The Blender.org webserver has been down for over a day. Planet Blender reports.

Continue Reading 'Blender.org down - some information' »

(submitted by Jordan Harris) Knowing a lot about a piece of software is one thing, but being able to explain it clearly and concisely through a tutorial is another.

William Chamberlin has recently released a fabulous tutorial on creating a realistic render of LDraw bricks. (LDraw is a virtual  library of 3D LEGO parts) It's well-written and easy to follow, so check it out.

Continue Reading 'Making Photo-Realistic Lego Bricks in Blender' »

(Submitted by Chris Want) How do you ensure that your Suzanne heads stay fresh and crispy for longer? If André Susano Pinto has his way, it will be done using his Shrinkwrap modifier! André (aka jaguarandi) is developing this modifier as part of his Google Summer of Code project. Alright, maybe this modifier won't keep your Suzanne heads fresh, but it is particularly suited for shaping clothing for models, among other applications.

Continue Reading 'Summer of Code Shrinkwrap Modifier Project' »

The first SIGGRAPH reports are starting to come in. Claas Kuhnen is maintaining a photo diary.

Continue Reading 'First Glimpses from SIGGRAPH!' »

After last week's call for a new header we received almost 30 submissions! I've picked the 10 best and added them to the site.

All of them? Yes! Several people have suggested rotating through the header images automatically, so I've added this function to the site. Instead of displaying a new image with each pageview though, I've chosen to display a new image every day. That should make browsing faster and I think it's a bit easier on the eyes.

To see the 'winners', see below! (Oh, and adding new images is a breeze, so keep 'em coming!)

Continue Reading 'New Headers Selected, Header Rotator Added' »

(Submitted by Chris Want) This summer the Blender text editor is getting some love, thanks to the 2008 Google Summer of Code program. Student Ian Thompson (aka quorn) is working on a project to improve Blender's python editing capabilities, which is based on a system of 'text plugins'.

Continue Reading 'Summer of Code Python Editor Project' »

We could use a fresh header image here at BlenderNation! If you have a cool Blender design and you'd like to enjoy a few weeks of fame, read on.

Continue Reading 'We need a new header!' »

For the last seven months I've been freelancing for a startup called Shapeways. Our mission is simple: we will make 3D printing (or 'rapid prototyping') accessible for everyone. Just upload your model as STL, Collada or X3D and we can produce it for you in a number of different materials.

Three of us have a history with Blender and used to work for Not a Number, so there's a lot of Blender work going on here in the office. It's a tough job ;-)

We're still in private beta, but I'll be giving away 500 invitations (more about that below).

Continue Reading 'Shapeways: 3D Printing for the Masses, Contest' »

Issue 106 of 3D World is themed around free and open-source software. Editor Jim Thacker sent us a few opening spreads and as a bonus, he threw in the full article they published on Big Buck Bunny in issue 103. I love these guys ;-)

Continue Reading 'Big Buck Bunny, Apricot in 3D World Magazine' »

The Virtual Museum of Computers in Ciudad Real, Spain, offers a walk through the history of computers. Next to their display of a cool array of old computers, they have also created a virtual walkthrough, using Blender in the process. And guess what: they're offering .blend files of all their models under a Creative Commons license. I talked to the technical director of the project, Carlos González Morcillo, who explained how they used Blender.

Continue Reading 'Virtual Museum of Computers, Offers .Blend Library' »

The second edition of the 'Blender Magazine Italia' has been released. In this issue they cover rendering with Indigo, designing for rapid prototyping, using Blender alongside with Autocad and more. Enjoy!

Earlier this afternoon BlenderNation went down. Exactly 20 minutes after reporting the issue, our ISP had replaced a broken power supply and everything was back to normal. I think that deserves a pat on the back: Anywise have provided us with great service for years and they're always available if I need help. Cheers, guys!

Image: 'Lights Out' by Amitubal, via Flickr [cc license]

"This issue we take a look at using Blenders post processing tools as well as explore some tips and tricks to make your lighting more impressive. And as a special treat we hear from not one, but two Blender authors as they talk about their new books."

So grab your copy today.

Continue Reading 'Blenderart Magazine #17 now available - "Lights, Camera, Action!"' »

Vladimir Vichegzhanin and Dmitry Balezinu have published a Russian Blender Magazine. The first issue counts 39 pages and it's stuffed with tutorials and art. It will make a great read for any Russian Blender user!

Continue Reading 'Russian Blender Magazine Released' »

Christian Storay has released Blender Commander, a GUI for Blender's command-line interface. It's not open source, but free to use - as this is just an exercise I can understand that he doesn't want to release the code (yet?). At this moment, it's Windows-only but a Linux version has been planned.

Continue Reading 'Blender Commander Released' »

The newly formed Bloomington Blender Users Group will be kicked off tonight at 7pm. That's TODAY, so drop your work and get in your car if you're in the area!

Continue Reading 'Bloomington Blender Users Group Meetup, Thursday July 24th' »

A group of Russian Blender enthusiasts have picked up the task of translating 'Essential Blender' into Russian. As the content of the book has been released under a Creative Commons license, I'm actually surprised that we don't see more initiatives like this!

Continue Reading 'Russian Translation of Essential Blender in Progress!' »

Tony Mullen will be hosting a series of Blender-related workshops and presentations in Bogota, Colombia this August. It seems like BlenderHeads are being invited to show up all over the world these days. Time to post my résumé somewhere ;-)

Continue Reading 'Tony Mullen Workshops, Colombia, August 2008' »