Name: Blender
Version: 2.49b
Date: 9/3/2009
Category: 3D Modeling
Cost: Free (Open Source)
Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OSX, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, Irix
Requirements: 7-Zip, Python 2.6.x
Author: The Blender Foundation
Source: Fallout3Nexus
RELz Thread: The Nexus Forums

NOTE: If you experience a crash during startup of Blender and you're not running Windows Vista, you may need to download and install
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package

Description
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.

What to Download
Each component is now available as a separate download to make updates easier. Easier to upload a single file and faster to download just the new component.

Instead of a "bundled" package like I used to provide, you will now have a list of versions that work well together here and the individual files will be on the files tab. They will be several versions of each component available as time goes on.

The current "accepted" versions that work well together are the following:
- Blender 2.49b, Python 2.6.5, Blender NIF Scripts 2.5.5, NifSkope 1.0.22, PyFFI 1.1.5

Here are older versions that worked well together:
- Blender 2.48a, Python 2.5.2, Blender NIF Scripts 2.4.2, NifSkope 1.0.18, PyFFI 1.2.2

If this is the 1st time you are downloading this, find the above five files in the Files tab and download each one. Then follow the instructions in the install section below.

If you are just making updates, download only the versions you do not have.

Features
* Revolutionary non-overlapping and non-blocking User Interface delivers unsurpassed workflow.
* Modeling
* Rigging
* Animation
* Rendering
* UV Unwrapping
* Shading
* Physics and Particles
* Imaging and Compositing
* Realtime 3D/Game Creation
* Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, SGI Irix, Sun Solaris

Installation
Install Blender and the required support files per the following instructions.

This was documented on a Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) machine.

This documentation was also designed to work well for Vista and XP.

Install Python
Source: Python.Org

1. Run Python-2.6.5.msi
2. Setup - Select "Install for all use" and click Next
3. Select Destination - Click Next to accept default of C:\Python26\
4. Customize Python - Click Next to accept defaults
5. Setup Complete - Click Finish

Install Blender
Source: Blender.Org

1. Run Blender 2.49b.exe
2. Welcome - Click Next
3. License Agreement - Click I Agree
4. Choose Components - Click Next to accept defaults
5. Choose Location - Change from C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender to C:\Apps\Blender and click Next
6. Specify User Data - Select "Use Installation Directory" and click Next
7. Required System DLL Check - Click OK
8. Setup Complete - Click Finish
9. Make sure Blender starts up correctly and then close Blender. If Blender fails to start, install MS Visual C++ 2008 runtime (included on this page)

Install PyFFI
Source: SourceForge.net

NOTE: If you do not have Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Runtime installed, do so now.

1. Run PyFFI-2.1.5-windows.exe
2. Select Language - Click OK to accept default of English
3. Welcome - Click Next
4. License Agreement - Click I Agree
5. Choose Components - Click Next to accept defaults of Documentation, Python 2.6 (32 bit) and Blender 2.4x (Python 2.6, 32-bit)
6. Choose Install Location - Change from C:\Program Files\PyFFI to C:\Apps\PyFFI and click Install
7. Setup Complete - Click Finish
8. Delete the "QSkope" shortcut on your desktop.

Install NIF Scripts
Source: SourceForge.net

1. Run blender_nif_scripts-2.5.5-windows.exe
2. Welcome - Click Next
3. License Agreement - Click I Agree
4. Choose Install Location - Click Next to accept default of C:\Apps\Blender\.blender\scripts
5. Choose Documentation Location - Change from C:\Program Files\NifTools\Blender NIF Scripts to C:\Apps\NifTools\Blender NIF Scripts
6. Installation Complete - Click Next
7. Setup Complete - Click Finish
8. Review the Readme and then close the file.

Install NifSkope
Source: SourceForge.net

1. Run nifskope-1.0.22-windows.exe
2. Welcome - Click Next
3. License Agreement - Click I Agree
4. Choose Install Location - Change C:\Program Files\NifTools\NifSkope to C:\Apps\NifTools\NifSkope and click Install
5. Installer will check for required DLLs - Click OK
6. Installation Complete - Click Next
7. Setup Wizard - Click Finish
8. Review the Readme and then close the file.

Configure NifSkope
1. Start NifSkope
2. Click Render, Settings
3. Click the button called "Auto Detect Game Paths" which should add Oblivion's Data folder.
4. If you extracted Oblivion's BSA files with BSA Commander, also add that path by clicking Add Folder
5. I also like having a 3rd path which always gets changed each time I download and extract a mod to a temp folder such as C:\Downloads\
6. Click Render, Settings and make sure "Startup Version" is 20.0.0.5
7. Change the background color to match Oblivion's menu color by clicking Render, Settings, Colors tab, right-click on Background, click Hex Edit, type in RGB values of E6 CE A4
8. On an as-needed basis, toggle the display of the collision box by clicking Render, Draw Havok.

E - X - T - R - A - S

Install YafRay - This is an additional render program for use with Blender.
Source: YafRay.org

1. Run YafaRay 0.1.1.exe
2. Installer Language - Click OK to accept default of English
3. Welcome - Click Next
4. License Agreement - Select I accept the agreement and click Next
5. Select Destination Location - Click Next to accept default of C:\Program Files\YafaRay
6. Information - Click Next
7. Setup Complete - Click Finish

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 - These are the required DLL files for Blender, NifSkope and PyFFI.