20. June 2024
Blender 4.2 Features & Release
Hey, Blender fans! 🎨
Blender 4.2 is going to release on the 16th of July, 2024, and it’s packed with updates that’ll elevate your 3D workflows. Whether you’re animating, modeling, or coding, there are some nice improvements to look forward to. Let’s check out the highlights of this version and see how it can boost your projects.
Table of Contents
- Release Schedule
- Cycles Improvements
- EEVEE-Next Real-Time Rendering Overhaul
- Geometry Nodes - More Power, More Fun
- Core
- Compositor
- Color Management
- Import & Export
- Modeling & UV
- Sculpt, Paint, Texture
- User Interface
- Sequencer
- Animation & Rigging
You can feel a little lost when learning new features so I compiled it all for you and sumarized it. 👼
Blender 4.2: Release Schedule
| Phase | Stage | Description | Date | Branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bcon1 | Alpha | New features and changes | February 7, 2024 | main |
| Bcon2 | Alpha | Improve and stabilize | May 1, 2024 | main |
| Bcon3 | Beta | Bug fixing only | June 5, 2024 | blender-v4.2-release |
| Bcon4 | Release Candidate | Prepare release | July 10, 2024 | blender-v4.2-release |
| Bcon5 | Release | Official release | July 16, 2024 | blender-v4.2-release |
Blender 4.2: Cycles Improvements
| Feature | Details | Commit/ Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Ray Portals | The Ray Portal BSDF transports rays to another location in the scene with specified ray position and normal. Useful for rendering portals and various visual effects. | PR#114386 |
| Thin Film Interference | The Principled BSDF now supports physically accurate thin film interference effects for specular reflection and transmission, initially applied to dielectric materials. | PR#118477 |
| Principled Hair | The Huang model provides more accurate results for close-up hair rendering, dynamically switching between near and far field models based on distance. | PR#116094 |
| Subsurface Scattering | A Roughness input has been added to the Subsurface Scattering node, aligning it with the Principled BSDF. | PR#114499 |
| Denoising | - Upgraded to OpenImageDenoise 2.3 for improved denoising quality. - GPU acceleration enabled on AMD GPUs on Windows and Linux. - CPU renders can now use GPU accelerated denoising. | PR#118841 |
| Sampling | - Blue-noise-distributed sampling improves visual quality, particularly with low sample counts. - Improved volume light sampling, especially for spotlights and area light spread. | PR#123274 PR#119438 PR#122667 |
| World Override | A new option for view layers to override the world settings. | PR#117920 |
| Intel GPU Rendering | Now supports host memory fallback, improving rendering on systems with limited GPU memory. | PR#122385 |
EEVEE-Next 4.2: Real-Time Rendering Overhaul
| Feature | Details | Commit/ Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Global Illumination | EEVEE now uses screen space ray tracing for every BSDF with no limitation on the number of BSDFs. Materials using Blended render method are removed from reflections instead of being projected onto the background. | - |
| Lights | Unlimited number of lights in a scene (up to 4096 visible at once). Lights are now visible through refractive surfaces, support ray visibility options, and have improved glossy lighting without back-leakage. | - |
| Shadows | Shadows rendered using Virtual Shadow Maps, improving resolution and reducing biases. Light visibility uses Shadow Map Ray Tracing for plausible soft shadows, removing the need for shadow jittering. | - |
| Shading | Material > Blend Mode replaced by Material > Render Method. Options like Backface Culling and Transparent Shadows added for better performance with Virtual Shadow Maps. Screen-Space Refraction renamed to Raytraced Transmission. | - |
| Displacement | Now supported except for Displacement Only mode, which defaults to Displacement And Bump. | - |
| Thickness | New Thickness output for better modeling of Refraction, Subsurface Scattering, and Translucency. This replaces Refraction Depth. | PR#120384 |
