Blender 2.43 Released, Blender.org Redesigned
Well, this wasn’t easy but it looks like it’s done: Blender 2.43 has been released and we (finally!) have the new blender.org website online. This release is already dubbed by Ton as the ‘Multi’ release because there are so many Multi functions: multi-resolution Meshes, multi-level UV, multi-layer images and multi-pass rendering.
2.43 Release
Lots of goodies here – check out the 2.43 release log to get an impression of just how much has changed. Also, for the first time we have a series of Feature Videos demonstrating the power of some of the most important new features. Very cool stuff. Download 2.43 now!
Website
A lot has changed behind the scenes: obviously we redid the entire website with a design by Matt Ebb. We also have a new webserver for the website dubbed ‘Emo’ (the new projects box will be ‘Proog’) and we’ll say goodbye to our old faithful Xserve. Marco has spent a lot of time getting this box installed.
We also have three separate download servers (not counting our international mirrors), bringing our total download capacity up to 300mb. Slashdot and Digg? Bring ’em on!
So! I guess we’ll now have to make sure Ton remembers to buy us a dinner :-)
Thanks to everyone who was involved and to the rest of you: enjoy!
f
You can download the rigid body physics demos for Blender 2.43 here:
http://www.continuousphysics.com/Bullet/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=752
At this same link, it provides information how to win a Playstation 3 with Blender in a new ‘Rube Goldberg’ contest.
Happy Blending!
Hey this is great that 2.43 is being released! I can’t wait to download it and also to see the new blender.org website. Unfortunately I’m getting a ‘404 Not Found’ error on the provided links, and http://www.blender.org is failing to show anything besides a white screen… I’m hoping it’s just extraordinarily high demand. Maybe the “Slashdot and Digg? Bring ‘em on!” quote should still be thought about a bit more? :)
For some reason none of the links will load. Is the system already that bogged down?
No, the new server is not overloaded. We think there’s a DNS issue somewhere but we’re working on it (well, Marco is ;-)
Thank you very much for everyone’s hard work in making this available to myself and other Blender users. I will enjoy all of the new features.
Now I must go and start my download!
Thank Marco for me :D
Whoa, the 404 has now turned into 500 Internal Server Error. Ouch. Also, and I could be wrong, but I think http://blender.org isn’t going where it should be (ie., it isn’t working without the www.).
http://www.blender3d.com also seem to still be on the old site.
Anyway, can’t wait to see the new stuff :)
..i believe you guys get a long night!!!
Happily I downloaded it before…
wow everyone is rushing to get it.Too badd i downloaded it hours before the official one.
blender site still doesn’t work… too bad because many people are waiting biteing their nails :)
unfortunately i am not patient… :) greetings
Howdy everyone. First time poster, long time reader. For those trying to get to blender.org to download, good luck to you. Another option is to look up the google cache of blender.org and get a list of mirrors that way and download 2.43. I’m getting it at around 90k/sec.
Later.
Hey I’m getting the following error when connecting to any of the http://www.blender.org links:
Database Error
The current username, password or host was not accepted when the connection to the database was attempted to be established!
sounds like a pushy end of w.e, guys! Thrilling!
hehe blendersite is overload :D 2 much users @ the same time ;)
At this time, the new Blender web site it’s still “somewhere incognito” :)
Maybe you should return to some “basics”:
Old computer – old Debian Sarge – old Apache – old WordPress ?? :)
Just kidding…thank you to all of you that contribute to this great adventure
Bye
Jep I get the same error.
Hope they fix it soon :)
.:
Mivrex
This is what I get when trying to go to the download page via the link above :
Database Error
The current username, password or host was not accepted when the connection to the database was attempted to be established!
will try again in a little while…
youhou! NIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiceeeeEEEEeeeeeeEEEEEEEEE
what a premier start ;)
reminds me alot about my own website accidents …
I just tried again and got through…it just looks like there’s a lot of traffic. Anyways no Database error for me right now :P
Yes it works now! Great looking layout and colors…
filehippo.com has 2.43 available for downloading.
