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Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:11 pm
by Mikachu
... well, at least in its 'alpha 0' version. :)

I just downloaded it, and my first impression is that it seems much more user friendly than previous iterations (even if I was starting to get used to its 'special' UI).

What do you think about it?

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:29 pm
by Kojack
Yay! (Runs off to download, even if it's just the first alpha)

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:36 pm
by jacmoe
It's great. :)
Hope it's possible to install it side-by-side with 2.49a - it's going to be a pain in the rear to get my scripts updated to Python 3.1.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:31 pm
by Klaim
Ah you've been fast! I was reading the feature page : http://www.blender.org/development/rele ... ender-250/

That's seem very interesting :D

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 8:16 pm
by jacmoe
I really, really like the new Blender! :D
Very slick - just the way it should be.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:14 pm
by DanielSefton
I've always been a fanboy of the original Blender interface, but the new interface is really nice. I guess it will encourage more new users to Blender who were afraid to learn the old style.

<rant>
- What happened to ze transform gestures?! :(
- What's with the 4 "View Numpad" buttons in View with no description of what they are? Edit: But I do like the interpolated view switching, makes it easier when switching between front and side views.
- The all-access Space keyboard shortcut menu is gone?!
- Bezier bevel objects are offset from the bezier curve?
</rant>

Looks like this will take a while to get used to. :P

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:35 pm
by jacmoe
I miss the SPACE menu too.
Liked that you could just use mouse/keyboard.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:42 pm
by jacmoe
Ah, I get it! :)

http://www.blenderguru.com/whered-that-button-go/

'Add Object' is now Shift+A instead of Space.

And a survival video:
http://totallyblended.com/New/?p=722

The only thing I don't like is the splash screen - but if that's what it takes to win over some younger users, I can live with that. :wink:

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:00 pm
by DanielSefton

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:37 am
by Vectrex
Just remember that half the point of 2.5 (or is it 2.6? ;( ) is that you don't HAVE to do it the 'blender way'. The keys are totally customisable and I for one IMMEDIATELY set left mouse to select ;)

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:29 am
by Kojack
I found from the command search menu the (trying to remember the exact name...) "duplicate frame into new window" command. I selected it, and ended up with 2 blender windows (I put one on each monitor, maximised). I had different camera views on each. That's pretty cool.

BIG disappointment so far though, no support for my Space Navigator. The previous 3D Connexion blender plugin doesn't work (does nothing in blender 32 bit, crashes blender 64 bit).

Is there any way to stop the damn camera from rolling? This is the only 3d app I've ever used where the camera doesn't have a fixed yaw axis when using the mouse to look around.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:01 am
by jacmoe
Alright, thanks for raising the issue: I figured out how to fix it. :)
Set Orbit Style to Turntable instead of Trackball in Preferences - Input.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:30 am
by Vectrex
Kojack wrote:Is there any way to stop the damn camera from rolling?
Thank christ someone else thinks that's completely pointless and annoying :roll:

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:41 am
by jacmoe
I am very happy that I finally solved it: Turntable Orbit style instead of Trackball Orbit style.
Thanks Kojack! :)

Turntable works if you're not askew already. If you are, level yourself (numpad 5), and try again.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:51 am
by Kojack
Ah, yep, that works (turntable mode stops the camera from rolling). That's one of my major complaints gone.
Now if I can just get my Navigator working, I might actually start learning blender again.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:09 am
by jacmoe
Now would be a good time - all tutorials out there would helplessly out of date. :P

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:46 am
by Kojack
Don't you mean: "Now would be the worst time - all tutorials out there would helplessly out of date."?

The thought of trying to learn blender without up to date docs or tuts is scary. :)

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:42 am
by spacegaier
Kojack wrote:Don't you mean: "Now would be the worst time - all tutorials out there would helplessly out of date."?
Guess that was a joke :D ... See the smiley at the end of his post :P

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:47 am
by xadhoom
Very nice links jacmoe!
I found the turntable option by the video explanation: Yes I really hate rolling the camera, too!
One think I still don“t understand: Is it possible to actually deselect all objects while being in translate mode? It often happens that I move the object along the screen plane accidently because I clicked into the screen (not the object). Funny thing: The same happens to the guy in the video, too! :-)

xad

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:31 am
by dermont
I think it's fantastic, the blender developers have done a great job and I really like the fact that the GUI is now fully customisable via python.
Once Python-Ogre is python3 compliant it should be much easier to create a usable open source Ogre scene editor, something that Ogre is sadly lacking at the moment, via Blender/Python-Ogre.

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:38 pm
by akem321
Looks great,
the new BPY API will not be backward compatible,
current Ogre exporter script will break again :/

Re: Blender 2.5 is out!

Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:07 am
by lonewolff
Awesome, I'm downloading now 8)

I have always been a fan of Blender. So, I am very interested in seeing how the new one has turned out :)