Blender 2.44

Posted on Tuesday, May 15 2007 @ 11:34 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck

Changelog:

Sculpt and Multires
The previous release was the first Blender version to offer 3d sculpt and multi-res. Based on welcome feedback and reporting, a lot of bug fixes and improvements were added.
Python Scripts and API
There have been a large number of script additions and script updates, as well as API improvements since the last release.
New Modifiers
Two new modifiers are available now; "Smooth" and "Cast".
64 bits migration notes
Blender had been ported to 64 bits Dec Alpha in 1998 already, but since 2002 its 64 bits compliancy has been gathering dust mostly. Time for a cleanup!
Subsurface Scattering
Subsurface scattering is a new material option to render materials like skin, marble or milk. For these materials light scatters under the surface and leaves at another position. This leads to a softer appearance, as light is blurred out over the surface.
New Composite Nodes
Two new Composite nodes had been added, that can be accessed by the Add > Color menu, expanding further the possibilities of the Composite node editor.
Character Animation
The Action and NLA editors have now better control over visible channels. A new constraint was added, and a "preview range" option was added.
Physics Engine
The Bullet physics engine has had some changes which should give better reproducibility and precision/quality for physics simulations.
Mesh primitives update
The mesh primitives have been revisited, improving their usability and pushing them a little beyond their previous state.
More features and fixes
Plenty of smaller features made it into this release.