[Bf-marketing] Fwd: PR Interview 3d-test

Fri Dec 30 19:13:51 CET 2005

Not complete and as you will see - I'm not sure how to answer some
questions (my comments are in parentheses).  I'm up way past my
bedtime :)  So either someone else can finish - or I can when I wake
up.  Are these print or web based publications?  We can send the
composite and individual images that lukep, myself and inktvlek put
together.

> > =======INTERVIEW 3D-TEST=========
> >
> > Q1. Version 2.4 is now available, what are the main new features?

All aspects of the animation system were completely refactored greatly
improving the power , flexibility, and ease of use of the entire
animation process including rigging, constraints, weight painting,
morph targets, and animation cycles.  The addition of a fluid dynamics
was tremendously well recieved by the animation community, with
dedicated users of more traditional animation packages such as
Lightwave and Cinema4D adding Blender to their workflow and pipeline.
Another area of keen interest has been the particle based hair system
which has allowed users to create realistic fur and hair.  There has
also been the addition of a modifier stack, which greatly improves the
power of the modeling system.  Additionally the bullet physics library
has been better exposed so that physics simulations can be easily
baked to animation curves, for usage in the animation system.

There have been a number of other significant improvements including
improvements in the mesh editing tools such as improved loop and
subdivide tools, and 'organic extrusion'.  'Live LSCM unwrapping'
which greatly improves the ease of use and speed of unwrapping a mesh.
Greatly improved text editing and creation tools, a number of
interface improvements, as well as a large improvements in the Python
API such as the addition of the fast Mesh module.

For complete details you are encouraged to see the release notes

http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Blender_2_40.598.0.html

> > Q2. Is Blender easy to learn?
Blender has historically had a steep learning curve - even more so
than other 3D applications.  With the addition of a quick start guide
to help new users get over the 'first five minutes' and standard
features such as a 3d manipulator, the Blender learning curve is much
easier to climb.  By reading the quick start guide, and then following
a few tutorials and reading through the manual a user should be able
to learn Blender at a comparable rate to other full featured 3D
software.  Users of other 3D software should be able to learn Blender
fairly quickly provided they read the quickstart guide first.

> Q3. A quick look to Blender's gallery show that Blender is capable to produce very nice
> images. Is Blender as productive as other competitive commercial products?

Blender has an extremely fast work flow 'one hand on the keyboard, one
hand on the mouse' and makes extensive use of keybindings.  However
users used to programs such as 3ds Max which have a rich modeling
toolset will find some things they are missing in Blender.  A user who
can adapt themselves to the Blender workflow can likely be as
productive or moreso than they can in other 3d applications.

> > Q4. Is Blender capable of managing big scenes with millions of
> > polygons?

The renderer can handle millions of polygons.  For managing large
scenes you can use bounding box display if you are on a machine with
limited ram.

(my 2 million polygon test using render parts was fairly contrived -
can someone confirm with a decent test scene?)

> Q5. Blender seems to be a great tool for realtime 3d, what are the export formats supplied by blender?

Blender has exporters for Collada, 3DS, OBJ, LWO, x3d, md2, vrml,
Cal3d, and XSI bundled.  Potential users are encouraged to check the
website to ensure that the format they are interested in using
supports all of the features they need.

there are also external exporters for Ogre 3D and a number of other formats

(Should explicit mention that none of the animation exports work yet -
and users that need such should likely either use 2.37a or wait for
2.41 in a couple of months?)

> > Q6. Do you plan to add a backing texture command?

Is that a typo - and you meant texture baking?  (Someone else will
need to field this one - I believe that there are scripts that do
texture baking, but I don't know the result quality....)

> > Q7. In the field of animation, Blender introduces key features in the 2.4 release. Is it possible to export in realtime animations like bones, fluids, physics?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'export in realtime' fluids and
physics animation can be 'baked' and then imported to a different
package and rendered - for instance lightwave and Cinema4d users have
exported fluid dynamics per  to render in their prefered environment.

(again regarding animation - currently we don't have functioning
animation export... - by the time they go to press we could though)

> > Q8. Is it possible to customize UI (shortcuts, toolbars, layout...)?

The layout of the viewports is highly customizable - shortcuts and
toolbars are currently only customizable via the sourcecode - which
for the average user means 'not customizable'.  A refactor of the code
to allow fully customized keybindings, menus, toolbars, panels, etc.
is planned for after the Orange project finishes.

> > Q9. What is the status of Blender plugin for realtime 3D?

The plugins are currently not maintained, although there have been
some mentions of individuals working on the code, nothing has yet been
made public.

> > Q10. Blender is free and open. How is it possible to keep a software
> > free and maintain it's developpement?

The Blender Foundation is supported by donations as well as income via
the 'Blender Store' which sells Blender manuals, game engine kits, and
some merchandise.  Ton keeps the overhead extremely low.with himself
as the only full time employee.  Ton is the only individual funded by
the Foundation to code on Blender.  Other coders are usually pure
volunteers who have a love of 3D and programming, or individuals who
make use of Blender in a production environment and contribute back
changes that they make that were needed or useful for their own work.

> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ton Roosendaal" <ton at blender.org>
> > To: "3d-test [Benoit Vandangeon]" <info at 3d-test.com>
> > Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 3:10 PM
> > Subject: Re: PR Interview 3d-test
> >
> >
> > Hi Benoit,
> >
> > Sorry for the late reply, I've locked myself away from the internet for
> > a week! :)
> > If you forward me a list of questions, I can make sure people with time
> > to reply get it!
> >
> > All the best for 2006,
> >
> > -Ton-
> >
> > On 23 Dec, 2005, at 10:00, 3d-test [Benoit Vandangeon] wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Ton,
> >> I would like to interview a representative of Blender, to
> >> present the new features of the V.2.4.
> >> May I send you a list of questions?
> >> I would like to publish the interview on 3d-test (beg. january 2006).
> >> Thank You,
> >> /Benoit
> >>
> >> Merry Christmas ! http://westimages.com/3d/2006/2006.html
> >>
> >> Benoit Vandangeon
> >> www.3d-test.com
> >> Realtime & Interactive Media, Web3D Specialist
> >> ___________________________________________________________
> >> 3d-test / Westimages
> >> 13 Av du Maréchal Juin
> >> 81600 GAILLAC
> >> FRANCE
> >> tel +33 5 63 81 48 83
> >> mob. 06 22 77 92 28
> >> skype "benoit_3d"
> >> www.3d-test.com is edited by Westimages
> >>
> >> AVERTISSEMENT :
> >> Ce message et toutes les pièces jointes sont confidentiels et établis
> >>  à l'intention exclusive de ses destinataires.
> >> Toute utilisation ou diffusion non autorisée est interdite. Tout
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> >> Westimages décline toute responsabilité au titre de ce message s'il a
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> >>
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > - --
> > Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation ton at blender.org
> > http://www.blender.org
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation ton at blender.org
> http://www.blender.org
>
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