Sun Unlimited Text
Overview to Blender 3D Design Sofware by Benicio Brown
This article is the second in a series of articles about software used to create 3D computer graphics. Today we are going to focus on Blender.
Blender is a free open source 3D graphics application, released under the GNU General Public License and available for all major OS.
Despite being free Blender comes with a wide array of handy features which make it the choice of many members of the 3D community.
Main Blender features:
Interface – non-overlapping and non-blocking user interface, totally configurable window layout which allows developers to use unlimited screen setups, undo functionality on all levels, anti-aliased fonts, built-in text editor, graphical user interface for Python scripts, customizable appearance through themes, same interface across all platforms, and more.
Modeling – wide variety of 3D objects types which includes vector fonts (TrueType, OpenType, etc), metaballs, bezier and B-spline curves, NURBS surfaces, polygon meshes and more.
Rigging – fast skeleton creation, interactive 3D paint for vertex weighiting, fast envelope based skinning, heat equilibrium based Automatic Skinning, mirror editing, double quaternions, volume deformer, bone layers and colored groups, b-spline interpolated bones, constraint stack, PyConstraints, and more.
Animation – armature (skeleton) deformation with forward/inverse kinematics with pole target support, auto IK, non-linear animation editor, automated walkcycles along paths, animated constraint system, vertex key framing for morphing, character animation pose editor, integration motion curve and key-frame editing, audio playback, mixing and editing support for sound synchronisation, Python scripting, and more.
Rendering – inbuilt raytracer, non-square pixels, fields, post-productions effects, motion blur and oversampling, fully-threaded and tile-based, render layer and passes, object to object baking and render baking to UV maps, render engine integrated with with the node compositor, lens flares, fog and halo effects, vector motion-blur post-process effect, realistic defocus post-process effect, edge rendering, interactive preview rendering panel, ambient occlusion, radiosity solver, export scripts for external renderers (VRay, Indigo, Lux, Virtualight, Povray, Renderman), and more.
UV Unwrapping – conformal and angle based unwrapping methods, interactive transform of UV maps by vertex pinning, proportional falloff editing of UV maps, seam based unwrapping, view, cube cylinder, sphere and view projections, Catmull-Clark subdivision of UVs, multiple UV layers, and more.
Shading – diffuse shaders (Oren-Nayar, Toon, Minnaert, Lambert), specular shaders ( CookTorr, Phong, Blinn, Toon, Wardlso), node editor, PyNodes, material previews, subsurface scattering, blurry reflections and refractions, tangent shading, textures system, reflection maps, normal, displacement and bump maps.
Realtime 3D Game Creation – graphical logic editor, collision detection and dynamics simulation, shape types (convex polyhedron, box, sphere, cone, cylinder, capsule, compound, static triangle mesh), discrete collision detection, in-game activation of dynamic constraints, support for vehicle dynamics (spring reactions, stiffness, damping, tyre friction), Python scripting API, support for OpenGl lighting modes (transparencies, animated and reflection-mapped textures), support for multimaterials, texture blending modes, multitexture, per-pixel lighting, dynamic lighting, mapping models, GLSL vertexPaint texture blending, toon shading, animated materials, normal mapping and parallax mapping, playback of games and interactive 3D content, and more.
Blender also has many remarkable features when it comes to physics and particles, imaging and compositing, and files management.
Blender supports the following operating systems:
Windows 2000, XP, Vista
Mac OS X (PPC and Intel)
Linux (i386)
Linux (PPC)
FreeBSD 5.4 (i386)
SGI Irix 6.5
Sun Solaris 2.8 (sparc)
Well, this is just a quick overview of Blender, for more information please head to their website, download the software and give it a try.
If you liked this article on 3D software you probably will like to read information on renderfarm. Articles on renderfarm will help you make the right choice when the time to render your Blender 3D animations in a renderfarm comes.
Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Overview-to-Blender-3D-Design-Sofware/737609
Derrick Monasterio – Sun Call & Text Unlimited Superloaded
|
|
Microsoft Flight Simulator 98/World of Flight 98 $7.44 The world leader in flight simulation for the PC pushes technology and realism beyond the horizon. With a global database of scenery and airports, pilot-tested flight models, detailed instrument panelThe world leader in flight simulation for the PC pushes technology and realism beyond the horizon. With a global database of scenery and airports, pilot-tested flight models, detailed instrument panel… |
|
|
DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 2.2-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Earthmate GPS PN-30 Realtree AP DeLorme’s new feature-rich handheld GPS has a rock-solid design for unbeatable reliability, now in RealTree AT camouflage for use in the field when hunting. The PN-30 brings blazing-fast speed, a high-sensitivity 32-channel Cartesio chipset. Worldwide basemap and U.S. 1:100k topographic and detailed street maps of the entire U.S. and over 4 million places of interes… |
|
|
The Going-To-Bed Book $2.00 Board BookFrom Board Book Master Sandra BoyntonThe moon is high. The sea is deep.They rockand rockand rockto sleep. This whimsical, poetic book – like the name suggests – is the perfect read before your child sets in for the night. With a silly plot filled with anthropomorphized animals preparing for slumber going through a routine likely similar to your child’s own, this book is both relata… |
|
|
Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) $4.46 Great love stories thrive on sacrifice. Throughout The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse), Stephenie Meyer has emulated great love stories–Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights–with the fated, yet perpetually doomed love of Bella (the human girl) and Edward (the vampire who feeds on animals instead of humans). In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella&rs… |
|
|
Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting: The Astonishing Power of Feelings $3.71 Is there a way to always have a fat bank account, or a better job, or a delightfully smooth relationship, or a better body? And if so, is it really possible to realize these dreams now, rather than at some unknown future time?Lynn Grabhorn answers these questions with a resounding “Yes!” In Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting, she says that what actually molds every moment of every day of one’s life a… |