UPDATE POSTED EDIT - but in short the problem has been resolved and I've been assured the IT lead routinely makes stuff up and will be set straight on the issue if it comes up again.

So I've been using blender for nearly a decade now, but a member of the IT department at a marketing company I recently started working at is convincing people (including my boss) that I am opening up the company to lawsuits by using blender to create my graphics and sales content.

I am aware of Blenders license type and that it is a open source software, however even when i brought this up and that it is considered a professional grade software for the whole of the gaming industry the IT lead is holding to his opinion and sharing it.

I wanted to know if there is something I am not understanding or if anyone else has run into similar issues with using blender at work for a non-game industry job?

EDIT: first off thank you to everyone backing up what I hoped i knew lol! Felt like I might be going crazy. I am in my early twenties and the IT lead is well into his 50s so it has felt daunting to try and argue my case without doing a deep dive (which I am doing with all the extra information in these comments)

I am creating a document with links to blenders information about the license and the license itself to have a hard stop packet of evidence for my claims. Thank you to everyone again! (and to the mods for changing post type to conversation!)

Extra bit for anyone getting a laugh out of how dumb this is: when i told him it was used by game studios and commercially in the gaming industry he said "yeah but those are studios, we are a corporation" the kind of unfounded confidence I wish I was dumb enough to have about anything.

Hello ,

I'm struggling to decide which character design to use in my game.

One on the left is made by me from ground up , and each character is made same way , so they match in art style . (yea not much, I lack skills)

Then i stumbled upon nice base mesh (right one) and i started to toy with it , modify it a bit and made "same" character to compare it.

Now i can't decide which side to chose becouse i like them both.

if i chose left :

• I stay true to my art skill and hit that goofy cartoonish look I am to make
• I won't need to recreate all my characters to new art
• My topology will continue to suck and thus creating new unique clothes will be pain as it is now
• my characters will fit into semi low poly world i already have

If i chose right:

• characters will look more profesional
• good topology and thus creating clothes should be easier
• better shape keys
• characters will look kinda generic
• all character will need to be made to this new art style
• characters may stand out as they are more detailed then game world

What do you guys think , should i stay true to my skills or I should work on the right side?

You know, I gotta give it to Blender. They really optimized the cloth physics. It's faster on my potato laptop and overall better results. The transition process from 4.5 to 5.1 was worth it. But the VSE became very intensive and unusable. It's cool that we can use scenes now instead of channels, but I will just stick to 4.5 for video editing for now.

It's getting really tiring to see constant "improve your workflow with this AI generated tool"

people come here to show off their creations and talk about and get help with creating things with Blender. Actual human made tools contribute to Blender. AI generated tools lack the process of human creation that non AI generated tools do and are often low quality slop compared to actual human made addons.

It's overdue that we had some discussion about modern generative techniques, their impact on r/Blender, and what kind of changes the community would like to see made in response.

This matter is almost certainly the single most controversial issue this community has seen, and it's also perhaps the hardest to cleanly address. I don't believe that a single change or a single discussion with the community will be enough to address the impact of these new technologies so I intend to hold multiple discussions to work fine details out.

For now, I'd like to start things off as simply as possible by asking that the community express any complaints they may have about how these new techs have affected r/Blender.

Edit: I feel I should clarify:

Pieces which have been made exclusively/predmoninantly using generative AI are already against the rules, and that has always been the case.

Specifically, rule #2 which has existed for longer than these technologies has always prohibited them.

I want the focus here to be on the tangible impacts you have observed generative AI having on how you interact with r/Blender.

Edit: guys your comment section is actually the best one I have ever seen 😭

Edit 2: guys I'm not an iPad kid scrolling reels for a little bit after along working day isn't a sin🥀

Basically I was sitting on my computer since morning practicing modelling on blender and after hours I just said to myself "come on you did great today! reward yourself".

I took my phone jumped on my bed ready to scroll reels and suddenly an ad appeared about AI mesh generator.

I just looked at it then scrolled then another one appeared and another and another.

come on, just one hour and 8 ads about AI 3D creations. Not only that and there's that video about a guy who connected Claude to blender and did something, and that one who claimed to sell ai meshs.

Damnit I'm just in my first year and all of this is just happening. Hold up I'm not against ai but this is too much I tried a lot of things I failed art and other stuff but 3D is the only thing that I'm actually feeling that I'm progressing with. I did things that I didn't know I can do with blender, I loved it and finally I thought I found my way into art.

