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Blender 2.57 Released

152

The Blender Foundation has just officially released Blender 2.57. This version is a milestone, as it's the first so called 'stable' release of the new Blender 2.5 series.

The Blender Foundation writes:

The Blender Foundation and online developer community is proud to present Blender 2.57. This is the first stable release of the Blender 2.5 series, representing the culmination of many years of redesign and development work.

We name this version "Stable" not only because it's mostly feature complete, but especially thanks to the 1000s of fixes and feature updates we did since the 2.5 beta versions were published.

The next 2 months we will keep working on finishing a couple of left-over 2.5 targets and we expect to get feedback and bug reports from users to handle as well. If all goes well, the 2.58 version then can be the final release of the 2.5 series, with a massive amount of new projects to be added for an exciting cycle of 2.6x versions. Target is to release updates every 2 months this year.

Congratulations, everyone! And, oh yeah, it has to be said: ugliest splash screen ever! :)

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About the Author

Avatar image for Bart Veldhuizen
Bart Veldhuizen

I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.

152 Comments

  1. Congratulations!!!

    Thank you very much for all your efforts, blender is better than ever now!
    I've been using 2.57 RC2 for a couple of days and it feels great

    I'm very happy we have now a new stable version after so many time, it really looks and feels great!

  2. Nice! Now who wants to bet there will be a 2.57a in a few days/weeks? ;-) Seems like there are lots of bugs found right after each official major release.

  3. I kinda like the splash screen but I think it would be better with a single-solid color background.
    I've also yet to see a chameleon with human eyes! Kinda creepy imho. And why all the addresses
    and signatures there? Weird choice...

    Glad to have a stable 2.5x version! Thank you BF and everyone involved for the hard work. Yay!

  4. The only thing I don't particularly like in the splash is the background, I somehow prefer the original version with a black background that was presented on the contest. Besides that I consider it a great idea, it's impossible go wrong with a smiley chameleon with blender colors... it's like if the blender logo as morphed in a chameleon and it actually displays allot of blender features. I'm impressed! Congratulations! ;)

    And congratulations to everyone that worked all this years to deliver everyone such a mesmerizing powerful package (not exaggerating nor Fan..gerating). Fells good working completely legal ;) Thank you very much blender developers!

  5. Hurray !!

    Time to let go of dear old 2.49 for real now ..

    2.57 is a whole new adventure .. looking forward to following project Mango now!

    Thanks again Blender devs and community, awesome job !

    Cheers,
    ______
    JG

  6. still missing several things I like.
    -Effect particles with an image.
    -when loop-cutting, no stats such as how many cuts you'll make or what % you are offset.
    makes it tricking if you need to make many cuts. or need it cut 20% from the 'left'.
    -(never added but always bothered me) you can apply Hair particles, but not Emitter particles.

  7. Amazing - Just downloading it ...
    Cant wait to test and use it.

    Thanks to all Devs for your great work an all efforts - YOU ARE GREAT !!!

  8. David Haymond on

    Yeah!!! Finally, a stable 2.5 release! It's looking great. I'm so excited for the future of Blender development!

  9. Congratulations and thanks to Ton, and all the people who tirelessly make Blender a better tool day after day.

    Let's buy something from the Blender e-shop to show our gratitude with something more... tangible than words ;)

  10. GentlemanGerman on

    Fantastic, can't wait to get home tonight, download and test a finally stable release...been looking forward to this through the so many revision and bug fix releases

  11. Why don't like this splash screen? It's a metaphore of blender versatility. Blender is like a chameleon - related to it's multi-purpose role in current design world. From 3D raytraced animation, by engineering stuff, and capabilities to simulate physics, splash screens, video edition to mesh exporting for openGL apps. Think about it.

  12. I'm really a big fan of Blender this is a great tool for artist and getting better every day.

    That splash screen has got to go. Was this really the winner?

    Congrats and well done.

