 |
|
|
|||||
For decades, Blenderthe open-source 3D software toolhad a quirk that distinguished it from other animation software on the market. Instead of clicking to select with the mouse or trackpads left button, it required users to right-click selections. It was a small but strange defiance of usability norms, and it was illustrative of Blenders unconventional approach to design software. For years after launching in 1994, Blender was considered an under-the-radar tool. Its challenging UX and open-source nature meant it was used primarily by designers and animators who had no money to spend on five-figure professional 3D software licenses. Then in 2019, things changed. Blender rolled out a wholesale redesign, including switching right-select to left-select. It updated its interface to be easier to use and introduced new features that could compete with bigger-budget software packages like Cinema 4D and Autodesk’s Maya. Data from Blender shows that download numbers jumped from tens of thousands of downloads per month to nearly 1 million after the relaunch, and since then user numbers have continued to grow. Today, Blender has become a go-to tool for creatives, and one of the most requested tools across current design jobs listings. According to data from Fast Companys 2025 Design Jobs report, requests for expertise in Blender jumped 88% in the past year, and its the most mentioned piece of software in graphic design job listings. The updates made six years ago have had ripple effects on Blenders business and relevance in the creative world. 2019 was the moment when the Blender Big Bang started, says Francesco Siddi, who serves as COO at the Blender Foundation and producer at Blender Studio. It was really a lot of different factors, but you sometimes reach a threshold of usability and accessibility combined with a bunch of other factors, and thats when things start to roll. The Swiss Army knife of software In recent years, Blender has transformed from niche software into a Swiss Army knife of digital creation that is invading designers desktops everywhere. There are motion graphics designers who put After Effects on the side and work in 3D space using Blender’s real-time rendering, which allows for instant visualization of scenes. Concept and traditional artists sketch directly in 2D/3D space using Blenders Grease Pencil, a powerful 2D paintbrush that allows users to draw, sculpt, and edit 2D elements directly in a 3D environment. Industrial designers prototype with geometry nodes. Alberto Petronioa lead designer who worked on yachts and planes before getting into the entertainment marketsays he hopes Blender will completely emancipate him from Photoshop, because that software has gone downhill. Petronio even edits video in Blender rather than using dedicated software. I know that there is DaVinci Resolve, but I don’t know how to use it. So if I have to cut or revert a video, it’s very easy for me to be in Blender. The revolution extends far beyond traditional creative fields. Every year at the Blender Conference, people come from all industries and parts of the world with extraordinary uses for the software, a testament of the flexibility and approachability that has made it so popular. Siddi told me how surprised he was when he discovered doctors simulating proteins with geometry nodes, forensic analysts reconstructing crime scenes from phone footage, and architects designing fire safety elements in buildings. One presenter at the 2022 edition digitally re-created the Beirut explosion of 2020 in extraordinary 3D detail using multiple video sources. Breaking down the wall The expansive use cases for Blender were not something the company could have foreseen. For decades, 3D software was considered niche and out of reach for most creatives. Since 1986, when John Lasseter and Ed Catmull launched Pixar as 3D modeling software, 3D software has spawned a constellation of multibillion-dollar industries producing everything from Hollywood hits to console games. But that creative explosion also created barriers that locked out entire communities of creators who didnt have the money or the resources needed to learn increasingly complex and technical software suites. Back in the 90s, it was a professional industry dominated by packages that cost thousands of dollars from companies like Alias and Wavefront running on prohibitively expensive computers by Silicon Graphics. Later, the software got cheaper as production moved to high-end (but barely affordable for most) PCs running packages like Maya or 3ds Max. Today 3D software demands monthly subscriptions ranging from $200 to $500, pricing out freelancers, students, and artists who might want to experiment with 3D. Luís Cherubini, cofounder of a Tokyo-based 3D outsourcing company, tells me that he started with Blender 17 years ago in Brazil because most people in Latin America back in the days couldnt afford the licenses. But price was just one part of the adoption equation: Historically 3D software has been really hard to use. The software interfaces remained very, very complex and disorganized, Cherubini says. The learning curve to get started was really big. All those packages evolved as specialized tools for large and small animation studios. Each software addressed specific production pipeline stagesmodeling, rigging, animation, renderingrequiring teams of specialists. The complexity worked for studios with dedicated departments, like Fords serial production factories, but alienated individual designers, 2D artists, conceptual artists, product designers, motion graphics creators, and even tattoo artists who needed broader tool sets without steep learning curves. Blender wasnt the exception. For decades, Blender was even more alienating than its competitor tools. It suffered from usability problems until the Blender Foundationthe nonprofit organization that controls its developmentcommitted to radical change at the risk of alienating its tiny but extremely dedicated user base. Blenders breakthrough moment In 2017, Google’s Summer of Code initiative provided funding to Blender for a