Table of Contents
Relevant to Blender v2.31
Blender is available both as binary executables and as source code on the Foundation site (http://www.blender.org/). From the main page look for the 'Downloads' section.
However, for correct usage of this book, using the version as provided on the included 2.3 Guide CDROM is highly recommended. Where in the text below "download" is mentioned, we also assume retrieving it from the CDROM.
The Binary distributions comes in 6 basic flavors:
Windows
Linux
MacOSX
FreeBSD
Irix
Solaris
The Linux flavor comes actually in 4 different sub-flavors, for Intel and PowerPC architectures, with statically linked libraries or for dynamic loading libraries.
The difference between the dynamic and the static flavor is important. The static build has the OpenGL libraries compiled in. This makes Blender running at your system without using hardware accelerated graphics. Use the static version to check if Blender runs fine when the dynamic version fails! OpenGL is used in Blender for all drawing, including menus and buttons. This dependency makes a proper and compliant OpenGL installation at your system a requirement. Not all 3D card manufacturers provide such compliancy, especially cheaper cards aimed at the gaming market.
Of course since renderings are made by Blender rendering engine in core memory and by the main CPU of your machine, a graphic card with hardware acceleration makes no difference at rendering time.
Download the file blender-2.3#-windows.exe,
(2.3# being the version number) from the
downloads section of the Blender Website. Start the installation by
double-clicking the file. This presents you with some questions,
for which the defaults should be ok. After setup is complete, you
can start Blender right away, or use the entry in the Start menu.
Download the file blender-2.3#-windows.exe from
the downloads section of the Blender Website. Choose to download it (if prompted),
select a location and click "Save". Then navigate with explorer to the location you
saved the file in and double-click it to start the installation.
The first dialog presents you the license. You are expected to accept it
if you want the installation to go any further.
After accepting the license, select the components you wish
to install (there is just one, Blender) and the additional actions
you want to take. There are three: Add a shortcut to the Start menu,
Add Blender's icon to desktop, associate .blend files with Blender.
By default they are all checked. If you don't want some action to
be taken simply uncheck it. When done, click on Next.
Select a place to install the files to (the default should do well),
and click Next to install Blender. Press Close
when installation is over.
Afterwards you will be asked whether you want to start Blender immediately.
Blender is now installed and can be started by means of the Start menu (an entry
named "Blender Foundation" has been created by the setup routine) or by
double-clicking a Blender file (*.blend).
Download the file blender-2.3#-darwin-6.6-powerpc.dmg from the
downloads section of the Blender Website. Extract it by double-clicking the
file. This will open a directory with several files.
Since Blender uses OpenGL for the entire GUI, and Mac OSX draws the entire Desktop with OpenGL as well, you will need to verify first you have sufficient VRAM in your system. Below 8 MB VRAM Blender will not run at all. Up to 16 MB VRAM you will need to set your system at "1000s of colors" (System Preferences -> Displays).
You now can use Blender by double clicking the Blender icon. Or drag the
Blender icon to the Dock to make an alias there. Blender starts
by default in a smaller window. Use the "+" button in the window header to maximize.
More hints and tips about the OSX version can be found in the file
OSX tips.rtf in the installation directory.
Download the file blender-2.3#-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH.tar.gz from the
downloads section of the Blender Website. Here 2.3#
is Blender version, #.#.# is glibc version
and ARCH is the machine architecture, either
i386 or powerpc. You should
get the one matching your system, remember the choice between static and
dynamic builds.
Unpack the archive to a location of
your choice. This will create a directory named
blender-2.3#-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH,
in which you will find the blender binary.
To start blender just open a shell and execute ./blender, of course when running X.
Download the file blender-2.3#-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH.tar.gz from
the downloads section of the Blender Website. Choose to download it (if prompted),
select a location and click "Save". Then navigate to the location you wish
blender to install to (e.g. /usr/local/) and unpack the archive (with
tar xzf /path/to/blender-2.3#-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH.tar.gz).
If you like, you can rename the resulting directory from
blender-2.3#-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH to something shorter,
e.g. just blender.
Blender is now installed and can be started on the command line by entering /path/to/blender followed by pressing the enter key in a shell. If you are using KDE or Gnome you can start Blender using your file manager of choice by navigating to the Blender executable and (double-) clicking on it.