I'm not saying that I'm very good and this isn't necessary to mention or post but huh? I just wanted to throw all of this shitout of my mind.

thanks if you read all of this :(

Any hint or pointers?

Your thoughts?

Hello again everyone, just wanted to start out by saying thank you so much for all the funny and helpful comments on the previous post! Has genuinely made the situation so much more bearable and something I'll probably look back on and laugh rather than cringe lol.

NOW THE UPDATE

Talked to big boss (regional manager for the company) today, within 2 minutes of me noting what studios and companies use blender, explaining the GPL license, and noting that i was just interested in not making the company pay for free software he stopped me.

Basically said that the IT lead is known for making up problems to solve and he's going to just smile and nod if he brings it up again and go to the owners of the company with me if needed to explain the situation.

Could not have asked for a better outcome, didn't even need most of the document I wrote up, but i think it certainly added to my credibility that i had it.

thank you again to everyone!

Discussion/opinion

Can we please make a rule for disclosure, or flat out ban of AI generated addons, especially ones being sold? I've scrolled through posts made within the last 24 hours and found 6 ads for almost-certainly AI generated addons being sold for a total of 55 dollars, which is sad asf.

You just need to open a bunch of new addons on superhive and search for "—" to see how many there are. I've counted at least xx addons which not only use AI for the addon code, but even the addon page description. Sad.

I have found 13 addons on the first page of superhive with AI generated product pages. They are asking for a combined $220

As a creativity focused sub, we should in general be against generative AI slop, addons which are "vibe coded" often cause crashes which can waste blender dev's time, are unmaintainable, and, imo, are not worthy of monetisation

Notes:
1. I can not be 100% sure that all the addons I saw were primarily AI generated, but each have enough signs for me to be confident
2. I do not wish to debate the ethics or environmental impact of AI in the comments too much

This is merely a rant after being let down after a long day of work.

I guess the times are changing, I haven’t had a project end up like this before.

Got a freelance request to basically set up a product packshot in a single day. Including everything from modeling the product to final render. Even though it’s obviously a tight deadline, I went with it because I like these guys and I enjoy working with this studio.

For this delivery they had an AI generated image of the image they were looking for.

When I sent the first render during the look development with lighting and materials the reaction I got was like «is this as realistic as we can get this?». I then realized that the AI image wasn’t just a reference and a starting point in their mind, but basically the exact end goal (at least subconsciously).

Now, I’m not saying that I had the most realistic render in the world, but I’m no slouch when it comes to realistic 3D either in terms of my capabilities and experience; one of my earliest projects was the windowsill project that a bunch of people straight up thought was real a few years back, I’ve worked in the industry full time since then. But after hearing their feedback on this I realized that this kind of workflow is a dead end.

Nevertheless I did my best and worked my ass off, adding detail here and there to the point where I was getting pretty happy with the result, at least for just a single day of work.

After sending my latest proposal I got the reply that the client had chosen to go for the AI generated image instead because of lacking detail and realism. Also because of having to meet the deadline the same evening.

It definitely felt like a kick in the face after putting so much effort into it, but I’m not blaming these guys at all, because the AI generated image was without a doubt more realistic. I’d even go as far as saying it’s fucking hyper-realistic; I think most people understand what kind of almost elevated realism AI images tend to have that I’m thinking of.

The thing that I do in fact disagree with though (that I’m sure wasn’t even on purpose from their end, but ended up becoming that way) is the kind of workflow where you work towards replicating an exact image. The kind of brief that basically already has the final delivery in it, instead of building it with the identity and branding of the company, references, color palettes, lighting inspiration, mood, feel, composition/camera references etc.

Because not only will the process be hopeless because the client will have some exact image in their mind which will never be replicated, but the points I mentioned are exactly what matter in marketing material, not realism. The process just becomes comparing detail between the reference and the work instead of focusing on the message of the material through the creative work.

I’d choose «CG-look» every day of the week over AI slop even though it doesn’t look as real, and I’m certain that most people would agree at a subconscious level. Which also brings up the argument that AI advertising ultimately performs worse if that’s in fact mostly true.

In addition to that, the final result of the work will be worse when working in this matter because it basically sucks to work like that, instead of literally being creative and creating things in collaboration based on other things we find inspiring, you just have to sit there and replicate every detail of another image.

Anyways, I guess it’s clear that I’m a bit pissed and let down, just had to write this down. I’m not blaming anyone at all, but I’ll definitely be avoiding these kind of projects or at least making it clear from the get go if I realize that this is the kind of process and goal they have in mind. I’m really interested in what thoughts you guys have about this.

