Download Blender 2.58 3D suite Stable version

Blender 2.58 3D suite Stable version released on 23rd June 2011

Blender 2.58 update log

The majority of work for 2.58 went into fixes with over 200 bugs fixed since last release but there are also quite a few useful additions worth checking out.

Prominent features (the cool stuff)
Warp Modifier:
This deformation modifier can be used to warp parts of a mesh to a new location in a very flexible way by using 2 objects to select the "from" and "to" regions with options for using a curve falloff, texture and vertex group.
Render Baking:
For high polygon models it is now possible to bake multi-resolution models using much less memory than before. There are also new bake modes: specular color, specular intensity, mirror color, mirror intensity, alpha (transparency), emission (glow)

Empty Images Display:
Instead of using background images or creating meshes with materials and image texture it's now possible to assign images directly to empty objects to use as reference images. They display in all draw modes and can use object draw options like XRay to draw over other objects.

Sculpting:

Constructive modifiers (like subdivision surface, mirror and other) were supported for sculpting mode. Sculpting could be not very accurate with such modifiers enabled, so there is a new option in the toolbar to disable applying constructive modifiers in the sculpting session.
Mesh Inset (Addon):
Mesh inset is a very useful tool with the ability to inset individual faces or a selected region.

Camera Locking:

It is now possible to move the camera using normal view port navigation by enabling "Lock Camera" in the "View" panel.
Features
Improvements to the point density texture, support for tweaking the falloff with a custom curve new falloff types based on the age or velocity of particles - R36399
New Warp modifier, can be used in a similar way to a Hook but with an adjustable source - R36414
Added support for sculpting on constructive modifiers - R36485
Image support for Empty Objects - R36577
Camera composition guides: center, thirds, golden rule, harmonious triangle - R36590, R36696
View controls can now apply to the camera view (locked camera view) - r36690
mousewheel zoom now zooms camera area when the camera is locked and in ortho view - R36783
Now HDR textures can be used to displace - R36714
New adjustment layer tracks in the sequencer - R36716
Additional bake modes: specular color, specular intensity, mirror color, mirror intensity, alpha (transparency), emission (glow) - R36738
Added option to baked named "Bake From Multires" which is avaliable for normals baking and displacement baking. - R37225
Support for update callbacks in python-defined RNA properties - R37260
Compositor math node round second value now changes the step to round by - R37292
Snap option not to project onto the edit-mesh - #25598, R37591
Operators which only define a directory are now treated as directory only selectors (no files) - R37552
Added support for baking object movement to the "Bake Action" operator - 37500
Added anisotropic filtering in viewport and Game Engine - R37521
Game Engine: Allow to change the damping of the camera actuator - #27425, R37455
Quick Explode operator: Sets up a particle system and an explode modifier. - R37431
Fluid Sim: Enable the possibility to remove the "air bubble" around submerged collision object. This feature is enabled as standard for new files. - R37441
Added support for tangent bump shading - R37644
Fixes