  13. it doesn't seem to load properly! it's crashing just before the splash screen part, 2.56 works fine with me, what do you guys think could be the problem? my laptop??

  14. why are there things still missing?

    It's like those involved got hit over the head and now there is a blind spot...

    anyway 2.5b should have everything. So close but yet so far.

  15. I'm sorry but every time I open Blender now it will be there. Staring at me with that smirk on it's face. It's like its saying "haters gonna hate. You mad?" EVERY TIME!

  16. I tried the Fcurve fix option under help and received the following:

    location:: -1

    SyntaxError: unexpected EOF while parsing

    DataPathBuilder(tuple()).
    File"", line 1
    data_path_builder = eval("DataPathBuilder(tuple())." + data_path)
    File "C:\BLENDE~1.57-\2.57\scripts\modules\animsys_refactor.py", line 132, in find_path_new
    data_path_new = find_path_new(anim_data_base, data_path, rna_update_dict, rna_update_from_map)
    File "C:\BLENDE~1.57-\2.57\scripts\modules\animsys_refactor.py", line 210, in update_data_paths
    animsys_refactor.update_data_paths(data_path_update)
    File "C:\BLENDE~1.57-\2.57\scripts\modules\animsys_refactor.py", line 698, in execute
    Traceback (most recent call last):

    Also one of my game engine files is running at less than 1 fps and has no python errors, works perfect in 2.56.

  17. thanks everyone that work in blender form the first version to now.

    Congratulation its very big happen in blender world.

    i hope continue blender dev to get better software.

  18. Thanks to all the developer of this bad-ass software

    Now who says blender is for nobbiest only?

    The Community is celebrating!

  19. It is an incredible accomplishment. So many people volunteering their time to provide the world with a professional open source 3d software suite. How could anyone complain, about anything, really? Phenomenal job with the who project. I look forward to contributing. Thanks again!

  20. I very grateful for the official release. However the fracture function does not work. Also it would have been nice to include the ocean sim modifier.

  21. Long have we awaited this glorous day! Celebrate all devs for your huge coding achievements! Celebrate all users for the kick ass that we can now download and drool upon! Celebrate all who shall see the awesome works of art that we shall create with this... right after we all form a lynch mob and burn that splash screen, kicking and screaming down to the very depths of Hades, itself. Seriously, there were at least half a dozen entries that were far better than this..

    Still. Great job everyone. Spread the word, and with a bit of luck we'll get a new splash in 2.57a

  22. I like the splash. Blender 2.57 - the mischievous chameleon. Makes sense to me.

    And on a personal note, may I add...

    THANK YOU FOR THE RELEASE AND ALL THE BRILLIANT WORK!!! I LOVE BLENDER!!!

    I wish the Blender Foundation had an aerospace division. I want to be the first Blendonaut in space. Or the second, or nine-hundred and eighty-fifth.

  23. Fantastic !

    This is a great day: good luck Blender 2.5x !
    And congratulations to all the devs behind this !

    And i like the splash...

  24. Hooray! :) Congrats to everyone involved!

    If you really don't like the splash screen you could make a custom build with another one and put it on graphicall ;)

    What is the status of the render25 branch? The "Only works with Approximate gather method" text at Indirect Lighting is so sad to look at.

  25. Huh?
    No Bevel, no Knife, no Ngons.. STILL?!?!
    Congratulations indeed -- that's truly groundbreaking for modern day 3d software.

    ...but who cares..
    I mean it's stable, right?..

  26. Where is the 2.57 download? Whatever link i press, it always leads me to the 2.49 version. Downloaded it nevertheless to see if it is the 2.57 afterall but the installwizard also says 2.49.
    I'm on windows 32-bit

  27. True, the splash screen is a disaster...
    but the news is great! :)
    I'm glad svg importer is back and working perfectly!
    Although it has to be enabled in the add-ons list first.

  28. @meh..: Knife is "K+left mouse button", and there is something called F-gon "Ctrl+F then Make F-gon". But bevel is only available as a modifier

  29. Campbell Barton (ideasman42) on

    @atr1337, can you report a bug, I cant redo the problem (and would like to fix it!)

