Blender3d as an editor

Just wondering if any of you have used or considered using Blender3d as your 3d editor. It is open source (originally a very successful commercial product) that has a very active community. It supports many different 3d formats (via python scripts) including 3D Studio Max, OBJ and DirectX 'X' files.

I'd highly recommend you go through the introduction tutorials on the web site, as it's UI is a little different, but appears very powerful.

It also has a 'gaming' subset, which includes a physics engine and maybe in poly-reduction (not sure).

Cheers,

Stu

To be honest, I downright hate Blender.

I used to think exactly the same way. But I had to give it a second chance, give it is free.

Turns out, going through some of the tutorials has changed my opinion. Be sure to read this (and the others on these pages) and see if you change your mind.

I found this quite true about the Blender UI (quoted from the above tutorial):

I'd highly recommend all give it at least a look.

Cheers,

Stu

I like Blender too. Same background with it as you, StuC.
I hated it, but I downloaded it 2 weeks ago, and loved it!
The tutorials help a lot!

Its great and you lot can quote me on that.

Noel,

What do you use to do your modelling in?

Cheers,

Stu

I like Blender as well. There is so much that you can do in it.
But what would be really awesome is if there was a b3d exporter for it!

is there a 3d exporter for b3d from blender now

does it handle animations like characterFX?
If so how does it compare?

I love Blender. I really do. I have the bought the book and I have 4 T-shirts ( Ha I am wearing one right now ) now I am going to buy the extended DVD version of the Elephants dream ( orange project )

And for the original post. I use blender for map builder the downside on this is that I am working in 2D. What this means? That I am buildind the enviroments in an ortho view of blender then I am ( haching) the 3D object to get the position of the points and the edges and the uv parameters. This way I use blender for my 2D maps.

Also I used Blender for 2D skeletal animation but this project gone to hell from bad organisation. Maybe later. When I am going to buy a cheap mo-cap system ( one camera so 2D ) and set up my studio ( god I am working like a dog and i still poor ).

Ohhh.... I just noticed that this thread it's one year old. anyway I really wanted to say this things as in my town none can understand what I am talking about when I start speak about my hoby.

One last thing ( folks ). If you really wand to use Blender take your time and read the tutorials ( the manual ). Don't give up read it like you readed a (3D studio , Maya , Lightwave , XSI , Cinema4D) Book. After a month or two you will not be able to use any of this comercial programs. Trust me.
Then as a programer read the Blender API.

After that I am sure you are going to walk to the world with a Blender T-Shirt.

Blender it's not cheap it's generus.

I like Blender too. It's one of the few free modelers that I can actually make something slightly realistic with. I used it to model and texture all the tanks in BattleTanks II.

1. Could someone move this to the correct board? Heck that are the BM boards not the "3d modelling boards"

2. To come back on topic: I hate blender and that won't change ... to me it has the same craptastic useless controlling sheme as 3DS Max ... ie a little worse and it would win the price for the crapiest user interface ever designed ...
Might be from my personal thinking of what is intuitive and what not ... but overloaded, not context sensitive control is plain crap in 06 (might have been ok 10 years ago thought) ...

I dislike blender too, it reminds me too much of all the things I hated about lightwave. Much prefer Max and Maya. I just cant get around the confusing interface, which seems so counter intuitive to me.

I think its good for a freebie though, and probably better to model with than the readily avaliable editors out there.

I'd like to see it better supported for indies on a tight budget.