Animation

What is Blender? Blender is an open source 3D modeling program developed by NaN. It was formed in 1998, originally manufactured as shareware. Until in 2002 NaN went bankrupt. NaN agreed to license the source code to the GNU General Public License for about $102,000. Making their software open source.

Open Source vs Shareware? Open source and shareware are both types of programs that come free. So what’s the difference? Shareware emphasis more on donations to the company from the consumer than open source does. Open source focuses more on modifying the program yourself to add on features it doesn’t come with an sharing that with other users.

GNU General Public License The GNU GPL is open source license for software that allows you to see the source code and modify how you like to further improve the software but, after modifying it must allow others to see what you have done so they can change their version if they like.

Is Free software the best? Blender is a free program that allows users to create and animate 3D models. However, because it is free there are a few kinks in the system yet to be figured out. MICROSOFT IS EVIL

FUD The reason why people generally stay away from open source is that competing software companies use FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) In all just because it is open source doesn’t mean its bad

MICROSOFT QUOTES “We have nothing against open source, from Microsoft’s point of view, it’s not a religious thing, it’s not them versus us… there are a lot of things we have learnt and there are a lot of things we should learn from open source.” “We haven’t talked to a single user who’s said they’re using [open source] because it’s better.”

Pro Its Free – Allows professionals to spend less money on costs to make an animation. It is getting better – With being open source it is constantly getting better improvements. – If it doesn’t have a feature you need, you can edit it yourself. It works – The program can make fantastic 3D shapes and renders well.

Con User Interface is hard to learn/use – The UI can be very hard to understand and some feel that the time wasted trying to figure out the program costs more than other programs that cost $$$. Its Free – Because it is free, it hasn’t been as well developed and is missing a few key things that some professionals need.

Coke or Pepsi? What it comes down to is preference. – Open source and closed source both have their good and bad – It is just finding the program you like and formatting a bias about that program Ex. People say blender is hard to use because they are use to doing it a different way and blender doesn’t do it the same way so it is bad

Opinions “I've always thought Blender to be a solid but completely useless application because for whatever reason, the developers created the most heinous god aweful UI known to man. It's a freakin eyebleeding headache that leaves one happily shelling out the hundreds or thousands of Dollars for a modelor with a usable GUI. It's a shame. Because Blender could be a contender, but since the developers live in their own little world with the attitidude that their app is made for a "certain group of people and not everyone", the application is basically a sick joke. If you're looking for a free 3D package and don't care how painful it is to use it, Blender might be for you. Otherwise, go with Maya or Lightwave. Also, Modo is a good modeler with a great UI, if you just want to model and not animate/render.” l0ungeb0y (442022)

Opinions cont. “Blender is maturing well, especially considering if you look at the progress they've made since the code was first open sourced, and I'm confident that they will be able to continue this progress in to the future. I won't comment on the feature to feature comparison, I will just reiterate what the author said early on in the article - it's the artist not the tools - and in this case the an open source and free tool is sufficient to create some stunning art.” Smerity (714804) “I'd like to know how many of you complaining are actual 3D artists (of some sort, be it pro/student/hobbyist) of even an intermediate skill level, who actually made an honest effort learning Blender. No, opening it up, finding your left and right mouse buttons swapped, then giving up and going back to your pirated copy of Maya doesn't count.” astralpancakes ( )

Discussion Time Since Blender is free is it the best? Have you evaluated using open source software over closed source?