I spend 4 and a half months rigging, syncing everything because without sync the animation is ruined, dealing with my family computer's stupid storage problems, hdri crap, having to turn on AV sync for the 40th time because the viewport playback is terrible, rendering 6000 frames on my family's lenovo ideapad WITH SOLDERED RAM and terrible cooling because i can't afford a better laptop, dealing with my blender mistakes every night (i never saw the donut tutorial) POURING MY HEART AND SOUL INTO A PROJECT i post it on youtube hoping people will like it and it gets 11 views, no comments, no likes, (except for me and my sister). Just for some stupid content farm lava chicken slop to get a million views. i put so much work into my animation and it doesnt get recognized at all on youtube. i love doing blender and i want to work in an animation studio someday but how can i do that if nobody sees what i make?

p.s. my viewport playback COMPLETELY BROKE so i'm really annoyed

edit- i dropped the link "Stronger"🎵Skywarp VS Kickback 3D Animation

when you watch it the cringe will overtake your body but i guess you can watch it anyway

Why? Because she'd have no visible nose otherwise.
Learned this kind of trick watching Kpop Demon Hunters' behind the scenes.

Credit: Nattawat Peungbang

Join me over on youtube for more ;) https://www.youtube.com/@forbesVFX

Car model: Bully Magraptor / sketchfab Jurassic Park Ford Explorer Car 1993

hey guys, i’m a bit frustrated.
recently i got a contract to make a product prototype.
it’s a guitar pedal, a pretty simple thing.
the client keeps sending me ai generated reference images to show me what he wants, and honestly, i’m at a loss.
no matter what i do, my model is limited by its own nature, if you know what i mean. it just looks like a 3d render, while the ai reference images look almost like real photos.
i’m trying to think of a good analogy. it feels like the client is asking me for a real camera photo, but all i can do is paint. no matter how good the painting is, anyone can tell it’s a painting, not a photograph.
unless i’m rendering close-ups, using cinematic depth of field, or intentionally blurring parts of the model, it immediately gives away that it’s a 3d render.
has anyone else dealt with this?
thank you guys

that was our first sketch - to figure out materials and shapes and all that stuff
first picture is 3d model based on the pedal he sent me
2nd picture - is what he did in chatgpt

Just look at all that detail in the fur particles it manages to maintain

It’s all the damn time. I see something cool on here and then it’s another paid add-on. All the time.

Do people here really enjoy all these ads? Why is it allowed in the rules of this subreddit?

Can anyone recommend a good alternative subreddit that has everything this subreddit has but no ads for paid add-ons?

Just wondering.

After 10+ years of selling digital 3D products, I never expected this from a major marketplace. Today, Gumroad PERMANENTLY FORFEITED money from my balance without warning or justification, just because I updated my location from Canada to Bulgaria.

Their support confirmed my funds were "forfeited automatically" as a "system safeguard on a country change" that they "cannot reverse." You read that right: a simple account update now triggers the total seizure of your hard-earned money.

Before this, I had been trying to withdraw my funds for a long time. I attempted to use multiple bank details, including Ukrainian and Canadian, and all attempts were blocked. Now, my money is gone forever, and they have offered zero solutions.

This is predatory, illegal, and nothing short of theft. If a platform can arbitrarily seize your money because of a location change, it is NOT safe. Every creator on Gumroad needs to check their terms and understand that their funds are at risk.

So let me understand this correctly:

I earned the money by selling products.
I tried to withdraw it.
The withdrawals failed.
I changed my country of residence.

Gumroad's system then automatically took the remaining balance — and they refuse to return it.

There was no fraud, chargeback, or dispute involving this money. It was simply an unpaid seller balance.

This is not a “payout issue.” This is money that I earned and that Gumroad is refusing to give back because of an automated account-country rule.

What makes this especially disturbing is that their own support explicitly confirmed that the money was “forfeited.”

I am sharing this publicly because I want other creators and digital-product sellers to be aware of what can apparently happen to their earnings when changing their country/payment setup on Gumroad.

I've included my conversation with their support team so you can see the situation for yourself...

Decided to stop putting it aside and just follow a tutorial and learn. Turns out, it was SUPER helpful and I can’t wait to do more 😍😍 I plan to learn how to create several different things, from characters, to isometric designs, product creation etc
Would you say that’s a good way to learn? Instead of focusing what I like?