WELCOME

The Blender Special

This issue we turn our attention to Blender, the open-source 3D software that I think is fair to say has come of age.

Blender has been around for quite some time and has developed a vocal user group who are keen to share their love for their favourite application, singing about its virtues as a free and open tool for all.

The latest version of Blender sees its development journey come to a point where it rivals many of the big, expensive apps, not just in terms of ability and feature set, but also in the user experience, polish and detail.

So, this issue we take a look behind the doors of the Blender Foundation, to see where the story started and what makes the minds behind it tick. On top of that we have dedicated the entire issue to helping you discover some awesome projects made using Blender, and also to get you up and running with many of the tools it has to offer. This issue’s tutorials range from recreating our stunning cover art, to using add-ons like Rigify, through to mastering the art of procedural material creation, in detailed step-by-step training.

Blender has grown up, and it is high time we celebrated in style.