At our studio, we're continually pushing the boundaries of animation, and as part of our commitment to remain at the forefront of technology, we're excited to announce that we've integrated Blender 3.6 into our main production tools. The latest release of Blender marks a significant upgrade in our ability to deliver world-class animation services to our clients.
Blender, the free and open-source 3D creation suite, has always been a cornerstone of our animation production. With its robust set of features that cater to the entire 3D pipeline — modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and motion tracking, to even video editing and game creation, it's an all-in-one solution that enables us to deliver high-quality, cost-effective animation services.
Blender 3.6 was officially released on June 27th, 2023, and it serves as the last release before the major jump into the 4.x series. This release focuses on stability, ensuring it's a great version to rely on for the next couple of years1.
Despite its focus on stability, Blender 3.6 is not short on new features and performance improvements:
Simulation Nodes: The next leap in Geometry Nodes allows for more flexibility and control over simulations, making our animations more realistic than ever.
New UV Packing Engine: A new approach to UV mapping that enhances the quality of our textures and consequently, the final look of our animations.
Animation Improvements: As an animation studio, this is an area of significant interest to us. The new tools and enhancements in this area allow us to create more complex and more fluid animations.
Faster FBX I/O: Increased speed in FBX import and export makes for a more efficient workflow when working with external assets.
Several USD Improvements: Including Curves/hair export, which is crucial for character animations.
Cycles Speed-Up: Improvements in rendering times for AMD, Intel® Arc™, and Apple Silicon GPUs mean we can deliver your projects faster.
Mesh Editing and Geometry Nodes Performance Improvements: These enhancements speed up the process of creating and modifying 3D models.
Major Updates to Library Overrides Resyncing: This change ensures better handling of linked assets across different Blender files, essential for large projects.
User Interface Improvements: An improved user interface boosts our productivity, allowing us to navigate the software more efficiently.
VDM Brush Baker Add-On Included: This tool opens up new possibilities for creating highly detailed models1.
Furthermore, a new Human Base Meshes asset bundle has been added to the demo files section on blender.org, providing a valuable resource for character modeling1.
Blender 3.6 is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, which means it will receive fixes and support until June 2025, guaranteeing us a stable and reliable platform for our projects in the coming years1.
In conclusion, our adoption of Blender 3.6 demonstrates our dedication to utilizing cutting-edge technology to provide superior animation services. We're confident that this update will enable us to deliver better, more efficient, and more visually stunning results for our clients. We can't wait to start creating with Blender 3.6!