Rendering:
World starfield generation would hang - #27174, R36349
General error in coderivative for orthogonal camera. Culprit was new bump failing on orthogonal cameras - #27492, R36987
Stamp text would not display some lower lines - #27221, R36390
Renderslot missing - #27285, R36503
Fix memory leak caused by re-making mipmaps - R36569
fix for DDS textures in DXT1n format - patch #21590: R36541,R36546
Support for rendering local view camera has been added back - R36384
Fixed: Volume Material Density Inaccuracy - #27438, 37227
Displacement mapping did not do linear interpolation between pixels, causing render artefacts. - #27081, R37342
Fixed: Scene's render.filepath gets cropped to 159 characters - #27607, 37363
Fix for: Full Sample AA (FSA) was failing in cases - #27519, R37433
Fix: bug with bump mapping + reflection texture coordinates + nodes. - #27540, R37453
Fix: When adding renderlayer nodes in a composite, without having own scene render, the renderlayer nodes were not tagged as changed, causing compositing to give previous result. - #27692, R37669
Compositor/Nodes:
Fix: RGB color node supports to set alpha too but never put alpha in the output - #27305, R36598
Fix: color key hue flipping error (composite node) - #27510, R37051
Fix: socket connection issue with node groups not working right - #27511, R37054
Fix: group nodes with a linked datablock that was missing would crash - #27309, R37106
Fix: Scaling in compositor down to 1 pixel size crashed Gaussian blur. - #27601, R37318
Fix for compositor round math node not working correctly - R37292
Node editor: collapsed node did not allow sizing it using the right hand side grab thingamabobs. - #27105, R37409
Display/Viewport:
GLSL color management + vertex color was not working right - #26697, R36443
GLSL diffuse/specular was not clamping negative values - #26807, R36444
Missing 3d view updates when editing GLSL material nodes - #27098, R36439
Fix: GLSL filter uniform variable not set for group instance. - #27635, R37446
Fix: reflection texture coordinates + nodes not working right in GLSL - #27703, R37655
Fix: crash drawing zero length motion paths - R37671
Tools:
Crash fix when removing IK constraints - #26920, R36473
Skeleton Sketching - Unclear UI for converting sketches into bones - #25886, R37006
Empty proxy did not maintain draw type and size - R36449
Creating a new UV layer in edit mode failed to copy previous one - #27176, R36350
When The FONT object is blank, the dimensions are calculated wrong - #27346, R36579
"Make single user Material+Tex" does not work for textures - #27443, R36822
Missing Live LSCM Update after Aligning of pinned vertices - #27198, R36376
Copy Mirrored UV Coords missing the reverse option - #27199, R36379
UV unwrap was stretching - #27164, R36348
Create new shapekey on lattice was always adding the mixed shape - #27485, R36906
adding shape keys now creates shapes from base mesh instead of from the current shape mix - R36692
Fix for difficulty selecting bones with boneshapes enabled and some bones made un-selectable - #27194, R36367
Extrude Repeat Mesh does not have options - #27224, R36397
Translation constraint was broken - #27333, R36806
Transforming with the center point directly on the view location would fail when constraining the axis - #27057, R36378
Bezier control points move incorrectly - #27217, R36573
fcurve/boolean evaluation, values below zero are no longer evaluated to true - R36903
converting grease pencil now works in the camera view - R36765
loopcut now follows "Release confirms" user preference - R36491
Flymode moving the camera or its root-parent is now a preference- #27459, R36824
Fix: Linked object (camera) should not be able to set position by using camera to view operator - #27557, R37091
Fix: vertex groups could have duplicate names set - #27554, R37199
Fix Mirror Shapekey and Mirror vertex Group not working for Lattice. - #27572, R37239
Fix for incorrect edge slide snapping - R37294
Fix vertex group copy to selected when some objects had no vertex groups R37302
Fix P key for setting playback range is clamped to > 0. - #27586, R37315
Fixed: Box select of mesh object disabled or translated due to curve object - #27615, R37327
Ending localview was not updating layers correctly - #27136, R37370
Fix: non-active object in weight paint mode does not free memory. - #27594, R37448
Fix: Script error for UVs->Copy Mirrored UV coords - #27707, R37685

