Free and open source 3D creation suite Blender gets funding from Microsoft

that's not much when split between a few developers

90,000 Euros is not much when split between a few devs? You could hire 30 devs off that. Maybe 20 after taxes, but still.

Depends on the developers you'd like to have. A senior programmer with decades of experience in 3D graphics could easily cost 10K€/mo (considering all the taxes).

Have there been decades of 3D graphics?

Have there been decades of 3D graphics?

Well, Matrix in 1999, the PS1 appeared in 1997, and even Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which started in 1993.

I'm pretty sure we can find something in the 80's quite easily 😉

Have there been decades of 3D graphics?

Well, Matrix in 1999, the PS1 appeared in 1997, and even Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which started in 1993.

I'm pretty sure we can find something in the 80's quite easily 😉

1987
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculpt_3D

1982
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron

What's their intentions with funding Blender?

Primarily it's marketing: they get a good PR boost for peanuts - much less than the cost of an advertising campaign.
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Thanks for the explanation, I was sitting here thinking "That's cool that Microsoft is contributing to Blender, but what do they stand to get out of it? This isn't like Pixar or some other company that would obviously stand to gain from a 3D-modeling program." (And yes, I know Blender can do much more, I'm just saying it didn't seem immediately obvious that Microsoft would have any use for it. )

If you follow the link to the announcement, you would know that Microsoft use Blender for creating synthetic models for use in training AI. There are certain advantages in using a 3D model of a person rather than a photo, such as being able to more clearly (and automatically) label what is a leg, hand, head, etc, and also being able to control the data variation (shape of a person, posture, clothing, skin tone, etc).

Here's an example of a very recent paper on the matter:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2020/07/high_fidelity_face_synthetics.pdf

And yes, it's explicitly stated that Blender is being used.

Oh interesting, thanks for sharing that. :)

Have there been decades of 3D graphics?

I'm pretty sure we can find something in the 80's quite easily 😉

Remember Pixar and Luxo Jr. Saw the light in 1986

Also, I wanted to precise that Open Source is not just about companies giving money to a foundation. It is more generally about companies contributing to the software itself, whether it is by giving money or by writing code, documentation, tutorials, etc.

So, while I very much appreciate all these companies giving money to our beloved Blender, I'm afraid some of them still don't understand the FOSS fundamentals...

Like others have said, I still don't trust them as far as I could throw mount Everest.

None of us techies seem to trust Microsoft, but somehow this does not matter. Almost all companies seem to blindly trust this corporation which has one of the dirtiest track records ever. Every crappy Microsoft product no matter how disfunctional, every suspicious deal no matter how disadvantageous, they swallow up and get entangled in its terms like if it was one of the Great Wonders. It's close to incomprehensible and deeply frustrating in a professional setting.

because microsoft dont back slash then most of the times.(...)

No, they don't. The teams which are forced to use their software endure very bad times and clear productivity loss. Their support is not good and most of the issues are design issues of their software, so they're never resolved. As I said, "no matter how disfunctional", and no matter how disadvantageous, it simple seems to not matter. It's like they arranged a way for bad design, bad support, bad functionality and loss of productivity to not have any measure or consequence for them. This is the mystery.

i'm not talking about their tools.
the fact is, if you develop for windows, then you only have to be afraid of the competition, its very unlikely that microsoft thenselves will try to compete against you or destroy you somehow.
your chances of surviving in the market developing for windows are much greater than not doing so.
that is why their partners are happy.

sure, the programmers may not like their tools, but that dont matter for their boss, as long as the company is making money, they are fine with it.

so TL:DR
developing for windows you have an high chance of making money and an small chance of facing microsoft as an competition.
not developing for windows you have an lower chance of making money, and if your product has any chance of stealing away marketshare from microsoft, then its very likely that they will try to destroy it.

What's their intentions with funding Blender?

Primarily it's marketing: they get a good PR boost for peanuts - much less than the cost of an advertising campaign.

However, there's also the concept of "commoditise your complements." That means that all of the things that people use with your product, that you can't control directly, should have lots of competitors that people can also use with your product. If you sell cars you want there to be lots of petrol companies whose petrol your customers can use: you wouldn't want to be dependent on a single massive petrol company who might eventually produce their own car to be used with their petrol.

It doesn't have to be nefarious, it's just a standard business decision. You can see the same thing with Valve's Linux support: they don't want to be dependent on Microsoft, so they're investing in ways to make the OS a commodity that their customers can swap out as they see fit.

Thanks for the great insight.

I've also heard that one aspect of the PR boost is additionally legitimizing giant corporations and capitalism in general. Same what billionaires do (intentionally or not). By donating a very tiny fraction of your wealth obtained in an (according to some people) unethical system, you will calm some of the opposition to the unfair distribution of resources. "See, billionaires/giant_corporation take an interest in society and help others". Meanwhile they get to keep their pools filled with gold coins and 12 private jets.