Old Versions of Blender

Date Released: January 2, 1994
File Size: 290.00 MB
Publisher: Ton Roosendaal
License: Freeware
Operation Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Haiku
Category: Graphic
Versions: 1.0 – 2.81a
Last Updated: January 28, 2020

Blender is a 3D graphics application that is used for modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning, animating, and rendering of 3D images. There are versions available for different operating systems including FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Solaris. Blender has a robust feature set that is competitive with other high-end 3D products like Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, Lightwave, and Maya.

The first Blender version was developed as an application by the Dutch Animation studio. It was authored by Ton Roosendaal who had previously written a ray tracer for the Amiga platform in 1989.

Blender has a smaller installation size than its competitors, but still contains features that are characteristic of its commercial counterparts. It supports a variety of geometric primitives, has versatile internal rendering capabilities, key framed animation tools, modifiers to apply non-destructive effects, Python scripting, and a fully integrated node based compositor within the rendering pipeline.

Version 1 of blender began development in January of 1995 for in house use by studio NeoGeo. In 1998 NaN was formed to market and distribute the platform. By 1999, Blender had garnered a large amount of interest at the Siggraph convention and was beginning to make a push into the graphics market.

In the summer of 2000, Blender version 2.0 was released and it added the integration of a new game engine to the 3D suite. In December 2000, version 2.10 was released and added a new physics abilities and Python scripting. By this time there were over 250,000 users registered on the Blender website.

Version 2.20 was released in August 2001 and it added character animation. In October 2001 Blender publisher was launched. This was aimed at a much more commercial audience, but did not fare well in poor economic times.

In December 2001 the first Mac OS X version was released. Still dealing with economic problems, Blender was released as open source in October 2002 at the 1st Blender conference. Version 2.32 added a UI makeover and overhauled the internal rendering capabilities. Version 2.48 added much updated game engine.

Blender has the many of features that are contained in commercial mid to high end products, but yet its cost is free and significantly less space for installation. If you want to get into 3D rendering without a lot of expense, then you should check out Blender.

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