| Subsurface Scattering | Supports any number of BSSRDF nodes with arbitrary radii, preventing energy loss and leakage between objects. The associated translucency option has been removed. | - |
| Volume Light-Probes | Faster convergence and higher resolution for volume light probes baking. Baking is done at object level, allowing post-bake edits and linking from other files. New rejection algorithm and flood fill reduce shadow leaking. | - |
| Sphere Light Probes | Dynamic and updated as they move. Firefly-free reflections for rough surfaces, with less “foggy” appearance compared to previous versions. | - |
| Volume | World volume blocks distant light completely. Volume lighting is dithered to avoid flickering. Mesh objects have correct volume intersection, and evaluation of small volume objects has been optimized. | PR#114062 |
| World | Sunlight contribution is automatically extracted from HDRI lighting. | - |
| Image Stability | Improved viewport image stability using velocity-aware temporal supersampling. Clamping options behavior unified with Cycles. | - |
| Motion Blur | Partial support in viewport through camera view. Added support for Shutter Curve. | - |
| Depth of Field | Rewritten and optimized, removing Denoise Amount and High Quality Slight Defocus settings, which are now always on. | - |
| UI Adjustments | Panels and properties adjusted to align closer to Cycles. Objects with Display As set to Wire or Bounds now render in Render viewport shading mode. Cycles and EEVEE share the Cast Shadow property. | 1f2b935146 |
| Multithreaded Shader Compilation | New Max Shader Compilation Subprocesses option in Preferences > System > Memory & Limits to use multiple subprocesses for faster shader compilation on Windows and Linux. | - |
Blender 4.2: Geometry Nodes - More Power, More Fun
| Feature | Details | Commit/ Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Realize Instances | Supports partially realizing the geometry. | 1db538683d |
| Sample Nearest Surface | Sampling nodes now support Group ID input. | 75e9056cac |
| Geometry Proximity | Sampling nodes now support Group ID input. | 0494605e7e |
| Remove Named Attribute | Supports removing multiple attributes with the same prefix or suffix. | 6c46178a7f |
| Capture Attribute | Supports capturing multiple attributes at once. | 28cef56ad2 |
| Store Named Attribute | Can now write 8-bit integer attributes. | 1681e55114 |
| Curve to Points | Now has a rotation output socket. | 248dafef74 |
| Axes to Rotation | Simplifies creating rotation based on two orthogonal axes. | 25c134fd08 |
| Align Rotation to Vector | Replaces the deprecated Align Euler to Vector node, improving performance and socket clarity. | 462e7aeedd |
| Rotation Input Node | Allows inserting a constant rotation in a node group. | 968b98be56 |
| Sockets Alignment | The sockets in the Repeat and Simulation zone and Bake node are now aligned. | 1f30f41af8 5f02eaae9f |
| Simulation Zone Overlay | Now shows which frames are baked. | 96db947f16 |
| Socket List in Properties Panel | The socket list for some nodes is now in the properties panel instead of an independent panel. | 0c585a1b8a |
| Menu Switch Extend Socket | The Menu Switch node now has an “extend” socket. | 176c6ef329 |
| Face Neighbors Mesh Topology | Now gives the correct number of unique faces. | dd672c38b1 |
| Scale Elements Node | Rewritten to become at least 4-10x faster. | 2cb3677557 |
| Sample UV Surface Node | 10-20x faster when used on large meshes. | 0a430fb8cb |
| General Threading Optimization | Many nodes (e.g. Grid) became faster due to general threading optimization. | b99c1abc3a |
| Mouse Position Node | Gives access to the click position and can delay the operator’s execution until the user clicks. | ce224fe401 |
| Viewport Transform Node | Provides access to the view direction and location of the 3D viewport. | 83ed92d533 |
| Data-block Inputs | Supports inputs like collection, object, material, and image, with limitations on non-unique names from separate libraries. | 65803f262f |
| Active Element Node | Makes the active vertex, edge, or face available to tools. | 2fe92c63d3 |
| Avoid Extra Object Evaluations | Improves overall performance, especially when objects have modifiers. | b3ecfcd77d |
