Blender for 64 Bit Windows 7 question?

General Forums Blender and CG Discussions
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so i wanted to download Blender and learn how to animate and model. I just built my first pc which i installed a 64 bit Windows 7. Now when i go to the download page it list the download depending on what OS you have. Now for 64 bit it says no Installer available but it does have the Zip Archive. so wat does that mean? im looking at the current stable version by the way which is 2.49 i wanted to download the beta 2.54 but im afraid of all the bugs and stuff. lol so i dont want to mess with it till its stable.

srry im not much of a computer tech

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sorry i didnt read the message first message wen registering i reposted in support srry again

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the 64 bit version need to be unzipped and placed into a folder. Look inside of the unzipped blender folder for the Blender.exe. Learn the basics on 2.49 then move over to 2.50. Checkout Ubuntu Linux allot of the open source programs I run gets better performance in Ubuntu Linux - like the gimp, inkscape, python, “wings ide not open source”, “3d coat - not open source” http://www.ubuntu.com/

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I’d have to disagree with the suggestion to learn 2.49 first… unless you want to learn Blender two times.

If you’re new to blender might as well jump into 2.5.

This is the best place to get you started http://www.blendercookie.com/getting-started-with-blender/

good luck!

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I thought some one would disagree. Blender 2.5 still has bugs why try to learn something that might not the way its should. Once you know Blender 2.49 - Blender 2.50 is easy to pickup and all of the books and videos are all base on Blender 2.49.

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The bugs that are in Blender 2.5x series are something that you’ll rarely run into, especially if you’re just starting to learn it. I’ve done whole projects without a hitch, and Sitel was produced with it. On the other hand, I have had problems when baking textures before, but they are more of an annoyance than anything else, and if you save often, you shouldn’t have a problem. Your workflow may or may not reveal bugs at all.

I would say that you can jump into 2.5x and learn that. Your computer won’t blow up, Blender doesn’t become completely useless (like some other software I have tested and have for the most part abandoned), and you’ll have a fresh outlook on what the current standard for Blender will be. I have not seen a more stable Alpha or Beta of software as I have seen with Blender. Trust me on this. I have tested software that crashes after everything you do, literally, and CANNOT be used in any type of production, and I had to pay to do it. With Blender, it was free and could be used for a whole slew of things with or without fancy features and with more stability.

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““I have had problems when baking textures before, but they are more of an annoyance than anything else””
If you don’t know Blender or CG then how would you know if its a bug?
Learn the basics in Blender 2.49 then move over to Blender 2.50
“” all of the books and videos are all base on Blender 2.49""

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I understand what you are getting at, but the root of the matter is that there are different interfaces. I would have to say that the learning curve for Blender 2.5x is a lot less steep that it is for 2.4x. A lot of what we do depends on how we interact with the environment. There are books out there for 2.4x yes, but there are quite a few on-line resources for 2.5 and they are growing, since there has been a hushed agreement that things should shift towards 2.5x.

Example 1: While Yafaray, the external renderer that is made to work specifically with Blender, is working for 2.4x, their development has shifted towards integration with 2.5x since this is the future of Blender.

Example 2: LuxRender as well has taken on the philosophy that development and integration for 2.5x is paramount, since, again, it is the future of Blender.

Example 3: Kernon Dillon, who makes quite a few tutorials is putting together a 2.5x DVD.

Example 4: Blender Guru Andrew Price, again publishing stuff for 2.5x

Example 5: Blendercookie.com has Wes Burke and Jonathan Williamson producing works that have used exclusively the 2.5x series of Blender.

The basics are working just fine in Blender 2.5x, and lacking areas are getting better all of the time, but the basics are all you’re going to need when just learning. I know, I’ve been doing this for nearly 15 years in many apps. Ultimately it is the user’s choice on which direction to take, but for me 2.4x was a pain to get to learn and I took off with 2.5x which is a very capable app.

“If you don’t know Blender or CG then how would you know if it is a bug?” The screen turns white and the app crashes, and then the error reporting box comes up. Not much guesswork there.

““All the books and videos are based on Blender 2.49.”” Not true, see above. Many people who have published about 2.4x will or have switched to publishing about 2.5x. I think you will see that there will be a shift from the old to the new over time. Not saying this for the user, but for the development community as a whole.

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I dont know of any books for 2.5 and websites - and tutorials do not go in depth like a good Blender book or dvd.
“” Example 1: While Yafaray, the external renderer that is made to work specifically with Blender, is working for 2.4x, their development has shifted towards integration with 2.5x since this is the future of Blender. “”
Yafaray is an independent project aways has been and he not going to start using Yafaray or any ex-render for some time.
Blender 2.53 goes down all the time just doing basic operations.
Learning cg can be hard why try to learn something that not working?
I’ve use Blender since 2002- 2001 I remember how I felt looking at blender for the first time having a book to learn from would have made a BIG difference

“”“passion for 2.50 will not help him”""

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There are plenty of day to day things incomplete with 2.5x These are widely known. 2.49 is the only production ready version.(unless you have a small staff of programmers to make the things you need on a daily basis like the Durrian team did) 2.49 is a good place to start.

Everything you learn in 2.49 will transfer over very quickly to 2.5 The amount of things you’ll learn on 2.49 that won’t cross over very easily is probably very minimal. One thing I can think of is that 2.5x has switched over to an F curve system from IPOs as far as animation goes. The rest of the things that have changed drastically are more or less additions to what was already there, such as paint mode and sculpting. I am sure I am missing a lot. But the bottom line is, as a person who has learned 2.49, I am finding 2.5 very easy. It is not a matter of learning something twice. It is really a matter of just getting familiar with how 2.5 is laid out and then learning the new stuff you had not learned before. The interface difference is blown way out of proportion. It is just a different more logical layout in most cases, but all of the functions are basically the same - those that actually have been moved over.

And what is your realistic time frame for mastering 2.49 anyway? Likely someplace in the middle of that learning curve you’ll be able to switch over entirely to 2.5 by the end of this year or early next year. Unless you are superhuman, you’ll not likely be mastering Blender2.49 entirely within that time frame. I am not saying you can’t read the entire manual and play a little bit within a month or two. I did. But it takes time to learn by doing in all of the areas to really master it all. I’d say in 2 years I am about half way there. So for me I’d say I have many things I won’t get to until 2.5