complete overhaul of its user interface. They hired two to three programmers in-house in Amsterdam to revamp the software user interface, Cherubini tells me. The user interface became more accessible, everything became more user friendly. It was not only about the user interface, it was about the entire user experience. The July 2019 release of Blender 2.8 represented a complete reimagining of Blender’s UX. The foundation modernized the viewport system, which Siddi describes as the space where you spend the majority of your time. The previous system relied on technology that was 10 to 15 years old. The new viewportwhich took over the entire screen rather than being constrained to a small window surrounded by a labyrinth of icons and menuswas redesigned to let users focus on your artwork rather than distracting UI elements. It also enabled real-time visualization and faster iteration, which is crucial for production in general but especially for 2D design, motion graphics work, and concept development. It did so through a visualizationsystem called Eevee, a real-time rendering engine that eliminated lengthy render times and provided instant feedback to your actions in full color, rather than having to work with wireframes. A tabbed workspace system streamlined navigation. Modern icons and dark themes made the interface more intuitive. The new UI also allowed users to tailor the UX to their specific needs, Petronio tells me. You can completely restructure your layouts, he says. You can completely restructure your shortcuts. It’s very flexible, so it allows a lot of different types of professionals to use it for work. The customization capability transforms Blender from generic software into personalized creative environments. This modularity spawned an entire add-on economy, too. Add-ons range from $20 tools to specialized software like Quad Remesher, which costs $160 and optimizes complex 3D models. Some developers release code freely on GitHub while accepting donations. Others create proprietary tools for specific industries. But there was also a tiny, seemingly inconsequential UI change that was crucial for the Blender revolution: Left-click selection replaced right-click selection. For decades, Blender defied industry standards by using the mouse/trackpads right button for selection, creating an immediate barrier for newcomers. As Cherubini points out, this unconventional approach felt very strange, even for people who had never used a 3D software because most digital tools reserve left-click for primary actions like selection. The old method caused practical workflow issues too, as Petronio notes. While you’re selecting things, you don’t move them accidentally with left-click. This precision matters when manipulating complex 3D scenes. Like UX expert Jakob Nielsen says: Dont change an industry-wide UX convention unless your alternative is fundamentally better. The selection button change allowed users from Photoshop, Illustrator, and other standard tools to transition without reprogramming their muscle memory. This seemingly small update symbolized Blender’s shift from niche tool to accessible platform. The change was a cornerstone of a broader new philosophy: making Blender work with user intuition rather than against it, Siddi says. The accessibility breakthrough happened because Blender’s developers approached tool design differently than commercial software companies. When they implement something, they’re not trying to nudge you one way or the other, Petronio points out. They just put it in. They’re like, all right, it’s yours now. This philosophical difference enables users to adapt Blender to their workflows rather than forcing workflow changes. Daniel Vesterbaek, a freelance 3D generalist, tells me via email that this is one of Blender’s core advantages. The software never followed the ‘industry standard’ and wasn’t controlled by studios and shareholders. It was built by a bunch of skilled developers who submitted code because they were passionate about the project, not because they wanted their paycheck. The Grease Pencil factor Another important tool that has changed the perception of Blender for 2D artists and designers is Grease Pencil, one of the most attractive tools for newcomers because it basically feels like painting with a Photoshop brush. The tool fundamentally reimagines how artists approach 2D creation by placing it directly within 3D space. It began as a simple annotation tool for making temporary notes in 3D scenes but evolved into a 2D drawing, painting, and animation system that exists natively in Blender’s 3D viewport. The core innovation of Grease Pencil lies in its unique approach to digital drawing. Unlike traditional 2D software that works on flat canvases, Grease Pencil creates strokes as collections of points positioned in 3D space. These strokes behave like 3D objectsthey can be moved, rotated, lit, and even rigged like any other element in a Blender scene. Artists can draw a character from one angle, then move the camera around to view it from different perspectives, or integrate 2D drawings directly with 3D models and lighting. Users love Grease Pencil because it breaks down the traditional barriers between 2D and 3D workflows. Artists can create traditional frame-by-frame animation, concept art, paintings, illustrations, cutout puppet animation, motion graphics, and storyboards all within the same 3D environment. At any time, you can transform and animate those 2D designs into sophisticated animated graphics adding tools like lighting and cameras. Photoshop and After Effects have tools to add 3D elements, but they feel like an afterthought slapped into their 2D architecture. Grease Pencil takes the opposite approach, adding 2D flexibility and power to a 3D environment in a way that feels natural. The tool supports pressure-sensitive styluses and offers sophisticated features like onion skinning, vector-based editing, and a comprehensive modifier system that includes noise, build, tint, and other effects. These modifiers allow artists to create complex art without destroying the original artwork, maintaining