| Socket Inspection | Now works in the node editor for node tools. | 740d1fbc4b |
| Matrix Socket: Combine Transform | Builds a matrix based on location, rotation, and scale. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Separate Transform | Decomposes a matrix into its location, rotation, and scale components. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Transform Point | Applies the matrix transformation on a point. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Transform Direction | Applies the matrix transformation on a direction, ignoring the location/translation component. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Project Point | Applies the matrix on a point and performs perspective divide. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Combine Matrix | Builds a 4x4 matrix from raw values. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Separate Matrix | Splits a 4x4 matrix into raw values. | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Set Instance Transform | Assigns a transformation matrix to each instance. | fb6b9092a7 |
| Matrix Socket: Instance Transform | Accesses the built-in instance_transform attribute. | fb6b9092a7 |
| Matrix Socket: Invert Matrix | - | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Multiply Matrices | - | 831e91c357 |
| Matrix Socket: Transpose Matrix | - | 831e91c357 |
| Object Info Node | Now has a Transform matrix output. | 4dfc1ede58 |
| Transform Geometry Node | Supports transforming with a matrix. | 9fcf97d978 |
| 4x4 Matrices | Can now be stored as attributes. | - |
| Accumulate Field Node | Supports accumulating transform matrices. | 78c1c1a170 |
Blender 4.2: Core
| Feature | Details | Commit / Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Faster Undo | Undo operations are now faster due to implicit sharing, enhancing performance and efficiency when undoing actions in Blender. | 0e8e219d71 |
| Portable Installation | Creating a portable installation is simplified. Instead of using a 4.2/config folder, you can now create a portable folder next to the Blender executable to make the installation portable. | PR#122778 |
| New Environment Variable | The BLENDER_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS environment variable has been introduced to add extensions to a Blender installation. This is useful for customized setups, such as those used in production environments. | PR#122832 |
| Improved Environment Variable | The BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS environment variable now consistently adds scripts, including legacy add-ons and presets, to a Blender installation. This ensures these scripts are available to all users, making it ideal for studio setups. | PR#122689 |
| Background Mode Audio | Running Blender in background mode using -b or --background now disables audio by default, optimizing resource usage when rendering or processing in the background. | 7c90018f23 |
| Online/Offline Mode | New command line arguments --online-mode and --offline-mode are available to force Blender to enable or disable online access, overriding the preferences set in the UI. This is useful for managing network access in different environments. | PR#121994 |
Blender 4.2: Compositor
| Feature | Details | Commit / Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Acceleration | GPU acceleration is now available for final render compositing. This option can be configured in Render settings or the Compositor editor’s properties panel. | 727a90a0f1 |
| CPU Performance | The CPU backend for the compositor has been rewritten, leading to significantly improved performance. Some behavior changes are necessary for consistent operation with the 3D viewport compositor. | - |
| Execution Time Overlay | Added an overlay to display each node’s last execution time. This can be enabled from the Overlays pop-over. | 467a132166 |
| Legacy Cryptomatte in Viewport | The Legacy Cryptomatte node is now supported in the Viewport Compositor. | 2bd80f4b7a |
| New Glare Mode: Bloom | A new Bloom mode has been added to the Glare node, offering faster computation and smoother falloff than the existing Fog Glow mode. | f4f22b64eb |
