NaN Closes Shop, The End of Blender? 322
lowell writes "The shareholders and directors of NaN Holding BV, owners of Blender, have decided to terminate all activities of NaN Technologies BV and apply for its bankruptcy at the Amsterdam court. It means that effective today, all technology development and website activities around
Blender will be frozen. " Nice
app. Too bad really.
Re:Blender? (Score:5, Informative)
As any real blender user will tell you, once you learn the interface it's one of the fastest modelers out there.
Why?? (Score:1, Informative)
Most of us don't even know what blender is!
Re:Please release the source under GPL (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Please release the source under GPL (Score:5, Informative)
>It's already GPLed, Einstien.
Wrong.
from Freshmeat:
Per the license: "You are hereby granted permission to copy and distribute the Software without written agreement from NaN, only for non-commercial purposes."
Other parts of the software, such as the blender render daemon, are fully Open Source and Free Software, released under the new BSD license.
Re:Lack of Apps. (Score:4, Informative)
Maya [aliaswavefront.com] (possibly the preeminent 3D animation app) is available under Linux. It's just out of your freebie pricerange.
There's also a free "Personal Learning Edition" [aliaswavefront.com] available, but it's only for WinNT/2k/XP or OSX. So contact Alias|Wavefront and tell them you want to see it for Linux.
Blender really isn't the end-all/be-all of 3d apps the Slashdot crowd makes it out to be.
Re:This is frustrating (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.download.blender.pl/mirror/versions
I think version 2.25 was the latest but it got wiped before they could release it to the public and the mirrors could catch up.
real pity -- i really like blender.
Blender was Fantastic (Score:5, Informative)
That is absolutely correct.
I've been working on a film project using blender for some time, and have tried other 3d animation products on other platforms and blender was, hands down, the best at nearly everything one needs to do to make good, high quality animations. There were, of course, failings, and some things for which one would choose to use another tool, but for the vast majority of tasks it was excellent and, as you say, once you learn the interface, the most intuitive without sacrificing power and features.
This is really tragic. I really, really hope they GPL the source so that the project may live on, but I have a feeling this is going to be an example where the Free Software Foundation and Richard Stallman's much maligned stance of "avoid proprietary software at all costs, you'll pay in the end if you don't" may very well be vindicated, in the form of hundreds of hours of animation work that will become less and less usable as the existing binaries age and become more and more difficult to get running (as glibc and other libraries change with time).
If anyone from NaN is reading, please, please, please GPL the blender code.
As an aside I am surprised they didn't go with the "you pay for the release today, or wait 12 months and get the features in the GPLed version." Many would have paid, and the delayed, GPLed version would have been insurance against this kind of thing happening. Oh well, twenty-twenty hindsight and all that
:-(
Re:This is frustrating (Score:3, Informative)
Yes there is an Opensource Alternative... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.openfx.org
A Sad Day .... (Score:3, Informative)
---
Blender supports multiple cameras and lighting, which can be used to create very lifelike images, especially when scenes incorporate realistic surfaces. The program even has a plug-in facility that will accept new surfaces and features created by third parties.
Animation is one of Blender's most impressive features. Not only can objects move along paths, but their attributes can change along the way. For example, lighting effects can increase, decrease, or change color. We were even able to introduce lens flares and motion blurs. Another animation enhancement is particle support, which allows multiple objects to be created and animated based on procedures that can simulate natural laws.
Blender even handles postproduction jobs that utilize images or videos from other sources. For example, Blender can be used to add an animated, walking lamp, complete with its own shadow, to a video using masking and animation features.
The printed documentation is definitely worth the price. It's far more extensive than the free, downloadable version and is packed with useful details. The manual sports many colorful examples, even if the font is so small it practically requires a magnifying glass to read. While the documentation adequately covers the program's numerous keystrokes, menus, and mouse actions, a reference card would be nice.
Whether you need a production-quality 3D system or just some basic 3D scenes for a presentation, Blender fits the bill. If you're prepared to spend some time learning how to use it, the results will be well worth your effort. This is one of the best 3D packages on any platform.
(Taken from LinuxMag review)
Re:Blender? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Please release the source under GPL (Score:2, Informative)
Alias/Wavefront Maya [alias.com]
Houdini [sidefx.com]
Oh? You mean FREE 3d programs. hm. i have no idea. try this, though, 3d linux programs [3dlinks.com]
Re:I would pay to see it GPLed (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Yes there is an Opensource Alternative... (Score:2, Informative)
http://prettypoly.sourceforge.net/
Re:Please release the source under GPL (Score:5, Informative)
As a non-animator I first installed Blender and immediately became deeply confused and gave up.
A while later, I installed k3d. There was no
Within an hour I learned how to make animations with dancing deformed tea pots.
K3d is GPL. It's available under windows as well, but that's a massive pain in the butt to install.
Re:Thank You (Score:2, Informative)
Ummmm...hello ? Blender file the