How many here use Blender

[rovingmind]

Hi, i know most of you use lightwave since this was reformed from LW3D. I was just wondering how many here are Blenderheads also.

I use Blender because of the price on most of the main modeling packages. It was either pirate something or go open source, so open source i went.

[Foomandoonian]

I have toyed very briefly with Blender, but I follow the Blender.org projects. It's good to see quality work being produced with open source tools. One day I will try and crack the UI.

[SteveMoody]

I've had a play with the fluid simulation in blender but can't really get on with the UI

[BillS]

I've seen some amazing work out of it. But the UI did me in to

[MooseDog]

@rovingmind: there's no doubt you'll be able to do quality work with blender, as it's very powerful. if you can figger things out despite the ui, more power to you.

maybe more importantly, post your efforts (good, bad indifferent) 'round these parts. i'm sure you'll get lots of support for conquering the beast called the blendre ui:p

[SI-productions]

I started out with blender. awesome program for the price even then when I was using it way back when and its only gotten better. You can do great work with it!

[rovingmind]

@rovingmind: there's no doubt you'll be able to do quality work with blender, as it's very powerful. if you can figger things out despite the ui, more power to you.

maybe more importantly, post your efforts (good, bad indifferent) 'round these parts. i'm sure you'll get lots of support for conquering the beast called the blendre ui:p

My efforts are meager at the moment. Since i dont have a large enough system to handle a complex render, I haven't worked up anything really fantastic. I've gotten past the UI, there are enough tutorials around, if you bang away at it long enough you can figure them out, although i havn't touched any of the more indepth animation features like the fluid dynamics. Right now i'm using it for game models for a personal project that just got started.

nike ajax missle (http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-nike-ajax/337575)

This is one of mine, i was working with a fan group of alumni with University of Toledo. Did some basic presentation modeling for some ground rework around the base of their Nike Ajax Missle. I also did the Beetles yellow submarine on Turbosquid.

second link (http://www.rovingmind.net/slide_show.html?show=R__R_Studios&picture=picture10.jpg) shows it on the base.

[prixat]

I managed to add the yafray renderer to use its photon mapping.

But really I've only used it for converting and rendering.

[youngheart80]

I'm actually in the process of rewriting a number of LW based tutorials for Blender. As I can't find my LW dongle, I have really felt the pressure hit to keep doing 3D, so I thought this would be a good way to force myself to use the UI and figure the program out. Additionally, I have some new modeling projects for work that might be better done with Blender.

[Foomandoonian]

I'm actually in the process of rewriting a number of LW based tutorials for Blender. As I can't find my LW dongle, I have really felt the pressure hit to keep doing 3D, so I thought this would be a good way to force myself to use the UI and figure the program out. Additionally, I have some new modeling projects for work that might be better done with Blender.

That sounds ideal! Maybe you could re-write them as 'Blender for 'wavers', explaining how to do equivalent things. That would be exactly what I need :D

[splitpoint]

+1 on the "UI did me in too" comment. I found Houdini easier to pick up then blender. Lately there's a lot of nice work being done with it though...

[MooseDog]

looks good:tu:. don't sweat for a minute if it's small or complex. just follow your passion, doing your best at each step.

[rovingmind]

+1 on the "UI did me in too" comment. I found Houdini easier to pick up then blender. Lately there's a lot of nice work being done with it though...

its improved tremendously in just the last year although, yeah the UI is still a head banger

[colkai]

Installed, used for a bit of file import but so far, never been able to wrap my head around it enough to get into it properly.

[Edbittner]

Cool thing about Blender is, you can do some really good fluid simulations and import the stuff into LW.
E.

[colkai]

Indeed, it also makes a handy file converter. It's just when you see some of the sutff it has in there, you wonder why it's so gosh darn difficlut to get it working.

I mean, folks complain about workflow in LW but hehe, well, yeah. ;)

[DingTo]

I use Blender for all my projects.
For landscapes i use Vue 6 and Terragen.

I think Blender is easy to use if you try.

[DingTo]

The Blender Galeria ist a good place to see what Blender is able to and what good artists could. Watch it...there are amacing pictures.

http://www.blender.org/features-gallery/gallery/images/

[Jorge El Grande]

I mostly use Lightwave, but sometimes I mess around with Blender to keep me on my toes. My friend is one of the guys that contributed in the beginning.

[rforrest]

I am just learning to use Blender. I have used vector and bitmap 2d since the early 90s, but have always been "visually confused" by the 3d interface.

Maybe the inexperience is why I am having not having trouble with the interface.

[Vendigo]

I have Blender and keep it up to date, but haven't gotten past the UI really. It certainly is a very powerful package, beating several other similar open source projects hands down.

[fitzgeba]

i too keep blender in my arsenal, but it is not my primary app

[McC]

I've just started dabbling with Blender on my (Ubuntu) laptop, since I wanted to be able to model while either away from my (Maya-based) PC or while my PC was otherwise occupied. Following the on-line Blender book, I've found the UI to be quite welcoming once you understand the paradigm. The more I learn about it, the more I'm leaning towards outright switching to it.

