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Blender 4.3

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Re: Blender 4.3

#21

Post by ideasman42 »

cultofmetatron wrote: post #14
wolframhempel wrote: post #12

Blender, in my view, is one of the best arguments to develop native desktop applications over web view wrappers like Electron. Everything is responsive and instant, you can open new 3D view windows by just sliding them open at 60 frames a second, performance is stable even with multiple windows open and the download size is a reasonable 334MB.

> and the download size is a reasonable 334MB. I remember when it was 2 MB!!

I remember downloading it from my library on a floppy disk (hoping the librarian wouldn't hear it the floppy drive working - since it wasn't allowed). :)

It's in fact still quite small if additional 3rd party libraries are disabled.

It's possible to make a much smaller download that removes OpenCollada, FFMPEG, OpenEXR, OpenImageDenoise, OpenVDB ... etc. However it's a hassle to distribute a second version at a time when the current size is manageable for most users.

Re: Blender 4.3

#22

Post by jbggs »

flohofwoe wrote: post #15
wolframhempel wrote: post #12

Blender, in my view, is one of the best arguments to develop native desktop applications over web view wrappers like Electron. Everything is responsive and instant, you can open new 3D view windows by just sliding them open at 60 frames a second, performance is stable even with multiple windows open and the download size is a reasonable 334MB.

It notably doesn't use any 'standard' UI framework though, which is frowned upon by some people just as much as using Electron (but for different reasons - usually missing accessibility features and not looking consistent with 'system applications').

I think that's the smoking gun for why most UIs are terrible. it is definitely cheaper to use a framework, but maybe, sometimes, doing something yourself (for 25+) years is worth it

Re: Blender 4.3

#23

Post by skykooler »

KeplerBoy wrote: post #10
tritiy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Donut tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0J27sf9N1Y&list=PLjEaoINr3z... As for 3d printing there are other software which is simpler if you need to do simpler things. But you can not go wrong in learning Blender for 3d printing as well.

I'd say that depends a lot on what you want to print. Some people might be able to use Blender for technical parts, but for most people traditional CAD software would be the better choice here.

CAD is great when you want to make a nice parametric model that you can edit as requirements change. But for a simple one-off part, I can often whip one up in Blender in a third the time it would take me to dimension everything in a CAD sketch.

Re: Blender 4.3

#24

Post by lukan »

wolframhempel wrote: post #12

Blender, in my view, is one of the best arguments to develop native desktop applications over web view wrappers like Electron. Everything is responsive and instant, you can open new 3D view windows by just sliding them open at 60 frames a second, performance is stable even with multiple windows open and the download size is a reasonable 334MB.

Electron apps can be very responsive as well. But a 3D designer is definitely in the category of needing all the performance you can get. So yes, native makes sense here.

Re: Blender 4.3

#25

Post by Kaijo »

hi_hi wrote: post #20

From a beginners perspective, a good mouse is crucial for working in these kind of tools. It's touched on at the start of the donut tutorial (linked elsewhere) but I just wanted to re-iterate it here. Now, I haven't done serious 3d work for many years, and recently tried getting into Blender again on my Mac laptop with a Magic mouse. It was a horrible experience. Can anyone recommend a good mouse you can buy nowadays…

One thing that at least doubled my modelling efficiency was my acquisition of a multi-button gaming mouse with a twelve-button thumb grid. In Blender I have that mapped mostly to the numpad which enables 3D navigation at the speed of thought, and without me having to move my other hand away from the cluster of most-often-used hotkeys at the bottom-left of the keyboard. You also get five functions out of the MMB which also can really speed up working in the Node Editor. But. I'm left-handed. The only suitable mouse I can find like this is a Razer Naga Left-Handed Edition, and I don't like the build quality. It's too light and small for my hand, and on the two specimens I've used, the MMB is a little bit glitchy (occasionally registering scrolling the wrong way, and click turns into push-left or push-right). So I wouldn't be without it, but I wish there were better options.

Re: Blender 4.3

#26

Post by xyst »

If you are remodeling your home, strongly suggest using Bonsai (previously Blender BIM) add-on to model and plan.

In addition to getting my layout just right down to the ft, and using current materials (ie, hardwood, cabinet placement). I modeled out HVAC ducts and overall system.

I had planned on doing major renovations (including plumbing, electric, networking) and would have modeled those as well since the walls would be exposed. But ultimately, due to changing political atmosphere, decided to put these on hold.

It does have a learning curve but would have been made collaboration with at architects much easier (exchanging ifc files).

Re: Blender 4.3

#27

Post by countrymile »

xiaomai wrote: post #5

What's the best way to get started with Blender these days? I'm mostly interested in making art and possibly even 3d printing some stuff (do these skills overlap at all?).

I've been running Blender training for 17 years and Grant Abbitt is what we normally suggest:

https://www.gabbitt.co.uk/course-filter/beginner

Re: Blender 4.3

#28

Post by countrymile »

Blender really is a gem, for beginners there really is little reason to learn anything else, fully featured, free and runs off a USB or shared drive, can run on pretty old hardware. For examples of what teenagers in the UK are making with Blender see these:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42113898

https://younganimator.uk/submissions/16f0edf9-4fff-43d5-b82b...

https://younganimator.uk/submissions/96059d6c-796e-485f-9582...

Re: Blender 4.3

#29

Post by InDubioProRubio »

flohofwoe wrote: post #15
wolframhempel wrote: post #12

Blender, in my view, is one of the best arguments to develop native desktop applications over web view wrappers like Electron. Everything is responsive and instant, you can open new 3D view windows by just sliding them open at 60 frames a second, performance is stable even with multiple windows open and the download size is a reasonable 334MB.

It notably doesn't use any 'standard' UI framework though, which is frowned upon by some people just as much as using Electron (but for different reasons - usually missing accessibility features and not looking consistent with 'system applications').

Should be separated out and reused by many Electron apps in my opinion

Re: Blender 4.3

#30

Post by timonoko »

xiaomai wrote: post #5

What's the best way to get started with Blender these days? I'm mostly interested in making art and possibly even 3d printing some stuff (do these skills overlap at all?).

Best way is to steal somebody else's model and improve it to your taste. That is the main use of Blender in 3D-printing, because parametric modelling is not the best property in Blender. Although it is almost feasible to define OpenSCAD model and ask AI to redefine in blender-python.

Hey ChatGPT, how you define an empty box in Blender Python?

  import bpy 
  empty = bpy.data.objects.new("Empty_Box", None)
  empty.empty_display_type = 'CUBE'
  empty.empty_display_size = 1.0
  bpy.context.collection.objects.link(empty)
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