Sculpt/Painting:
Going into sculpt mode could crash - #27271, R36464
Texture paint face selection mask did not work on multires - #27230, R36432
face mask selection in texture paint mode was broken since 2.4x - R36440
Fix: Sculpt data is lost after editing base mesh - #27539, R37087
Fix Color picker fails with a very small brush - #27559, R37242
Fix projection painting on float images, added color correction and improved speed. - R37276
Fix for float projection painting, now updating correctly. - R37276
Select vertex groups under the cursor in weight paint mode was missing from 2.4x- #27479, R36891
Fix: the radial control would fail, in sculpt mode, to set size if object-space sizing was enabled - R36975
Fix: Sculpt and Paint undo steps kept hanging in the sculpt/paint modes. - #27573, R37473
Modifiers:
Crash fix for edge split with certain topologies - #27266, R36455
Wave modifier falloff was incorrect compared with 2.4x - #27186, R36361
boolean intersects would give invalid results with no intersection - #27392, R37005
Armature multimodifier was not working in edit mode - #27480, R36913
Fix: vertex parenting not working with constructive modifiers. - #27654, R37503
Physics/Simulation:
Fix: particle Instance modifier does not work correctly with Hair Dynamics. - #27461, R37116
Keyed physics did not work properly if the first key was not the keyed particle system itself - R37430
Subframes cause dampened particles to behave differently - #27294, R36504
Fix: crash with point density texture when using particle age/velocity fallof for object vertices - #27241, R37103
One particle could be generated twice at vertex - #27131, R36701
Fix: Hair Combing intersects emitter when combed fast - #26939, R37693
Library System:
Make Proxy ignored group offset - #26727, R36375, R36456
Appending armatures with custom bone shapes brings no custom objects into scene.. impossible to edit - #27437, R36810
Append objects with linked materials disappeared after save when linking in files to an unsaved blend file, make all library paths absolute - #27405, R36735
Used light groups did not get linked in with materials automatically - #27465, R36914
Appending could crash with preview enabled - #27158, R36757
Fix f-curve generator modifier file read missed endian switch - #27541, R37073

Python Scripting:

For a comprehensive list of api changes see the api changelog
Support for adding copies of existing drivers to other animdata blocks via PyAPI/RNA - R36342
Support for dynamic items in bpy.props.EnumProperty(), the items keyword argument can optionally be a function rather then a list - R36928
Loading data with bpy.data.libraries.load(), now swaps out the strings in the list to load with the actual datablocks - R36869
Fix WindowManager.invoke_search_popup() crashes blender and does not work - #27324, R36548
3 problems: crash and enum "REGION" not found in ('VERTS') - #27035, R36741,R36743
screenshot operator can now be executed directly, python can screenshot with: bpy.ops.screen.screenshot(filepath="some_image.png") - R36770
Fixed: Python interactive console incorrect autocompleation - #27495, R37358
Fix: Python: crash assigning a 'set' to an array - #27681, R37575
Fix: Python memory leak converting ID Property groups to dictionaries - R37581
Fix: Memory leaks when creating popup window - #26621, R37589

Game Engine:
Crash when physics constraint is defined on non-active objects - #26775, R37026
Fix for broken embedded game engine viewport when not using letterboxing - R36964
No material rendered differently in View3D compared to the game engine - #27414, R36723
fix for Object Color in BGE - patch #27133, R36543
Python API: PhysicsConstraints ID was cast to an int on 64bit systems - #26753, R36970
Fix: audaspace not playing files in blenderplayer - #27562, R37110
Fix: Replace mesh for gfx in "Edit Object" actuator acted illogically + other booleans that are flipped - #27556, R37117
Python Controller, Clear "Script" when setting Script Controller mode to "Module" - R37427
Support for anti-aliasing and embedding for blenderplayer on windows - R36470
Sequencer (Video Editor):
Crash fix for large M4V - #27353, R36717
Strobe setting did not work with effect strip - #27422, R36734
Some settings of adjustment layers were not functional - #27421, R36734
Sequencer strips.elements was broken when strip was trimmed - R36909
Fix: effect sequence strips could have negative lengths, crashing with animated opacity #27568, R37172
Fix: Weird results when animating opacity on (color) strip - #27553, R37090
Fix sequencer effect transform resulting in overlapping strips - R37299
Fix: Transforming sequencer effects strips crashes - #27671, 37550
Fix: Add effect strip ignore channel argument - #27700, R37654

