The updated software will come with new node-based textures, the extension of the Geometry Nodes system, and the replaced collection and object proxy system.
The Blender Institute announced its main development targets for Blender in 2022. The changes that are planned for the open-source 3D software include new node-based textures, the extension of the existing Geometry Nodes system to support physics dynamics, and the Library Overrides which replaced the collection and object proxy system.
A new node-based texturing system is intended to create "a better non-destructive painting pipeline" within the software. Among the goals for improving the system, the developers set brush management and performance. The plans for 2022 also include expanding a node-based physics system handling interactive physics simulation as well as finding a solver that is able to work in real-time.
Library Overrides and Application Templates are two ongoing development projects that are aimed to be completed this year. The developers' goal for Library Overrides is to "wrap up the overrides project, assess the future of the override pipeline, address related data management issues and to hand it over to the module". As for Application Templates, Blender currently supports them, however, they are in an experimental state yet which doesn't provide the proper and easy access for users. The developers are going to figure out "pipeline features, deployment, and future-proof/compatibility".
The Blender developers blog post identifies the upcoming changes as "high priority strategic development projects” for 2022. The list follows Blender 3.x product roadmap, covering the first part of the 3.x cycle. As the development is proceeding as planned, four major new versions of the software should be released this year starting with Blender 3.1 which will see the light of the day in March 2022. The current release, Blender 3.0, is available for Windows 8.1+, macOS 10.13+, and Linux.
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