Blender 2.49

Blender 2.49 offers you an open source software for 3D modeling, rendering, animation, post-production, interactive creation and playback. Available for Windows, Linux, Irix, Sun Solaris, FreeBSD or Mac OS X.

Major Features:

1. Video Texture: The Game Engine now supports multiple streams of video textures for interactive playback in environments. You can use video files (also from URLs), image files, video captures, memory buffer, camera render or a mix of that.
2. Real-time Dome rendering: This feature allows artists to visualize their interactive projects within an immersive dome environment. Blender supports Fulldome, Truncated domes (front and rear), Planetariums and domes with spherical mirrors.
3. Game Engine speed-up: Significant speedup has been achieved in several areas;
   • Scene Graph optimizes static objects
   • View Frustum culling
   • Occlusion culling
   • Faster Bullet physics initializing
4. Bullet Physics: The Bullet library upgrade in this release includes brand new generic 6dof constraint with run-time configurable limits, motors and springs to allow for physics-based vehicles, forklift, robots and ragdolls. And more...
5. Game Engine Modifier support: Support for non-time dependent modifiers in the GE: no need to apply the modifiers before running the game! Works for physics shape too.
6. Improved Game Logic and Python API: Improve stability, documentation and completeness for the python API.
   • Attribute access
   • GameObject properties of any type.
   • OpenGL and Geometry modules
   • New logic and the rendering functions
   • Better error feedback
7. Texture Nodes: Next to Compositing and Materials, Blender Textures now support Node editing. You can use it to create advanced procedural textures, including fractal based systems. And even better, a Texture Nodetree can even become a Brush for painting.
8. Projection Painting: Painting in the 3D view has been improved to support projection painting which allows you to paint directly onto your model without having to worry about UV mapping or seams.
9. Etch-a-ton armature sketching: Etch-a-ton is a development snapshot for sketching techniques applied to rigging. It can be used both for creating chains of deformation bones through various subdivision techniques or through retargetting templates
10. Boolean improvements: In 2.49 you can put a Boolean Modifier on any level in the stack, allowing you to intersect deformed or subdivided models too. You can also insert multiple Booleans in one stack now.
11. JPEG2000 support: Blender now supports the new high quality JPEG format. It has much better compression, supports Alpha layers, and HDR color up to 16 bits per channel. JPEG2000 support is available in Blender everywhere, including Sequencer, Compositor and UV texture editor.
12. Python Script extensions: New scripts have been added, tools such as Landscape or Bolt generators, and the importer/exporters had several updates and fixes.
13. Also worth visiting is the very complete (over 300) Scripts Catalog in our wiki.
14. Modeling
    • A range of 3D object types including polygon meshes, NURBS surfaces, bezier and B-spline curves, metaballs, vector fonts (TrueType, PostScript, OpenType)
    • Smooth proxy style catmull-clark subdivision surfaces
    • Boolean mesh functions
    • Editing functions such as extrude, bevel, cut, spin, screw, warp, subdivide, noise, smooth Soft selection editing tools for organic modeling
    • Python scripting access for custom tools
15. Animation
    • Armature (skeleton) deformation with forward/inverse kinematics, auto skinning and interactive 3D paint for vertex weighting
    • Non-linear animation mixer with automated walkcycles along paths
    • Constraint system
    • Vertex key framing for morphing, with controlling sliders
    • Character animation pose editor
    • Animatable lattice deformation
    • Ipo system integrates both motion curve and traditional key-frame editing
    • Audio playback, mixing and editing support for sound synchronisation
    • Python scripting access for custom and procedural animation effects
16. Realtime 3D/game creation
    • Graphical editor for defining interactive behavior without programming
    • Collision detection and dynamics simulation
    • Python scripting API for sophisticated control and AI, fully defined advanced game logic
    • Supports all OpenGL lighting modes, including transparencies, Animated and reflection-mapped textures
    • Playback of games and interactive 3D content without compiling or preprocessing
    • Audio, using the fmod toolkit
    • Multi-layering of Scenes for overlay interfaces
17. Rendering
    • Integral support for the famous Yafray render engine
    • Oversampling, motion blur, post-production effects, fields, non-square pixels
    • Environment maps, halos, lens flares, fog
    • Various surface shaders such as Lambert, Phong, Oren-nayar, Blinn, Toon
    • Edge rendering for
    • Very fast inbuilt raytracer
    • Toon shading
    • Procedural Textures
    • Ambient Occlusion
    • Radiosity solver
    • Export scripts available for external renderers such as Renderman (RIB), Povray, Virtualight
    • UV texture editor with various mesh unwrap modes
18. Interface
    • Flexible user configurable window layout
    • Powerful object-oriented data system
    • Anti-aliased fonts with international translation support
    • Windows for animation curves/keys, schematic scene diagram, non-linear video sequence editing, character animation action editor, non-linear animation mixer, image/UV editing, file/image selection and file management
    • Inbuilt text editor for annotations and editing Python scripts
    • Consistent interface across multiple platforms
19. Files
    • Save all scene data in a single .blend file
    • .blend format supports compression, digital signatures, encryption, forwards/backwards compatibility and can be used as a library to link to from other .blend files
    • Read / Write TGA, JPG, PNG, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and Quicktime GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV (Windows and Mac OS X)
    • Native import and export for DXF, Inventor and VRML files, with python scripts available for many other 3D formats
    • Create stand-alone executables containing interactive 3D content or play back with the 3d web browser plugin

 Enhancements:

• A lot of smaller features and bug fixes were done for 2.49 as well.
• Hundreds of reports were handled the past 6 months.