Epic Games Is Supporting Blender's Development

[M@yeulC]

Epic released the source code but didn't port a damn thing to Linux, community did/is_doing.

Well, Epic did port the unreal editor themselves, some community members were just faster at doing it than them, but very few (if any) of their changes were merged at the end, IIRC.

Its surelly better than have support of native blend format(improve it if needed) in engine that wouldn't be sabotage by Autodesk anytime soon or complete integration via python addon.

I must agree with you on this point.

And some users say that Epic did something?

At least, Linux is on their supported platforms list for UE4. It wouldn't surprise me if it was only for SteamOS, though.
Being on Linux, I hope they will be able to improve drivers (both proprietary and open source), and the overall Linux gaming experience. We need the support of those big companies if we want Linux as a desktop OS/gaming OS be successful (with some other improvements, ie to the DEs, but these are coming too).
Moreover, helping the blender foundation, even if only to export to their format, is better than not supporting it at all :/

So, Epic, thank you for supporting Linux.
Thank you for making good games.

[Filiprino]

Linux is just a kernel. Call it GNU Linux.

[M@yeulC]

You're right. Sorry for that, I sometimes forget to include GNU/. My bad.

[_SXX_]

Epic gave money to BF so that they could write fbx support(cuz money is the biggest factor when it comes to coding proprietary format support). Its surelly better than have support of native blend format(improve it if needed) in engine that wouldn't be sabotage by Autodesk anytime soon or complete integration via python addon.

Unfortunately FBX is industry standard in game development. It's not likely that every company in the world going to integrate open standards for 3D models and animation any time soon. So better support for FBX not only benefit Epic games or Valve (they also donated), but everyone who use Blender for game development.

[Luke_Wolf]

At least, Linux is on their supported platforms list for UE4. It wouldn't surprise me if it was only for SteamOS, though.

Read this: https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/un...ne-4-and-linux

[Calinou]

Unfortunately FBX is industry standard in game development. It's not likely that every company in the world going to integrate open standards for 3D models and animation any time soon. So better support for FBX not only benefit Epic games or Valve (they also donated), but everyone who use Blender for game development.

It's like better support for OOXML and PSD; it benefits free/libre software users, but also their adversaries?

[Remdul]

This is...epic. I hope some of that money will go to the UI overhaul sub-project. The main issue is that studio employees need to stay productive, the learning curve of the UI is to steep right now. A good UI is supposed to aid the user in using the software's functionality, not obstruct it (or overwhelm and confuse, in the case of Blender).

I'm sick and tired of 3dsmax after 13 years of losing work in crashes, working around bugs, writing MaxScripts to replace broken/lacking/missing features. Every time I tried to switch to a different package Autodesk aquired the competitor (XSI, Maya, Mudbox). Their 'Milk and Destroy' strategy is a threat to the industry. Blender is the only viable future left for 3d authoring, simply because it is Open Source, and can therefor not be bought. But caution should be taken, remember how Autodesk pre-emptively destroyed the OpenGL 3.0 spec because they feared having to rewrite their out-of-control codebase (yet they switched to D3D later on...I still wonder if MS paid them?).

It's good to see Epic acknowledge that it is time for the industry to warm up to Blender, and lets hope more big studios will follow. For a pipeline/tools coder as myself, it's a dream come true to have full source code access of the package. No more poorly documented, outdated SDKs or slow and quirky scripting (*cough* MXS).

IMO Blender is, after the Linux kernel, probably the healthiest and best-managed Open Source project. And I say that as someone who refuses to use Blender until they've got the anti-intuitive UI fixed. It has everything I need (and much more!) feature-wise. Blender has immense potential.

[monraaf]

And I say that as someone who refuses to use Blender until they've got the anti-intuitive UI fixed.

Never gonna happen. Andrew Price had a great proposal after taking a month of UI study and research. It was rejected at Blender Conference, they just made fun of him.

[log0]

Never gonna happen. Andrew Price had a great proposal after taking a month of UI study and research. It was rejected at Blender Conference, they just made fun of him.

You mean this Blender Conference presentation, where he himself reflects on the issues with his proposal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aIA2LaB2Iw

[yogi_berra]

This is...epic.

Sure, and like every other plug-in for blender this will work for one version and then die when the API changes. GG BF.