I haven’t been paying much attention to blender development of late, as I got maya, but I still use it all the time… Btw, it’s really looking good now!
Anyway, to the point, I was thinking what is blender to me?
To me, it’s like 3d sketching… I can do all of it in another app, but when I just feel like a bit of quick work, or getting an idea out, I find blender to be quite suitable… Very quick and intuitive and such…
Alright, so, what’s blender to you?
(I hope this is the proper forum for this, if not, well sorry… %| )
Blender was an introduction to something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s mainly a gateway to bigger and better things, but I have a feeling that I will still use Blender when I’m old.
Huh, and I had thought this could have been a rather interesting thought provoking thread… Suppose not…
Blender, to me, is probably my only avenue for creating visual art. I’ve tried drawing, photography, painting, clay modeling… whatever, but I haven’t been able to produce any results in anything but 3d-modelling. Yeah, I haven’t done many things, because I’ve only been using Blender for about a year and a half and school get’s in the way of 98.7 % of my life, but I’ve made more than I have ever produced in anything else (not considering lame drawings I probably made in elementary school, or CAD drawings).
Anyway, I love Blender and (probably 
) always will 
.
Thought provoking? Not really… blender is a tool, like my computer itself and all the other software on it. I’m not particularly interested in tools. I like making things, and those things are what I’m interested in.
If you have been using 3d tools for a while and came across Blender you are in for a surprise. That’s how it was for me. I was in the stage of moving on to a “high end” 3d app when I discovered Blender. I use 3d for web design and what not so I realized that I really didn’t need a 3d app that was developed for the film and game industries at the time. Blender fit the bill since then and has gotten better with each new open source release.
My focus has been on character design and 3d environments for my characters since I started using Blender. Blender has “never” let me down. Blender has a very fast modeling, material, lighting, rendering and animation workflow.
If you are coming from a 3d app like Maya you may scoff at Blenders simple tools. Don’t let Benders simple feature set layout fool you. Work your way up from small modeling and animation projects to something larger. After a while you will be working like a Blender 3d pro. You will sit back and be surprised at how much work that you can get done in Blender at a fast pace.
Don’t be fooled by some of the Blenderheads that always complain that Blender is not like “Maya” or “Max” etc. After you really get into Blender and see the beauty of its workflow. You will be happy that Blender is designed in its own special way unlike any other 3d app.
If you don’t get that far into Blender you will never know its power. If you don’t like Blender after you use it, you don’t have to waste your time with it, there are plenty other 3d apps to choose from.
Blend on!
Blender is an obsession. 
Not to mention a chance to do what Pixar and Dreeamworks does without the cost, what Lucasarts and EA does without the pain. And never spending a dime.
Hehe I’m not new to Blender really, I’ve been using it for about 2 years now, and doing 3d for quite a while before that… But like I said, you know, it may not have everything like other apps such as maya and max, but it is quite convenient, and quick… That’s what I like about blender… It loads rather quickly, everything is easily accesible and intuitive… And it’s just speedy to work with I think…Allows me to just get down to the fun part, when I’m not in the mood to get so in depth. Though from the looks of it, it seems to be gaining a lot of depth. The new mesh modelling design looks nice, though I haven’t tried it yet as I figure I might as well wait for 2.36. Also I like the interface a lot. It’s aesthetically pleasing, and doesn’t get in my way or clutter my space.