The blender version 2.56 betha is now downloadable!

http://www.blender.org/download/get-256-beta/

there is a 2.56a release now since there were some crash bugs (with undo + some physics systems or something like that).

ton has just posted the further roadmap:

i am so looking forward to bmesh. then blender is complete for me. of course the global illumination features of the render branch will be nice too but actually i don't need the renderer that often.

hi,

@ventilator:

downloaded the new version yesterday.

I tried to export an blender model to fbx to get it in MED.
But the whole model was deformed and with no skin.

So its nice to meet the right guy here.
Will be an updatet version of your mdl7 python exporter in next future?

regards,
maik

i don't know yet. depends on if i will start to use gamestudio again for my own projects in the next months.

but actually everyone who knows some python could do the port.

I also have exprienced a problem with FBX.
It was some 2.5 version also
I had to re install Blender 2.49 to be able to export to FBX 3DGS without problems.

That's strange but i don't find the new version of BLender really simplified !
Why they don't have put icons for each things like in Maya ?
I find the interface have too much menus !
Why they don't make interface things like in Silo or other great tools ?
Simplified and clear ?

I find more clear to work with the 2.49 version, perhaps beacause
i use it for log time ago ?

why they don't do this and that? maybe one reason is that they have limited resources. a lot of areas still need some polishing and they know it but overall the new gui already is much better than the old one. i really like it. once there are some stable releases they probably also will start to experiment with new gui ideas again.



i don't think there are too many menus. icon overkill can be very confusing too. icons often are harder to read than text. it could be a bit more like modo though which uses both in good doses.

one thing i don't like is that header borders can be dragged. i often accidentally drag them instead of screen borders.

what i really like a lot is the new animation system. it's much easier to use than the old one.

i say it again and again I LOVE BLENDER WITH MY HOLE HEART

Blender is an easy to use software

@vent, actually the brain processes images faster than text and icons are faster, but take a bit longer to learn as if learning a new alphabet.....I used to love trueSpace just for this reason...but to each his own I guess....I actually like the old layout more still....just because the new one seems to take up more screen realestate. The monsterous menus on the left and right of the screens(t, and n respectively) seem a lot worse than floating panels....again that is my POV....but it is free and vastly powerfull so....

Although the brain might process images faster, I am not sure that they guide me better through a 3d software. I think you are saving maps in your brain after a while and those texts or images are just landmarks for orientation. So it is way more important to have simple paths to get there with some reasonable branches. The complete structure is important at the beginning.

I personally prefer texts in the beginning, it is easier to understand initially. After that I prefer shortcuts, so an image icon really makes not much sense for me. I used to work in Truespace but was much faster in Lightwave and Modo in the end.

Any improvement also in the rigging system ?

Is it possible to import and attach .bvh animations to existing skeleton
if so, can Blender handle different names and number of bones ?
I mean something like Fragmotion