Couldn’t wait a whil… Tried a few seconds after the post above. Got It ! Yeah ! Going to play now.
nice one. shame about the troubles. if your itchint to play, get 2.43 from http://www.softpedia.com ;)
amazing good news!
simply gorgeous ! congrats… it was worth the little extra wait !
Great! We’ve been waiting a long time for this great update! And it’s a big step further ahead from 2.42 already, sculpt, retopo, render passes, and and and!!
And congratulations to Mathias P, great splash screen!
Really really nice, new site design is a lot easier on the eye and gives Blender a more professional ambience to it. Well done to the designers.
Another congrats to Mathias P for the splash.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D …
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Heppy New Blender!
Cheers!
Prost!
…
juhuuu,
x-mas again!!!!!!!!
thx a lot to all of you keyboard cowboys
blendaaaaaaaaaa
Great job guys, it looks like a labor of love – outstanding to say the least. I just can’t get over now that the splash screen and my wallpaper is the same picture. Must say a due now, many new things to play with!
Wow, the 404 error is ultra cool :) Like the rest of the site, of course!
The new website, that’s what is outstanding! Too excited to think right, and of all things I just zapped my pocket mouse, I’ll have to wait until I get off work now. :(
So many things all at the same time, new Blender version, new web site, new gallery … too much at once ! But hehe, we will survive :-)
Once again, congrats to the Blender team for this great work.
Have fun and bring us some great stuf with this new toy guys
So Mathias, you got it ! Well deserved, congrats ;)
Erwin gets first post on the new site! :)
Excellent work folks on the new Blender version and website!
Mal
I will post later, now I have to download the new release and check out all the software and the website
See ya….
Just dl’ed 2.43. No problems :).
The new site looks great! The ppl at BA could learn from this (and I soooo wish they did!).
That’s one slick site. ;D
finaly I don’t have to switch back and forth between blenders anymore!
Ok. I’m downloading now and I see that the gallery was updated too!!!
See ya
Yay!! Thank you everyone!
Found a broken link on the new website. The Siggraph 2005 reel video link is a broken. Cheers!
Great release, just dugg it.
Little heads-up: the videos in the release log for Composite: UVmap, Displace, IDmask, Zcombine are pointing to the wrong location. The slashes in download/blender/org should be turned into dots.
Anyway, time to blend some more.
Niiice, new release – must download now :)
IMO it would be a good idea if the blender.org page would also link to the wiki somewhere (at least I couldn’t find any link to it yet) …. especially the manual and tutorial sections provide vast amounts of information for new and experienced users.
Outstanding Blow-Mind Job.
Only amateurs would disregard this awesome professional software.
Great work guys =D
Nice surprise for the morning
:(
blender doesn´t work under windows starter edition…
microsoft… brrrrrrrrrrrrr
One can never thank all those people who make it possible for us to enjoy Blender enough. Rest well B@rt : we’ll take it from here… now that it is all fun ;)
I see that there is quite some work left like completing the release notes, reconnecting the links in the help menu to something better than the home page and a lot more than what I know. So rest well, take courage, be happy and hopefully users like me will make you proud of the work you’re doing.
Jean
Grats to all the team!
maybe it’s not such a good idea to push out a website and a release in the same day… lesson learned???
About the new design, I know that blender.org contains loads of information, about documentations, features, websites, communities, source of blender and loads more, but when I checked the new theme, I just went totally nuts about the content readability, it’s horrible. I like the color theme but the content makeup (whatever it’s called) needs defently loads more work as well someone needs to think seriously about how they want to style the content.
Also I think loads of people won’t be really pleased with the width of the website, but well that’s something where people have been arguing about for ages on different websites, schools or companies. Anyways, I like the theme and colors, but that’s all about it, ooh wait and ofcourse the new blender 2.43 which is just awesome.
That was my opinion, I hope you don’t take it too personal, but I just wanted to say it.
Congratulations (opening a Pyramid Hefe Weizen in celebration).
hi all,
please digg here
http://digg.com/software/Blender_2_43_released_with_sculpting_and_other_cool_improvements
so that we can get to the front page of digg and get a huge boost in traffic.
