web site. There is also an extensive online Blender community, making familiarization with the app less painful--if not pain-free. However, none of these detracts from the overall experience or usefulness of the program, and we strongly recommend it for advanced users.
Publisher's Description
From Blender:
Blender is the open-source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. It is available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.Mostly a bug-fixing release, but it also adds a few new features like subsurface scattering (SSS) support and two new composite nodes.
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All versions:
4.0 starsout of 143 votes
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Current version:
4.0 starsout of 17 votes
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My rating:
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"was not what i was looking for...i think"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
it loaded. i opened it ,if i become more knowledgable i may try it again.
Cons
i could not seem to load files to work with , or create anything.it asked me to download additional vyper or something(i did) . software did not seem to have a recognizable workflow .gui was sparse and cryptic.
Summary
i was probably the weak link .i would give it the benefit of the doubt and download it .especially if you are a game developer.ME? i'm just some shmuck that would like to animate his original artwork , and add his original music,narration, foley, and sweetener track .in a usable file format like avi,mp4 ,wmv,flv ,etc..
.apparently i need to up my game a bit. -
"Blender 2.5 it out with User Interface very improved."
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
Long list of features, Ease of Use -- Yes, I mean EASE OF USE Beginning with the New User Interface in 2.5
Cons
The Blender 3D Community is growing, and it should grow faster as it's is integrated with ADOBEs great 3D Engine it has licensed for Flash announced at Adobe MAX 2011, and additionally the "Molehill 3D APIs"
Summary
AutoDesk has its followers entrenched.
But the long term future, I believe, is in the hands of the Open Source Blender 3D project. Adobe's "Hero" SDK for high-performance Mobile Gaming Experience as well as its 4k Full frame-rate Video experience with at time 0% CPU usage, demonstrated at Adobe MAX 2010, shows that there are changes in the wind here. More of us will write Python extensions and more of us will support The Blender Foundation which has brought us short-titles, but of the highest quality and storyline, such as Big Buck Bunny and many others ... see www.Blender.org -
"powerfull opensource 3d software"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
Easy to use and learn
Cons
for me this products is never
Summary
I has experience working with blender more 3 year. its very cool 3d opensource software and use full in every animation production.
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"brilliant product for serious 3d animation enthusiasts"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
professional quality 3d for free. Though i have not seen or tried other professional 3d products to compare on a common platform, but with so much for free, I may never buy anything else. Plenty of learning material on the net, specially blenderwiki.
Cons
steep learning curve, but its worth the effort if you are serious
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"WAY AWESOME!"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
The thing I like best about Blender is really about the teacher I learned from - Super3boy, found on Youtube. With Super3boy, learning & modeling with Blender became easy! I've made models that I could actually import into other home design software.
Cons
The Wiki & Manual for Blender is way too technical and seems to speak ONLY to professionals. Besides, the instructions don't seem to work when applied.
Summary
I LOVE BLENDER! I would recommend it to any designer, artist, gamer, etc. But you MUST learn from Super3boy (nystic.com). Otherwise, good luck.
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"The best 3D software"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
versatility, continuous development, extensibility
Cons
lack of official documentation
Summary
Use blender to six months and I find it absolutely fabulous. Maybe a little complicated for beginners, but once he learned all the features you open the doors on endless creative possibilities.
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"Most powerful Open Source 3D Graphics Application!"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
Lightweight, Powerful and extremely versatile 3D Graphics application. Comes with powerful Sub Division Polygon modeling and Sculpting tools, built in Node Compositor, Bullet Physics, Particle Simulations, Video Editor and a Game Engine!
Cons
When learning it initially, the 2.4 - 2.49 versions of the interface is not very intuitive and it can be very hard for beginners or other 3D application users who wish to transition over to Blender. The next version 2.5 will address this.
Summary
I have used many 3D applications in the past, from 3DS4 for DOS, Softimage, 3dsMax and Maya. When I first used Blender, it was very frustrating because you expect certain functions to work in the same way like the previous commercial 3D applications you are familiar with. I remember putting off learning Blender because of this, but once I decided to push and force myself to learn the unique user interface, I found that it is probably one of the most efficiently designed user interfaces out there. Blender uses short cuts and Tonnes of it, by investing the time and effort to learn it, you will be rewarded with very fast modeling work flows.
Some of the tools included in Blender like the UV unwrap and UV projection painting tools as as good as commercial versions out there. In fact I know a few studios are already using this feature as part of their production pipeline.
Blender, like all 3D Graphics applications has a very steep learning curve, but like learning a language, the more you use it, the better you are going to get. -
"You Really Get What you Pay for"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
Powerful program for free with free updates.
Cons
Terribly inconsistent User Interface where you select with the right click and from there it's a guessing game as to whether you use the Right or Left Mouse buttons to execute a command--extrude, bevel, knife are all examples. Terribly slow.
Summary
Anything I can do in this program I think I can do about 10 times faster in Maya, 3D Studio Max, & Cinema 4D. I've used 4 different 3D modelers and Blender is just not up to the pro standard yet; however, I think it will get there. Blender is good in the sense that it's readily available for free wherever you have internet, but you'll waste more time fighting it than you'll save. I'd really like to see it come a lot further, but if I'm going to waste 10,000 hr extending my processes and turning 10 second commands into 5 minute projects, it's really counterproductive and even more beneficial to pitch down the $4000 for Maya not to mention Cinema 4D which is down to $945 I believe. I wouldn't throw this software out the window entirely, but I would not rely on it in place of the others.
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"Competes with the best of them!"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
1) Make 3D stills
2) Make 3D Video
4) Make 3D Games
5) Edit Video (can even green screen from online tutorials)
6) Import .3ds and other popular formats
7) Extremely powerful modeling
8) Supports popular scripting language (Python)Cons
It is difficult to learn the program, and it takes a while to learn python if you do not know it already. But there are many tutorials online
Summary
This program can easily compete with Maya CInema4D and other expensive 3D programs, but BLENDER IS FREE. Because of its price, In my own opinion, Blender BEATS all other 3D programs. Once I started using it, I never quit using it.
It should install for your computer. If command prompt is blocked it will not work. Also you may want to check www.blender.org for FAQ and support to help your download. As stated by Sharpapotheosis: Don't rate it bad just because YOU cannot download it for YOUR mistakes.
Updated on Apr 30, 2010 -
"It's the best, and free program to animate with!"
Version: Blender 2.49b
Pros
It has water, cloth, particles, and other simulations as well, but it's all free. It supports hd, and the resolution can go up to 10,000 * 10,000 which is extreme high quality. It works on every operating system available.
Cons
Not really anything, except really hard to learn, but once you search for videos at http://www.blendervideos.com/ you can find plenty enough of tutorials
Summary
It's a very powerful software for free. I don't like that it's complicated to find certain things for animating things as in fire... I now know, but it took a ton of searching just to find this.
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