Today, 3December 2021, Blender Foundation announces the release of Blender 3.0, to mark the beginning of a new era for open source 2D/3D content creation.
Released 3 December, 2021
SHOWOFF REEL
WHAT’S NEW IN LESS THAN 7 MINUTES
The Freedom to Create, V3
CYCLE FASTER
THAN EVER
Cycles GPU kernels have been rewritten for better performance, rendering between 2x and 8x faster in real-world scenes.
LESS LAG, MORE FUN
Enjoy a more responsive viewport due to new scheduling and display algorithms.
Save time when setting up your lighting.
NICE NOISE
OpenImageDenoise was upgraded to version 1.4, with improved detail preservation. A new pre-filter option was added to control the denoising of auxiliary albedo and normal passes.
SHADOW TERMINATOR
New option to reduce shadow artifacts that often happen with low poly game models. Offset rays from the flat surface to match where they would be for a smooth surface as specified by the normals.
The Geometry Offset option works as follows:
- 0.0: Disabled
- 0.001: Only terminated triangles
- 0.1: Default
- 1.0: All Triangles Affected
Generally, using one or a few levels of subdivision can get rid of artifacts faster than before.
CATCH BEYOND SHADOWS
Say hi to the new shadow catcher, completely rewritten for Blender 3.0
New features include:
- Indirect and environment light support, for more accurate compositing.
- Option for lights to be considered included or excluded, that is if they are real or synthetic objects.
- New Shadow Catcher pass to fully handle coloured indirect light and emission.
Coloured shadows and precise reflections make blending 3D with real footage much easier.
SKIN CARE
Subsurface scattering now supports anisotropy and index of refraction for Random Walk. Realistic skin has an anisotropy around 0.8.
THERE’S MORE
- Time-based rendering limit
- Eliminate kernel compilation wait for AMD HIP
- Reduced kernel compilation time for NVIDIA OptiX
- Faster hair using 3D curves in NVIDIA OptiX
- Separate presets for viewport and render sampling
- Improved adaptive sampling
- Geometry Offset option to reduce shadow terminator artifacts
- Light option to be visible to camera rays
- New Position render pass
- Volume sampling quality is now the same for CPU and GPU
- Baking support for denoising and adaptive sampling
- Open Shading Language metadata support for UI labels and checkboxes
- Removed Features and Compatibility
ASSET BROWSER
The first milestone of the Asset Browser project is here!
Your workflow is about to get much more organized.
EASY AS
DRAG & DROP
Materials, Objects, and World datablocks are supported as part of the first milestone, with more planned to come on the next releases.
Download this Cube Diorama .blend file to play with the new Asset Browser.
Define folders as Asset Libraries in your Preferences so you can load your favorite assets anytime, from anywhere.
Organize your assets in catalogs. These are independent of the .blend file the asset is stored in, providing great flexibility.
Special metadata can be added to assets such as author, tags, and asset description.
AND MORE
- Custom asset thumbnails
- Link, Append, and Append reusing data modes
- “Frame Selected” to scroll to the selected assets
- Python API
- Support rendering previews for Action datablocks
GEOMETRY NODES
The procedural system introduced in 2.92 has been extended with a re-imagined method for designing node groups, a new attribute system, around 100 new nodes for interaction with curves, text data, instances, and more.
GO ON A FIELD TRIP
Discover a new concept for passing around data and functions. Introducing: Fields.
Operations can be built from basic nodes and simply connected together, removing the need for named attributes as a way to store intermediate data, and removing the need for special “Attribute” nodes for simple operations.
“With fields it’s much easier to build node groups for higher level concepts that work together better than before.”
A new overlay colors the wires to match the socket they are connected to, making it much easier to spot their type at a distance.
Mouse over the sockets to quickly inspect their content, know their type, and a handy tooltip about their functionality has been added to a number of nodes.
In order to tell at a glance which sockets support fields, single values, or both, sockets are now drawn with a diamond, circle, or combined shape.
AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Native curve data joins the Geometry Nodes party. Resample, fill, trim, manipulate the handles, set spline type, convert to mesh, or get started with the included curve primitives.
A WALL OF NODES
The Geometry Nodes modifier is now supported on Curve and Text objects with full support for the attribute system.
- Splines have
resolutionandcyclicbuiltin attributes. - Control points have
position,radius,tilt,handle_leftandhandle_rightbuilt-in attributes. - Attributes with any name or data type can be created or removed on splines or control points.
- Attributes can be interpolated between the two curve domains.
MORE THAN WORDS
Got something to say? Use Geometry Nodes! Blender 3.0 brings the first milestone in Text Nodes.
TEXT NODES
Manipulate strings with new nodes such as:
MATERIALS
Play with materials inside Geometry Nodes!
New nodes include:
INSTANCING
The way geometry nodes works with instances has been improved, to make it more intuitive and much faster.