    @meh, no new modeling features is no surprise, this wasn't a target for the first stable release.

  30. Congratulations to the Blender Foundation and every external contributors to continuous development of the amazing application that is Blender.
    Impressive to see how much bugs have been crushed since the start of 2.5 up to this "stable" 2.57

    Good luck for the next steps at implementing the always missing 2.49b usefull functions and scripts for the planned 2.58.

  31. Wow, actually, just tested the knife for the first time in a while and that multicut option is pretty cool! It may not be new, but I don't remember ever seeing it before, so it's definitely more accessible/obvious than it used to be.

  32. One minor thingy: On previous versions when I wanted to scale and move something the cursor could move past the screen and come in from the other side (hope it makes sense) letting me move and scale infinitely. Now when I'm trying the same thing, cursor gets stuck on the screen side stopping the scale/move by not going any further. Why has that changed and is there a way to fix/adjust it on the user pref?
    Had my first crash today too. It happened when I changed a material in an object that was part of an object group. Group was used for a hair particle simulation (i.e. I'm making a grass & flowers scene). I changed the material in one of the flowers and when I tried to render again Blender crashed.

    I would like to thank -again- the BF and the devoted coders and artists from around the world that made this awesome 3D suite possible!
    Greetings from Greece!

  33. Hello,
    Whenever I try to edit 3d Text Blender 2.57 Shuts down.

    I am using Blender 64 Bit r36147m (THIS RELEASE) on MAC OSX INTE 10.5.8 64 Bit

    Here is my Log file

    4/14/11 7:49:58 AM [0x0-0x4c04c].org.blenderfoundation.blender[391] trying to save homefile at /Users/scott/Library/Application Support/Blender/2.57/config/startup.blend ok
    4/14/11 7:49:58 AM [0x0-0x4c04c].org.blenderfoundation.blender[391] new gesture len: 48 0x115bf7198
    4/14/11 7:49:58 AM [0x0-0x4c04c].org.blenderfoundation.blender[391] gesture rect new len: 16 0x11dfc8648
    4/14/11 7:49:58 AM [0x0-0x4c04c].org.blenderfoundation.blender[391] Error: Not freed memory blocks: 2
    4/14/11 7:49:58 AM [0x0-0x4c04c].org.blenderfoundation.blender[391] Blender quit
    4/14/11 7:50:26 AM com.apple.launchd[137] ([0x0-0x4d04d].org.blenderfoundation.blender[396]) Exited abnormally: Abort trap
    4/14/11 7:52:49 AM com.apple.launchd[137] ([0x0-0x4e04e].org.blenderfoundation.blender[404]) Exited abnormally: Abort trap
    4/14/11 7:58:02 AM com.apple.launchd[137] ([0x0-0x51051].org.blenderfoundation.blender[416]) Exited abnormally: Abort trap
    4/14/11 8:00:09 AM com.apple.launchd[137] ([0x0-0x54054].org.blenderfoundation.blender[431]) Exited abnormally: Abort trap

  34. no one seem to bother to answer my query..2.57 doesn't work, it crashes upon start up, what could be the problem?, i tried both the zip and the dedicated installer, both failed...

  35. Firstly let me say a huge thanks to the Devs and Ton for the job they are doing. I've checked the list of things they fixed for this realease. Really impressive.

    I'm pretty sure that the whole community is really grateful for your efforts. I'll be using the 2.5 series a bit more now and hoping that the ongoing developpement goes well.

    With that stable realease, I do hope that software like Yafaray, Ogre 3d and others are going to be added to the list of addon with less diffuculties.

    I wish you guys all the best for what you are planning for us in the future.

