Blender 2.57!!!!

[Branan]

The text editor is the right place to do scripting in blender 2.5. They heavily modified the Python API, so most 2.4x scripts will be broken in 2.57

Lots of scripts will be lost because of that. :/ The joys of compatibilty breaking versions..

The new Python API is worth it, though. It makes things a million times easier.

[bnewton81]

Poor Brent just wishes he knew what a Python API was. Great GUI help link! The first hint about the set smooth function I have been looking for got that page bookmarked. Thanks!

[Aloys]

After spending a couple more evenings with 2.57 I am going back to 2.4 for now.
First of all this version is still lacking some essential tools, especially polygon modelling tools, which litterally make it impossible to make any decent polygon work with. (no bevel tool, no freeform knife tool, wth?). Since I use Blender exclusively for modelling and mapping that's a bit problematic for me.
Then the interface still leaves quite a bit to desire. Many aspects are buggy or simply unfinished. This is still a beta, so this is to be expected but other aspects of the interface simply do not make sense. The removal of the space bar menu is a good example (there's the trick Tachzusamm mentionned earlier, but it is quite buggy). The destruction of the horizontal layout for the buttons editor is another one (that's both arbitrary and lazy).
Finally it is supposed to be a 'stable' version but it crashes everytime I open the file of one of my Age. :/

And again the lack of documentation really doesn't help: They have changed so many things that are not documented, I spend as much time in Google as I do in Blender.

[Luna]

Space bar is "shift + a" now

I hadn't mentioned it yet, there are keyboard sheets* on Blender guru . You need to register there but it might be online else where too. Or just give up an email address you don't use anymore or whatever.

* as in, a list of the keyboard shortcuts.

[Paradox]

Also note that you can remap almost all of the key bindings in the preferences.

[tachzusamm]

Bevel is already there - but it's a modifier now.
Knife tool: True, it lacks some of the old behaviour, but it's there as well: In Edit mode, just keep the k-key pressed and draw.

[Aloys]

You can indeed rebind everything, and that's welcome, but I don't understand why they have changed the space bar menu. The space bar shortcut was perfect.
Also, the option to enable the "dynamic spacebar menu" in the preferences is bugged, I need to reset it all the time.

Bevel is already there - but it's a modifier now.

But it's a modifier, that doesn't replace the bevel tool in edit mode.

I hadn't mentioned it yet, there are keyboard sheets* on Blender guru .

I really need to spend more time on BlenderGuru and BlenderArtists.

[tachzusamm]

Also, the option to enable the "dynamic spacebar menu" in the preferences is bugged, I need to reset it all the time.

Well, it's not really bugged. The desired procedure is: Start Blender, make your own preferences, then save as defaults - and it will be *your own* default from now on.

[Aloys]

Doh! I can't believe I missed that.

[bnewton81]

There are TONS of features that were disabled by default. You have to go into User Preferences and turn them on one by one. Don't ask me why they did this, but turning them on adds so much more functionality to Blender. I have modified some of the controls and fell much more comfortable with the new Blender.