Interface:
2D view panning and zooming is now fully keymappable - #27181, R36643
Shaded checkbox is not working - #27160, R36465
Menus disappear particle edit mode wireframe draw - #27257, R36441
Added missing seed button for halo materials - #27243, R36430
Text editor "Find" does not locate words - #27319, R36539
Tooltip text renders incorrectly - #27218, R36463
*Invalid Path* in all "operator presets" dropdowns - #27148, R36448
Global Pivot Option was not functional - #27268, R36462
Manipulator in particle mode does not work - #27142, R36703
Crash on image editor after loading exr images - #27478, R36895
Crashes with some high-res image thumbnail generation skip generating thumbs for images over 100mb - #27203, R36433
StringProperty with sub_type of FILE_PATH not updated correctly from icon - #26618, R36827
Fix menus getting closed too quick when moving mouse not exactly towards them, noticeable for the vertex groups or material slot utility menus - R36769
view/camera/set active object as camera sometimes "disabled" in gui (grayed out) - #27193, R36366
uvedit mesh selection sync did not handle click / shift+click for switching selection modes in the header - #27165, R36436
uiItemsFullEnumO: operator missing srna - #27304, R36508
Texture preview fails when path to custom brush icon is set - #26590, R36345
Fix direction properties not showing the right direction editing widget - R36771
improved image sequence usability by displaying the requested frame even if it cannot load - R36413
Image Editor toolbox menu has been removed (was an experiment and not in any other space) - R36435
Undo history added back, hotkey alt+ctrl+z (alt+apple+z for mac) - R37185
Popup menus now scroll when they dont fit in the screen - R37185
Interface DPI now scaled the entire UI - R37185
Avoid accidentally hideing headers (such as the file menu), when the header takes up the entire space - R37203
Fix: Manual save kills actual .blend file if disk space is low - #27410, R37098
Fix: export key configuration gave error when trying to export properties from an unknown (e.g. removed) operator. - #27490, R37075
Fix: texture node editor header was still showing texture datablock selector even if there is no active texture slot or node, now it's disabled in that case. - #27550, R37078
Fix: resetting default values on buttons: shortcut key changed from numpad 0 to delete, fix missing undo push - R37043
Fix for crash opening the file selector twice with multiple windows open - R37232
Fix keymap items created in python being added with the python operator names instead of the internal names. R37249
Fix for small button values displaying as zero - R37286, R37289
Fixed: Operator redo: F6 menu did not work for macros yet - #26886, R37339
Fixed: Turning off all OpenGL lamps gives strange behavior - #27627, R37373
Theme color fix for button type "Value slider". On text editing mode, the selected part of the text was invisible. - #27138, R37407
Fix: Color sliders greater then 1.0 dont show their ratios correctly - #27673, R37543
Fix: texture space panel was missing for curve & metaballs - #27660, R37592
Crash when closing new render window with render error message showing in the main window - #27522, R37022

Collada:
Fix: light quadratic attenuation exported wrong - #27463, R37454
Fix: crash on collada import if input_set is missing - #27474, R37658
Transparency texture import support - R37662
Fix: instance_node import incorrectly handled - #26821, R37663
Fix: Collada incorrect names/ids on import - #26912, R37664

System:
Fix crash with load/save on Mac, on files that close & open a window when loading them - #26728, R36840
Pasting long text crashes blender (Windows) - #27359, R36645
Command window was not opening (Windows) - #26981, R36426
Zoom not working after startup (Windows) - #26938, R36426
Fix crash when opening in Windows, non-latin char in path - #26715, R36507
Fixed scrolling lists with the mousewheel for some X11 windowmanagers - R36573
Various operators were missing with some non-english system languages - #27445, R36912
Could not import key configuration with systemwide install - #27143, R36460
Fix: windows uninstaller could remove files unrelated to blender when installing to a folder that already existed. - #27481, R37074
Fix: Python/Windows issue: "import uuid" results in an error popup - #27666, R37573
Blender Addons