    A little request from my part. Pretty sure that the 2.5 series and in the future 2.6 have and will have impressive features. If the documentation to those features could be made that would change my life. A brief explanation and if possible an example. I know that its a huge job too. But I admit that sometimes I a bit lost trying to do new things. Thx

  36. Greta work guys - more excitement to keep me in my seat all through lunchtime! But what a shame that NetRender still doesn't seem to work fully. All the networking bit works seamlessly, both slaves' processors are maxed out at 100% just as they should be... but the client never shows any progress and the .exr frames that the slaves create are all solid black. :-(

  37. @ the Blender Dev's:
    Thank you VERY much for your hard work and dedication.
    2.57 is a joy to use.
    Awesome job!

    @ the splash screen haters:
    User prefs
    interface tab
    lower right
    uncheck "show splash" if you don't want to look at the splash screen.
    sheesh...

    @gab (& others)
    When did the comments section of a release announcement become the place to report bugs/crashes? When did the Blender dev's obtain the mind reading skills to discern the source of your crash using what little info you give them? "I get a crash." and "Is it my notebook?" is hardly what I call standard troubleshooting info. I guess they need to figure out what type of system, and what OS you're using by osmosis or "spidy-sense".

  38. The people who are telling the splash screen haters to stop complaining and just turn it off are failing to understand that it's not necessarily a personal dislike of the chameleon image that is the primary concern.

    Blender has long been trying to improve its reputation amongst the users of other 3D apps such as Max/Maya/Softimage/Modo/Lightwave/etc. And so, one of the main reasons for the 2.5 overhaul was to make Blender's UI and work flow acceptable to them. But when those users hear that Blender is now ready to be taken seriously with version 2.5, and they take the time to try it, the first thing they will see is an image that will confirm their prejudice and help to convince them that Blender is still not up to professional standards.

    A brand's image is influential and first impressions make a big difference. I already love Blender and I'm well aware of its power as a tool for creating professional quality work. But it's not existing users like me who need convincing.

    Blender has advanced greatly, but this latest splash screen image is a sad step backward when compared to the better ones from previous versions...

    http://blendertotal.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/splash-screen-245-blender-3d/

    PS: Many many thanks to the developers. Your hard work and generosity is greatly appreciated.

  39. I really like the new splash screen and think those who consider it bad for blender are pretty silly.

    Assuming it'll keep people from trying blender seems pretty unsupportable to me. Not everyone shares your particular biases people.

  40. Congratulations to the entire development team and all the artists involved in making great films, while testing this amazing new version of our beloved Blender. I'm looking forward to making a lot of animations with this version. Onwards and upwards towards 2.6!

  41. Again, thanks sooooo much to the developers and the community.
    About the SPLASH screen, it not to bad, BUT wasn't there supposed
    to be a contest for the new Splash screen just a few weeks ago ????
    What happen to that project? Again just a question. This splash isn't
    to bad anyway.

    A little question to you pros out there, I've been using blender for a few years,
    but not intensively, and I just downloaded the HOT new and Stable 2.57 release
    to give it a try, but when I went to create a basic fluid sim, it wasn't working.
    And then a short of pre-made fluid anim started animating, and yes I deleted
    my previous cache/tmp folder, I actually deleted the Blender folder actually before
    installing that new Hot release. Just was wondering what is going on there. I'm
    I doing something wrong. I look around a bit and found that the Rc version before
    this release had a similar bug, but supposedly got fixed... ?

    Than in advance to anyone that could help.

    Again, great work and a BIG thank you to all :-)

  42. @Jon, who the heck cares about the splash when evaluating software to use professionally? (hears crickets) Yeah... sorry you don't like it as a hobbyist who hasn't made much more than a cube, but for my business & game development needs I am glad to see this stable release out so we can begin migration to it.

  43. Anonymous Coward on

    @gab I assume you are using Windows. Try to install Blender with a pathname containing no non-ASCII characters. Make sure the path of your user profile where the scripts, config and plugins are located do not contain any non-ASCII characters as well. It's probably something to do with the included Python. The bug was already reported during RC stage and is under investigation by the developers. The beta version 2.56 which is using the previous Python version 3.1 doesn't have this problem.

