Blender 2.5 alpha major improvement!

[luthobu]

I can't believe it.. this is a major improvement.. now even I shall, will and must learn Blender. It's all in the UI..

http://alge.anart.no/projects/racer/screenshots//blender25a-64bit.jpg

 

[EAP3D]

I don't like it. The UI is too "trendy" and annoying looking. The UI customization is different now and that's something I really loved about the previous versions. I hate the dark color scheme, I model better on a lighter background. Half of the shortcuts are different and a lot of tools are located within diffierent menus now. There's no way I'm going to bother re-learning the entire program just to keep using it, I'd rather buy 3DS max which in my opinion, is easier to use than blender 2.5. I really liked how Blender was going from around 2.35 up until 2.5. Can't understand why they would make a decision to basically change everything... sure it looks nicer, and probably attracts more new users, but now all of the people who have been using it for years have to re-learn it? I don't think that's a good idea.

 

[jabb]

It's actually easier to learn and use than the old versions. I was a bit annoyed by the layout and new shortcuts at first but it's pretty easy to get used to... and a lot of shortcuts are possible to set to your liking.
The main reason for change in UI was basically a total redesign of the code. Now it's possible to use multiple windows, everything works nice when using multiple displays.
And it's waaaaay faster!

 

[EAP3D]

It's actually easier to learn and use than the old versions. I was a bit annoyed by the layout and new shortcuts at first but it's pretty easy to get used to... and a lot of shortcuts are possible to set to your liking.
The main reason for change in UI was basically a total redesign of the code. Now it's possible to use multiple windows, everything works nice when using multiple displays.
And it's waaaaay faster!

They got rid of loopcut, which was my most used modeling tool.

 

[luthobu]

They got rid of loopcut, which was my most used modeling tool.

Really?

"Navigation shortcut keys ^
[...]
Items marked [*] are compatible with Blender 2.50.
Ctrl+R = LOOPCUT [*]"

From http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/blender/useful-keyboard-shortcuts.php

Maybe they removed it in the Beta..

 

[boomer541]

Thanks for the link luthobu. I tried it out and it crashed as I still had the path to the Python ver 2.5.1 that I use for Blender ver 2.45. V. 2.54 din't like the _init_py file.

The GUI has certainly changed a lot, nothing is familiar and I still need to set up the preferences and start screen. For a start screen I use just the cube and no light or camera.

The forum certainly has been lacking in posts, Ruud took a vacation, everyone else too.

 

[EAP3D]

Thanks for the link luthobu. I tried it out and it crashed as I still had the path to the Python ver 2.5.1 that I use for Blender ver 2.45. V. 2.54 din't like the _init_py file.

The GUI has certainly changed a lot, nothing is familiar and I still need to set up the preferences and start screen. For a start screen I use just the cube and no light or camera.

The forum certainly has been lacking in posts, Ruud took a vacation, everyone else too.

I set my start screen in 2.49 to be an empty scene

 

[boomer541]

I leave the cube so I have a 0,0,0 reference point.

Just how does one get a Python script to work in this abomination? I tried to set the path to the folder with the dof exporter scripts but ver. 2.54 didn't like it. There are a lot of scripts available but it appears that none can be used with 2.54. Bummer.

 

[DavidI]

Can Blender change the order of materials? i.e. I want to be able to control which texture material is the first.

 

[boomer541]

From my experience with Blender the order of textures applied to an object is the order they will be appliead. You can check the order with modeler. At least 16 texture images an be applied and you can also do vertex coloring, ie. fake shadows on grass.

 

[radome]

On and off (mostly off until a few days ago) since july I've been working on migrating B.Burton's DOF exporter to 2.55. It is still WIP but it worked.

 

[boomer541]

Thanks radome! Without the dof exporter ver. 2.5 is useless.

Please post the exporter and look at my post of Brent Burton's exporter with GUI in the download section, it's a lot easier to use with the GUI.

Now if you could export animations like 3dsMax we'd be all set!

 

[radome]

Alright I posted it. It probably needs help in the materials properties area. And some tweaking in the No-materials-found block.

 

[luthobu]

Don't know where else to post this, so I'll just throw it in here.

Have been working with Pierre Saunier, the man behind the freeware
3D modeling program Albatross3d (former ppmodeler) and we (he did
most the work actually) have managed to produce a working DOF
exporter. Have tested it and it seems to be pretty much accurate.

The beta is not ready for the public yet, but I will post a note on
the forum as soon as it is ready for a larger audience.

Albatross3d is a great alternative to both Blender and Zmodeler, the
UI is nice and it is easy to understand. If we get a stable version to
work without crashing I might even put away all other 3d apps for a
while

 

[KS95]

Sounds interesting.. I look forward to hearing more.

 

[boomer541]

Me too! Thanks for the info.

 

[luthobu]

Forgot all about this. Sorry. Albatross3D is still being developed, it seems
stable on Win7 and it has DOF export. I asked Pierre about import as well
but he finds it redundant, for some reason I don't understand. Anyway, it is
a good 3D app, I like the UI and the fullscreen perspective edit

New thread has been created -> HERE <-