Overview of Blender 2.66
Jonathan Williamson writes:
I’ve put together a set of videos overviewing many of the new features in Blender 2.66, including Dynamic Topology, Rigid Bodies, Usability improvements, the new modifiers, etc.
Link
The Train Toy
Your videos have a very professional feel. Thank you for several new ideas :)
Well… thats because of he is professional :)
the many freezings are missing from this video…
I’m not sure what you’re referring to with “many freezings”?
Great stuff, nice to see all these in a concise format.
nice and smart features, but i had lot of crashes trying to use nodes for compositing or textures…
Fantastic work Jonathan!
I looked at all the overview videos at YouTube. I like what I’m seeing. Blender just keeps getting better and better! Hooray!
Blender a tool for ”everyone”. I dont want to rain on your parade but Blender is a very complicated program that involves alot of assimilated data and 3D modeling techniques that is NOT ever in the reach of ”everyone”. Blender is complicated, unfriendly user, tricky submenues and hierachy of planned operations that involves time consuming energy. I you dont like what I wrote well sorryyyyyyyy :)
Blender’s UI is not that complicated. Of course, any UI new to you is going to be “unfriendly” at first, but once you get familiar with the UI, it’s really not hard at all. Seriously, if you can use a mouse-over to see the name of he context or read the names of the subcontexts, then you’ve got some learning about computers programs in general to do.
Blender is complex, but it’s no more complicated than any other modeling package. Hell, if you want a complicated modeling package, look no further than Houdini. As for the “lot of assimilated data and complicated techniques,” that’s something true with just about any 3D modeling package.
While tools can provide features to allow new techniques (for instance, like using the Dynamesh tool in ZBrush), technique itself depends on one’s own level as an artist and as someone willing to learn techniques.
I don’t know, but it sounds like you might be a disgruntled user of Blender frustrated with your own results. In any case, as with any tool and discipline, if you’re not willing to learn either of them, there really can’t be complaining about how “complicated” something is.
Correction:
“Seriously, if you can’t use a mouse-over to see the name of the context …”
Well said.
In the 2.65 Blender build I knew how to get rid of the default cube, now… someone had the engenious idea of changing this. I was listenning to tutorials from Jass-Avastar and at some point of the tutorial I was directed to go in ”dither light” that was indicated to be on the right side of the Blender user interface. The tutorial was for 2.49 build and the dither light was not there anymore, I found out of pure luck the dither light option yesterday so I can continue after a month and half my second avastar tutorial… Blender is for ”everyone” is that a joke or what :s
In what I have done so far with the latest build I have found there is no change in removing the default cube. It is still done like this:
1. When Blender is opened and you click the cover away, hit X on the keyboard.
2. A menu will appear. Just click on the word delete, or hit X again. The Cube is deleted.
I’ll admit that I don’t know everything about Blender, and that it is quite a complicated app. But like so many others who use Blender, I find it has a lot to offer that other apps do not give you. The fact remains that Blender is a one stop 3D art application that lets you do all the work in Blender with the possible exception of applying special materials, and I do not doubt that even that will be possible in a future build.
If you don’t like the app you don’t have to use it. No one is twisting your hand to force you to use it. There is no need for you to post such negative remarks. Those of us who like Blender will not be swayed by your opinion anyway.
Yeah, I don’t really get how deleting a cube’s changed at all. Seems like a lot of complaining over something a simple Google search will clear up.
And just to add, if anyone thinks Blender is complicated ought to try using Houdini sometimes. I just don’t see what’s so terribly “complicated” about Blender, as that commenter keeps claiming.
I don’t think it’s so much complicated as it is that it just has its own learning curve, just like all 3D packages do. To me, using the MMB to navigate around the scene is far easier than holding Alt plus mouse buttons to move around the scene.
Each to their own, I suppose, but I personally don’t see what’s so complicated” about Blender to folks, esp. if you’re used to using 3D packages–it’s no harder than using menus Max or Maya (in fact, I’d say it’s easier to model a model in Blender than navigating through Maya’s menus just to do what’s only a few keystrokes in Blender.).
Not ”dither light” but ”hemi light” forgotten about the tutorial I was into…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Punishment_sisyph.jpg
And while I am there spilling my guts out, let met add this to what I already poored out… I have a machining diploma and a diesel mechanics diploma among other things… So you will say and you are right, what does this has to do with Blender.
Well nothing.
