Blender
Blender is an open-source 3D creation suite supporting the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and motion tracking, even video editing.
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Blender is an open-source 3D creation suite supporting the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and motion tracking, even video editing.
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Was this helpful?
Blender is a tool for 3D creation, designed to support a wide range of tasks from modeling and animation to rendering and video editing. It is developed as an open-source project, making it entirely free to use for both personal and commercial purposes. The software is well-suited for artists, animators, and designers looking to create detailed 3D models, engaging animations, and realistic visual effects. One of the key features of Blender is its ability to support the entire 3D pipeline, simplifying the workflow for users by providing a single platform for all 3D creation needs. It has a role in open source investigations as a tool for visualising, simulating and geospatial analysis.
The image below shows a Blender model on the left used in Bellingcat's .
Blender, while primarily seen as a tool for 3D modeling and animation, can indirectly support open source research activities in several ways:
Visualizations: Create detailed 3D visualizations of geographical locations, buildings, or items based on data gathered during Open source investigations. This can help in understanding the spatial characteristics of an area or object.
Simulations: Simulate scenarios based on open source research data, such as the movement of people or vehicles. This can be useful for understanding incidents.
Information Presentations: Use Blender's video editing capabilities to produce presentations or reports that incorporate 3D models and simulations based on gathered intelligence.
Geospatial Analysis: Though not a direct application, 3D models created in Blender can be used alongside geospatial analysis tools to enhance the understanding of terrain and other geographical data.
Desktop minimum requirements:
Windows 8.1 (64-bit), CPU: 4 cores with SSE4.2 support, RAM: 8 GB RAM, GPU: 2 GB VRAM with OpenGL 4.3.
macOS 11.2 (Big Sur), CPU: Apple Silicon or Intel, RAM: 8 GB, GPU: GPU with Metal 2.2.
Linux Distribution with glibc 2.28 or newer (64-bit), CPU: 4 cores with SSE4.2 support, RAM: 8GB, GPU: 2 GB VRAM with OpenGL 4.3.
Steep Learning Curve: Due to its comprehensive suite of tools and features, Blender can be overwhelming for beginners.
Limited Technical Support: Being an open-source project, Blender relies on community and volunteer support. There's no official technical support team, which might be a limitation for commercial projects requiring immediate assistance.
When considering the use of Blender, it's essential to address certain ethical considerations:
Open Source Contribution Ethics: As an open-source tool, the ethics around contribution and use should be discussed. Users and developers should consider how they contribute back to the community, either through code, documentation, or financial support.
Sustainability: The environmental impact of running high-performance software like Blender, especially in terms of energy consumption during rendering processes, should be considered. Users and developers might look for ways to minimize this impact.
To effectively use Blender, especially for beginners or those looking to refine their skills, the following resources are highly recommended:
Official Wiki
Tutorials and Articles
Books
Brito, A. (2024) Blender 4.0: Precise Modeling for Architecture, Engineering, and 3D Printing.
Community and Support
Advertising Trackers
Bellingcat Volunteer Team
Performance on Low-End Devices: Blender requires a relatively powerful computer, especially for complex scenes or high-poly meshes. Users with low-end devices may experience lag or inability to use some features effectively. For rendering models in particular it's worth reading carefully about how to fine tune Blender starting with the Blender manual's .
Data Privacy: The Blender software tool does not collect user data for improvement or analytics purposes. Only if you download and contribute to do they do this. The Blender website collects minimal with no third party tracking user data detailed here:
: full official Blender manual.
Blender Guru (2022) Blender Guru. Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
PremiumBeat (2021) Complete Beginner’s Guide to Blender - PremiumBeat, The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Blender for Forensic Architecture - M2 Hospital Bombing in Aleppo (2017) BlenderNation. Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Sheldon, M. (2023) Anatomy of a Shelling: How Russian Rocket Artillery Struck Mykolaiv, bellingcat. Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Gonzales, M.S., Giancarlo Fiorella, Jake Godin, Carlos (2024) Russian Missile Identified in Kyiv Children’s Hospital Attack, bellingcat. Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
: WikiBook for Blender
: Official YouTube channel for Blender, the Free and Open Source 3D Creation Suite.
Blender 4.0 Beginner Donut Tutorial (NEW) - YouTube (no date). Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Modelling from a Photograph - Blender (2019). Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Camera Matching in Blender – Forensic Architecture Investigative Toolkit 01 (2023). Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Camera Calibration - fSpy to Blender (2019). Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Perfect Photo and Camera Match with fSpy and Blender (2018). Available at: (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
: code and create Blender.
: Find independent Blender groups all around the globe.
: an independent chat server created to help the Blender community to communicate in real-time (registration required).
: Blender Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who use Blender to create 3D graphics, animations, or games. It only takes a minute to sign up.
the Place to get the latest news about Blender.
The (2002), - the Netherlands.
