Blender 4.2 LTS is Finally Here

The Blender Foundation has released Blender 4.2 LTS, a highly-anticipated long-term support version of the beloved free and open-source 3D software, bringing a slew of robust features, enhancements, and brand-new tools across the application's modeling, rigging, animation, rendering, lighting, compositing, Geometry Nodes, and video editing toolsets.

The highlight of the release is, without a doubt, the long-awaited introduction of Eevee Next, a complete overhaul of Blender's real-time render engine, which has been rewritten from scratch and now supports screen space global illumination and real displacement. It also comes with improved Subsurface Scattering, enhanced dithered volumetrics that provide a more stable result, and upgraded motion blur, now visible in the 3D Viewport through the camera view.

The software's Cycles renderer has also been improved, now featuring the Ray Portal BSDF that can be used to render portals for visual effects and other production rendering tricks, support for physically accurate thin film interference effects in Principled BSDF, and improved volume light sampling.

Another notable change introduced by Blender 4.2 LTS is Extensions, a new platform that unifies add-ons and themes and lets you update them without leaving Blender, with Extension repositories being able to check for updates automatically on startup. You also have the option to install extensions manually by using the "Install from Disk" feature or by dragging and dropping the zip file into Blender, as well as through System extensions repositories. Internet access is fully optional and is disabled by default.

The app's sculpting toolset has also been improved, now featuring Polyline, a new gesture that simplifies the creation of polygonal shapes. Additionally, the Line gesture is now supported for Trim, Face Set, and Hide, while the Lasso gesture is now supported for the Hide tool.

As for Geometry Nodes upgrades, the release introduces a new socket type for matrices, simplifying transformations with nodes and setting the stage for advanced custom geometry operations. This addition comes with a variety of new nodes and integration into existing ones. Additionally, users can now incorporate viewport and mouse position data into the node tree. Coupled with the new "Wait for Click" feature, this allows precise control over where the tool will take effect.

On top of that, Collections can now specify their own exporters, streamlining the process of repeatedly exporting assets like glTF for games or USD for studio pipelines. You can export all collections with a single click from the File menu, and each collection can be exported to multiple file formats simultaneously. Export settings are saved within .blend files, ensuring easy sharing and consistent use across Blender sessions.

You can check out the full list of Blender 4.2 LTS' upgrades and download the app's new version by clicking this link. Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.