| Fast Gaussian Blur | The Fast Gaussian mode of the Blur node is now implemented for the viewport compositor. | 382131fef2 |
| Translate Node Interpolation | The Translate node now includes an Interpolation option with Nearest, Bilinear, and Bicubic modes. | 483c854612 |
| Fog Glow in Viewport | The Fog Glow mode of the Glare node is now available in the viewport compositor, with a current implementation using CPU-based processing. | f0c379e1d3 |
| Glare Node Optimization | The Fog Glow mode of the Glare node is now up to 25x faster. | d4bf23771d |
| Viewport Compositing Area | The compositing space in the viewport compositor is now always limited to the camera region in camera view, regardless of the passepartout value, ensuring consistency with final renders. | - |
| Hue Correct Node | The Hue Correct node now evaluates saturation and value curves at the original input hue, wraps around for seamless transitions at the red hue, and its evaluation is more accurate and predictable. | 69920a0680 8812be59a4 |
| Blur Node Boundaries | The Blur node now assumes extended image boundaries, treating pixels outside the image boundary as the closest boundary color. | c409f2f7c6 |
| Vector Blur Update | The Vector Blur node was rewritten to match EEVEE’s motion blur. The Curved, Minimum, and Maximum options were removed but might be restored in the future. | b229d32086 |
| Fast Gaussian Blur Size | The Fast Gaussian mode of the Blur node now matches the size of other blur modes, while previously it was larger. | f595345f52 |
| Bicubic Interpolation | Bicubic interpolation for the Rotate and Stabilize 2D nodes now uses bicubic B-spline interpolation, providing more accurate results than the previous bilinear approach. | f1d4859e2a |
| Automatic View Updates | The Update Views button was removed from the Switch View node; updates now happen automatically. | 9484770551 |
| Transformation Behavior | Transformations are now applied immediately at the transform nodes, potentially leading to resolution loss if an image is scaled down and then up again. | - |
| Wrapping in Translate Node | The Wrapping option in the Translate node no longer repeats a pattern but operates as clip-on-one-side and wrap-on-the-other-side. | - |
| Size Inference | The new compositor evaluates the node tree from left to right without inferring image sizes from upstream nodes, leading to more predictable behavior but changing how some setups function. | - |
| Clipping Behavior | The new compositor does not clip images based on inferred sizes as the old compositor did, avoiding unexpected clipping. | - |
| Sampling Space | The new compositor samples images in their own space, avoiding issues where the old compositor clipped images based on inferred space. | - |
| Removed Features | Two Pass options, and Edit and Render quality options have been removed to streamline and modernize the compositor. | 6db8091f45 9532ea3f8c29 149e547de69c |
Blender 4.2: Color Management - Khronos PBR and More
| Feature | Details | Commit/ Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Khronos PBR Neutral | A new view transform designed for PBR color accuracy, ensuring output sRGB colors match the input sRGB base color under gray-scale lighting. Ideal for product photography where the scene is well-exposed and HDR color values are minimal. | d1cbb10d17 |
| Motion Blur Settings | Motion Blur settings are now unified between Cycles and EEVEE, providing consistency across rendering engines. | 74b8f99b43 |
Blender 4.2: Import & Export
| Feature | Details | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| Collection Exporters | Exporters can now be associated with Collections, allowing easy re-exporting of assets. Multiple exporters can be configured in the Collection properties panel, and all collections can be exported with a single click. | 509a7870c3 |
| USD - Hair Curves Support | The new hair curves object type is now supported for both import and export. | ea256346a8 21db0daa4e |
| USD - Point Cloud Import | Point cloud data can now be imported into Blender. | e4ef0f6ff4 |
