The reason there isn’t a lot of high quality work being done in Blender is not because the software isn’t up to it, it’s because the people that create high quality animation don’t use it.

There is unfortunate reality that all of us, myself included (a recent convert), in the Blender community must face. Blender was previously regarded as a joke by people who worked professionally.

I grew up in Hollywood and have worked in various capacities in the movie industry for a long time. Trust me, if I walk into an effects house, or animation house, and ask for a job, the first question they are going to ask me is, “How well do you know Maya?” This has happened to me! Now if I answer, “She’s really cute, I really like her. Oh, by the way I know Blender inside and out, forwards and backwards. Wanna see my reel?” they are going to show me the door.

The new Blender has a chance to change all that. The interface and tools are no longer a joke compared to Maya and Max. What we need to do is evangelize like crazy, and get everyone to start using it, and to switch over. Then, and only then, will more high quality work like this start getting done in Blender. I’m a believer now, but we have a long way to go fellow Blenderites.

The problem was, to be honest, the entire package was viewed as a Joke. That’s not to say that it didn’t have some good tools in it. But, most people never got past the interface to even check out the tools. That’s just reality.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on how good Blender was before the overhaul, but even the latest version is missing many things that have been standard in Max for years. For example Blender really needs a character animation module that let’s you just drop in skeletons and apply motions to them. Not just human skeletons either. Something like “Biped” in Max. There are other examples, but to be taken seriously, we all need to view the new Blender as starting over from scratch. Blender is now where Max was years ago.

This is meant as constructive criticism. I’m a Blender convert. I’ve used Max for years, but I’m spending hours every day doing tutorials for Blender now.

There is one thing I should have mentioned in my previous post. If I do my graphics on Blender and sit down with a client who is spending a million dollars on a 30 second commercial, and he says “what program are you using? I haven’t seen it before.” And I reply “Blender.” If he knows it’s a free program, than I’m gonna have to launch into an explanation into why I’m not using some expensive software suite. Free, is not necessarily a good thing in the minds of execs in the “Biz.” They view expensive as good, and a sign that you are delivering the best work possible.