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Using Blender for Android

24

Blender for Android hasn't been updated for almost a year and I almost forgot it was there. You can still download it from Blender.org though, and Dimitris shows us how it works.

  • Part1: A small videotutorial on Android.
  • Part2: How to install Blender on Android.
  • Part3: Some thoughts about what is and what could be.

What are your thoughts on the Android port? Does it make sense to use Blender on such a tabled? Do they have enough CPU/GPU power to do some real work on it, or is this just a gadget?

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.

24 Comments

  1. I think not only does it make sense but it is necessary. I find myself in places away from the studio discussion animation ideas. Having blender on an android device could help with pre-project planning, i.e. simple scene setup, etc. I do that job on my less powerful laptop which is boring to carry around all the time. A phablet is much beter

  2. I did those scenes using only Spacedraw, PSTouch and Artflow, all made on Android. Good modeler but no UV Unwrap. Means I had to unwrap manually each and every face avoiding stretches. Screenshot the manually unwrapped mesh. Then wrap it back vertex by vertex on the original ! Unwrap takes days litteraly on some objects. When it could take me minutes with blender.
    Do I think blender on Android is necessary ? FUCK YEAH !!! :) There's a huge open market there. So many modelers are waiting for a pro modeler...

    [IMG]http://mcassar.free.fr/spacedraw/LowJpg/Spacedraw 23-SWCorridor02.jpg[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://mcassar.free.fr/spacedraw/LowJpg/Spacedraw%2026-TowerDefense.jpg[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://mcassar.free.fr/spacedraw/LowJpg/Spacedraw%2027-ChairTutorial.jpg[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://mcassar.free.fr/spacedraw/LowJpg/Spacedraw%2028-ShadowGun.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://mcassar.free.fr/spacedraw/LowJpg/Spacedraw%2028-ShadowGun(map).jpg[/IMG]

  3. Thinking it's great! Not the main work but have considerable time only with my tablet at hand. Since it's with a stylus can do a lot with, what would be, useless time. Like said on others comment some sketch work is done this way.

  4. Michael Zapata on

    I think its a great idea use blender in Android, especially for the sculpt part.

    I just Download and run the app in my tablet, and... its running OK, but the interaction whit the program isn't correct, i don't have a right click in Android and the hotkeys aren't useful if the keyboard does not appear.

    I hope they can fix that :)

    • you HAVE a right click on Android. It's a long tap. All the programs use it. To make menus appear, select areas and so on. You come from the world of (crap) Apple (burp) obviously ;)
      Tap = left clic
      long tap = right clic (equivalent to)

      • I tried that in a Galaxy note 10.1 and in a galaxy note 3 but it doesn't work for me
        I hope it can be included a multi-touch for the app, or buttons in the side for a better management of the program. :)

      • Mark E Raymond on

        Yes yes Yes . It's 2021. I've just updated my tablet so I can use it to draw and scratch out my ideas. If I could afford an Microsoft studio laptop that I can take with me to the parks or when I am away from my main graphics computer, I'd be in heaven. I am going to try and load the Blender software backdoor to the android tablet i just bought in hopes to work on stuff when I am out and about. I failed to find a high resolution graphics drawing tab with display that is affordable and not dependent on a windows laptop or desktop to work.
        My android tablet now has a keyboard and am in hopes I'll be able to use a blender version which i am going to be able to transfer projects to my stationary system. I've been fiddling with blender for some maybe 10 years now and am in hopes to use it to create some finished projects with it .
        My limitations have come from the lack of portable access to it as I have been using low functioning software and end up losing my work as it can't transfer well to blender.

    • Yeah, There are a ton of android box's out there with 2gb of ram and 8 gig of storage space. That means for 30 dollars a person can have a small blender 3d station and learn how to do things to change there lives.

    • Yeah, There are a ton of android box's out there with 2gb of ram and 8 gig of storage space. That means for 30 dollars a person can have a small blender 3d station and learn how to do things to change there lives.

      An android Blender 3d box would be great to setup for someone

  5. I just got a Note 3 and have greatly appreciated it's "spen" with it have a sort of icon to see where the pen is hovering and a button on the pen itself I kinda find it hard to belive that it wouldn't be the go to device for such an exquisite application as Blender.

    One of the reasons I got the Note 3 is because I had figured someone had to have ported or made it possible to use efficiently for the reasons mentioned.

    I saw a video of someone useing a newer version of Backtracks on the Note 3, at least it seemed to be. He used a few apps to show it worked. At this point I changed my question to could I not only install blender but the O.S..

    Sense then I have looked at several roms but I then began to wonder what it would be like if an O.S. was built, not redesigned or repackaged but built with the soul thought of virtual design. With the condition of it working on the Galaxy Notes because of its "mouse".

    Now to install and see what happens...

  6. Please help me, I downloan blender on my samsung tablet, but I have got problem,
    1 I cannot move the mesh with mouse using 3d corsore,
    2 I don't know like selection the face on edit move for extrude the mesh.
    I cannot do panning and zoom with the mouse ecc..........but morever how can you use blender on android in efficient way?

  7. Hi, i am a little confused. that link contains only blenderPlayer, my understanding is that this is not used to edit but only to view files. How do i access the editor?

  8. Matthew Wilson on

    I find myself at times with small projects (I make add-ons for a PC sim) with lightweight numbers of polygons and it would be a great use of time I have to be able to use a tablet version of Blender and then finalise the projects from a batch of 80% complete projects that otherwise would not have even got started.

  9. I didn’t even knew there was a port. Amazing! The only problem is that I’m a iOS user (besides I prefer android) but I’ve been thinking on trying to reverse engineer the port and alter it with features from the newest Blender version, And maybe add multi touch? Idk but if I manage to do it, I plan to also port it to iOS. Thank you so much for telling us about this! I can’t wait to get my hands on Android Studio and edit the app to make it slightly better!

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