![Blender 4.1 Splash by Lynxsdesign](jpg/blender%20splash.jpg)
The Blender Foundation has released Blender 4.1, the latest version of the open-source 3D software for artists working in VFX, animation, game development and visualization.
First off, it’s worth pointing out that Blender 4.1 is a smaller update than originally expected. Eevee Next, the upcoming overhaul of Blender’s real-time render engine, has been pushed back to Blender 4.2.
However, even a smaller Blender update means plenty for users to get their head around.
There's a new features overview at the video at the bottom put together by Jonathan Lampel from CGCookie, and you can have a read of the full release notes here. If you're just after a quick highlights though before you download though...
- OpenImageDenoise now runs on GPU on supported hardware
- Cycles rendering on Linux is 5% faster
- All nodes in the Compositor now work in the Viewport (except Render Layer passes)
- Compositor precision and improvements to Kuwahara and Pixelate nodes
- Bone Collections are now hierarchical
- New animation keying workflow
- Several improvements to Graph Editor and NLA including baking channels
- Video Sequencer drawing, rendering, effects, and scopes are much faster
- USD export of armatures and shape keys as USD skeletons and blend shapes
- Several user interface improvements
- Python upgraded to version 3.1
- Blender 4.1 is aligned with the VFX Reference Platform 2024
- A new Bake node in Geometry Nodes
Tags: Post & VFX Blender
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