Blender 5.1: Audio, Text, and Ray Effects

The free 3D software Blender 5.1 brings Vulkan support, raycast functions for ray effects, and close integration of video editing and compositing.

The splash screen of Blender 5.1 shows a scene from the new open movie "Singularity" by Blender Animation Studios.

(Image: blender.org)

at 11:10 am CET

5 min. read

By

André Kramer

The open-source 3D software Blender is now available for download for Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as source code. The new version comes with full support for the Vulkan graphics interface, can transfer nodes across Blender instances, and brings the compositor, where finished sequences or images are post-processed, and the Video Sequence Editor closer together.

Send rays via raycast

Using the new raycast node, you can emit additional rays during rendering to scan the immediate surroundings. For example, you can send rays inward upon hitting a character's skin to display the skeleton, as in an X-ray image. The function can also be used for cartoon-like effects.

Blender 5.1 introduces a new raycast node that allows additional rays to be emitted during rendering, as shown here for an X-ray effect.

Video editing and compositor synchronized

Blender includes its own system for cutting and editing videos, the Video Sequence Editor (VSE). In version 5.1, this works better with another area of Blender for post-processing videos, the Compositor. The latter has received a new node called "Sequencer Strip Info." It accesses attributes of a strip in the VSE, such as its start and end times. This way, effects in the Compositor can be synchronized with video editing. Additionally, a setup for the VSE can be created in the Compositor.

Adjust pitch of audio track

The pitch of audio tracks in the VSE can now be adjusted. The effect can be controlled classically via semitones or by specifying a ratio, for example, that an audio track should sound 30 percent lower. Additionally, you can now add an echo effect to audio strips.

Metastrips in the VSE are tracks where multiple elements have been combined, such as two audio tracks. In Blender 5.1, metastrips now have an overall volume correction, allowing the combined volume of all audio tracks to be adjusted at once.

Teleporting in virtual reality

In Blender, you can also view your scenes using VR headsets. Many users experience nausea, especially when moving forward. Therefore, teleporting has become common. For Blender 5.1, the developers have significantly enhanced the control of the teleport function and adapted it to established VR conventions. The software now clearly indicates where you are teleporting. A widget prevents accidental teleportation into a wall with a red signal.

On the left, a valid teleport preview with the target on the ground. On the right, the attempt to teleport to the wall. The scene originates from the Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm, created by Realityscan.

Full Vulkan Support

Previously, Blender relied on OpenGL as its graphics interface. In the near future, the developers plan to switch to the more modern Vulkan and benefit from better performance and faster loading times across the board. The Vulkan backend was significantly slower than OpenGL for VR scene previews. In Blender 5.1, this last performance gap has been closed, and Vulkan is now at least on par with OpenGL in all aspects. Therefore, the graphics interface is likely to become the standard in one of the upcoming Blender versions.

Copy nodes between Blender instances

Many areas in Blender are controlled via so-called nodes. These are nodes with functions that are connected to other nodes via input and output values. The resulting node trees can now be exchanged between Blender instances via copy & paste in the clipboard. This also works between different types of node editors, for example, between the Shader Editor and the Compositor.

The image shows a large node tree, whose control points manage all conceivable graphical properties. In Blender 5.1, individual nodes can be copied across Blender instances.

Text effects with Geometry Nodes

With Geometry Nodes, you can build your own tools in Blender. In Blender 5.1, handling of text has been significantly improved. The "Strings to Curves" node has received numerous input sockets for this purpose. This allows you to animate almost any parameter of a text, whether it's character spacing, alignment, or a box around the text.

Videos by heise

New Volume Grid Nodes

The Blender community has contributed a series of new nodes for editing voxel grids. Voxels are a three-dimensional form of pixels used for volumetric effects.

The new Clip Grid node deactivates all voxels outside a defined cube. The "Cube Grid Topology" node, on the other hand, creates a cube in which all voxels are activated. "Grid Mean" and "Grid Median" calculate the mean and median of all voxels in a grid, respectively. With "Grid Dilade" and "Grid Erode," the active areas in a grid are reduced or expanded, respectively. If you perform a Dilade followed by an Erode, you can close holes in the grid.

The "Grid to Points" node creates a point on each active voxel of a grid. These points can be used to create instances of objects. For example, each voxel of a grid can be represented as a cube, which in turn helps in debugging voxel grids.