| USD - Unicode Support | Unicode names are now supported on import and optional for export, compatible with USD 24.03 or later. | 9ad2c7df0b |
| USD - Import Options | New options to import only defined prims or all, convert USD dome light to a world shader, and validate meshes on import. | bfa54f22ce e1a6749b3d9 2548132e23 |
| USD - Export Options | New export options to filter types, convert the world shader to a USD dome light, set stage up axis, use XForm operator convention, triangulate meshes, down-sample textures for USDZ, generate MaterialX network, and rename active UV map to st. | a6a5fd053a e1a6749b3d9 2415380061 36f1a4f94f3 b2d1979882 3e73b9caa5 PR#122575 eaeb8ba8cd |
| Alembic - Hair Curves Support | The new hair curves object type is now supported for both import and export. Also addressed an issue where animated curves would not update during render. | ea256346a8 b24ac18130 |
| Alembic - Multi-File Import | Supports importing multiple files at once. | PR#121492 |
| Collada | The built-in support for Collada is now considered legacy and will be removed in a future version. | 82f9501a4a 20e4984ad6 |
| glTF - New Addon Location | The glTF addon has moved to addon_core. | 13a3603578 |
| glTF - Importer Options | New options include setting bone shape and size, using nodes for alpha clipping in Eevee Next, removing Eevee legacy blend_method, and implementing KHR_animation_pointer. | 08d43667c8 b583b6ec39 d9d5597a6c f8368df0c8 033d552a7b |
| glTF - Exporter Options | New export features include options to export Vertex Color, KHR_animation_pointer, collection export, export at the center of mass, manage drivers with ‘disable viewport’, add a profile option at export, and support for UDIM in merged textures. | 0f0a8df8a9 f8368df0c8 bf2d56e814 c6e38d084c 6a4210ff90 804a276688 b583b6ec39 8fd9712df9 a71027d37f c05c08cbff |
| glTF - Export Fixes | Various fixes including Vertex Color export, UV map export from an attribute node, exporting factor and Vertex Color simultaneously, and several crash fixes. | 730987cce3 ac97907841 d80a1dd5f8 b156daa989 786428011f 6b8b29648c 6ac680c1a7 c794324c8a be96d5144a c297a9513e 68c49290e3 9ba22d4bc7 cab79018ee 04b08bcb40 c7807a425a d41feda6c7 f5f6c460ed 1c840422cf f8b8a1a5b6 018ece5309 5789031072 c9daea2d5b f86fe707ce |
| Validation | OBJ, PLY, STL importers now default to Validate Meshes being on, which slows import slightly but prevents crashes with malformed data. Validation is now 2-3x faster than before. | 761dd6c923 PR#121413 |
Blender 4.2: Modeling & UV
| Feature | Details | Commit/ Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Transform | Customizable rotation snap increment added for the Transform tool, allowing more precise control during rotations. | 060174cf14 |
| UV Editing - Edge and Vert Slide | The Edge and Vert Slide operators have been ported to the UV Editor, enhancing UV manipulation capabilities. | aaadb5005e |
| UV Editing - Set Snap Base | The Set Snap Base feature, triggered by the B key, is now enabled in the UV Editor, facilitating more precise snapping. | a56a975760 |
| UV Editing - Snap to Grid | The ‘Absolute Grid Snap’ option has been replaced with a new snap mode: Snap to Grid, improving grid snapping accuracy. | f0479e915f |
| Curves Editing - Draw Evaluated Curves | Curves edit mode now draws evaluated curves and handles, providing better visual feedback during editing. | 15dbfe54e4 |
| Curves Editing - Convert Curves Types | Added support for converting between different curve types, enhancing flexibility in curve modeling. | 23265a2b6d 3f2c4db951 |
| Curves Editing - Add Menu | A new Add menu has been introduced to insert primitive curves, streamlining the creation of basic curve shapes. | 549d02637a |
| Curves Editing - Handle Type | New operator to set the handle type for Bezier curves, offering more control over curve shaping. | 549d02637a |
| Curves Editing - Subdivide Curves | A new operator allows for the subdivision of curves, increasing the resolution and control over curve details. | 548df007a5 |
| Curves Editing - Switch Direction | A new operator to switch the direction of curves, facilitating easier orientation adjustments. | 6c25c66194 |
