Blender 4.5 brings big changes

Summary

September 19, 2025 This article was contributed by Roland Taylor Blender 4.5 LTS was released on July 15, 2025, and will be supported through 2027. This is the last feature release of the 3D graphics-creation suite's 4.x series; it includes quality-of-life improvements, including work to bring the Vulkan backend up to par with the default OpenGL backend. With 4.5 released, Blender developers are turning their attention toward Blender 5.0, planned for release later this year. It will introduce substantial changes, particularly in the Geometry Nodes system, a central feature of Blender's procedural workflows. Brief introduction Blender is an open-source creative application released under the GPLv3. The Blender Foundation stewards development, with significant funding from the Blender Development Fund as well as backing from individual contributors and industry sponsors. Its code is primarily written in C and C++, with Python used extensively for scripting and add-ons. While Blender is often known as a 3D modeling and animation tool, it has grown into a comprehensive open-source suite for digital content creation. Alongside powerful 3D tools, it features compositing, nonlinear video editing, and 2D animation in 3D space. This integrated suite of tools enables designers, animators, and other creators to work with a single application across their digital pipeline. Blender also provides access to its core functions through Nodes, a visual programming system that enables procedural workflows for complex operations. The Grease Pencil tool, also accessible through the Geometry Nodes system, is used for 2D animation, cut-out animation, motion graphics, and more. Blender's procedural systems rely heavily on these node-based graphical interfaces, and the 4.5 LTS focuses on their continued evolution. These systems enable fully non-destructive workflows, preserving all original data at every stage of the editing process. Blender strives to be compatible with visual-effects (VFX...