nondestructive workflows at all times. This versatility has attracted artists from diverse backgrounds who previously worked in separate software ecosystems. Illustrators can paint directly on 3D surfaces, motion graphics designers can create depth-aware animations, and concept artists can sketch ideas that integrate seamlessly with 3D scenes. The tool’s ability to combine traditional 2D drawing freedom with 3D spatial awareness has made it particularly valuable for stylized animation projects, where artists want to maintain hand-drawn aesthetics while benefiting from 3D camera movements and lighting. Taking over education Midge Mantissa Sinnaevea 3D artist and teacher at the Syntra AB training center in Flanders, Belgiumwitnessed the other Blender seismic shift that led to its recent popularity. “It exploded in schools,” says Sinnaeve, whos been teaching for 15 years and noticed Blender’s popularity surge in the last 5. Suddenly, it’s everywhere, he says, noting that students embrace Blender’s Swiss Army knife approach. You can do 2D animation. You can do video editing. You can do compositing. You can do 3D animation. You can do everything really. It also helps that the software is free. Universities worldwide have adopted Blender as primary teaching software, creating talent pools that influence industry implementation. Game studios like Ecosoft, where Petronio worked, “decided to use Blender to save money and to take advantage of the amount of talents that are studying Blender instead of 3ds Max.” Another unexpected factor that helped popularity was COVID-19. The global pandemic and its lockdowns accelerated adoption as creators gained time at home to experiment. “There was really big growth of the software,” Siddi recalls. “People had time to play with it and they found out that it was actually something fun that they wanted to do. Blender retained a lot of users after that time.” Social media also amplified Blender’s visibility as artists shared impressive work online. “You get skilled artists who have never used the software before,” Siddi tells me. “They can find their way around. They can make something awesome, show it to the world. And all ofa sudden, people think Oh, wow, Blender is a great tool!” The transformation reflects deeper changes in digital creation. “The digital natives, kids who start to do content creation nowadays, they know about Blender,” Siddi says. “Everybody knows. So then you at least try it and then you play with it. And Blender is meant to be accessible and playful.” All you need is a computer and an internet connection and youre ready to go, at any company, anywhere in the world, Sinnaeve says. I just download it, install it, and I’m good to go. I don’t have to think about licensing. Just having that safety net of knowing that the software is never going to go anywhere really gives me more time to think about what I want to do with it.” AI control The flexible power of Blender feels even more appealing in the era of generative art. It’s something the Blender Foundation has been thinking about. The topic of AI is obviously very hot, and people want to know what Blender is going to do with it,” Siddi says. The foundation is leaning toward creating AI tools that can speed up people’s creative workflows while allowing them to keep control. He says its developers are talking about upscalers (to lower render times), denoisers (to increase quality), voice isolation (for dubbing), and computer vision-related stuff to help artists work with external images in an easier way. These technologies address practical workflow bottlenecks without generating content that might compete with human artistic vision. The foundation will maintain its core philosophy, Siddi says, noting, Our goal is to make artists be in control. That’s the mantra when you talk about anything, but especially when you talk about AI stuff. There is already AI integration through community initiatives. Users employ Blender for synthetic data generation, training AI models with 3D-rendered environments. Others bridge Blender with ComfyUIan open tool to set up all types of generative AI workflowsfeeding 3D scene information to AI rendering nodes. Siddi highlights Cascadeur as an example of AI assistance that maintains artistic control while improving efficiency. This keyframing tool allows animators to pose characters, then uses motion capture training data to interpolate between poses more naturally than traditional algorithms. This is something that is already entering more the territory of making people cringe, thinking that this is now taking control away from the artist, Siddi admits. But this is a tool that allows animators to pose a character in 3D, then do another pose, and then the AI interpolates. The vision extends to contextual AI interfaces that understand user intent without replacing creative decisions. Siddi describes potential VR workflows in which artists could command Put a tree there and have the system reference their existing asset library rather than generating new content. I don’t want it to generate a random tree. I have a tree in my library. I know the tree that I’m talking about, he explains. And in theory, if you train a system to be aware of what your context is, you can say, Put the tree there. This measured approach also reflects Blender’s nonprofit structure and community-driven ethos. Unlike megacorporations that are rapidly restructuring around AI, the foundation must balance innovation with sustainability. We are in a constant battle for making our project really, truly sustainable, Siddie tells me. So even if they wanted to go crazy on AI, the development fund that supports core features cannot match the AI investments of companies orders of magnitude larger. The result, however, is the same. The foundations strategy acknowledges AI’s potential while preserving what makes Blender unique: its commitment to empowering artists rather than automating them away. It makes sense, as this is the core philosophy that transformed an obscure open-source project into the creative industry’s most versatile tool.