| Curves Editing - Toggle Cyclic | A new operator to toggle whether curves are cyclic, enabling seamless looping of curves when needed. | d315a6a793 |
| Curves Editing - Project to Surface | New option to only draw onto selected objects in “project to surface” draw mode, refining the drawing process to specific surfaces. | 241c19a57a |
Blender 4.2: Sculpt, Paint, Texture
| Feature | Details | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| New Tools - Polyline Mask | A new tool for creating masks in sculpting using polyline selections, providing more control over masking complex shapes. | 025df21a0f |
| New Tools - Lasso Hide | Allows users to hide parts of the mesh with a lasso selection tool, improving visibility control during sculpting. | 68afd22501 |
| New Tools - Line Hide | A tool for hiding mesh sections using a straight line selection, useful for precise visibility adjustments. | 6e997cc757 |
| New Tools - Polyline Hide | Similar to the Line Hide tool but allows for polyline-based selections to hide complex mesh areas. | 55fc1066ac |
| New Tools - Line Face Set | Creates face sets based on a straight line selection, aiding in organizing and managing different areas of the mesh. | 7726e7f563 |
| New Tools - Polyline Face Set | Allows creating face sets using polyline selections, providing more flexibility for defining face sets on complex shapes. | 025df21a0f |
| New Tools - Line Trim | A trimming tool that cuts the mesh along a straight line, useful for quickly reshaping the mesh. | d4a61647bf |
| New Tools - Polyline Trim | Trims the mesh along a polyline selection, allowing for more detailed and custom trimming operations. | 025df21a0f |
| New Tools - Grow & Shrink Visibility | Adjusts the visible area of the mesh by growing or shrinking the current visible section, enhancing control over mesh visibility during sculpting. | 1ab3fffc1d |
| New Options - Trim Tool Solvers | Users can now choose between Fast and Exact solvers for the Trim tools, balancing speed and accuracy according to their needs. More details in the documentation. | 881178895b |
| Global Rotation Increment | Sculpt and Weight Paint modes now support the global, customizable rotation increment for corresponding Line tools when snapping is enabled, such as Line Hide in Sculpt and Gradient in Weight Paint. | 1cf0d7ca6a |
Blender 4.2: User Interface
| Feature | Details | Commit/ Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| General - Layout Support | Added support for horizontal rules in vertical layouts and vertical rules in horizontal layouts, enhancing layout flexibility. | 4c50e6992f |
| General - UI Scaling | Improved interface scaling for better visual quality across different resolutions and displays. | 85762d99ef f85989f5db 196cd48aad 23aaf88233 1f1fbda3ee |
| General - Icon Changes | Updates to various icons across the interface, improving clarity and usability. | 42e7a720c9 4e303751ff 7b601464c3 |
| General - Font Shader | Optimizations made to the font shader for better performance. | a05adbef28 |
| General - Font Update | Interface font updated to Inter 4.0, providing a more modern and readable appearance. | f235990009 |
| General - Tooltip Changes | Enhanced tooltips with larger color samples and detailed values, and improved tooltips for colors and other UI elements. | 41bbbd2359 3d85765e14 08cd80a284 |
| General - Asset Browser | The Asset Browser now supports the Maximize Area function, improving workspace management. | 2d5a83f294 |
| General - Wavelength Node | The Wavelength node now uses nanometer-scale inputs, aligning with real-world wavelength measurements. | cc541f2c07 |
| Status Bar - Keymap Display | Improvements to the keymap display in the status bar, including more concise format for multiple X/Y/Z operations and expanded icons for keymap events. | c4e5a70e07 44606c5e4d 42a8947eb1 dfe060ea6f 03cd8b359b 3fbc603137 1391b7de41 02798f8438 49bd285529 d1b6621903 65bfae2258 9cb298f706 |
| Dialogs | Improved the layout and usability of large and small confirmation dialogs, and enhanced property dialogs. Panels are now supported in dialog popups. Removed some unnecessary operator confirmations. | 00b4fdce2c 6618755912 3bacd93ba6 2c8a3243ee 5eda7c9fd3 311e0270dd d379897019 443ea628c5 529b8786f8 8fee7c5fc7 da378e4d30 615edb3f3c aa03646a74 6dd0f6627e 7226b52728 75a9cbed24 8735a8a6be |