What does Autocad has to do with machining: everything. For example a designer will design a pair of jeans, then an Autocad technician will make a 3D plan that will be uploaded in a Gerber CNC cutting machine reading the 3D Autocad plan and then the patron will be cutted to plan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK6ow1mMFiw
Autocad has no cube to start with. You can pan your camera around your 3D view and read your sketch by plan, elevation and face. Autocad is the workhorse of industrial production no more no less and no cube to start your sketch with. Is it that hard to get that cube out of the scene??? I dont recall an industrial plant using Blender to produce even a hairpin with.
For me, Blender is a nightmare that came out of the entangled mind of a tourmented soul. I only use and pursue with Blender because I baught Avastar-Jass-Primstar other wise I would of stopped using it. The user interface changes to much from build to build to follow with outdated from month to month tutorials.
Autocad is now rigged to laser cutters and waterjet cutters and this is just the beginning of the software revolution in the industrial production. Serious stuff, billions of dollars worth of value created everyday and moving around the globe.
Autocad is for industrial applications. Blender is for art in its own right. Do not confuse one with the other. Your comment about Blender coming from the mind of a tormented soul is at best uninformed. Blender is an open source program that gets advanced very fast because of that. Trying to compare Blender with Autocad is like using an American football to play Baseball. As you say, Autocad is for designing and engineering things for industry and the like. Blender on the other hand is for the artist. Precision is only a requirement if the artist wishes it. For Autocad precision is absolutely required.
Also, Blender has always been and shall always be free to download and use. The fact that you paid for a few tutorials is not the fault of Blender. There are several free tutorials available. All you have to do is look for them.
Autocad is an expensive program, and requires a lot of processing power to work properly. I know this because in college I had several friends that showed me what Autocad is about. Just like any other 3D modeling application, Autocad has its good points and its bad ones. If your CPU is not sufficient for the job, certain complex designs will cause the application to crash. That is why the first thing a person is taught for any computer application is to save often. My friends that were using Autocad lost much of their work because they forgot this.
Blender is the same way. Even the Microsoft Office applications are like that. It is just the way things are in the computer world, No program is or ever will be completely perfect.
I think you are missing the point and by far…
”Autocad is an expensive program, and requires a lot of processing power to work properly. I know this because in college I had several friends that showed me what Autocad is about. Just like any other 3D modeling application, Autocad has its good points and its bad ones. If your CPU is not sufficient for the job, certain complex designs will cause the application to crash. That is why the first thing a person is taught for any computer application is to save often. My friends that were using Autocad lost much of their work because they forgot this.
Blender is the same way. Even the Microsoft Office applications are like that. It is just the way things are in the computer world, No program is or ever will be completely perfect.”
a) Autocad has no cube to begin your sketch with.. is it that hard to get rid of this nuisance?
b) Can Blender stabilise it’s user interface and leave stuff where it is or do we have to go hunting for options at every build?
c) Since the interface is changing all the time, the tutorials become outdate very fast and this is a problem.
d) The user interface should be made friendly user.
e) It would be a great asset to be able to cam over your sketch simply (like pressing the alt key-left mouse for example).
And this is just a few issues I covered. I used Auto Cad to give an example, I could of used Hexagon that also has a clean and friendly user interface… and no cube to start with. I still dont know how to get rid of this stupid cube in 2.66 build. Is it normal to have to fetch a tutorial to get rid of an object in a scene?
Like I said if you dont like what I am saying sorrrrrrryyy :)
Exactly what do you mean when you say you cannot find a way to get rid of the default cube? If you’re talking about right after you open the app, I have already explained how to do that. If you are frustrated because the cube is there every time you open the app, well that’s how it has been since I and many other users can remember. That should not be a source of great frustration for anybody, as the cube is easily deleted as soon as you open Blender. The same method that is used to delete anything that you have selected works to delete the cube. And the method has not changed from my first build to this one (2.66). In fact it has been the same at least since 2.49. The manual from that build is on my external.
You mentioned Hexagon. Well I have that one too, and it is the latest pro version. I know for a fact that it is no less complicated than Blender. In fact It is more complex in my experience. Also it is prone to crashes just from the preferences getting changed, such that a simple model with no complex geometry will cause the crash. That happens far more often than I would like, But I still use it. I just remember to reset the preferences to default when a crash happens. Thus in my opinion it is no cleaner than Blender.
It boils down to what you like to use. I personally like using both, as well as Wings3D. Each have their own good points and bad points; however, I do not let the bad points deter me from using any of them.
Good ol’ Jonathan.