Blender is just as powerful as those other tools, so professional users could easily save thousands by using this free suite. For instance, Autodesk Maya is over $3,500, which makes it prohibitively expensive for most nonprofessional users. However, if time isn't a factor and you simply want a free piece of animation or modeling software as a hobby, Blender is the clear choice.Īny professional user should consider Blender, especially if they use an expensive subscription to more expensive software. Those more-expensive systems are much more accessible by those with little user experience, and they often include libraries of shapes along with simple, straightforward functions.

Novices should possibly consider a paid software animation suite if they have no experience with this sort of toolset. Some of the functions might seem a bit unintuitive, but you can easily streamline your processes once you learn the software well enough. You can then reshape those basic figures and extrude them into new shapes. The Blender software is capable of modeling several mesh objects, like spheres, cubes, cones, cylinders, and more. For instance, if you are saving multiple versions of the same file, and you differentiate those files by numbers in the file name, you can automatically create a file name in this software that goes to the next increment just by hitting the + key. One nice feature of the software is that it incorporates a naming system in the Save dialog box using shortcuts.

Many artists are more accustomed to searching through various menus for a specific tool. For example, the software takes advantage of keyboard shortcuts for just about everything, which is unusual for an artistic suite like this. The software seems to be geared toward users that have a predisposition toward engineering, programmers, and gamers. Some skills might transfer over from other animation suites, like Autodesk Maya, so serious animators and 3D artists should certainly consider using this software.

Overall Opinion: While it might be difficult to learn the Blender software, it is well worth the effort since the software is completely free.

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