The Blender Foundation has just launched the new Blender.org website! After seven years, it's time for a facelift and revamp of the messaging.
Ton Roosendaal writes:
The Blender website now has a fresh new updated looks! Thanks to a couple of devoted volunteers we now have a totally new back-end with the most important pages migrated already (special thanks to Francesco and Pablo!).
We now will work during the next many weeks on doing the final migration and to establish a new enthusiastic web content team – especially people who know how to write and construct pages to present Blender and our projects to the outside world.
Continue reading on Blender.org
I was involved in building the 'old' Blender.org website and as such, I'm a little sad to see my baby go.. The new look is amazing though, and I'm convinced it's going to help Blender's image.
PS: oh, and guys: it's 'BlenderNation', not 'Blender Nation' ;-)
73 Comments
congrats to blender foundation and community great but an important thing is missing it is the blender gallery i wish if there is a gallery in the interface of the new site shows latest works that made using blender it is an important thing in my opinion and must be updated daily if it is possible ..
best wishes to all .
A much appreciated change. As beautiful as the software. Is that the beginning of the interface change? :)
Don't forget to update the shop!
Uh-oh - better not start that discussion here ;-)
I think it was in 2010 that Andrew Price did a presentation on how to improve blender.org, about how it was important to target newcomers first, by making it easy to find a description of the features of Blender and see a gallery of work. Regulars could always skip that by bookmarking direct links to the parts more relevant to them.
That was one set of criticisms of his that made sense. :)
Congratualtions to the new website, it has much cleaner, fresher looks.
Unfortunately the content seems to be very old. In the feature list for example there is no word about cycles. One very good thing of the old site was, that the features were linked with video explanation of the features. The written explanations don't transport the efficiency of the tools.
A permanently updated gallery with high quality pictures made entirely in blender and a list of sites with videotutorials would make it more accessible to newbies (raising motivation to learn a new software and making it easier to use it).
The external renderers probably should not be so prominent on the site. One of the very strong points of blender is the complete production suite it offers (modeling, texturing, lighting, animation, rendering, postprocessing, videoediting). External renderers are breaking that workflow.
I really liked the older site, but so far the new site looks pretty good. A couple of things seemed odd like the 'external render / previous versions / requirements" being placed in that order and also together, but It works... And I just read Ramonkarges last paragraph about the external renderers. I'd agree. Perhaps highlight external renderers after highlighting Cycles / BI? Was a little surprised to see Appleseed missing, but perhaps it's not mature enough?
I hope the new sites gets some more love with tweaks like a gallery and more thought on navigating around it, but overall I'm liking it! Oh, and was disappointed at first that there was no linkage to BlenderNation, but eventually spotted it! :)
Is the link supposed to bring up a page with no CSS styling, and a Page Not Found (404) error on the middle of the page?
I don't know, that's a tough question...
Hmm, it works fine for me. Maybe you need to force a reload of the page to get the styling etc?
it would be nice if they gave the option to switch between styles, since each has their own merits.
That would also double the maintenance effort of the site, I sincerely doubt that's worth their time.
As said before they should also build a galerry asap, there are TONS of awesome Blender images around.
And most of them are in gallery's of some sort. Why not put links to those gallery's instead?
What do you reckon are the best Blender galleries at this moment? It might be nice to do a post on them and give them some more exposure!
Agreed.
It's great to finally see the new design live. I agree with others that Blender needs a proper gallery. My attempt to fix this failed as I was manually adding the images to the gallery. I have big plans for the next gallery. I won't say much else until it's ready for testing. I just wanted to let those interested know that they'll soon be able to showcase their work in a Blender 3D Gallery.
Thanks for the update and looking forward to what you have in mind!..and thanks for your hard work at getting it to where it is at thus far!
There is a couple of things that comes to mind (from a webdev/site manager, view)
"Your Own 3D Software" sounds / looks strange, wouldn't it be better with "Open Source 3d Software", it's ony stated once, under "Get Involved", that it's Open Source.
The Blender Logo, in the upper left corner...
Since there ain't no Graphic Profile/Guidelines for Blender, I'd remove the white background from Blender and make the logo bigger, at least double the size. Also, on the website, blender is spelled with a small "b" in the logo, but in the software, it uses a capital "B". (splashscreen)
Header Size : Three different sizes? (One for Firstpage, one for Features/Download and one for the rest. Keep it simple, use one.
