Shop Talk: Here Comes a New Challenger!
I want to talk about Blender. Okay, as a challenger maybe not that new, after all it’s been around since 1994, that’s longer than Maya and 3DS Max. Curiously, Blender has mostly stayed in the shadows, relegated to a niche community of loyal users, plagued by a quirky UI and lack of corporate marketing. Blender was primarily used by individuals and smaller studios with limited budgets. However, the release of Blender 2.80, in 2019 is quickly changing the profile of the user. Powered by a new and refreshed UI; two top-of-the-line render engines, including a real-time one, new modeling; sculpting and physics tools; a new 2D animation toolset, and many other features, Blender is creating welcome shockwaves across the industry.
Blender is free and open-source software. Which means anyone, studio or individual, can start using it without any overhead costs. This combined with some of the best-in-class industry tools and the new revamped UI make it a very compelling package. Additionally, Blender has recently released a LTS (Long Term Support) version that lives side by side with the standard version, guaranteeing a stable and supported version for at least 2 years, giving studios working on longer projects the confidence and stability they need.
Blender’s development is user-driven. Not only is the Blender development team arguably the most open and welcoming to user input in the industry, they also work closely with Blender Foundation’s Animation Studio, taking direct requests and feedback from the artists and implementing it in Blender.