| Menus | Reorganization of “Select” menus for consistency, and improvements to the layout of menus in mesh sculpt mode. Changes to menu separator padding and a unified format for Zoom menus. | 6789a88107 ede675705e 4dbca26b5c 1fe8fbd93a 48dee674f3 7e2075b809 |
| 3D Viewport | Added toggles for Camera Guides and Passepartout in Viewport Overlays. Corrected initial viewport tilt and improved overlay text contrast. Reduced dead zone for SpaceMouse and added a Modifiers submenu in the Object menu. | 392ac52ebb 2a287dc23c 913acaf395 3582e52f9c 3ee8a75e8e d739d27a2d e63c8bb3c2 068e624ebc |
| Properties Editor | Users can now add, remove, apply, and reorder modifiers of all selected objects by holding alt. Changes to Modifier pinning and added eyedropper button to camera focus distance. | 9a7f4a3b58 7ee189416c 7f8d4df410 |
| Text Editor | Added GLSL syntax highlighting and support for dragging strings & URLs into the text editor and Python console. | 462c144f41 64843cb12d |
| Node Editor | Input sockets that don’t allow editing the value are now hidden from the sidebar. Improved node tooltips, drag-and-drop functionality, and the ability to add multiple images at once. Node groups now support descriptions and color tags. | d27a1c47fa d9d9ff1dcd d1634b2a4aae 22c6831f63 749433f20b fa66b52d0ae6 ed9921185a 0bd6279504 615100acda 6176e66636 125afb20d3 f4b9ca758a 0f32291d15 399f6a1c60 ebb61ef30f 6b6657405f 7be4d4f443 cd5eb4aa03 db5d410164 |
| Outliner | Ctrl-F can now initiate Outliner filtering. The “Orphan Data” mode has been renamed to “Unused Data,” and the Blender File mode now supports managing user counts. | f5fdda776c 72be662af4 d8f6ae7919 |
| Unused Datablocks | The Purge operator now provides a dialog to choose options and see instant feedback on the amount of unused data-blocks to be deleted. The File > Cleanup menu has a new Manage Unused Data operation. | 0fd8f29e88 f04bd961fd |
| Preferences | New button added to save custom themes. Improved operators for adding and deleting custom themes and key configurations. The “Translation” section in Preferences has been renamed to “Language.” | ee38a7b723 a0a2e7e0dd 57729aa8bb 73d76d4360 |
| Splash | Changes to the Splash Screen for new versions to enhance the user experience upon startup. | d2d810f11a |
| Platforms | Linux: Support for registering/unregistering file-type associations and image copy-paste functionality on Wayland. Windows: Fixed pixel shift in clipboard image paste. | 9cb3a17352 692de6d380 a677518cb5 |
| UI Translations | Removed the ability to edit PO files directly from Blender UI, simplifying the translation process. | b143cc1885 |
Blender 4.2: Sequencer
| Feature | Details | Commit / Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Optimized Movie Playback | - Reduced stalls when new movie clips start playing by caching FFmpeg RGB<->YUV conversion contexts. - Reduced redundant work during FFmpeg initialization. | ffbc90874b b261654a93 |
| Efficient Rendering | - Reduced the amount of temporary image clears when rendering the VSE effect stack, enhancing efficiency. | b4c6c69632 |
| Alpha Over Optimization | - Optimization for Alpha Over strips: Fully opaque strips that cover other strips stop lower strips from being processed, even if not covering the whole screen. | f4f708a54f |
| Enhanced Strip Visuals | - Visual overhaul for timeline strips with rounded corners for better visual separation. - Thicker outlines for active/selected strips with improved contrast. - Updated strip colors for improved readability. | PR#122576 abb233dd1e |
| Missing Media Indicator | - Strips with missing media files now show a red tint and an icon overlay in the timeline for easy identification. | PR#116869 |
| Handle Manipulation | - Streamlined tweaking of handles: * Unselected handles are not drawn but are still interactive. * Adjoined handles can be selected with one click. * Moving unselected handles deselects them automatically. | f98b01e49 |