If you are using the Sawfish window manager, you might want to add a line
like ("Blender" (system "blender &")) to your
.sawfish/rc file.
To add program icons for Blender in KDE
Select the "Menu Editor" from the System submenu of the K menu.
Select the submenu labeled "Graphics" in the menu list.
Click the "New Item" button. A dialog box will appear that prompts you to create a name. Create and type in a suitable name and click "OK". "Blender" or "Blender 2.3#" would be logical choices, but this does not affect the functionality of the program.
You will be returned to the menu list, and the Graphics submenu will expand, with your new entry highlighted. In the right section, make sure the following fields are filled in: "Name", "Comment", "Command", "Type" and "Work Path".
The "Name" field should already be filled in, but you can change it here at any time.
Fill the "Comment" field. This is where you define the tag that appears when you roll over the icon.
Click the folder icon at the end of the "Command" field to browse to the blenderpublisher program icon. Select the program icon and click "OK" to return to the Menu Editor.
The "Type" should be "Application".
The "Work Path" should be the same as the "Command", with the
program name left off. For example, if the "Command" field reads
/home/user/blender-publisher-#.##-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH/blender,
the "Work Path" would be
/home/user/blender-publisher-#.##-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH/.
Click "Apply" and close out of the Menu Editor.
To add a link to Blender on the KPanel, right-click on a blank spot on the KPanel, then hover over "Add", then "Button", then "Graphics", and select "Blender" (or whatever you named the menu item in step 3). Alternately, you can navigate through the "Configure Panel" submenu from the K menu, to "Add", "Button", "Graphics", "Blender".
To add a Desktop icon for Blender, open Konquerer (found on the Panel by default, or in the "System" submenu of the K menu) and navigate to the blenderpublisher program icon where you first unzipped it. Click and hold the program icon, and drag it from Konquerer to a blank spot on your Desktop. You will be prompted to Copy Here, Move Here or Link Here, choose Link Here.
To add program icons for Blender in GNOME
Select "Edit menus" from the Panel submenu of the GNOME menu.
Select the "Graphics" submenu, and click the "New Item" button.
In the right pane, fill in the "Name:", "Comment:" and "Command:" fields.
Fill the "Name:" field with the program name, for example "Blender".
You can name this whatever you'd like, this is what appears in the menu,
but does not affect the functionality of the program.
Fill the "Comment:" field with a descriptive comment. This is what
is shown on the tooltips popups.
Fill the "Command:" field with the full path of the blenderpublisher
program item, for example,
/home/user/blender-publisher-#.##-linux-glibc#.#.#-ARCH/blender
Click the "No Icon" button to choose an icon. There may or may not be
an icon for Blender in your default location. You can make one, or look
for the icon that goes with KDE. This should be
/opt/kde/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/blender.png. If your
installation directory is different, you can search for it using this
command in a Terminal or Console: find / -name "blender.png" -print
Click the "Save" button and close the Menu Editor.
To add a Panel icon, right-click a blank area of the Panel, then select "Programs", then "Graphics", then "Blender". Alternatively, you could click the GNOME menu, then select "Panel", then "Add to panel", then "Launcher from menu", then "Graphics", and "Blender".
To add a Desktop icon for Blender, open Nautilus (double-click the Home icon in the upper-left corner of your Desktop, or click the GNOME menu, then "Programs", then "Applications", and "Nautilus"). Navigate to the folder which contains the blenderpublisher program icon. Right-click the icon, and drag it to the Desktop. A menu will appear asking to Copy Here, Move Here, Link Here or Cancel. Select Link Here.
Download the file blender-2.3#-irix-6.5-mips.tar.gz from the
downloads section of the Blender Website. Here 2.3#
is Blender version, 6.5 is Irix version
and mips is the machine architecture.
To start Blender just open a shell and execute ./blender, of course when running X. Blender was originally developed for the IRIX platform, but is currently not actively being maintained for all IRIX workstation versions. For some workstations performance troubles have been reported.
Download the file blender-2.3#-solaris-2.8-sparc.tar.gz from the
downloads section of the Blender Website. Here 2.3#
is Blender version, 2.8 is Solaris version
and sparc is the machine architecture.
Currently no further instructions for Sun Solaris are available. Please use the Blender website forums for support.