Linux for Designers

...will come in August 2008. After so many new features Blender 2.47 will be mostly a bugfix release with some nice enhancements:
* Sound system recode (GSOC project 2007)
* Better snapping tools
* Sky rendering
* Water displacement shader
* And maybe some of the Apricot Blender

What? New Blender features? Yes you get it, Big Buck Bunny aka Peach Project and the release of Blender 2.46 were just the half way. Besides the open movie project the Blender Foundation started an open game project too: Apricot. The first new developed features are shown in the video below:

I get it! Today my DVD copy of the Blender Open Movie Big Buck Bunny arrived! Whoohoo, i'm so happy about it. This evening i will celebrate the first view of the movie at home with my girlfriend and chips!

Blender 2.46 RC5 is available now!
Blender 2.46 final will available on May 17 or 18.
The Big Buck Bunny DVD will ship on May 20
Internet release of the Big Buck Bunny movie will be on 30 or 31 May.

JiriH has created a very cool squash and stretch ball rig demonstrating the animation features of Blender. The rig only works with Blender 2.46 RC and above. More details and Downloads at Blenderartists.org.

Blenderstorm opened his doors for saving and rating ideas of the development of Blender. If you are a Blender user it is now up to you add your ideas or vote for your wishes

The Peach project, that will show the 2nd open source movie soon, has published the first trailer



Sweet!

A first release of a SVG texture plugin for Blender is published. So you can map your Inkscape work directly on 3D objects in Blender. You can download the VecTex plugin at the Google code page. Like procedual textures all is 100% scalable - that means no more oversized textures for logo types and typos. It is a first public release so it's not 100% bug free.
Check out the demo video:
More about the VecTex 0.9 plugin can be read at Blenderartists.org.

Before Blender 2.50 will hit the streets the next version will be 2.46. That is now scheduled for April/ May this year and will be full of nice, new features besides the bugfixes and improvements like ever. Blender 2.46 will earn the required features of the open movie project Peach and bring that to the public:
* New Image File Browser
* Skinning Improvements
* Rendering Features (FSA, Zmask, Cubic shading)
* Mesh Deform Modifier
* Pole Target for IK
* Glossy Reflection/Refraction
* Raytraced Soft Shadows
* QMC Sampling
* Approximate Ambient Occlusion
* Weight paint visualization and Multi Modifier
* Render Baking and Normal Mapping
* Particles and Strands
* Constraint Improvements
* Armature Drawing Improvements
* Sequencer changes
* UV Editing
* Pose Libraries

Again a lot of features based on the open movie Peach project found there way to the SVN of Blender. Read all about the changes that are coming and take a look at the two new:
* Sequencer changes: blend abilities for strips
* UV Editing without Face/UV mode