This enables the new .blend file format as described in #129309 and implemented
in 6a90382390 by default. This allows storing
blocks larger then 2GB inside the file. This is a necessary requirement to be
able to store e.g. meshes with more than a few hundred million vertices.
There is a new debug option that can be used to force Blender to write the older
file format. This is especially useful when using tools that have not been
updated to be able to read the new format yet.
Compatibility:
* Blender 4.5 is able to read the new format for a few months already, so 4.5
LTS will be able to read these files
(6a90382390).
* The internal `blendfile.py` which is used by `blend2json.py` has been updated
(d83bfee347).
* blender-asset-tracer (BAT) has been updated
(blender/blender-asset-tracer@f1ee7980b2).
* `blend_render_info.py` will be updated soon (#140341).
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/140343
Clarify the terms for NDOF translation & rotation sensitivity.
Previously translation was named: "ndof_sensitivity" making it
sound like it would control rotation as well.
Move panel header, panel background, and sub-panel background color
settings to be global, under `User Interface`, like other widgets.
Remove per-editor panel styling. This way users can edit the panel
colors once, and affect all panels.
See pull request for screenshots and details.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/140295
Allow theming the outline of selected elements. This helps to make
active elements more prominent, and allows for flat theme combinations
not possible before.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/139850
This allows to reduce the waiting time caused by
shader compilation on some GPU-driver combo.
A new settings in the User Preferences make it
possible to override the default amount of worker
threads and optionally use subprocesses.
We still use only one worker thread in cases where
there is no benefit with adding more workers
(like AMD pro driver and Intel windows).
It doesn't scale as much as subprocesses for material
shader compilation but that is for other reasons
explained in #139818.
Add some heuristic to avoid too much memory usage
and / or too many stalls.
Also add some heuristic to the default number of subprocess for
the platform that shows scalling.
Historically, multithreaded compilation was prevented by the
need of context per thread inside `DRWShader` module.
Also there was no good scaling at that time. But
nowadays numbers shows different results with
good scaling with reasonable amount of threads on many
platforms.
Even if we are going for vulkan in the next release
most of the legacy hardware will still use OpenGL for
a few other releases. So it is relevant to make this
easy improvement.
See pull request for measurements.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/139821
- Navigation modes has been redefined a bit and introduced in a form of
an enum so that new ones can me implemented in the future.
Additionally switching between modes shouldn't require any additional
configurations like inverting all the axes.
Currently there are only 2 modes implemented,
but 2 more are planned and will be proposed in follow-up PRs.
Implemented modes are:
- Object: works like "Orbit" option.
but has all axes implicitly inverted
- Fly: works the same as "Free".
- "Turntable" option has been turned into "Lock Horizon".
This single option works for both normal navigation and Fly/Walk
modes now.
- Pan and Rotation axes inversion has been removed from default
configuration.
- UI has been simplified following the design from #136880.
- Zoom Invert has been removed since it looks like a duplication of
`NDOF_PANZ_INVERT`.
Ref !139343
Added WoA support status. Up to now there hasn't been a working stack
that allows Windows+ARM GPU+Blender work well together. There are render
glitches and occasional crashes. Currently we are investigating the
issues together with Qualcomm in order to improve the situation. However
for Blender 4.5 release Vulkan support should not be expected to work.
There have een some issues detected with core vulkan that are not
visible on other platforms.
Currently VR can have suboptimal performance when using the Vulkan
backend (#138977). Jereon has run various experiments and was unable
to resolve the issue. So in the meantime work on Vulkan VR performance
has been delayed until Blender 5.0.
Since Blender 4.5 is likely to release without a fix for the VR
performance issue. This commit adds an explicit note about it to the
user preferences.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/139519
Implementation of #127106.
This is just a visual representation of the field/single/grid
status of sockets to make the workflow more intuitive. With
a visual representation for volume grid sockets, volume features
should be unblocked for further development. The structure type
will also be used to distinguish list sockets in the interface.
Group input nodes now have a "Structure Type" option instead of
the existing "Single Value Only". Usually the auto option should be
enough, but in some cases where the inferencing cannot (yet) make
a clear determination, it can be helpful to choose a specific type.
The new visualization and the group input structure type option
are hidden behind a new experimental option for now.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/134811
At this point, with pen tilt functionality having received the following
changes recently:
* Consistency between platforms for what pen tilt values represent
* Inactive cursor visualization
* Invertable per-brush strength
The majority of the work that remains is wider testing and addressing
per-device issues, thus it makes sense to make this option available in
release builds.
