blenderblog

There's a review of Blender on NewsForge that gives a nice overview of the 3D app we all know and love. The review is written by Rui Campos who obvisouly enjoys using the program.

Of course, with any review/discussion about Blender, the UI is immediately talked about, but I think they do a good job of highlighting the good points, as opposed to the 'learning-curve' which most others seem to dwell on.

Compared to other 3D applications, Blender has a non-standard user interface, yet this UI improves user workflow in Blender. The flexibility of the UI allows users to clone other applications' UIs or create a personalized one.

Previous versions of Blender were shortcut-centric in operation; they relied heavily on the mouse and keyboard. While this remains the fastest way to use the app, beginners will appreciate that most functions are now available via menus or pop-up toolboxes. Rotating, scaling, and moving commands are also available as mouse gestures. There is also a brand-new complete undo/redo system that works for every change the user makes.

Although if you read the comments to the review the [typical and un-informed] UI bashing starts pretty much straight away.

Rui also gives a good breakdown of where and how Blender could be improved at the end of the review.

Blender has several areas where it can improve. It lacks support for MP3 and OGG audio formats. A "Modifiers Stack" a la 3D Studio Max, for each 3D object would also be a nice improvement when modeling.

I won't spoil any more of it for you, just thought I'd share the link 'cause it's always good to hear about Blender in news.