  44. Man! a new blender is super cool!
    But Why they chose the worst image they could get. Seriously isn´t there a way to customize my blender to get rid of that weird, unrealistic, amateur image, PLEASE. I saw the thread to participate in and they had at least 30 EXCELLENT IMAGES to choose from and they put this s....stuff man! Do you know a blind guy shouldn´t do this job.
    For example, the one that had the hexagons was superb, also the wolkswagen one, just to mention a few.

    REally, I don´t want to whine about these things, but MAN! this one will degrade how the people outside blender see the quality of this grat program. PLEASE change that image for one more well composed, color schemed and better rendered or at least add a way to change the splashscreen ourselves to brag comfortably about the application we love. Please be serious about the selection.

    And I remark I´m not complaining about the artist, I´m sure he/she tried his/her best to get a really good picture but sorry it´s not good enough. Also I don´t know which where the topics they considered to select this image either. But I thik this one was not good enough. Not to be rude or something but I glanced at the image and a second after I yawned

    Well after all that trash I trew, I want to say the RC2 is coming great so I think this one will come just fine as spected in all the topics.

    Anyway great work programers, sorry for that "splashed screen".

  45. @zelif & terrachild:
    A big-titted 3D chick? good marketing? The moment that happens i switch to Houdini permanently. I must be getting old i guess.

  46. I agree with Jon's comments above - the splash screen might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of Blender, the application. But the chameleon image looks crude and unfinished to me, poking me in the eye for all the wrong reasons. It still says little about Blender's wide feature set.

    Please can one of those skilled Sintel artists just throw something together in 10 minutes (it's bound to be better than the chameleon!) - or can we have all splash screen submissions put on a web page with a vote taken from users?

  47. @sewtrol
    It's all a matter of taste really, I guess. I must admit that I kind of like it. It's quirky with those different textures.

  48. You know... if someone decides if an application can get the job done or not based on a splash screen, they deserve to miss out on an excellent tool!

    idjits

  49. Great!
    That is a good news, blender is the most professional open source 3d software. Since then I’ve added articles, tips, tutorials and examples to my website. Thanks to programmers around the world :)

  50. Wow! George Lucas posted a comment everybody!! And he loves the splash screen!

    Of course, George Lucas has questionable taste. Just look at Star Wars Ep. 1-3 and Indy IV. :D

  51. One question. I discovered that the blender 2.57 still doesn´t have the bone groups in the dope sheet (action) editor, the question is to anyone know if they are planning to bring them back? I loved them, they made my workflow match 5 speed.

  52. @Ran13:
    Thanks for telling us how to turn it off. Now tell us of how to get rid of that dull splash (more like Crashing in boredom and amateurness into your face!) screen and replace it with any image I choose, that would be nice. :-)

    Also as @ Jon wrote above, and I quote:
    "The people who are telling the splash screen haters to stop complaining and just turn it off are failing to understand that it’s not necessarily a personal dislike of the chameleon image that is the primary concern.
    Blender has long been trying to improve its reputation amongst the users of other 3D apps..."

    Look at the other apps splash screens they all look taken from a movie or an automobile comercial this one seems taken from a amateur student of animation. (Sorry to the authir, no harm meant:-))

    Yeah @Jessy Why? why they do this things to hurt the app reputation I don´t know maybe they have a brain virus.

    @rogper:
    "it’s impossible go wrong with a smiley chameleon with blender colors… " Man blender is known for making the impossible posibble, so sad they got it so horribly wrong this time.

    "it’s like if the blender logo as morphed in a chameleon and it actually displays allot of blender features." ??
    Where do you see the mischivious chamelion in an orange and blue eye? and also you should know the motto of designers... professional designers: less is more. Meaning dont smash everything in ONE image it will
    be oversaturated. And noone does it! So don´t cramp all the features blender have to offer, only show the ones needed with elegance and style and that´s it, a great image is born.

