Why do Studios Ignore Blender?

In this video we explore why large VFX studios seem to regret blender in favor of other expensive programs.

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[filmstop]

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* IMPORTANT NOTE - This video is not sponsored by Blender Kit. I use it and I get a small percentage of each sale through this link. Everything said in this video about them is my own opinion.

[Samurilites]

Studios dont hate blender, no one has time to throw away 10-20 years of pipeline and start over learning a new software from scratch to rebuild it unless you start with blender

[sithmaster]

I can tell you. You are young. I started with Cinema 4D back in 1998. I got it from a friend, had to print out a 1000-page manual with my home printer and started to learn 3D. There were no YouTube Channels or anything that helped me out. Through the years, I got invested into the C4D community. But I struggled to get a job in Germany. Every big company was using 3dsmax. I finally found my first job after over 150 tries and was able to use C4D. During that time, I started to use 3dsmax at home, learning. In my second job, I started with 3dsmax and moved forward.

Today, my main tools in the game company I work for are Cinema 4D and 3dsmax, while all other artists use Blender. Most of them are juniors. It's totally fine. I learned to use Blender as well over the years, but are still blazing faster as a Senior Artist by using the tools I am used to for over 26 years. It might be easy for young people to say: Oh, just spend a couple of weeks with Blender, but there is much more to it.

Blender in my perspective wants to be a Jack of all trades and combines some strength of 3dsmax, C4D, Maya and other apps. But you will never get the modularity of Cinema 4D in Blender or even 3dsmax when working with modifiers, and how they interact with objects in the outliner because is it a complete different approach on using modifiers on an object directly.

Every app has its strengths and weakness. 3dsmax is excellent with exporting capabilities and I found it way easier to export from C4D to 3dsmax and then to Unreal Engine and not directly exporting from C4D to Unreal, since the FBX exporter works different.

I don't think Studios hate Blender. There is more to it.

First: You have customers and other companies surrounding you. I can give a simple example why it's the same with Gimp and Photoshop. If I used Gimp and exported in Photoshop Format, there is a chance of error. If the customer gets these files, and they are either not working or print different outcomes that would not happen if the files come from native Photoshop, I get into BIG trouble. We are talking in $10k+ trouble here. Blender in direct comparison had (or still has) horrible FBX export and maybe plenty of issues on other ends that other companies like Autodesk or Maxon don't have.

Second: Pipelines. You can't just use Blender when you have a complete Redshift or Houdini-Vex driven pipeline. Nobody cares that it's free when it can't do what the existing pipelines are capable of. There might be a day when all of this is possible, but that does not change overnight.

I want to be honest: I tried Blender many times in my life… since 1998. And many times I regret the time I spent on version 2.49 and earlier. Try it. It was horrible. With version 2.5 and up, it slowly started to evolve and got a lot more attention. And definitely, there are many artists who do excellent work with it. I bow my head to the people who create stunning art and animations with it.

It is capable of doing a lot, and probably the same that other applications can do. But you also can't just delete 30+ years of existing knowledge. Older artists in small to big companies may know a couple of tricks in 3dsmax, Houdini, Maya and C4D that a youngster with Blender would never expect to exist. Blender is cool. I love Blender! But I also learned what it can't do.

Suggestion for young artists: Definitely stick with Blender! This is what Cinema 4D was for me when I was young. However, also… keep your eyes open. Be open to try every 3D app. Try 3DCoat. Try Modo, Lightwave, 3dsmax, Houdini Indie/Free, C4D, Plasticity, ZBrush, Marvelous. -- And then… stick to the apps that YOU like, not that others tell you It's cool and swag and fresh to use.

XO
3D Boomer Dad

[fredericklebeault]

We don't need Blender to be industry standard, the beauty in blender is it's versatility, the accessibility and price. It's good for everybody. Blender is not trash. It's just not for big studios.

[krishikaartstudio]

Blender just made history. The fact that Flow won an Oscar proves that Blender isn’t just for hobbyists—it’s a has become a better software for high-end filmmaking now.

[bioblade]

is blender entirely free: yes
can I import my assets in Unity: yes
do I care what the big studios think: no

[pizzathehut]

The fact that it’s not “industry standard” makes all the better. Means that new people can discover the world of 3D without the steep price tag.

[litjellyfish]

Why the click bait title? no Studio HATE any software, they might not USE it but that is far from hating it...