Otherwise, it seems top notch! WordPress *thumbsup*
May I recommend one of my all time favorites?
http://cgcookie.com/blender/images/sss-study/
Cool, glad to hear it! Nice job on the new site.
BlenderNation section is a bit limited on Blender.org There was a good link then - "other news" or something. Now I can't get to it.
It was bound to happen. A new "fresh" "clean" "clear" design for the website...Fresh or cold? Clean or clinical? Clear or sheer?
Let's imagine you don't know Blender. And you even don't know anything about 3D. What do you see? A standard website that looks like many others. A small logo on the left corner. Blender? Is it for making milkshakes and fruit juices? Or is it a new lifestyle concept?
At first glance, nothing shows clearly what it's about. No dozen of gorgeous pictures or stunning screenshots of Blender in full action. Maybe it's hidden...Even not. No gallery page.
I'm interested in Blender for more than 10 years. I'm absolutely amazed by the power of this software. I've a great respect for all the work done and the efforts of all the people involved in. I also understand the need for improving Blender's visibility on the web. Maybe, yes the former website was a little outdated, but at least it had its own style. And now, I just see a standard and impersonal design that doesn't reveal the unique creative power of Blender.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's the right thing to do. Maybe this new design will help Blender. But I'm not convinced...
That sounds like the article page, did you check out the actual homepage? It has "Your Own 3D Software" in huge letters, and a picture from the greenscreen open movie project. Pretty difficult to mistake it for a fruit smoothie website.
It was just a bit humorous. :)
I try to imagine the first view on this front page for a newcomer. Or for people who look for a first 3D software and hesitate about a trial version of Maya/3DSmax/Cin4D/... and search for a better alternative.
The first page is very important. Just like a book cover. It must attract attention and give a maximum of informations. It will trigger or not the desire to go forward. Pictures talk more and better than any text. Often, words sound like empty promises. “Your Own 3D Software” is only significant for regular Blender users. Maybe "A 3D software for everyone"...
It depends on which image from the homepage slider you see. I waited a bit too long and saw the 'Complete VFX Pipeline' image. At that time, not a single word about 3D software or open source was visible on my screen.
So I agree with valphi that the core information could be a bit more, ehm, core on the homepage ;-)
Actually I just noticed it's three rotating pictures, not just the quadbot... here are the links to the carousel pics that feature prominently across the top page, in sequence and updating every ten seconds or so...
http://www.blender.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/a1s38.full_.all_.0073.jpg
http://www.blender.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/05_6a_celia_quadbot.jpg
http://www.blender.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/blenderdotorg.jpg
Click on that "small logo in the top left corner" The banner saying "Your Own 3D Software
Blender is 3D creation for everyone, free to use for any purpose.
Free Software, great community, and 100% open." takes about half the **** page!
Once you've decided to continue and start to click here or there you find explanations. OK. It's just about the first step to make. The hardest one...
On my screen, the banner saying "Blender is 3D creation for everyone, free to use for any purpose.
Free Software, great community, and 100% open" is very small. Displayed only one third of the time, in pale grey over a semi-transparent white rectangle , it doesn't attract attention while it's the most important. It should be visible permanently, without having to click anything...
I'm not talking for Blender power users. They don't need a top notch website to get convinced...
Must be your settings. That white rectangle should be a carousel displaying three images in a slide show with besides the text mentioned above the texts "make 3d animation films" and "complete vfx pipeline". I don't know the first 2 images but the third is the bridge scene from Tears of Steel.
I have the carousel and the three pictures. No problem. :)
The fact is the page's look changes a lot at different window ratio and sizes, 4/3, 16/9, 16/10...Often, the carousel's pictures, the first visual contact with the real Blender's purpose, is cut. And thus its impact is lowered.
I totally agree. My first reaction was dismay, but after I saw
how similar the layout and look is to Autodesk's, I was
horrified. =O
Why do I have visions of the Borg??? "Resistance is futile". =O
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR7UWImpG54
But if that's what the majority like and want, so be it.
To each his own.
This is gorgeous, great job to the team that went in and redesigned it! ;)
Looks great, and a lot easier to get around than the old site. Nice work.
