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Blender 3.1 Retrospective: Features and Its Place on the Road to Blender 4.x

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    Rodney Zamora
    Twitter

Blender 3.1, released on March 9, 2022, was another solid step in the evolution of the Blender 3.x series. While perhaps not as revolutionary as the jump to 3.0, it brought a host of valuable improvements and new features, particularly in the realms of Geometry Nodes and rendering with Cycles. This article takes a retrospective look at what Blender 3.1 offered and how it fits into the larger picture leading up to the current Blender 4.x series.

Key Features and Improvements in Blender 3.1

Based on the official release notes, Blender 3.1 introduced several significant updates:

  • Cycles Render Engine:

    • Metal GPU Backend: A major highlight was the introduction of a Metal GPU backend for Cycles, contributed by Apple. This brought significant performance improvements for users on Apple M1 computers (macOS 12.2+) and Apple computers with AMD graphics cards (macOS 12.3+).
    • Point Cloud Rendering: Added the ability to render Point Clouds directly in Cycles, making it more memory-efficient and faster for effects like sand, splashes, or abstract motion graphics. This included a new "Point Info" node.
    • Other Enhancements: Included better ray tracing precision, a Fisheye Lens Polynomial model, OptiX temporal denoising, and improvements to baking and OpenEXR handling.

  • Geometry Nodes:

    • Extensive New Nodes: This was a big focus, with 19 new nodes added. The long-awaited Extrude Mesh node was a game-changer, enabling new procedural modeling workflows. Other key additions included Scale Elements, Field at Index, and Accumulate Field.
    • Performance: Significant performance boosts for Geometry Nodes, with many nodes becoming multi-threaded, reduced memory usage, and faster processing.
    • Usability: UI improvements like dragging sockets to get filtered node lists and a timings overlay to see node performance.
    • Node Group Assets: Node Groups could now be marked as assets and used via the Asset Browser in Shading, Geometry Nodes, or the Compositor.
    • Instance Attributes: Instances gained the ability to have their own dynamic attributes.

  • Modeling:

    • Vertex Creasing: The ability to mark individual vertices as arbitrarily sharp, offering more control in subdivision surface modeling.
    • GPU Accelerated Subdivision: The Subdivision modifier received GPU acceleration, leading to much faster playback in the 3D Viewport for complex subdivided meshes.

  • Performance & IO:

    • Faster .OBJ and .FBX Export: Exporting these common formats became significantly faster due to C++ porting.
    • Image Editor: Enhanced to handle much larger images for preview and editing.
    • Faster Edit Mode Toggle: Improved performance when switching in and out of Edit Mode.

  • Animation & Rigging:

    • The built-in Copy Global Transform add-on was introduced.

  • Grease Pencil:

    • The Fill tool was improved with the ability to use negative values for a "contract" effect.

  • Core & Other:

    • Updated to Python 3.10.
    • Numerous other improvements across the board, from USD/Alembic support to UI refinements in the Outliner and Curve Mapping widget.

Blender 3.1 in Hindsight: A Stepping Stone to Modern Blender

Blender 3.1 was a crucial incremental release. While 3.0 laid a new foundation, 3.1 built upon it robustly, especially in making Geometry Nodes more powerful and production-ready. The performance enhancements in Cycles and core modeling tools were also very welcome.

Looking back from the perspective of Blender 4.x (as of mid-2024), the progress has been immense. Here are some major advancements since Blender 3.1:

  • Geometry Nodes Revolution:

    • Simulation Nodes: The introduction of simulation nodes (particle systems, cloth, fluids, soft bodies all within Geometry Nodes) has been transformative, opening up entirely new procedural VFX workflows.
    • Loops: The ability to create loops within node trees added another layer of computational power.
    • Node-Based Hair Grooming: A completely new hair system based on curves and Geometry Nodes.
    • UI and Workflow: Continued refinements to node group management, tool integration, and overall ease of use for complex setups.

  • Cycles Evolution:

    • Path Guiding: Integration of Intel's Open Path Guiding Library (OpenPGL) significantly improves sampling efficiency in complex lighting scenarios, reducing noise and render times.
    • Light Linking: Allows precise control over which lights affect which objects, a long-requested feature.
    • Principled BSDF v2: An updated version of the workhorse shader for more physically accurate results.
    • AgX Color Management: A new view transform replacing Filmic for better color handling and wider dynamic range appearance.
    • Continued performance optimizations across CPU and GPU (NVIDIA, AMD, Apple Silicon).

  • Eevee Next:

    • A major rewrite of the Eevee real-time render engine (with significant progress visible in Blender 4.x versions) aiming for higher fidelity, better performance, and new features like Screen Space Global Illumination (SSGI), hardware ray tracing support (for shadows, AO, reflections), and improved volumetrics.

  • Core & UI/UX:

    • Viewport Compositor: The ability to see many compositor effects directly in the 3D viewport in real-time.
    • Performance: Ongoing improvements in mesh editing, file loading, and overall responsiveness.
    • Animation & Rigging: New tools like Push/Pull, Slide Relax for rigging, and enhancements to drivers and constraints.

Blender 3.1 played its part by solidifying the 3.x series and delivering key features that developers and artists built upon to reach the capabilities we see in Blender today.

Q: When was Blender 3.1 released?

A: Blender 3.1 was officially released on March 9, 2022.

Q: What were some key highlights of Blender 3.1?

A: Major highlights included the introduction of the Metal GPU backend for Cycles on Apple hardware, significant expansion of Geometry Nodes with new nodes like Extrude Mesh and performance improvements, Vertex Creasing for modeling, and faster OBJ/FBX export.

Q: Is Blender 3.1 still relevant to download?

A: Generally, no. For most users, it's recommended to download the latest stable version of Blender (currently in the 4.x series) or the latest Long-Term Support (LTS) version from the official blender.org website. Newer versions contain many more features, bug fixes, and performance improvements. Blender 3.1 is primarily of historical interest or for projects specifically locked to that version.

Q: How has Blender evolved significantly since version 3.1?

A: Blender has evolved dramatically. Key advancements include:

  • Geometry Nodes: Full simulation capabilities (particles, cloth, etc.), loops, and a new hair system.
  • Cycles: Path Guiding, Light Linking, Principled BSDF v2, and AgX color management.
  • Eevee Next: A major rewrite with features like SSGI and hardware ray tracing capabilities.
  • Viewport Compositor: Real-time compositor effects in the 3D viewport.
  • Numerous other performance, UI/UX, modeling, and animation tool enhancements.