Blender 4.5 LTS Released (nerds.xyz) 10
BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Blender 4.5 has arrived and it's a long-term support release. That means users get two full years of updates and bug fixes, making it a smart choice for anyone looking for stability in serious projects. Whether you're a solo artist or part of a studio pipeline, this version is built to last. Here's a list of key features and changes in this release:
- Vulkan backend replaces OpenGL (faster, smoother UI)
- Adaptive subdivision up to 14x faster with multithreading
- New Geometry Nodes: Camera Info, Instance Bounds
- GPU-accelerated compositor nodes with standardized inputs
- New Boolean solver: Manifold (cleaner, faster mesh operations)
- UV maps visible in Object Mode + improved selection behavior
- Grease Pencil render pass and Geometry Nodes integration
- Improved file import support: PLY, OBJ, STL, CSV, VDB
- Deprecations: Collada, Big Endian, legacy .blend, Intel Mac support
- Cycles OptiX now requires NVIDIA driver v535+
- New shader variants for add-on developers (POLYLINES_*, POINT_*)
~500 bug fixes across all major systems
- Vulkan backend replaces OpenGL (faster, smoother UI)
- Adaptive subdivision up to 14x faster with multithreading
- New Geometry Nodes: Camera Info, Instance Bounds
- GPU-accelerated compositor nodes with standardized inputs
- New Boolean solver: Manifold (cleaner, faster mesh operations)
- UV maps visible in Object Mode + improved selection behavior
- Grease Pencil render pass and Geometry Nodes integration
- Improved file import support: PLY, OBJ, STL, CSV, VDB
- Deprecations: Collada, Big Endian, legacy .blend, Intel Mac support
- Cycles OptiX now requires NVIDIA driver v535+
- New shader variants for add-on developers (POLYLINES_*, POINT_*)
~500 bug fixes across all major systems
Most importantly, it's awesome and free! (Score:1)
That is all.
Re: (Score:2)
Except.. How can they be awesome if the software won't even run on my Macintosh PC?
The devil's in the fine print that suggests they are dropping x86_64 Mac support.
Deprecations: Collada, Big Endian, legacy .blend, Intel Mac support
Re: (Score:3)
Then just recompile it. Its just a regular old CMAKE system as far as I'm aware (its been a while since I've looked). If the headers for it have been dropped, just patch them back.
Re: (Score:2)
Download link has the x86_64 dmg for this LTS release. Obviously in the future they will be dropping support for x86_64 as Apple themselves drop support. Compiling new software for old, non-supported versions of macOS is a burden.
Re: (Score:1)
If Apple is dropping support for Intel-based Macs, can you blame the software authors from following suit?
We'll probably soon see software vendors stating the minimum requirements for their software is Windows 11, because they won't bother testing on Windows 10. They will assume you have the Win11 minimums and update their software to take advantage of features in the newer processor's instruction set.
Re: (Score:2)
The devil's in the fine print that suggests they are dropping x86_64 Mac support.
This release supports it, but yes they are dropping support for an OS which no longer gets vendor updates. You can keep using this release forever on your no longer patched machine, or band together with some fellow Apple users and submit patches to keep it supported.
Re: (Score:2)
Cattywampus? Lollygag? Omnishambles? Bumbershot? Quire?
More clues required to find this pesky word!
It's very satisfying to see ... (Score:2)
... Blender just piling on to it's already solid critical mass of professional functions and features after finally gaining wide-spread industry recognition a few years back. I'm an early Blender user and even have an original commercial license from NAN more than 20 years ago, before Blender was liberated into open source. Back then it was a curious underdog that had full OpenGL UI rendering (a first), a fully configurable UI (also a rare feature) and it fit on a 3,5" disk (absolutely unique).
25 years late