It may just be my computer or browser, sometimes the carousel display seems to stall. Those are some sweet huge high-res pictures though, one of them is 2k pixels and the other is a full 4096 pixel width at native resolution!
Woah, that's bound to make some computers slow. Even if the file sizes have been kept low, rendering such beasts takes some processing power.
nice, looks reeeally clean. i am gonna miss the old site. just seemed to be part of the whole blender deal. lookin forward to the new site, i'm sure there's alot more to come. gonna take some getting use to but hey, nothin last's forever. o one more thing cant see where to get the daily builds.... i'm sure i'll bump into it sooner or later. congrats to everyone involved ! wish i could keep the good ol' blender site just for myself. ha
The text is fuzzy on my monitor! The text for the main links on the top right look good as well as the text at the bottom inside the grey container, but there's anti-aliasing issues in the main body of text on all pages that is a horrible strain on the eyes. I used to have the same problem on Ubuntu's home page until their recent updated site. I never had that problem on any other site.
on Firefox Iam seeing the old page design and when I tried to load the link http://www.blender.org/news/blender-2013-website-launch/ I had 404 error. How ever its working for me just on chrome. Some suggestions why?
Might be a caching thing. You can try hitting Ctrl+F5 to clear the cache and refresh.
The site looks good, but still miss on few key areas.
A potential Blender user will go through these questions:
1. What is Blender, what it can do?
Show artworks, Siggraph demo reels from previous years maybe.
2. Looks good, where can I get it?
Bigger, bolder (maybe in different color) download button, too blue right now.
The link should shout "CLICK ME!!!"
3. Now, I need some guide with this software, where do I go?
Paid stuff is good (e-store, DVD), but where is the link to free introductory tutorials?
There must be a direct link to beginner tutorials and wiki/doc. Both in bigger size.
Also put such links in download thank you page. It shows that blender.org care for the user.
4. Where can I get updated and join the community?
Same as #3, big and bold link.
And all these must be on index page.
Also the carousel should show behind the scene screen captures. To show some pro work been done and to invite season artists to try it. But don't make it too tall, I can only see partially of the lower boxes. Header image height like in the download page is nice which provides a slice into the artwork (which makes me want to see more).
Just my 2 satoshi.
I think I agree with this.
Personally I don't feel for it. The banner is way too big and therefore the page displays way too little information at first glance. At first glance I thought the homepage was a stand-in or something. It wasn't until I looked closer that I saw that it was the real thing.
And first impressions are what counts.
Personally, I can live with it well enough. I don't think the new design is perfect (and it's probably still trying to find its bearings), but I don't think it's anywhere near making such a bad impression that it would turn away someone interested in trying Blender.
Nice site, but anyone know where to download the daily svn builds?
http://builder.blender.org/download/
They probably should put it on the new site somewhere though.
Thanks xrg, I always used to find the svn link on the blender.org download page.
My thoughts : http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/i-have-no-memory-of-this-place.jpg
Browsing around the site, I'll have to say that, overall, I like it. I find it's cleaner, more to-the-point, and feels refreshing. I think it gives Blender's home site some much-needed energy. Nice job, guys.
Great new site ! The wiki needs a revamp too...
Try browsing the wiki on an iPad :(
yeeey, it's so fluffy, i'm gonna die!
haha!
The 'Features' page shows a list of file formats.
Some of these were supported in 2.49, but are not in 2.69! For example AC3D.
I still occasionally use 2.49 for the import/export and knife tools!
Nice!! Much more relaxing and better to read than the dark background with white text.
One compatibility issue though: the white but partly transparent rectangles underneath the text "Blender is 3D creation for everyone, free to use for any purpose. Free Software, great community, and 100% open." and "What's New? Older versions" does not show up in Internet Explorer 8 (I know, not the best browser, but company policy here, and probably at other places too), which makes it almost impossible to read on the coloured background renders.
The Image-Header is way to big! On my 1920x1080 Screen, even the "Read more" buttons are not visible until some scrolling.
It seems as if the new Layout was made to be watched from long distances. The Headlines "Website Migration","Get Involved","Latest News" are are more then double the height of the text, that makes it hard to read because you have to switch between huge text and small text all the time. -> Make the Headlines a bit smaller
I would also improve contrast. The blue text should be darker, which would help readability a lot.
