Software update: Blender 2.37

The Blender Foundation is developing Blender, an open source software package for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. The many features with screenshots and examples are on this page to read for interested users. Blender 2.37 was recently rolled out of the compiler and has received a lot of improvements. The release notes therefore look like this:

Blender 2.37
A lengthy 5 months development time… so a release packed with interesting new features and improvements! The most noteworthy additions are the Soft Body system, the new incremental Subdivision Surface code, and the full recode of the internal Transformation system, allowing much more control and flexibility.

Transformation tools
New Transformation options include; To Sphere, Push/Pull, TrackBall, advanced constraint options, Proportional editing with connection mode, …

Transform Widgets
As result of the Transformation Tools recode, we can now finally add widgets to have easy access to (constrainted) translation, rotation and scaling. Widgets can be aligned global, local to Objects and to normals in Edit Mode as well.

soft body
Each Object in Blender now can get a “Soft Body” effect applied. Once applied, the softbody system converts vertex locations to free moving particles… great for animating flexible objects, for wriggling skin and even for cloth simulations.

Force Fields and Deflection
Especially for Soft Body a new force field, Wind, has been added. Also deflections (collisions) are possible between soft objects and Meshes.

Incremental Subdivision Surfaces
Best feature of Daniel Dunbar’s new “CCG” SubSurf system is its tremendous speed improvement. This mostly thanks to detecting incremental changes while editing. Also creases and UV texture support has been improved.

Transparent Filtering
Blender now supports transparent rendering with filtering, by use of a new method which uses both Alpha and Filter combined. Ray-traced images now also deliver correct an alpha layer.

Render threads, true color & true ortho
Three more options in the render core. Owners of dual CPU systems can now render twice as fast! Color definition internally is full 4×32 bits (was 4×16) and the ortho render code was refreshed.

Timeline
The new Timeline window allows access to all animation timing features, with non blocking animation playback. Edit keys, materials or Soft Body while it moves!

Python Scripting
Another long list of new features in the Python API, with new modules and advanced inegration of scripts in the Blender Window system using “Space Handlers”. With a special thanks to Jacques Guignot, we’ve dedicated this release to him.

Game Engine
New Python Armature options, Z-offset materials, and SDL support for Joysticks.

And what’s more new!
Creating full pages with logs per new feature would postpone the release another month. So check this page for a full listing of all new features in 2.37. (Image from blender3d.org gallery, Sacha Goedegebure)

Bug Fixes
In the past 5 months, over 600 reports were handled. Still, the total amount of open issues for Blender is less than thirty at the moment of release, quite impressive! (Image from blender3d.org gallery, Alex Cope)

Important notes
New TimeLine window isn’t upward compatible… that means that older Blender releases crash on reading files with a TimeLine window active. This crash has been fixed in 2.37 to not happen again when we add new window types, but that won’t help older versions. †
Yafray: Support was added for options for the upcoming release of Yafray. At this moment we’re still waiting for that… documents will be published later too.

Development notes

• OSX XCode project files added in cvs
• BIG warning hunt with 100s of fixes.
• Cleanup or ImBuf code
• Added FTGL to external/ modules
• Added texture draw support for icons, not used yet
• openEXR preparations were uncommitted and postponed to next release
• cleanup of wrong inclusion or BLI_winstuff.h in files. NOTE: BLI_winstuff.h was meant to be a wrapper around windows.h to handle undefining various crap that windows.h defines.
• Mesh drawing code now is abstracted with the Derived Mesh system. Check blenkernel/internal/.
• use the BLI_string functions! in blenlib/BLI_blenlib.h
• First implementation for dependency graph solving added. Now only used to sort the object list in Scenes, for correct order of evaluation.
• Makefile changes for future support of 64 bits compile, testing with SGI Prism.
• Makefile fixes for Windows Cygwin compilation. Improved dependency checking.
• Tests were done with adding the ZBlur option in render core. Results of this method are very limited and too unsatisfying. Was commented out, and will be moved as built-in option in the Sequencer.

hidden stuff

• Code was added for testing the pickle matrix
• Try (Button in Render Buttons, Animation panel) to set “rt” to 52 before entering EditMode on subdivision subsurface
• Try rt=2 or 3… rotate manipulator goodies.

[break]Blender 2.37 is available in the following flavors:
Windows Installer
Windows Zip file
Mac OS X 10.2
Mac OS X 10.3
Linux i386
Linux i386 static
Linux PPC
Linux PPC Static
solaris
irix
FreeBSD