Blender is a free and open-source 3D creation software that is popular among artists, designers, and developers. Developed by Blender Foundation, it offers a comprehensive suite of tools for creating stunning 3D animations, models, and visual effects.

Blender's user interface is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, which makes it easy to use for beginners and professionals alike. It offers a wide range of features, including modeling, sculpting, texturing, lighting, animation, and video editing. The software also supports third-party plugins, which allows for even more flexibility and customization.

Blender's community is also a significant asset. There are many online resources available for learning how to use Blender, including video tutorials, documentation, and forums. Additionally, the community regularly produces add-ons, assets, and plugins that can be downloaded and used for free.

Blender has a wide range of applications. It is commonly used for creating 3D models for games, films, and television shows. It is also popular among architects and interior designers for creating realistic visualizations of buildings and spaces. Additionally, Blender is often used by artists and designers for creating abstract or stylized art.

Blender is a versatile and powerful tool for anyone interested in 3D modeling, animation, or visual effects. Its accessibility and robust feature set make it an excellent choice for beginners and professionals alike, and its active community ensures that there is always something new to learn or explore.

Key Features:

• 3D modeling tools for creating models with polygons, NURBS, and sculpting.
• Powerful animation system supporting keyframe and procedural animation.
• Advanced rendering engine with support for ray tracing and global illumination.
• Full-featured video editor for compositing and color grading.
• Simulation tools for physics, fluid, and cloth simulations.
• Python API for custom scripting and automation of tasks.
• Game engine for creating 3D games.
• Node-based compositor for post-processing and compositing.
• Grease pencil tool for 2D drawing and animation in the 3D space.
• Highly customizable user interface with support for custom hotkeys, scripts, and add-ons.

Version 2.71

Cycles Rendering

• Cycles now includes support for rendering volume textures, fire and smoke, deformation motion blur, baking textures from cycles materials, more texture interpolation modes and a dedicated UV layer node.

Animation

• More easing equations added to the IPO editor for better animation control, locking time to other windows is again possible, auto snapping is now independent from display type.
• The user interface now offers more feedback, especially on errors, updates driver expressions automatically on editing, includes more icons and offers more editing tools.
• New tools also include lasso selection support, non-linked duplication for strips, and setting preview range based on selected strips.

Modelling

• The new per-face normals feature allows blender to display and export sharp edges correctly without geometry duplication.
• In addition, selection tools offer more options.

Sculpting/Painting

• New features include a HSL color wheel for color selection and tools to handle homogenous density in dynamic topology sculpting.
• Dyntopo and matcap display for sculpt mode have also had performance optimizations.

Game Engine

• UI to deactivate logic bricks, multi-threaded animations, shadows-only materials and more action layers are among the new features for the game engine

Freestyle NPR Rendering

• Freestyle has been upgraded with textured stroke support. Textured stroke support makes it possible to apply patterns to the lines and simulate rough surfaces or different kinds of brush tips for the strokes themselves.
• Line sorting also gives artists more control over the order of line drawing

User Interface

• Interface features include new icons for texture painting, resizeable preview widgets and draggable popups.

More Features

• More control for curve bevelling, explicit shadow cast control for blender internal materials, new distortion model for motion tracking and better handles for mask editors.

Feature Videos

• Look at many of the above features in the Blender Developer Sneak Peeks - a video podcast series that showcases important milestones in the development of every Blender release.

Addons
Bug Fixes