[krinkrin]

You didn't mention the most important thing: Blender does not have multimillion contracts with education institutions that push it onto students as part of their courses.

[the_natural_s]

I have worked in the industry for over 5 years, my longest experience was at Outpost VFX. I worked with people that worked at ILM, Digital Domain, Rodeo Fx, and Legion VFX and can confidently say that we don't "hate" Blender. At Outpost, we did have Blender downloaded (I did not use it as I was the Lighting Artist) but it was probably most likely for one thing. Modeling. Yes, we used 3DS Max and Maya for modeling a lot of the assets, but for smaller things you can use Blender because at the end of the day you can export it as an FBX or OBJ to the Texture artist to get it UVed and then so on and so forth. Blender can be a part of the pipeline like every other software in the industry, but I do not know why people think it has to be able to replace everything in the pipeline just because it can do everything decently.
I use blender as my main modeling software for my personal projects, then I bring it into maya to UV and texture with Substance. I personally like lighting in Arnold, so I light and render in Arnold, and I composite in Nuke.
For studios like Pixar, it won't replace it because it has in house software like how some game studios don't use Unreal because it has an in-house game engine. But if it doesn't become industry standard, so what! Continue making cool stuff with Blender! Why do you care? Cause you won't get a job? That is not true, because the workflow translates over software. Keep making art and stop worrying about things you don't need to worry about.

[janisvaskevics]

European Cinema Academy award was won by animation "Flow", made in Blender. It's not the tools, but the craftsman.

[beebebcee]

You missed a huge reason why studios wouldn’t use Blender in the early days. Not because it was slow (EVERY program back then was slow.) Blender’s open source EULA back in 2002 required users to release their source project files along with their movie, huge no from studios with licensed IP. Glad that changed.

[JSiuDev]

For studio, switching is almost always out of the question. They can add blender into their tool set, but cannot ditch the old tools, else they can't open their old asset.

[omar_benaidy]

In Morocco Blender is becoming industry standard for architecture renders but it depends if it's a small studio or freelancers, some bigger studios still use other software but it's starting to change a lot

[KenzingerShop]

Oh no, sweetheart, don’t ever think that!
The big studios don’t hate Blender—not even close. On the contrary: we love the little guy. Blender is like that younger sibling we’ve watched grow up—clumsy at first, always curious, and endlessly energetic.

While we were drowning in deadlines and impossible rigs—and even more impossible clients—Blender was off in his room, figuring things out on his own, watching tutorials, breaking things, fixing them again. And we’d peek through the slightly open door thinking, “Huh… look at him go.”

When Blender learned how to do hair—yeah, okay, Maya did that like 20 years ago—but you could feel the excitement.
“Look, Daddy, look what I made!”
And there we were, our Maya scene crashing for the third time that morning, smiling with genuine pride: “Atta boy.”

And now, with Flow, he’s just graduated—top of his class. His thesis presentation was bold, confident, full of heart. You could almost hear him ask: “So… do I get to sit at the grown-up table now?”
And honestly? Yeah. We’re proud of him.

We’re excited to see what he does out there in the real world. And we’re rooting for him to succeed.
Because if he makes it—we all do.

[AdventureMase]

blender's grease pencil was actually a big part of hand drawn smears and various other effects for across the spider-verse

[euphoriaD_animations]

Blender is like that one superhero which doesn't gets sponsors, TV interviews, bright and shiny cape and suit. Blender helps EVERYONE in need (not only president's daughter) without asking for anything.

[thereal_nsxdavid]

We use to be a big 3DS Max user, but we transitioned to Blender at my studio without hesitation and never looked back.

[pixelninja]

I'm a senior university lecturer at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, we have been accredited as one of the best games academies in the world . I'm also an ex game developer who has worked in the games industry. I've worked on triple A titles such as FIFA and Spec Ops. I've used Alias, Soft Image, Maya and 3DS Max extensively over my 30 years as a professional CG Artist. Blender is by far the best 3D tool I've ever used. More and more studios are realising this. I enjoy using it and teaching it and I would encourage anyone interested in CG to embrace this tool....its fantastic

[jimzielinski]

I'm retired from IT. For what it's worth, most companies I've worked for, preferred to fire the old people and hire new people rather than pay for retraining in new technology. To add insult to injury, it was common to be told to train the new guy in your stuff to get him off the ground running or lose your last two to four weeks of notice (severance package). Occasionally the "new" guys were hb1b visa holders from other countries being paid a fraction of what we made.