Blender 4.0 released with new Principled BDSF, improved Cycles, and enhanced node tools

Blender, the widely-used free and open-source 3D creation software, has unveiled its latest version, 4.0, following more than four months since the release of the 3.6 LTS version. The new release comes with a range of enhancements and new features.

One of the significant updates is the new Principled BSDF (Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function), which is more energy conserving, efficient, and flexible.

Blender 4.0 has made improvements to Cycles, including the addition of the highly anticipated Light Linking feature. This feature allows lights and other emissive objects to be set to impact only specific elements in the scene. The Shadow Linking feature offers control over which objects act as shadow blockers for a light. Path Guiding now extends to glossy surfaces, reducing noise and finding missing glossy light paths.

The software now supports the Apple M3 processor's hardware ray-tracing capabilities. Cycles automatically utilizes this feature with the MetalRT in the GPU device preferences set to “Auto”.

Geometry Nodes can now operate as regular operators using Node Tools. This new feature provides an accessible method to expand Blender and customize tools without the need for Python.

The release introduces a new rotation socket and eight new nodes for simpler processing. The user interface and functionality of snapping have also been improved. Users can now set a Snap Base point on the fly while transforming objects, allowing for quick movements, rotations, or scaling of elements without changing their origin or setting the 3D Cursor.

Blender 4.0 has introduced a new view transform, AgX, for better color handling in over-exposed areas compared to Filmic. The Voronoi Texture node now supports fractal noise, enabling unlimited procedural detail in a single texture.

Finally, Blender 4.0 features several user interface improvements, including a new typeface, Inter.