Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#1

Post by dagmx » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

Apple Joins Blender Development Fund
blender.org

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#2

Post by mimsee » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 3:30 PM UTC

> ... Apple has joined the Blender Development Fund as a Patron Member.

To find out what "Patron Member" means, it's 120k or more per year[0]. It's the highest corporate tier Blender has. Nice to see Apple supporting open-source.

[0]: https://fund.blender.org/corporate-memberships/

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#3

Post by dagmx » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 3:41 PM UTC

Apple also submitted a patch to port Cycles to run on Metal.

https://developer.blender.org/T92212

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#4

Post by webmobdev » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:08 PM UTC

Probably just to make sure that Blender remains available for their platform. If popular programs aren't available for their ARM / macOS platform, it can hurt them. Good for Blender.

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#5

Post by astlouis44 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:16 PM UTC

Apple is getting more serious about 3D and the gaming market, which isn’t surprising considering the market size.

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#6

Post by justinclift » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

Wonder if this will lead to a functional iOS port of Blender?

Pretty much the whole reason I went with a MS Surface tablet instead of an iPad of some sort, was the lack of Blender.

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#7

Post by zitterbewegung » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:18 PM UTC

astlouis44 wrote: post #5

Apple is getting more serious about 3D and the gaming market, which isn’t surprising considering the market size.

More and more devices from Apple are getting LiDAR sensors so it makes sense to support it.

Apple also is taking open source more seriously .

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#8

Post by valine » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:21 PM UTC

dagmx wrote: post #3

Apple also submitted a patch to port Cycles to run on Metal. https://developer.blender.org/T92212

Cycles is good first step if Apple wants to make blender fully functional on Mac. I wonder if they'll ever attempt to port Eevee to metal, that seems like the logical next step if Apple wants to permanently remove OpenGL from macOS.

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#9

Post by programmarchy » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

Would be awesome if Blender got native support for exporting to USDZ.

Re: Apple Joins Blender Development Fund

#10

Post by all2 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 4:25 PM UTC

webmobdev wrote: post #4

Probably just to make sure that Blender remains available for their platform. If popular programs aren't available for their ARM / macOS platform, it can hurt them. Good for Blender.

Another comment in this thread speaks directly to this concern. Though, I would argue the move is likely also part of a larger move back into the "creative market" of designers, cinematography, etc.