The 1st release candidate for Blender 2.69 is available :
http://download.blender.org/release/Blender2.69/
As usual, test and report bugs you may find here :
https://projects.blender.org/tracker/?group_id=9&atid=498
unlike previous RC, the version number has been changed to 2.69 and the 2.69 splash screen is there, it’s revision 60597
Yeah!
And if anyone is not sure what to do and how to report bugs, please check out this video:
Any chance there could be a developer, or just an appointed user, who announces RCs when they happen every time. What I mean is someone who is always “the guy”. I think both of the posts above, combined, make a perfect announcement of a RC. It saves people from having to dig or go out of their way to learn/remember how to report bugs - this seems a lot more efficient.
*PS. sebastian_k, I just noticed your vimeo icon - awesome! haha.
Ha, I think you misunderstand.
What I mean is that these “RC” posts happen regularly based on the release cycle, and when they do, users usually click through to download the RC to play with. The hope is that they are collecting stability info so that they can decide if it is good to release or not (and if not, to fix the bugs that are found). Many users just click through and I suspect don’t report bugs because they don’t know how and are too lazy to figure out how. I think that video and the link should always be posted side-by-side links to new RCs (and since you linked to it, on blender.org too) so it is accessible to all users who might run into bugs.
How can I save my user settings and start-up file so when I update Blender, that doesn’t get wiped? It’s very annoying having to setup Blender every month or two.
There’s an option on the splash screen that says something like “copy settings from previous version” when you open it for the first time.
lowpolyBlender,
the first time you open a new version in the splash screen you can find the option to retrieve your previous preferences and startup file.
If you missed to do it you can delete the new created 2.6x directory that contains those settings (where it is it depends on your system, in Mac OS it is in the Library/Application Support/Blender/). After that, when you restart Blender you should get the option again in the splash screen.
I hope I was clear enough.
EDIT: too late, grr…
paolo
Been checking with the files from our current production, and the only hangup I have had was because I unzipped to a local drive and there the program didn’t have access to my real installation’s info. After setting the trusted level and making a few addons available again, I rendered some of my complex composites and layer masking with cycles, and it did so beautifully. I tried the new bisect, and dangit that is addicting.
Also, if you somehow miss this option, or somehow the process doesn’t work as expected, or even just well… just in case (something gets corrupted, your HD fails, etc), you can save out a startup file from the previous version and then just open it in the new one and then set it as the startup file from there.
You know, of all the new features in my opinion the resizable lists is my top favourite one. Gawds, that was so incredibly annoying - I wonder how this flew under the radar undetected for so long. And hidden wires - finally!!!
Happy to see some real basic GUI workflow improvements.
edit Why on earth does hidden wire only work in edit mode? I would have expected this to work in wireframe mode as well - it would be extremely useful for more complex scenes. And setting the object’s maximum draw type to Wire in combination with Hidden Wire in solid mode view causes some artefacting along the edges.
Seems a bit half-heartedly implemented as a view option.
And we are still unable to change the wire colour on a per object basis, or even on a per layer basis.
Anyway, enough about the complaining. Good nice new feature set.
Here! Here! That was a pleasant surprise.
This might make allowing multiple selections in those boxes worth while now. I’ve always hated having to delete things like vert groups and shape keys one at a time.
Lists have been resizeable for years with shift + mouse wheel down / up over them, just now there’s a grab handle. The main feature is making them searchable and sortable.
Yes I remember that now, although shift+wheel isn’t terribly useful when using a tablet (at least the one I have). This is one less interruption when using one.
EDIT:
I just noticed - using the grab handle causes Blender to into an unsaved state (* in the window title bar). The mouse wheel doesn’t.
Cheers for the tip lads, sounds super easy, will try.
