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Blender Conference 2020

conference.blender.org

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Re: Blender Conference 2020

#21

Post by reader_mode »

nvrspyx wrote: post #20
outworlder wrote: post #16

Blender is a fantastic piece of software. Its UI never agreed with me that much, but watching experienced users, it reminds me of VI. As in, it appears to be optimized for power users, rather than ease of use, or discovery. It does seem to have been steadly improving. I'll try again.

As the other comment mentioned, the UI is much better nowadays, especially with 2.8. I actually find it more intuitive than others like Cinema4D, Maya, and Houdini, whereas it was the opposite previously.

I used blender a bunch in 2.5 era and then coming back to it in 2.8 - can't say I'm a fan - old UI sucked discovery wise but it was streamlined, new UI is too clicky - but I've only did a few basic things

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#22

Post by ryandward »

A few weeks back I went to the LibreOffice conference and the vibes were really encouraging. It is really a strange time we live in, where there are these fundamental structural changes in gatherings, bringing communities together in a totally virtual space.

These FOSS conferences are a huge deal and really thrive on community support. I encourage you to go, if for no other reason to get a feel for where the projects are going.

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#23

Post by moron4hire »

reader_mode wrote: post #21
nvrspyx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the other comment mentioned, the UI is much better nowadays, especially with 2.8. I actually find it more intuitive than others like Cinema4D, Maya, and Houdini, whereas it was the opposite previously.

I used blender a bunch in 2.5 era and then coming back to it in 2.8 - can't say I'm a fan - old UI sucked discovery wise but it was streamlined, new UI is too clicky - but I've only did a few basic things

Spacebar -> type command name -> do anything from the keyboard

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#24

Post by archgoon »

nvrspyx wrote: post #20
outworlder wrote: post #16

Blender is a fantastic piece of software. Its UI never agreed with me that much, but watching experienced users, it reminds me of VI. As in, it appears to be optimized for power users, rather than ease of use, or discovery. It does seem to have been steadly improving. I'll try again.

As the other comment mentioned, the UI is much better nowadays, especially with 2.8. I actually find it more intuitive than others like Cinema4D, Maya, and Houdini, whereas it was the opposite previously.

Sounds like they made some significant workflow breaking changes in 2.8. How'd the community react when they rolled out the changes?

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#25

Post by Animats »

atoav wrote: post #6
grenoire wrote: post #2

I just wanna' say I'm not the greatest 3D artist, but I still love the Blender community! Enabling so many great artists to show their talent is an amazing achievement.

I am an expert, which is why I am even more amazed about the crazy speed at which Blender improves and how they managed not to fall into the pits so many Open Source projects regularly walk into with open eyes.

"Crazy speed"? Blender was a commercial product in 1995. It went open source in 2002 after the vendor went bust. It had the UI from hell. It took another 15 years to crawl out of that pit. Finally, it has an adequate user interface.

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#26

Post by danbolt »

reader_mode wrote: post #21
nvrspyx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the other comment mentioned, the UI is much better nowadays, especially with 2.8. I actually find it more intuitive than others like Cinema4D, Maya, and Houdini, whereas it was the opposite previously.

I used blender a bunch in 2.5 era and then coming back to it in 2.8 - can't say I'm a fan - old UI sucked discovery wise but it was streamlined, new UI is too clicky - but I've only did a few basic things

I found a bit of a learning curve with 2.8's input too, but I'm kind of okay with the tradeoff for newfound enthusiasm the program has with professional users.

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#29

Post by philsnow »

Animats wrote: post #25
atoav wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an expert, which is why I am even more amazed about the crazy speed at which Blender improves and how they managed not to fall into the pits so many Open Source projects regularly walk into with open eyes.

"Crazy speed"? Blender was a commercial product in 1995. It went open source in 2002 after the vendor went bust. It had the UI from hell. It took another 15 years to crawl out of that pit. Finally, it has an adequate user interface.

Do you have any idea how hard it is for an open source project to _improve_ UX? Designers don't flock to open source the same way that engineers do.

Re: Blender Conference 2020

#30

Post by Shish2k »

Animats wrote: post #25
atoav wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an expert, which is why I am even more amazed about the crazy speed at which Blender improves and how they managed not to fall into the pits so many Open Source projects regularly walk into with open eyes.

"Crazy speed"? Blender was a commercial product in 1995. It went open source in 2002 after the vendor went bust. It had the UI from hell. It took another 15 years to crawl out of that pit. Finally, it has an adequate user interface.

Look at how much the GIMP has improved in the same timeframe :)
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