By default, no brushes packaged with Blender have a non-zero Tilt
Strength, making this option opt-in by default.
The following brushes support this option:
* Draw
* Draw Sharp
* Flatten
* Fill
* Scrape
* Plane
* Clay Strips
With a non-zero Tilt Strength value on the brush, the normal of the
brush plane is tilted in the same direction as the user's pen, where a
perpendicular orientation for the pen matches the behavior with a Tilt
Strength of 0.
Resolves#82877
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/137574
Rework internals of how VSE caching is done. Primarily to make all the
caching logic more understandable from development point of view, but
also has several user visible implications (more details in the PR):
- Simpler and fewer caching UI options,
- Disk cache is gone (primary reason: proxies are kinda the same thing),
- VSE cache size set in preferences is actual size used for VSE caches
now (previously caching stopped as soon as whole Blender used that
much memory, even if some memory usage was not about VSE at all),
- Certain scenarios of cache invalidation are faster now.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/137926
As described in #122398, implement read and write support for a new
attribute storage system. Currently this is only implemented to support
forward compatibility; the format used at runtime isn't changed at all.
That can be done one step at a time during the 4.5 and 5.0 development
cycles. A new experimental option for testing tells Blender to always
save with the new format.
The main benefit of the new structure is that it matches the attribute
system design, it allows for future attribute storage optimization, and
each attribute is an allocated struct, which will give pointer stability
for the Python API.
The next step is to connect the attribute API and the RNA API to
AttributeStorage for the simplest geometry type, point clouds.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/133874
This is implements option 1 of #129309. It contains a few changes:
* Split `BHead8` into `SmallBHead8` and `LargeBHead8`. The latter is the new one
and uses `int64_t` for array sizes instead of just `int`. That applies to to
buffer size in bytes (`len`) and the array size (`nr`).
* The first .blend file header (the first few bytes of the file) are updated
according to #129309.
* Support reading files with that use `BHead4`, `SmallBHead8` and `LargeBHead8`.
* New option in the preferences that controls whether new files are written with
the older `SmallBHead8` or the new `LargeBHead8`. The new file format is
disabled by default. Potential unofficial 32 bit builds (#67184) always write
`BHead4`, but can read all types (in theory anyway, can't test it).
Note that there are other places in Blender that don't fully support arrays this
large. E.g. I noticed that the spreadsheet currently can't scroll all the way
down.
The experimental option can be removed once we are in the 5.0 branch, at which
point only 4.5 will be able to open the files saved with 5.0.
Co-authored-by: Bastien Montagne <bastien@blender.org>
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/129751
This changes removes Vulkan from experimental. It should be feature
parity with OpenGL with the exception of USD/Hydra.
Some backports to USD/Hydra developments are being made #133717
and should land soon.
This change only updates UI text that mentions the state of the
backend.
Thanks for the community so far for testing and reporting issues!
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/138086
Previously the device selection was only shown when Blender was started
with the Vulkan backend. However most users don't know that this feature
exists. By also showing the device selection when the backend is changed
in the preferences, will motivate users to revisit the system tab and
see what can be selected.
Another option is to have the device selection fully working even when
running using OpenGL. Technically possible but it requires to mingle Vulkan
with OpenGL data in gpu globals.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/137646
In the past couple months, the basic operations needed for a new object
type were implemented, as well as basic edit mode tools. With that, the
object type is in a good enough state that it doesn't need to be hidden
behind an experimental option. That also resolves some inconsistency,
because the object type is already created by geometry nodes and used by
importers; it's weird that you can't add it manually as original data.
This also removes the "bounds" drawing flag for the object created from
the add menu. It's unnecessary now and there was even a TODO comment.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/137546
Vulkan backend is progressing quickly. Lately we improved the
performance and finalized OpenXR support. Removing these
unsupported/limited features from Preferences->System.
The Vulkan backend is still mentioned to be experimental. Removing it as
experimental option requires some more discussions and user feedback.
The gaps between editors need to be selected and manipulated in order
to resize areas. How wide these need to be depends on the accuracy and
resolution of your pointing device. And also on the fine motor control
and visual acuity of the user. If you are using a tablet pen, touch
device, or are visually or physically challenged, then you need these
gaps to be wider. This PR allows a wide latitude in this.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/126334
This implements bundles and closures which are described in more detail in this
blog post: https://code.blender.org/2024/11/geometry-nodes-workshop-october-2024/
tl;dr:
* Bundles are containers that allow storing multiple socket values in a single
value. Each value in the bundle is identified by a name. Bundles can be
nested.