And one last thing: "Blender Caps" on the main page? Make that one "Blender-Shop" Link with images of books/DVDs/Caps
It's a common UX trick to make sure the first part of an element is visible, and to 'hint' at more content (such as the 'read more') buttons below the page fold. I don't really see that as much of an issue, really.
That banner graphic is way too big - it looks like a mistake! I had to scroll down just to see the whole of the 3 info boxes below it. We're not all working on huge high-res monitors. All of the home page should fit nicely within a height of 1024 or 1080.
I agree - see my comment below.
In a monitor with 1024x768 you almost only see the image header. I think it should be smaller and so people could see other links.
Good job!
A nice solution might be to make the size of that header somewhat responsive to screen size. On my 27" iMac, it looks amazing. On my iPad, not so much :)
Sorry, but i don't like new design. Responzive design is useful, but there are some questions:
1) Why is slider so big? I must scroll for some news. (slider have same malfunctioon, pagination not working properrly, sometimes blink).
2) Why is slider so slowly? It's realy boring to wayt for next image.
3) Download button have no contrast.
4) Why are thumbnail in png format? 300kb for one small image is realy necessary?
5) Why light design? Blender is dark as ...
6) I like the download tabs.
7) Link to store is in main navigation. I expect some icon, which tells me that I leave the web.
8) I need know: What is it, some realy nice pictures, same videos, big download button. Is news realy so necessary? Open data movei bundle, training videos is much more important!
9) I don't like featureless main menu.
Sorry, new web i boring :(.
I know, i know we aren't web developers, so i think very good work. Bu I would like to see some improvements.
But otherwise, blender is excellent piece of free software, I love it!
I know, i know we aren’t web developers, so i think very good work. Bu I would like to see some improvements.
you...
It's too clean, too professional, too "corporate", too "thin" looking.......very un-Blender-like.
Too much like Autodesk's http://www.autodesk.com/ and that's very saddening to me. (see my reply to valphi's post below).
"It is what it is, what will be, will be, so well, tough s#@%." A phrase that
helps me deal with things beyond my control.
That's why I love Blender......it gives me a sense of being in control over something, even if it's just over pixels, LOL! =()
"...too professional"?
That's a new one... One minute, BlenderHeads are complaining about the lack of professional companies using Blender. The next, some are complaining Blender's site's looking "too professional."
"That’s a new one… One minute, BlenderHeads are complaining about the lack of professional companies using Blender. The next, some are complaining Blender’s site’s looking “too professional.” "
It just loses some of it's open source attraction when it
creates a website that looks like Auto Desk's, imho.
You can't please everyone. It's really not that important in the Big Scheme of Things. :)
I'm really supprised so many people are complaining about the web-design. I think it's a stunning improvement! Everything is super slick & pro. Download interface is awesome, too. Really think the designers knocked it out of the park. Excellent work!
Do agree it should have a gallery though.
I would be very surprised if a gallery is not in the making. After all, art is central to this community.
Edit: I just saw the comment by dronix below. So yes, we'll have a proper gallery :)
Later....
just took another look at the new site.....maybe I just need some time to adjust.
It doesn't seem as offensive now......may even come to like it eventually.
1 of 5, Primary Processor of Quadrimatrix 256
(Borg designation http://borg.thatdorkjordan.com/ )
Honestly - who cares about this or that could be better: that comes later. SUPER AWESOME, SUPER EXCITING, and ROCK ON to the volunteers who did this. So many reasons why this is awesome - the team did an excellent job!
Thank you!
I didn't like the old Blender website - far too dark - so I'm happy to see it change to something more readable, and something which perhaps will better reflect the diversity of users and applications of Blender. If the devs can just fix that stupidly huge banner graphic, it's a great step in the right direction. Strange that the use of orange isn't more prevalent - it's the Blender 'brand' colour after all. The Autodesk home page makes subtle use of their blue/green branding very effectively.
Hey !
I would like to know if it's possible to get that header image.
I won't use it for any comercial use (it's just personal) :
In fact I'm a student, and for english classes I have an oral presentation to do on a subject of my choice... And I chose Blender. :)
I thought it would be cool if I could use that image but I don't know where to download it. ^^'
Dunno who made the original, but the one on the homepage is pretty big :
http://www.blender.org/wp-content/themes/bthree/assets/images/placeholder_background.jpg
very cool facelift!