LetterRip
vids don’t work on website
was it 300mb or 300gb Bart? 300mb seems kinda low to me.
http://digg.com/software/Blender_2_43_released_with_new_website
Thats another Digg thread that someone started.
Excellent work guys. The website looks really terrific and the release is as always a great step up. Is it just me or is there more buzz than ever around this release? Very exciting stuff.
The new feature videos are terrific! Excellent idea for documenting new features. One thing I wanted to ask though was, are any of them available for download? I think the flash player suits the site very well, but it would also be nice to study them on my portable vid player… If anybody knows where these can be found please let me know.
Home now and WOW!! There are new videos too!? Get Out!! Now help me out here…seeing that at least some of this has come about because of the Summer of Code with Google…where should one post this most important fruit from so many talented people within the Google machine so the world can see what it is that has come about from last summer? Or is that a bad idea? (NOT!)
In the back of my mind the thought that my SUB controller within my laptop was fried because of the static discharge at work proves to be fouls, thank you Lord! It is good to have a mouse that lives.
With all involved with the new version and website with wives, husbands, kids, dogs, cats or plants thanks again. Spend some time at home, they MUST miss you! I’d love to keep this going but there are a lot of video’s to checkout, later!
I love blender :-)
the only thing i miss is the archive in the art gallery.
while still kind of new to blender i keep being amazed by what you can do with it as well as by the development side of things. so great…
one small suggestion: on the …features-gallery/requirements page it says you need a 3 button mouse. i am still using my one button mouse with this new release and it works just fine. maybe it should be mentioned that you can use blender under os x with the standard apple mouse…? this kind of information might make the difference for mac users when it comes to downloading and trying out blender or not.
Is there a place that shows Blender.org’s server statistics?
For example, what technology is powering the new site? Software/hardware? Is it still Typo3? Was it ever? :)
also, in terms of hits and visits, is it something the BF is comfortable making available to the public?
Just curious about it, as the site seems very fast.
Congrats to all involved, Blender has evolved once again.
Another great release, it seems in almost no time since the last one
So many great new bits to indulge our creative fancy :)
Thanks everyone for your contributions to 2.43 and for the website revamp
speaking of which….I find the new look is well organised but a little difficult to read….sort of like blender artists when it first got its makeover…dunno sorta needs visual separation or something.
Still I know this was a lot of work so I wont complain too loudly ;)
Thanks again people :)
Fantastic, and I love the introduction of the new features video demos, that is really a great addition, one that makes me want to get started with 2.43 right now… ahh, can7t do ’til work is finished, but still a great web design and a great new release from the Devs.
Ahhh – snapping! At last in some serious way!
Wow! So many new stuff in this release, it’s amazing!
It will take me days to explore all the new features.
Also the new blender.org’s design is gorgeous. I find it very clean with a very professional look.
Great job.
Kudos to all the contributors!
Any news on when an x86_64 bit build for linux will be released?
congratulations!
Lokmer: 64 bit version should come when 2.50 is released. (My guessimate is seven months.)
Kodram:
the archives can be reached but it is in a strange fashion. Use the ‘submit an image’ link first : on the page that opens there will be a link to the archives near the top.
I guess that this will be corrected eventually.
Jean
Yes! Another great release! Thanks you all. Can`t wait to check all these new features :)
Hey!
… the Splash Quality Blender 2.43 looks low Quality here:
http://www.deathfall.com/
Can someone from Blender Nation email them to Correct!
all the others looks Great!
and also the link to the oficial New Blender Download Site!
Wierd seing your own picture when you start up Blender… :)
Thanks for the kind words, guys!
And thanks to the developers for getting this release done! Another bulls eye! Great new features!
//Mathias
Ahh I want to see more Feature Videos! :p
And why isn´t the 3d Cursor Lock and the Fullscreenmode included ? =(
Great release!
Sadly, the feature videos won’t work on an open source system. Please consider using a free format.