* Closures are functions that are created with the Closure Zone and can be
evaluated with the Evaluate Closure node.
To use the patch, the `Bundle and Closure Nodes` experimental feature has to be
enabled. This is necessary, because these features are not fully done yet and
still need iterations to improve the workflow before they can be officially
released. These iterations are easier to do in `main` than in a separate branch
though. That's because this patch is quite large and somewhat prone to merge
conflicts. Also other work we want to do, depends on this.
This adds the following new nodes:
* Combine Bundle: can pack multiple values into one.
* Separate Bundle: extracts values from a bundle.
* Closure Zone: outputs a closure zone for use in the `Evaluate Closure` node.
* Evaluate Closure: evaluates the passed in closure.
Things that will be added soon after this lands:
* Fields in bundles and closures. The way this is done changes with #134811, so
I rather implement this once both are in `main`.
* UI features for keeping sockets in sync (right now there are warnings only).
One bigger issue is the limited support for lazyness. For example, all inputs of
a Combine Bundle node will be evaluated, even if they are not all needed. The
same is true for all captured values of a closure. This is a deeper limitation
that needs to be resolved at some point. This will likely be done after an
initial version of this patch is done.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/128340
The import nodes are considered complete enough to expose without
the experimental option. This commit removes the option so they will
be exposed in 4.5. There are still some possible future improvements,
including automatic caching, possibly exposing more input sockets,
and possibly including imported paths in the "Internal Dependencies"
panel. Those are considered non blocking though.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/135957
This PR enabled GPU based subdivision on Metal.
Most work is done in #135296.
- Metal max storage bindings for compute shaders were never set.
Some performance figures: Suzanne 6 subdivision levels
| Machine | CPU Subdivision | GPU Subdivision |
| --------------- | --------------- | --------------- |
| M1 Studio Ultra | 7fps | 12 fps |
| M2 Air | 3fps | 11 fps |
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/135628
This PR enabled GPU subdivision on Vulkan backend. Measured
performance is slower compared to CPU on my system. But it is
expected that other bottlenecks should be solved in order to
fully benefit from this feature.
We enable it so we keep track of the performance bottlenecks.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/135777
The issue was introduced on 1584cd9aa5 (see !134911 for details).
This fixes this and rename the remaining point_cloud from the API.
The DNA is left untouched, so users don't need to re-enable the
experimental point cloud feature.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/134927
The "Red Alert" color is currently hard-coded, which causes problems in
themes. It also has an Enum value of 0, which precludes using this
value as "unset". We also use Error, Warning, and Info colors that are
part of the Info Editor. This PR moves these out of the Info Editor
and into the "State" part of the theme. And then makes TH_REDALERT use
the TH_ERROR color.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/131127
Add support for dynamic NDOF orbit center calculation.
- When "Auto" NDOF preference is enabled:
All visible objects in the viewport are used to calculate a
bounding box center, if the bounds are outside the view or the center
is behind the viewport, use a Z-Buffer test to calculate the depth in
the middle of the region.
- When "Use Selected Items" NDOF preferences is enabled,
calculating the bounds from the selection.
- An option to show the orbit center as a guide has also been added.
Ref !129594
Co-authored-by: Kamil Galik <kgalik@3dconnexion.com>
When developing and testing add-ons it can be useful to get to the
folder containing such add-on.
When Developer Extras is enabled, show a folder icon next to the
extension's path to quickly open it using the system file browser.
Also display it in the list of duplicate add-ons, if any, so user can
access them more conveniently.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/128474
Generally, checkbox labels are not grayed out when they are not checked. Better
be consistent with other parts of the UI here. When I saw this, I was first
confused because it looked like I can't enable the values that are not checked.
This was introduced in #112393.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/132180
Support differentiating between portable & system installations,
useful to properly locate relative paths which would not work
on system installations.
Ref !133143
Improve the Studio Lights Editor Preferences panel by replacing the
current column layout (which looks very horizontally compressed using
the default Preferences window size) by a grid flow layout with boxes.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/132425
The GPU backend selection menu, used to select the Vulkan backend, was
hidden behind the Developer Extras user interface option in 4.3 as
Vulkan wasn't ready for wide spread testing due to multiple
major issues.