    @Roofoo:
    I enter the bet. After this It´s obvious they will have to make up to the blender community, at least with the splsh screen complaint. But I don´t get to understand why they write in the roadmap the next step is just to wrap it up, there is sooooooo much room for improvement, :-) A lot of missing tools. I´m not rushed to see it done, only if that mean they take they time to improve it to really get their goals achived.

    And to the haters of screen splash haters, man don´t hate :-P ;-P live happily and trying to correct what is wrong... like this splash screen. :-P

    But seriously how can I customize the splash screen and the materials preview character for any other image/model. Thanks.

    Nice day everybody!!

  53. A one more thing

    @the guy who complaint for us putting our bug report here:

    Have you ever tryed to report a bug? Is so incredibly complex! And what you want to do is to make sure they are aware of that error you encountered. Is like man I have to stand in line fill countless forms wait for confirmation just to buy a taco. Then you say Man I´m outta here.

    obviouslysomeone realted to the blender foundation must watch these posts, and is easier just to post your bug report here than going to a whole process in the bug tracker.

    Suggestion:
    Well more than a suggestion iis a question. Isn´t there possible to the blender crew to add a bug report as almost any other app has?.

    Thanks

    Nice day people. NICE DAY!! .-)

  54. Thanks!! That's nice .

    Hey, What happen to ocean sim modifier?
    It should come with ocean sim modifier.
    Will it upcoming with ocean sim modifier in the future? It would be nice if it include.
    Thanks

  55. Chrome Monkey on

    Re: That dang splash screen:

    I prefer to think of it as truth in advertising... Version 2.57 was "the transitional overhaul", and we get a "transitional" creature on the graphic. Blender 2.58 will add some polish and then version 2.6 will throw in all the shock and awe stuff, with B-mesh and all the rest. The splash screens for those subsequent releases had better underscore all of this in a big way though!

  56. To all those who suggest that the splash-screen might turn off potential new users: I followed the thread about this new release over on CGsociety and so far nobody even mentions the splash-screen, despite the fact that it was prominently displayed by the Original Poster. They just talk about wether this release is an improvement or not (most think yes) and wether it's worth it to have a look at it.

  57. @JeronM
    Ho ieronM you are still missing the point. People at CGSociety ALREDY KNOW AND LIKE BLENDER.
    The issue is with the newcomers. Specially those who are wondering in which program to become pros.

    The first impression is the most important.

  58. @Sewtrol
    Missing the point? No I think not. For the past 6 or 7 years I've been following the threads at CGSociety. Not the Blender-forum mind you, but the General Discussion and CGnews.
    They know Blender? Yes
    They like Blender? Up to 2.49 certainly not everybody especially the pros. Only now with this new redesign i've noticed some shift.

  59. @DimitrisC yes, there is a way to fix the cursor problem (the cursor being limited within the screen) in user pref. User Preference>Input> Continuous Grab(Under the mouse options, tick "continuous grab")

  60. Thank God for Blender...Thanks Blender developers...Thanks Blender contributors!!!

    STUPID QUESTION OF THE DAY:
    With both the 32bit and 64bit version of blender installed, how can I tell (from within blender) which version I'm actually running. The splash screen for blender 2.57 doesn't say "64bit" or "32bit", and the user preferences that I've set are appearing in both the 32 and 64 bit versions.

    I finally got LuxRenderer up and running and I just want to know that I've actually got it working in both the 32 and 64 bit version of blender2.57.

  61. Rodrigo Silva on

    @scatman: Assuming you're using windows: just go to the task manager (ctrl+shift+esc) and look at the "process" table. If you are running the 32-bit version, you will see a "blender.exe*32" item on the list. Otherwise, it will just be "blender.exe"

  62. Tiago Pereira on

    BEVEL tool (not modifier) one of the most important tools for all good artist work flow, and again is missing!

  63. I like the new updates but I am having a problem anytime I try to edit text, Blender crashes, what can I do to fix it?

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