[JeffrySG]

I've been using Blender to UV unwrap my models then bringing them back into LW.

Steve Warner has some great video tutorials on this:
http://www.stevewarner.com/html/uv_unwrapping.html

[youngheart80]

I'm actually in the process of rewriting a number of LW based tutorials for Blender. As I can't find my LW dongle, I have really felt the pressure hit to keep doing 3D, so I thought this would be a good way to force myself to use the UI and figure the program out. Additionally, I have some new modeling projects for work that might be better done with Blender.

Well all, I must confess - I have not been able to complete these tutorials yet. I got asked to move to another job - internal transfer I think they called it - and now my work life sucks. I was going to spend my lunch hours working on these, but I haven't actually had a lunch break in 3 weeks; just have to eat at my desk. That and the damn UI is killing me. I mean, come on, lathe is a standard way of refering to the tool - why call it spin when NO ONE ELSE DOES. Just little things. But my love of open source tools keeps drawing me back.

I haven't given up, just had to take a step back and wait for it for a bit.

[XRaiderV1]

the UI was written by a totol idiot.

open source means nothing if half the program's users cant navigate the UI without wanting to shoot something.

thats just my opinion, and not a reflection on the rest of the program.

that said, I mainly use it just to handle file format conversions.

[McC]

the UI was written by a totol idiot.
The UI breaks almost every known paradigm for 3D app UI, but to say it was written by an idiot is close-minded.


If one takes the time to do the start-up tutorials that teach the UI and one makes an effort to understand the UI paradigm at work, it becomes very intuitive. I've been using Blender for only a handful of days, and I adore it. I find it incredibly intuitive, and while I have to let go of the UI instincts I have from other 3D apps, I enjoy working in Blender far more than I do in Maya, and perhaps as much as I enjoyed working in LightWave "back in the day."

[XRaiderV1]

my point is, an interface should not leave one wanting to do violence to their
computer.......the program looks deceptively simple to use. its far from simple.

I prefer bryce, less frustration, better, faster results.

and, less fighting with the camera to get that perfect shot.......translation, happier user.

[McC]

my point is, an interface should not leave one wanting to do violence to their computer.......the program looks deceptively simple to use. its far from simple.
We're careening into software preference territory, where consensus is almost never attainable.

That said, I reiterate: once I went through some of the basic-level instruction tutorials, I found Blender's UI to be a dream of epic proportions. A few of the older guard around here know of my little odyssey transitioning from beloved LightWave to frustrating Maya. I compare the ease of working in Blender to working in LightWave; once you understand how each program's UI works, they're both fantastic.

There is a learning curve; only the most basic of 3D apps lack a noticable one. Gauging between 3ds MAX, Maya, LightWave, trueSpace, and Blender, Blender's is on the shorter side of the scale. However, if you tried to jump in blind I imagine you would get frustrated very quickly.

As always, the time-honored advice stands true: RTFM. ;)

[XRaiderV1]

I actually tried a few of the tutorials, guess my level of patience just isnt enough for blender, cause I found myself wondering what I was doing at one point.......
I have figured out how to insert lights, and work basic manipulation of the viewpoint, but, aside from those two things, and conversions, the UI still remains a puzzle.

heck, half of the terms used on a few of the menus, I've yet to encounter elsewhere.

in the end, I must conclude you are right, its due to my lack of long term patience that causes me to prefer bryce.(this is a personal shortcoming)

[colkai]

I have figured out how to insert lights, and work basic manipulation of the viewpoint, but, aside from those two things, and conversions, the UI still remains a puzzle.
...
in the end, I must conclude you are right, its due to my lack of long term patience

You and me both, I spend more time trying to find things in the menus when I fire up Blender than actually doing anything. I figure, if I've got an hour to do some 3D, don't wanna spend most of that going WTF??! :p

Maybe one day..maybe ;)

[Kionel]

Mark me as another who was totally baffled by the Blender interface. There's a lot of power there, sure, but it's like it's all guarded by a school of ill-tempered, mutated sea bass.

[McC]

Start Reading (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro).

;)

That link is the sole resource I've used to teach myself Blender thus far, and I only went through part of it before being comfortable enough to strike out on my own.

[SteveMoody]

Start Reading (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro).

;)

That link is the sole resource I've used to teach myself Blender thus far, and I only went through part of it before being comfortable enough to strike out on my own.

That a lot of tutorials on there, will have to have a look through some of them.

[McC]

That a lot of tutorials on there, will have to have a look through some of them.
It's written as though it were a book and it's best read as such. I stopped reading toward the end of the Modeling chapter because by then I had grown accustomed-enough to the UI to figure out much of the rest of it.

I imagine I'll need to go back and do some more reading when it comes time to animate. ;)

[XRaiderV1]

a tutorial meant to be read as a book......................thats a new one on me, lol.......and, I'm sure, a first as well..................