- Geometry can now be instanced directly.
- Mesh modifiers after geometry nodes no longer implicitly realize instances.
- Instances are now exposed properly to nodes, and aren’t converted to real geometry implicitly.
- The Realize Instances node can explicitly convert instances into real geometry.
EEVEE ♥ ATTRIBUTES
Mesh attributes are no longer a Cycles exclusive, Eevee now fully supports attributes including those generated by Geometry Nodes.
OUT IN THE WILD
EVEN MORE GEOMETRY NODES
- Improved Attribute Workflow
- Faster evaluation system
- New Overlay popover in Node Editor
- Automatic panning when dragging links or nodes
- Multi-threaded evaluation of fields
- Dot grid background
- New context breadcrumbs
- Hide frame labels if empty
- Mark node links red if there’s no possible implicit conversion
- Dim out-of-frame node links
- Remove green background when inside node groups
- Display node warnings in Modifier
- Spreadsheet sidebar to pick components and domains
- New nodes design
- Volumes now support Geometry Nodes
- Faster Instance on Points on multiple CPU threads
- Improved Instancing
USER INTERFACE
To celebrate the beginning of a new series, Blender 3.0 sports an updated theme, improvements, and a bunch of new options to further customize the already flexible layout system.
VISUAL REFRESH
- Theme update focused on improving contrast.
- Panels now have customizable rounded corners and margin between panels to tell them apart more clearly.
- Several widgets have been tweaked for consistency, including menu items customizable roundness.
AREA MANAGEMENT
Corner action zones now allow joining any neighbors. Create new areas much more easily.
Additionally, these improvements were made:
- New “Close Area” option in the context menu.
- Hit size for area resizing has been increased.
- Better snapping of areas while holding Ctrl.
- Improved mouse cursor feedback when joining is not possible.
PLUS THESE USER INTERFACE TWEAKS
- Freestyle UI redesign
- 3D Viewport Statistics overlay shows local stats in Local View
- Flat shading for NLA strips
- “List Item” no longer relies on “Regular” theme setting
- Improve contrast on playhead
- Style drag-drop indicators as tooltips
- Improved menu mnemonic underlines
- “Active Tab” text uses region’s “Text Highlight” theme color when active
- Use arrow icon on context paths
- Roundness theme setting for Menu Item
- Resizing areas now snap to consistent sizes
- Editor header and Tool Settings region swapped for consistency
- Improved feedback when closing files
- Object thumbnails captured at an oblique angle
- Improved placement of child windows when using multiple monitors
- Remove separator lines between rows in VSE
- Improved scaling of File Browser preview images
- Don’t resize temporary windows if they’re already open
- Support for Japanese, Chinese and Korean input in text fields on macOS
- Ctrl+F while hovering UI lists will open the search for the list
- Automatically scroll view to Text buttons when editing
- Improved .blend preview thumbnails
- Show descriptive display names for Fonts in File Browser
- Substantial speed increases for interface text drawing
- Associate current Blender with .blend files in Preferences (Windows)
- Less jiggling of contents when moving nodes
- Increased resolution of blend file thumbnails
- Split Dimensions panel
- Mouse hit size for area resizing increased
- Rework the custom property edit operator
- Display indicator in 3D Viewport when Clipping Region is enabled
- Z axis lock option for Walk Navigation
- Improve the layout of Custom Properties edit panel
- Navigation gizmos no longer hide when using modal operators
- New filter “All View Layers” in Outliner
WHAT YOU SEE
IS WHAT YOU GET
STRIP THUMBNAILS
The Video Sequencer now supports thumbnail previews!
- Enable it via the Overlay popover.
- Works with Image and Video strips.
- Preview while transforming.
- Threaded loading for performance.
STRIP TRANSFORM TOOLS
It is now possible to transform strips directly in the preview region, just like in the 3D Viewport.
- New transform tools and gizmos.
- Press G, R, S for quick transforms.
- Supports axes snapping.
- All pivot points supported.
- Use the new 2D Cursor as pivot.
Set a custom color to any strip. Define the color palette in Preferences.
Place strips directly on top of others to overwrite them partially or fully.
You can now snap to playhead, strips, and even filter muted or sound strips.
MORE SEQUENCER IMPROVEMENTS
- Up to 128 channels supported
- Add ASC CDL color correction method
- Improved animation performance
- Allow effect inputs to be blended if placed above effect
- Add Refresh operator to all regions
- Select strips at current frame
- Draw strips transparent during transform overlap
- Improved UI for Speed effect
- New sound and video default formats
TAKE CONTROL
Blender 3.0 offers a brand new set of VR controller-based functionality, including the ability to visualize controllers and the ability to navigate one’s way through a scene in VR using controller inputs.
Three types of navigation (teleport, fly, grab) are now available via the built-in VR Scene Inspection add-on.