Excellent! Lot of posts here, wow. :) Good job everyone. =D
Niels, try VLC?
edit: my bad; I suggested VLC before I checked the site and noticed that they are not for download.
WOW! 2.43 is already out? I wasn’t here yesterday to see the countdown, so you guys have given me a very nice surprise. Thanks to all of you great developers!
I assume Bassam’s Mancandy update will run mighty-fine on 2.43.
*does happy release dance again*
Awesome, I’m downloading it right now. When’s the next release? ;-)
2.5 maybe in Summer 2007. ;)
Major sincere thank you to everyone involved! 2.43 is so good! And I love the new website design, just awesome!
Argh… flash video. Why do people use it? For some reason the video stops frequently before it gets done.
Could you please, please, please use an open format for future videos? Flash is annoying, since I can’t store it for later viewing.
I try to download, I just get redirected to http://emo.blender.org/ which is a very white page with boxes and no links working what-so-ever.
Tried using Netscape 8.1, Firefox 2.0.0.1 and IE 6, all with the same results.
Can’t get to the download via the page either. :(
Weird, I’ve got it now.
Just downloaded the lot, let the fun begin :D
Flash can be stored for later viewing. There are many ways to do it if one accepts that google is their friend. :)
I’m getting a 500 error, from blender.org, http://www.blender.org, blender3d.org, and http://www.blender3d.org
It’s rather frustrating. I guess you guys are not very happy at the moment either. Good luck in getting everything up and running soon.
Can anyone get the mac intel .dmg to mount? I’ve downloaded it several times, but I can’t get it to mount on my Mac Pro. I keep getting a “not recognized” error.
chris:
I accept Google as my friend so please tell how one can save these? They seem just first rate but flow so fast as to not make out just what all the menus are being used? Is it possible to slow them down once saved? Will I have to sell my arm and leg to be able to save them?
If you use something like firefox, you can simply find the embedded video From the “page info ->media” and click and download the file from there. There are other ways to capture flash and if you can’t find them, you aren’t looking. Once again, google google google before you assume something cannot be done.
i found changelogs very useful, but now they seem to be gone :( that makes separating brand new features from recent ones harder…
are crap. they’re too fast and they probably have too high bitrate. you can’t control well speed with swf, what about plain od mov, avi thing? just see videotutorials…
Ive been checking Blender since the first days of 2007. What we got here is an 8.5 MB 3D bomb that brings even 3D packs that cost thousands of $ to shame. Ive been using Cinema 4D since ver.5 GO! but this little piece of software here is amazing! I cant find words to thank Ton and the rest of the team.
I just checked out the new gallery, Reyante, youre a beast! Amazing pieces man, original and thought-provoking.
Cant wait to see your future work!
Peace
Drew
Wow! Two great things released at same time!
PS The ED website is down…is that gonna be fixed soon?
The release notes are veeeery impressive.
And the new web site looks good, thanks and congrats to all involved!
Well im like some other people i read lol i keep getting the white screen from the links.I’ve tried blender 2.43 its pretty sweet.
>>This release is already dubbed by Ton as the ‘Multi’ release because there are so many Multi functions: multi-resolution Meshes, multi-level UV, multi-layer images and multi-pass rendering.
Why does this site crap out on quotes within arrows? Really annoying. Anyway, so it’s multi-this and multi-that, but is it multi-threaded?
@vidrazor: Yes, it’s multi-threaded. Has been so for some time.
Look under the scene buttons (F10), in the output tab. There’s a “threads” input field on the left.
//Mathias
BeBraw: Why should the x86_64 version come when 2.50 is released. The only version I’ve got now is 2.41 and that’s a year old now.
A pitty for my processor to calculate on this in 32-bit modus, ah well, maybe it comes sooner than the next big release.
Can anyone get the mac intel .dmg to mount? I’ve downloaded it several times, but I can’t get it to mount on my Mac Pro. I keep getting a “not recognized” error.
If anybody is having this problem…rename the .dmg.bz2 to .dmg and mount it… and it should work.