Blender 5.2.2

As one of the most asked software to port from "Vote for software port" thread was Blender, then i give it a go (especially as this one also good test of Mesa, not just games and demos).

The port uses SDL2 for window management and input, and Mesa for rendering. It also includes the third-party libraries Blender needs, including an os4-specific port of Python 3.13.





It is still in its early stage, but as you can see, endian issues are gone, the main basics are done, and quite a lot of specific bugs have been fixed.

One of the things I still need to improve is the size of the binary. Currently, even after removing unused relocation sections, removing other unused sections,
and stripping (of course), it's still ~200 MB. That's because all the third-party libraries are built into the binary, and I may need to separate them into native
AmigaOS4 shared libraries.

The original Windows binary is 113 MB in size, plus the blender.shared directory (external DLLs, most of which I've built into the binary for now): ~335 MB.
So you get the point. Even if I try my best and reduce it as much as possible, I probably can't make it 10 MB in size... (sadly, but that's how such modern apps are).

Then, the rendering speed, while already at an acceptable level (the video was recorded on an X1000/RX 570), still doesn't feel ultra-fast.

And more bug fixes, of course.

The video is just to show the progress, so expect part 2 sooner or later probably together with release as well.

@kas1e

Oh!! Nice!!

Wow. Such progress at every turn.

@kas1e

What a crazy guy! So does that mean I'll soon be able to edit, cut, and trim my YouTube videos directly on my X5000 using Blender?

Oh!! Nice!!

Awesome, but maybe Blender 5.x is too complex for OS4 and PPC.
For AmigaOS4 and a PPC processor running between 1.5 GHz and 2 GHz, Blender 2.83 or 3.x might be a better option.
If it runs but is sluggish or quickly runs out of memory, it is better to use an older version that performs better on limited hardware. From version 2.83 onwards, any Blender feature outperforms—by a factor of ten—any other 3D app known on the Amiga.

I think it is more important to have a version with balanced performance, rather than the latest version with requirements that exceed the machine's capabilities.

The current version 5.x is slow, even on modern computers that are already 6–8 years old.

@kas1e

Wow this is magic stuff

Wow!It is what I am waiting for. Amiga needs modern productivity software then SuperFrog clones. I'm standing in line for this.

@kas1e
Wow. Someone read my mind. I was just thinking of the possibility of a Mesa-Blender. I was thinking more along the lines of Blender 2.5,
before the introduction of Cycles. I don't know how possible it is to render without GPU acceleration. Obviously, we'll see; but this is really impressive so far.

The current Amiga Blender has some things, aside from using minigl, that need attention. Some of the export options don't work,
and it'd be nice to see some improvements in stability and rendering options.

@kikems
I think you're right. Current Blender is much heavier than it used to be. Kas1e, though, has managed to pull off some Scotty style miracles of late.
I'm anxious to see what comes next.