The majority of the major issues have been fixed, and Vulkan should
safer to use.
To help encourage Vulkan testing throughout Blender 4.4's development,
this commit unhides the Vulkan backend from behind the developer extras
option.
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/131231
The legacy option is turned off by default and will be removed
in the following weeks. It is only there to check for
regression for a short period of time. Afterward checking
for regression will require to use 4.3 as a reference.
Rel #102179
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/130683
Vulkan backend selection will be hidden behind developer extras. There
are some issues which would not be inviting for users to start testing.
- Some basic functionality are not working (object selection, depth
testing)
- NVIDIA UI artifacts are annoying and unsure where the error is.
- AMD artifacts
- Memory leaks
The backend will still be part of Blender 4.3 only hidden behind an
additional flag.
Ref: #129265, #129262, #127225, #128624, #127768, #127223
Pull Request: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/129799
This commit takes the 'Slotted Actions' out of the experimental phase.
As a result:
- All newly created Actions will be slotted Actions.
- Legacy Actions loaded from disk will be versioned to slotted Actions.
- The new Python API for slots, layers, strips, and channel bags is
available.
- The legacy Python API for accessing F-Curves and Action Groups is
still available, and will operate on the F-Curves/Groups for the first
slot only.
- Creating an Action by keying (via the UI, operators, or the
`rna_struct.keyframe_insert` function) will try and share Actions
between related data-blocks. See !126655 for more info about this.
- Assigning an Action to a data-block will auto-assign a suitable Action
Slot. The logic for this is described below. However, There are cases
where this does _not_ automatically assign a slot, and thus the Action
will effectively _not_ animate the data-block. Effort has been spent
to make Action selection work both reliably for Blender users as well
as keep the behaviour the same for Python scripts. Where these two
goals did not converge, reliability and understandability for users
was prioritised.
Auto-selection of the Action Slot upon assigning the Action works as
follows. The first rule to find a slot wins.
1. The data-block remembers the slot name that was last assigned. If the
newly assigned Action has a slot with that name, it is chosen.
2. If the Action has a slot with the same name as the data-block, it is
chosen.
3. If the Action has only one slot, and it has never been assigned to
anything, it is chosen.
4. If the Action is assigned to an NLA strip or an Action constraint,
and the Action has a single slot, and that slot has a suitable ID
type, it is chosen.
This last step is what I was referring to with "Where these two goals
did not converge, reliability and understandability for users was
prioritised." For regular Action assignments (like via the Action
selectors in the Properties editor) this rule doesn't apply, even though
with legacy Actions the final state ("it is animated by this Action")
differs from the final state with slotted Actions ("it has no slot so is
not animated"). This is done to support the following workflow:
- Create an Action by animating Cube.
- In order to animate Suzanne with that same Action, assign the Action
to Suzanne.
- Start keying Suzanne. This auto-creates and auto-assigns a new slot
for Suzanne.
If rule 4. above would apply in this case, the 2nd step would
automatically select the Cube slot for Suzanne as well, which would
immediately overwrite Suzanne's properties with the Cube animation.
Technically, this commit:
- removes the `WITH_ANIM_BAKLAVA` build flag,
- removes the `use_animation_baklava` experimental flag in preferences,
- updates the code to properly deal with the fact that empty Actions are
now always considered slotted/layered Actions (instead of that relying
on the user preference).
Note that 'slotted Actions' and 'layered Actions' are the exact same
thing, just focusing on different aspects (slot & layers) of the new
data model.
The "Baklava phase 1" assumptions are still asserted. This means that:
- an Action can have zero or one layer,
- that layer can have zero or one strip,
- that strip must be of type 'keyframe' and be infinite with zero
offset.
The code to handle legacy Actions is NOT removed in this commit. It will
be removed later. For now it's likely better to keep it around as
reference to the old behaviour in order to aid in some inevitable
bugfixing.
Ref: #120406
BaseException was used as a catch-all in situations where it
didn't make sense and where "Exception" is more appropriate
based on Python's documentation & error checking tools,
`pylint` warns `broad-exception-caught` for e.g.
BaseException includes SystemExit, KeyboardInterrupt & GeneratorExit,
so unless the intention is to catch calls to `sys.exit(..)`,
breaking a out of a loop using Ctrl-C or generator-exit,
then it shouldn't be used.
Even then, it's preferable to catch those exceptions explicitly.