Category:
E-Commerce
YouTube Shorts, the shortform platform from Google-owned video giant YouTube, has seen massive success since its launch in September 2020. Today, an estimated 1% of all waking human hours are spent watching Shorts, with videos amassing around 200 billion views daily. But what users watch is ultimately shaped by YouTubes algorithmand a new study published in the Cornell University preprint server arXiv suggests that the algorithm nudges viewers away from politically sensitive content. When you start [watching] a political topic or specific political topics, YouTube is trying to push you away to more entertainment videos, more funny videos, especially in YouTube Shorts, says Mert Can Cakmak, a researcher at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and one of the studys authors. Cakmak and his colleagues scraped between 2,100 and 2,800 initial videos across three themes: the South China Sea dispute, Taiwans 2024 election, and a broader general category. They then followed 50 successive recommendations for each video under three viewing scenarios, which varied how long a simulated user watched: 3 seconds, 15 seconds, or the full video. The researchers tracked how YouTube presented 685,842 Shorts videos. Titles and transcripts were classified by topic, relevance, and emotional tone using OpenAIs GPT-4o model. When engagement began with politically sensitive themes like the South China Sea or Taiwans 2024 election, the algorithm quickly steered users toward more entertainment-focused content. The emotional tone, as assessed by AI, also shiftedmoving from neutral or angry to mostly joyful or neutral. Early in the recommendation chain, videos with the highest view counts, likes, and comments were favored, reinforcing a popularity bias. Maybe some people were aware of this, but Im sure the majority of people are not aware what the algorithm is doing, Cakmak says. They are just going and watching. Neither YouTube nor its parent company, Google, responded to Fast Companys request for comment on the studys findings. Cakmak doesnt believe this is a deliberate effort to suppress political discourse, but rather a design choice focused on user engagement. What YouTube is trying to do, he says, [is] remove you from that area or topic, and push you [to a happier] topic so that it can increase . . . engagement [and] earn more money.
Category:
E-Commerce
At the conclusion of an interview, its customary for the hiring manager to ask the job candidate if they have any questions. You’ve probably responded with generic questions like When will I hear back? or What are the next steps?” But there are more compelling questions about the position you can ask before the end of the interviewto help you and help you stand out, leaving a positive lasting impression and reiterating your interest in the job. Why are compelling questions important at the end of an interview? When job candidates ask thoughtful questions, it sends a powerful message to employers. It shows that they’re not just invested in their own success but also in the well-being and goals of the organization, says Jenny Matthew, director of talent acquisition and attraction at Paycom Software, who is based in Oklahoma City, OK. It also gives the candidate the chance to clarify any gray areas they may have about company culture, expectations of the position, and next steps. These questions demonstrate youre doing your due diligence to determine whether the role is a mutual fit for both the organization and you, she says. The last few minutes of an interview can leave the interviewer with a lasting impression The conclusion of your interview is a final chance to offer parting thoughts or even bring a new idea to the table for the interviewer to ponder after the interview. The end of the interview is the mic-drop moment, says Matthew. It allows job candidates to be intentional by reiterating who they are, what they bring to the table, their interest in the position and company, and some of their future desires. 3 compelling questions for the conclusion of your interview What are some gaps in the organization you are hoping I can fill? This question encourages the interviewer to reflect on the candidates credentials. The hiring manager can then delve into how your skills and experience can be a win for their team. The conversation also affords them the opportunity to explain how they would manage some specific projects, says Matthew. This interview question also demonstrates that youre genuinely interested in the companys priorities and goals, and eager to contribute to its success, she notes. How would you describe the company culture? Beyond the job description, an eagerness and curiosity to learn about a companys internal culture shows interest and professionalism. This question highlights a desire to learn about the inner workings of the company, says Matthews. Also, this question can be used to the candidates personal advantage as they are navigating their job search. This question gives the candidate insight into potential red flags and/or reasons why a certain role has been open for a long period of time, Matthew says. Employers are not the only ones in the drivers seat; the job candidate is conducting an interview of their own. By asking informed questions at the end of the interview, candidates demonstrate that they’re not just looking for any job, but a meaningful opportunity that aligns with their goals and work style. What does success look like in this role, especially within the first 90 days? After learning about the scope of the role, the corporate culture and how your skillset could be an asset, inquiring about expectations of the position is beneficial. This helps candidates ensure theyre aligned with the hiring manager on job responsibilities and expectations, while also understanding by what metrics job performance is assessed, explains Michelle Reisdorf, a district director at Robert Half in Chicago. It also demonstrates to the hiring manager a commitment to starting strong and succeeding early. Should you go off script at the end of the interview? Applicants should ask relevant questions that stem from the conversation, sticking to what was discussed, the position, or something on point to the company. Going off script is encouraged so long as the questions clearly reflect active listening and thoughtful consideration of whats been discussed, says Reisdorf. This approach can often demonstrate genuine engagement and curiosity about the role, as well as strong communication skills.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||