Additions
Added Quake3 Map export back from blender 2.4x - R1976, R1977, R1978, R1979, R1981
Added mesh inset tool added - R1934
Added Paint Palettes: See www.wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.5/Py/Scripts/Paint/Palettes - R1954
Misc Changes:
Fix: PSK/PSA action option - R2047
Fix: DirectX Export parent/child relationships - R1890
Fix: STL import in Win 7 64bit - #26895, R1895
Fix: Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file importing incorrectly - #27456, R1960
Added visual and local copying for object transforms - R1953

Netrender:
Fix: Linux network render error - #25387, R2041
Fix: Netrender Blacklisting slaves - #25888, R2043
Fix: The Network Renderer renders black images - #26241, R2045
Add rna callback to server address property so that it correctly checks if the server exists when the value changes. - R2044

X3D/VRML Format:
Fix: Export uses incorrect <group> and <transform> node names - R1888
Fix: Export of fog is incorrect - #27364, R1933
Fix: Export would not ensure unique names - R1999
Fix: Extra line segment added on import - #27697, R2040
Added export support for writing IndexedTriangleSet meshes rather than IndexedFaceSet - R1984
Added export option to write normals - R1987
Added support for exporting parent/child hierarchy - R2001
Added support for exporting different path modes and optionally copying on export - R2031

FBX Format Export:
Was exporting with 100x scale, use 1.0 instead - R1896
Write out deformed meshes as parentless since the bones `own` them - R1897
Do not write a global root object anymore - R1897
Fix: Writing files with parented empty fails - #27595, R2010

PLY Format:
Fix: PLY importer fails with windows line endings - #27369, R1917
Fix: PLY importer does not support float based vertex colors - #27691, R2049

Wavefront OBJ Format:
Fix: Normalmap imports with Color ticked - #27325, R1908
Fix: Import fails with international characters in path - #27338, R1911
Fix: Exporter doesn't export bump, spec/ importer wrong shader settings - #27332, R1912
Fix: Export, export wardiso spec value not used. - #27367, R1945
Fix: Export regression in 2.5, unable to export curves as edge-list anymore - #27617, R2023

BVH Motion Capture Format:
Fix for importing euler rotations - R1927
Added support to export different rotation orders as well as pose bone native order - R1926

Povray Render:
Fixed a bug with Fresnel diffuse shader not working correctly - R1903
Fixed a bug preventing some scenes to render was due to an indentation error - R1959
Fixed a minor bug with SSS property - R2003
Added spacing_multiplier to object photons block so per object photon count tuning is now possible - R1915
Added instance support - R2002

3D Coat Integration:
Fixed but with inverted normals - R2007
Fixed the bug when two or more objects doesn't have materials - R2022
Added ability to multi-select objects and press import button and it will update all selected objects. - R2012
Rigify:

For full descriptions see commit logs.
User can disable control and deform rig generation on copy and copy_chain - R1940
Users can now specify layer names in the metarig armature properties - R2037
Fixed bug in default human metarig that caused generating to fail - R1990
Added a 'copy_chain' rig type, useful for bone chains that need their parent-child relationships preserved exactly - R1928
Added a new spine rig which replaces the old spine rig, and has a super-set of the old spines features - R2034
Added bend hinting to the arm and leg rigs - R2036
Add Mesh, 3D Function:
Changed how wrapping is done to avoid generating unnecessary vertices and make the result more intuitive - R2026
Added helper functions the results of which can be used in x(u,v), y(u,v), z(u,v) - R2026
Added ability to close the ends of an U-wrapped surface - R2026
It's now possible to create multiple objects with one set of formulae properly even when they start with an entirely straight chain - R2026
Other Changes:
Windows Quicktime Support Dropped
For windows it has been decided that we should use FFMPEG for video and to drop quicktime support. This also means some image formats such as GIF and PSD will no longer load.

Changelog taken from the output of:
svn log -r36335:37703 www.svn.blender.org/svnroot/bf-blender/trunk/blender
svn log -r1874:2054 www.svn.blender.org/svnroot/bf-extensions/trunk/py/scripts/addons