PLUS MORE VR
- New “Absolute Tracking” option to skips eye offsets
- Improved animation performance
- Higher color depth for VR-displayed images when supported
- Use user-defined tracking bounds instead of position at application launch when available
- Support for Varjo quad-view and foveated headsets (Varjo VR-3, XR-3)
- Fixes
STRIKE A POSE
NEW POSE LIBRARY
Making use of the new Asset Browser, the pose library system in Blender gets a massive revamp.
- Create or set poses directly from the 3D Viewport.
- Click-drag to blend into the pose.
- Right-click on a pose to select or deselect its corresponding bones.
- Quickly flip a pose with just a click.
Download this file and play!
MORE ANIMATION
& RIGGING GOODIES
- FCurve and NLA modifier properties can now be overridden
- New Keying Set: Location, Rotation, Scale, and Custom Properties
- Ctrl+F in animation editors use channel search
- Translation/rotation/scale options for custom bone shapes
- Remove Target Shear on Copy Transform constraint
- Box (or circle) select on FCurves
- Make object data single user
- Limit Rotation Euler Order
- Improved Restrict Range Borders on FCurve modifiers
- Blend To Neighbour Pose Sliding
- Update All Visible Motion Paths
- Added Scale Y for bendy bones
- Automatic B-Bone Scale toggles
- “Local Space (Owner Orientation)” for Target Space of bone targets
- “Apply”, “Duplicate”, and “Copy constraints to selected”
- Limit Rotation now removes shear before processing
- More Mix mode options in Copy Transforms, Action constraints
- Stretch To default Rotation Type set to Swing
- Pose Sliding / In-Betweens Tool
GREASE PENCIL
The 2D animation workflow keeps getting better with new modifiers, a polished drawing experience, and Line Art performance has been greatly improved since the last release.
DOT DASH
This new modifier allows you to generate dot-dash lines on strokes automatically, assign different materials, offset, and more.
MORE GREASE PENCIL + LINE ART
- New Length modifier
- Randomize options for Offset modifier.
- Custom camera for Line Art strokes
- Multiframe support added to Reproject
- Convert Text to Grease Pencil object
- Line Art stroke offset
- Select Random
- Convert Mesh to Grease Pencil copies the Vertex Groups
- Up to 40% increase in performance calculating Line Art objects
- Move to Layer now supports Multiframe
- Curvature mode in Length modifier
- Cache Line Art modifiers in the same stack
- Better automerge on drawings with different thickness
- Trim Line Art strokes at the edge of the camera
- Copy Materials to other Grease Pencil objects
- New Dilate parameter for Fill brush
- Automatic creases on flat/smooth surfaces for Line Art
- Bake transformed strokes into a new Grease Pencil object
- Set caps to be rounded or flat
- Mask layers list can now be re-ordered
- Line Art objects load up to 50% faster
- Better tolerance to faces perpendicular to view
- Filter Freestyle face marks
- Occlusion effectiveness for materials
- Camera overscan for Line Art
- Vertex Weight Proximity and Angle
QUICKSAVE
Loading and saving compressed .blend files is now magnitudes faster
thanks to using the Zstandard algorithm instead of gzip.
Load Fast
Save Faster
TEAM PLAYER
Interoperability takes a leap forward in 3.0 with the support for importing Pixar’s Universal Scene Description and improvements to Alembic.
USD IMPORTER
The first milestone for importing USD files is here:
- Meshes with UV coordinates, Vertex Colors and Subdivision.
- Cameras, perspective and orthographic.
- Curves including USD Basis and NURBS.
- Volumes as OpenVDB field assets.
- Materials, including an experimental feature to convert shaders to Principled BSDF.
- Lights, does not include USD Dome, Cylinder, Geometry.
ALEMBIC
- Support for exporting animated UV maps.
- Import per vertex UV maps.
- Import and export support for generated mesh vertex coordinates (ORCOs).
- New Render and Viewport evaluation modes.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE
- Improved Collections Syncing in ViewLayers
- Faster opening of files with thousands of linked libraries
- Wavelength Node in Eevee
- Falloff setting for Weight Paint Gradient Tool
- Texture Paint Stencil now uses the assigned UV Layer
- Better syncing between texture slots while painting
- Automatic shading mode in Voxel Remesher
Read the full list of changes at wiki.blender.org
Credits
List of developers that contributed to Blender 3.0
Blender 3.0 splash and interline images by Blender Studio. Cycles noise comparison by Jesus Sandoval. Grease Pencil artwork by Ikarus. Cycles Shadow Catcher balloons demo by Andy Goralczyk. Asset Browser Cube Diorama by Simon Thommes and Julien Kaspar.
Reel video by Francesco Siddi. Page design and layout by Pablo Vazquez. Features video by SouthernShotty. Additional help by Blender Institute, and the Blender community.
Huge thanks to everyone involved ♥
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