Review: Blender 2.5 Beta

Every blog has a review, whether it be books, movies, or new gadgets. So today, I felt like reviewing Blender 2.56 Beta.

I've been using 2.49b for a long time, and I didn't want to use any of the 2.5 unless it was finalised. But after a little explosion sim, I found I really needed the Solidify Modifier Blender promised me. So I got my hands on Blender 2.56 Beta last week.
First glance at the Interface. Ooh! It looks all shiny! I felt it was much more aesthetially pleasing then the 2.4s. It had a new air of cool.
But apart from that and the new features, it was quite terrible. First, I had a problem locating the particles and modifiers because they were all over the place. Very annoying. In fact, I was looking almost all the tabs and buttons, and not finding any.
Then I didn't like the way all the names have changed. I wanted the Action Editor, but I needed the DopeSheet. I wanted the Buttons Window, but I needed the Properties.
But I guess they were all right. I mean, I could probably get used to that can't I?
But one thing I found really annoying was Round Ob. My 2.49 model of Round Ob was suddenly all over the place! His armature wasn't in him any more, and his arms go right through his back! What happened there? I guess some of my old models don't work with the new software.
The last thing I felt annoyed at was the loop cut. In 2.49b, I got to press Ctrl-R, move my cursor where I want the cut, then I was in Grab Mode choosing where exactly I wanted my cut. In 2.56, it just automatically cut in the middle. Grr!
Well, I felt like 2.5 wasn't right for me, and re-installed my 2.49. Back at familiar ground.
But after all that, I still keep 2.56. Why? Because it's still a great peice of software. I have to work my 2.4 models on my 2.49b, but any new projects, I'll do on 2.56.
So over all, I believe that 2.56 is a great new take on Blender for new people, but I suggest that old hands keep their old software as well.

3 Year Old

I was digging around in my ol' hard drive again, and look at what I found!

You have never heard of him, and you might never hear about him again, but I called him Round Ob about four years ago. He is not well rigged, or thought about. I named him Round Ob because I started with a UVSphere and extruded a body to it. So he was a Round Object. Round Ob.

They say many things can recall old memories, like food, smells, old collectibles, and smelly old collectibles. Now they can add .blend files to the list.

Cube in 3D

I really hope you have one of those red and blue 3D glasses. Also, I wanted to put this in my previous post but thought it was a different thing.
I was digging around in my old memory stick when I found Anamk108. You can Google it and find it too.
This was for making anaglyphic pictures. Now you know what to do. Get those paper glasses where ever they are! Under the bed, on the shelf, the back of the couch, in a furball, or as a standing bookmark.

Remake of Cannon Cube

Remake of Pillar of Fire

Top of the Temple. It's not very good, but, how did he get up there?

As a 3D image, terrible. But it explains how he got up there.

All I did was delete the existing camera, made a new one facing down, duplicated it, moved in the X direction, and made the original camera parent. Then I had two cameras to snap with!
Hope those 3D glasses have survived!

Cube on Goes to an Old Temple

Here's a mini story I made up in a few hours so it is not very well thought out. Also, it is not animated because our computer can't handle the rendering process for animation.
SO...

One day, Cube Dude went to visit the simple temple in this simple barren world.

"Wow! That looks very high!"

"What a nice view!"

"The Wrath of the Almighty decends on thee!!"

 I admit it wasn't very good as a story because a) it didn't have much purpose, and b) If I want to do a fire, I can only do pillars.

I hope Cube Dude will be this much fun to play with again!

My First Proper Render

I am still trying to learn Blender, and try to animat and stuff like that, but I have realised that I always aim too high and do something I possibly can't do. These are my first renders, made to be renders, and not half finished as well. I whipped these up in a few hours:

Loaded

Fire!

I decided to practice on low poly meshes for now. I also expect from cube dude, (as I call him for now) later on in his series. Critique would be accepted.

By the way, I am trying to get the particles working for a smoke effect but I can't get them as near realistic as I want. Could someone help? Thanks!

Dymo Tries to Make a Game

It's been quite a while since the last episode. So here it is.


He woke up one day to find that he wanted to make people laugh.

He brushed his teeth and thought he wanted to make people cry.
He ate his breakfast and thought he wanted to make people sweat.
He drove to work and thought he wanted to make people bang their heads on the wall from sheer annoyance and angst.
He went to work, told the boss that he was leaving. He went back home to work with Blender.

After Dymo told the story, Gyro looked at him disdainfully. It wasn't fair that Gyro had to starve to death from lack of a muluctary source because Dymo had a mood swing. No, Gyro didn't eat, therefore he didn't die of starvation, but the Wii was rented, and he could probably die from not having it.
Dymo crouched over the computer going over his first model.

It seemed so easy at first. Like really, get a plane, extrude, grab, extrude more, rip a hole in it, maybe add some textures, add an armature, animate, render, and BOOM! You have an animation. Then save the IPO, program, repeat, and you have a game. Dymo found it wasn't anything like that at all. NO it, was terrible. It was, get a plane, extrude, hmm, doesn't look right, extrude, rip a hole in it, rip a hole in the monitor, throw it away, sulk for the rest of the month. It was hard.
He was in the middle of a sulk, and he saw that Gyro had bought a new computer and started trying as well.

At the end of the week, Dymo had a simple game that consists of two players trying to knock each other off a platform. It had no style or sense at all.
Gyro had in fact, got a fully fledged first person MMPORPG with editable characters and levels with 33 plugins and attachments.
For Dymo, it was very depressing and lowered self-esteem. It wasn't helpful at all.
Dymo promptly put the game in the bin and forgot about it from then on.



This is Dymo's game for anyone who would like to have a go:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7zgdho5k6n5k716

It is very glitchy, it has no style at all, and I probably forgot to put the controls in. If I have then Player 1 moves with the arrow and Player 2 moves with WASD. Oh, and you will need two players for the most fun.

Ideas for the Blender Shop

Blender is great. We all know. But of course, sometimes we want more. In fact, right nor, I want more! So here are some ideas for some Blender Merchandise for anyone interested!

1. Action Figures.
Sometimes, characters seem to be yelling to be made into an action figure. I believed that Proog and Sintel were just speaking out to me.

2. Soft Toys
The second best thing would be a soft toy, and a Baby Dragon toy would be cute, wouldn't you think?

3. Proog's Stick

I have always wanted a walking stick. No, I am not crippled, but walking sticks are classy. So what would be better than a walking stick? Proog's stick!! Seriously, they should manufacture them immediately.

4. Blender Licensed Games
With the release of such peripherals such as the Wii and the Playstation Move, Sintel and Elephants Dream could easily be a great game.

5. Blender Themed Christmas Baubles
Well, the Christmas seasone is nearing, why not have some Blender Logo hanging from your tree?

6. Portable Blender Player
I don't know if anyone is interested in this as me, but I was thinking of a portable Blender player, a portable device made strictly to use Blender, Blender Games, and videos. You can't always have a computer ready, and with the limited functionality, it probably could execute Blender efficiently.

7. Blender Story Books
Well, at the moment, there's only Big Buck Bunny is really appropriate for being a children's book, but it would a healthy reminder of Blender when you are not in front of the computer.

Of course, these are only ideas I made in three minutes, and they were completely born from my whim. I might not feel this way after a month, but they are still ideas!