:-O omg....free...I love that word. And for a free program, it has some very nice graphics. Whoo! Thanks Caedes! Must get that.

Even got OS X version... In fact they seems to have versions for most major operating systems. Not bad. ^_^ Maybe I just have to fiddle a bit with that one and see what comes out of it. :) Thanks for the heads up.

I tried this one out a while ago but it looked a bit too complex for me. Maybe it is worth another look.

Whoa - looks very inviting...

Guy's let me tell you. Samatar is half right. You have got to get a PHD in this program just to figure out how to make a box. I will admit, i have seen probably the most impressive highest quality 3d images come out of it, but it is EXTREMLY complex...

Awesome!
Thanks Caedes.

I'm gonna give it a crack! What impressed me the most in the galleries is that there are so many styles that the people have come up with... unlike most programs, where you can tell that an image came from that program, you can't really tell with Blender. It can't be as complicated as this other program I tried, where all the modeling was done in code/mathematically.

I would normally go for it, but right now I'm completely immersed in mastering maya, which is a task in itself.

Wow. This really does look impressive. The gallery is really good (though obviously they will be showcasing the cream of the crop, but even so....) I'll have to take a look at this.

Concerning the complexity of the interface: This isn't supposed to be like Bryce or Terragen Where you can click a few buttons and have something that looks ok. This is a much more complex and powerful program and the interface can be expected to be reflective of that.

If you make a new image with Blender be sure to post a link here so we can see it.

i agree with you caedes. The easier a program is to use, the less powerful/versatile it is.

in the end, it all comes down to creativity. A person with more creative abilities, better visions , and more comfort with the software, can make a more visually stimulating scene in Bryce than a person lacking creative instinct but knows how to work well with Maya. The creative person may choose to use bryce because the complexity of the program doesnt interfere with their creative juices. I chose Maya though because of its 3d painting functions. Really helps for convincing grass and trees (something I've gotten frustrated with in bryce and terragen). Also the first program I learned was solidworks(for school) which is more similar to maya. NURBS owns polygons for still image rendering.

The most important thing is how good the image you create looks, not how much skill it took to make it. (Most) people dont download desktops or put photos on their walls so they can sit back and admire the skill, they admire the beauty.

Good luck to all who choose to use this software. Their examples look great.

More looking like 3dsm. ?

Not to brag or anything but I'm already mastering Blender and I'm 14. Yes, it is extremely complex but not any more so than Maya or Cinema 4D. I think if some one really wants to learn how to use this program then just practice with tutorials and read the manual. I think each and everyone of us can learn how to use Blender, it just may take some time! Good luck to everyone and I can't wait to see some pictures!

Ya, alot of people consider maya to be very difficult, along with solidworks and other software I work with. I dont think any software is truly that difficult if you take the time to learn it. Its only hard if you expect results within the first hr of using the program. Programs like terragen allow for this, but if you think about it, if you tried to use all of the capabilities and settings in terragen to create a truly realistic scene. It could put a strain on your time. All good though, if you can create high quality imagery without trying for it be my guest, its a personal thing, whatever works.

By the way, thats great that you are able to work software and deal with mathematics like that at an early age. You'll find that young people catch on to technology faster than older people. I was a better programmer than my high school teacher early in high school.

I know what you mean. My computer teacher doesn't even know what Apple computers are. She's kind of dissapointing in that area. About Blender, after I figure out how to use this brain trap my first animated movie is going to be based on the story "The Ugly Duckling." I think ducks are probably easier to model and animate than humans. Also my sister has a good duckling voice.

has anyone made an image yet? I wannt to see an image made on this site, by the way, maybe we could make a "Blender" sub-gallery, in computer, after 10 or so images are created

I dont think its worth making a gallery attributed to one specific software. A gallery could probably be made for terragen renders though, they are definitly not in shortage here...

I think a gallery for Blender would be nice so people could see what this program has to offer. The Blender pictures might be hard to find if we just put them into already existing galleries. Oh yeah, I made a castle but I'm having trouble getting the camera to focus on the entire castle instead of being stuck staring at the wall of it. I kind of know the answer but any ideas how I could get the darn camera focused on the main point of the picture? Thanks.

I don't think having galleries for specific software is helpful. It doesn't essentially tell the user anything about the picture in terms of categorising it. If you go into the fractal gallery or the 3D gallery, you know pretty much what you will see.

Where would you draw the line? A photoshop gallery? Galleries for individual cameras?

The author of a piece has the option to state in the description what tools were used. I think that would be sufficient.

I agree with you Matthew. I guess if we dedicated a gallery to one software, then it wouldn't be fair it we didn't have galleries for other things. By the way, I would have entered a picture of a castle I did with Blender but I forgot to save it. Silly me.

Well, I uploaded a picture of a hammer made with Blender. It's not great but it's a start for me. And boy did such a simple picture take a long time to model! Whew!

Hey ya, I'm using Blender for almost 2 years now and what I have to say is like what everyone else is saying: It's hard to learn as it doesn't have standard controls, but when you get into it (for me it only took about 1 year ;) it's VERY powerfull. It's the only 3d app I know where you can "paint" your vertices on the fly, makes poly modelling alot easier. For modelling I always use Blender, then I export the model to Cinema for Raytracing. But in the newest versions Blender comes with an integrated Raytracer, so even that is covered now.

If you really want to work with and master this gem, I suggest you buy the newest Blender book (see their Blender store on the site), because its hard to learn it by just trying it out. But it's worth it, I promise! :)

Here's my last work, 100% Blender, I can't say that it's good as I don't know how to decide that for the general public ;), but I can say that it was comparatively easy to do it, as easy as placing the points, connecting them with lines, filling the polygons and placing a hand drawn texture over it...

http://www.outeregions.de/pics/textured.jpg


So go for it! :)

caedes, did you go into dependency hell when you compiled it?
ps i cant compile it, it is being weird

I think there are RPMs and windows binaries available.

got it

I have Blender and it is really confusing, but I think I'll eventually learn how to use it. Gonzo, your link didn't work. All that comes up is a box with an X in it. My advice is, just use all the tutorials possible.

wow, i cannot believe it is free. thanks alot caedes

Powerful, most likely, but time consuming? Definately! The tutorials I have tried have taught me a few simple tricks, some of which I can remember, some I can't, but I am sure they will all be pushed out as soon as school starts. ;-) The problem with those tutorials is that they give you a background or a texture, and tell you to add it to soemthing more useful, or they explain how to build the castle, with confusing steps I might add, but it never even looks remotely real without the proper texturing. Does one need a different program to make their own textures or can they be made in Blender as well? Often the tutorials define simple things as super complex, and they explain how to do it that way, when watching someone who is comfortable would be so much easier. I find it hard to work with programs that are as open ended as this, because I start with an idea, not a vision. It really makes me appreciate snapping, touching up, and resizing photos for their simplicity!

Yeah, I've noticed the same thing with the tutorials. Like texturing a castle, the textures they gave me looked nice until I applied it to a mesh in my scene. I adjusted the sizes and repetiton of the textures and that helped a little. Just keep playing around with it, we'll find out how to make it all work one day!

if anyone here can find out a way to export into Directx(.x) file format from Blender I'd appreciate it much...the old python script no longer works after the last patch and the export within Blender I haven't been able to figure out.(and there isn't any real documentation for it)

For the beginner I'd take a look at the documentation tutorial on site it seemed pretty good. (The one about Gingerbread Sam)

I've been using Blender for ages, it's a superb little bit of software. It does take some getting used to though. Best bet is to get one of the official books on it to get you started.