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Blender 2.92

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Re: Blender 2.92

#61

Post by ryanmarsh »

Daub wrote: post #3

Just playing with it now. The new geometry nodes are the beginning of something big... a more procedural approach to modeling. Perfect for natural distribution of things like rocks and plants. Our department (art and design) moved from 3ds Max to Blender last year, and have not looked back. The rapid pace of development is testament to the fact that Blender now has more than twice as many full time devs working on it…

The rapid pace of development is testament to the fact that Blender now has more than twice as many full time devs working on it than Max.

It’s been a long road and for a long time it wasn’t obvious that blender would succeed. Just goes to show if you stick with an open source project over the long haul good things can happen.

Re: Blender 2.92

#62

Post by kwk1 »

qchris wrote: post #27
the__alchemist wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blender is an exception to the rule, and a rolemodel. For example, FreeCAD and KiCad are OK, but not as nice (especially re FreeCad) as paid alternatives. GIMP isn't on the same level as Photoshop.

I tried designing a relatively simple assembly in Freecad recently (again, as I've come back to it multiple times), and remembered how uniquely terrible some the design decisions have been. I mean, fundamentally user-hostile approaches to the most basic functionality, like rotating a part requires a left mouse + center mouse press in order and sketch lines not being created with center points. And when a user tried t…

> like rotating a part requires a left mouse + center mouse press in order

That behavior is controlled by the Mouse Model [1] which can be changed with a selection menu in the bottom right of the window, or by right clicking anywhere in the viewport. I generally use Touchpad. While the default behavior is not desirable for you or me, it is based on a sort of standard interface type, so it's desirable for some. It could be possible to start a discussion about changing the default, but I just wanted to mention that this behavior is not set in stone.

> civil feedback on the forum about it got a dev response of "Those are just our quirks, go back to Solidworks if you don't like it."

Yes, this can be very frustrating to me sometimes too seeing people dismissed this way. There are several issues at play in the forums. Besides the most obvious one of expert blindness from people who have been using FreeCAD as it evolved, you have the problem of people who have the time and ability to help newcomers but not necessarily to fix tough underlying problems. At some point a certain jadedness creeps in and their desire to help can actually be harmful.

Hopefully after some time you'll be willing to give FreeCAD another shot as it is improving rapidly, although the problem space is so big it can seem to happen in spurts.

[1] https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Mouse_Model

Re: Blender 2.92

#63

Post by jrockway »

jhloa2 wrote: post #56
katmannthree wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is great to hear! I really hope that Autodesk starts feeling some pressure from FOSS and cools off on the blatant anti-consumer moves. The whole "now you have to pay us $XXXX/year in perpetuity or you lose access to all of your business files" has killed a lot of the goodwill they once had.

I hate what Autodesk has become. I'm in the A&E industry and Revit has become a monstrosity of a monopoly. The industry as a whole has seen decent revenue growth, but almost no profit because Autodesk is siphoning it all into their coffers [1]. I wouldn't mind too much, but you don't really get any benefit from their new subscription model. They release very few new features with every release and there's bugs in the…

I don't know the industry that well, but do use Fusion 360 and am annoyed by them. I think they have this problem where people that make money by doing CAD use Solidworks, and so only hobbyists want their products, and hobbyists don't have any money. Thus they are having to tighten the screws on hobbyists to stay in business, and it just doesn't work, because like I said... hobbyists don't have any money. You can't get blood from a stone, no matter how hard you try.

I have been tempted to buy it, honestly, but it's a little bit too expensive. I use it for 3D printing, not milling, so I don't feel like I should have to pay for those features. So instead, I am gritting my teeth for the day that I have to jump to some open-source CAD tool, which will be annoying to relearn, but ultimately probably not a big deal after I pick what to use.

Re: Blender 2.92

#64

Post by billfruit »

the__alchemist wrote: post #5
zingplex wrote: post #2

Once again Blender is killing it! I find Blender to be one of the best examples of how FLOSS software can be substantially better than their proprietary alternatives.

Blender is an exception to the rule, and a rolemodel. For example, FreeCAD and KiCad are OK, but not as nice (especially re FreeCad) as paid alternatives. GIMP isn't on the same level as Photoshop.

I sort of disagree on Photoshop, most of the love for Photoshop seems to be just lock in to its existing work flow. I have not used Photoshop before using gimp, and for my use cases Gimps multiple window interface seemed to me the more usable interface.

Photoshop's UI is nothing great.

Re: Blender 2.92

#65

Post by the_gastropod »

fctorial wrote: post #58

Is there any point in learning blender as a software developer? I like it a lot but feel like the learning curve is too high and not worth it for me?

For fun! I've been tinkering with it for a while, and I feel like it's a fairly accessible way for developer-types to be a little artistic.

There are also concepts in Blender (like the whole node system) that might inspire some creative solutions in your day-to-day programming. Also, if you're at all inclined to try make video games, you can make your own 3d models. It pairs nicely with Unity or Unreal for a relatively low-barrier-to-entry to build something small and fun.

Re: Blender 2.92

#66

Post by zingplex »

phkahler wrote: post #13
the__alchemist wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blender is an exception to the rule, and a rolemodel. For example, FreeCAD and KiCad are OK, but not as nice (especially re FreeCad) as paid alternatives. GIMP isn't on the same level as Photoshop.

Don't forget Inkscape, Firefox, and LibreOffice.

Of those three, I think Firefox is the only one that could be said to be on par with their commercial counterparts. Inkscape is powerful, but the UI isn't very responsive or intuitive. LibreOffice is slow and buggy whenever I use it.

Re: Blender 2.92

#67

Post by jrockway »

fctorial wrote: post #58

Is there any point in learning blender as a software developer? I like it a lot but feel like the learning curve is too high and not worth it for me?

Do you want to model things in 3D and render them? If so, Blender is a great tool.

I feel like this question is like going to an art forum and asking if you should learn Kubernetes. You could, but it's not going to help with your art.

Re: Blender 2.92

#68

Post by jermaustin1 »

tpxl wrote: post #24
a-saleh wrote: post #11

Damn, this looks nice! Especially the procedural stuff. I did use Blender roughly 10 years ago for school projects, and I would like to get back, anybody has a good tutorial lying around? :)

I got into it by watching Imphenzia's 10 minute modelling videos ( https://www.youtube.com/c/Imphenzia ). It's low poly, if that's your style, but "extrude, scale, indent" is pretty powerful as far as low poly modelling goes.

I watch his 10 minute model videos every week. It is cathartic. I don't even follow his examples, I just watch.

Re: Blender 2.92

#69

Post by adkadskhj »

Anyone know how Blender fairs with Linux & AMD GPUs? I'm in the market for GPUs and am super torn by AMD vs Nvidia. Not only is that a tough choice on Linux, but it sounds like Blender is simply much, much better on Nvidia.. at least for rendering.

Thoughts? My goal is of course to use blender to build stuff, but also render them out performantly.

Re: Blender 2.92

#70

Post by fctorial »

jrockway wrote: post #67
fctorial wrote: post #58

Is there any point in learning blender as a software developer? I like it a lot but feel like the learning curve is too high and not worth it for me?

Do you want to model things in 3D and render them? If so, Blender is a great tool. I feel like this question is like going to an art forum and asking if you should learn Kubernetes. You could, but it's not going to help with your art.

I was hoping for examples of situations in which blender helped a software developer.
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