| Cache Line Overlay | - New cache line overlay available by default, providing visual feedback for cached areas in the timeline. | 221951657b |
| Optimized Waveforms | - Waveforms are now displayed as half-size by default, optimizing space usage in the timeline. | a4dce75123 |
| Overlay Reorganization | - The overlay popover has been reorganized for improved clarity and usability. | 6e42c3d920 |
| Improved Color Scopes | - “Separate colors” option for the Luma waveform has been replaced by the more detailed “RGB Parade” scope in the preview. | 740c9f220d |
| Advanced Text Options | - New options for text strips: Adjust shadow placement, blur level, and add text outline for enhanced customization. | PR#121478 |
| Drag-and-Drop Support | - Multiple files can now be added from an external file browser to the VSE using drag and drop, streamlining the import process. | 89c1f7e0c3 |
| Frame Range Zoom | - New “Frame Scene Range” operator in the View menu zooms the horizontal view to match the scene or preview range, available in multiple editors including the VSE. | 95966813ae |
| Simplified Video Output | - Removal of “AVI RAW” and “AVI JPEG” output types. Existing scenes using them are updated to “FFmpeg Video” with H.264 as the default option. | f09c7dc4ba |
| Streamlined Timecode | - Removal of redundant timecode types, retaining only “Record Run” and “Record Run No Gaps” to streamline workflows. | 69472c88ee |
Blender 4.2: Animation & Rigging
| Feature | Details | Commit / Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Motion Path Colors | Motion Path points now use the Vertex theme color, and you can specify custom colors for parts of the path before and after the current frame. | fc025abde6 883af6dd63 |
| Frame Scene Range | New operator to change the horizontal view to match the scene range or the preview range. Available in Dope Sheet, Timeline, Graph Editor, NLA Editor, and VSE. | 95966813ae |
| Graph Editor Enhancements | Improved Ease operator with S-Curve and sharpness control, smoother panning, and significantly faster key movement in heavy scenes. | 62f140e048 3eda9619f9 8a79212031 |
| Generated Key Type | New ‘Generated’ key type indicates keys set by automated tools. These keys appear smaller and dimmed in the Dope Sheet. | 51e1f29a68 |
| Shape Key Editor | Non-relative shape key animations can now be viewed and edited in the Shape Key Editor. | 7ff8a7b173 |
| NLA Editor Performance | Improved performance when viewing only a section of a long action in the NLA editor. | 24b4461be3 |
| Bone Naming and Visibility | Subdividing bones now results in sequentially named new bones. Bones can be active and edited even if they are invisible. | 9f0cc7fe64 1ab66a6b4f |
| Custom Bone Shape Width | Customizable wire width for custom bone shapes, configurable per bone under the “Custom Shape” options. | f9ea64b0ba |
| Limit Rotation Constraint | Fixed the “Limit Rotation” constraint to handle angles beyond 180º correctly and added a “Legacy Behavior” option for older files. | ed2408400d |
| Copy Driver to Selected | New option to copy a driver from one property to the same property on all selected items. | bd3518946e |
| Copy Global Transform | New features for the Copy Global Transform add-on: “Fix to Camera” to keep objects static relative to the camera, and “Relative Copy-Paste” to copy and paste transformations relative to another object or the active scene camera. | 0b1d563a2f |
| Pose Library | Added “Blend Pose Flipped” option in the context menu and the ability to start the Pose Library in flipped mode by pressing Ctrl before dragging. | 3a40d2813f 345cd70404 |
| Python API Enhancements | Added keytype argument to rna_struct.keyframe_insert() for setting the key type directly and a new bake function for F-Curves to create keys at a specified interval. | 1315991ecb 20a4c9c928 |
Download Blender 4.2 and start creating with all these awesome new improvements! 👉 Blender 4.2 Release.
If you want to learn how to improve the performance in Blender, check out my very detailed Blender performance guide!
Happy Blending! 🌟
Check out the ultimate blender performance guide if you want to push your render and viewport speed.
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