Therefore we've made the installation process as easy as possible. Generally the installation consists of three simple steps:
We also provide unpacked directories on the CD supplied with this book, so that you can just can copy the directory containing the suitable version to your hard disk.
Requirements for a system to be capable of running Blender:
You can also post a message on our "Questions and Answers" discussion forum: "http://www.blender.nl/discussion/list.php?f=2" . Here you will find many experienced Blender users who are prepared to answer any question you might have concerning Blender.
In every Blender archive there is also a README file containing further information relevant to that specific version.
For problems regarding various 3D-hardware, we also have a discussion area on our website. The address is: "http://www.blender.nl/discussion/list.php?f=5" . Use of the search function here is highly recommended; it is highly possible that the query you have has already been solved!
![]() |
[images/Installation/Installer_Icon.tga] |
Double click on the installer icon. The installer will load and presents you with a splash screen and some important information about Blender. Read this information and click "Next" to proceed to the next screen.
![]() |
[images/Installation/Installer_Splash.tga] |
In the "Choose Setup Folder" screen, enter a valid path where you want to install Blender. Optionally you can browse to a directory using the "browse"-button next to the path. The path's defaults is "C:\Blender" .
![]() |
[images/Installation/Installer_Path.tga] |
The installer offers you the option to start Blender after the installation. To start Blender later, you can use the automatically created shortcut on your desktop, or use the entry in the start-menu.
At the first start Blender will copy his preference files ".B.blend" and ".Bfs" to the Windows directory or to a directory named in the $HOME environment variable. Be sure that Blender has the permission to do that.
Blender for Windows comes with a small version of Python ( "python.dll" ). If you want to use the full power of Python, install a complete Python distribution (www.python.org) and delete the file "python.dll" in the Blender directory.
Then use following commands (bold, the rest is the output of the commands) in the shell to extract it:
o2cw 1% gunzip blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips.tar.gz o2cw 2% tar xvf blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips.tar x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/README, 1474 bytes, 3 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/blender, 4174904 bytes, 8155 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/copyright.txt, 1238 bytes, 3 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/Makefile, 146 bytes, 1 block x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/bmake, 1591 bytes, 4 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/include/floatpatch.h, 2566 bytes, 6 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/include/iff.h, 5822 bytes, 12 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/include/plugin.h, 2841 bytes, 6 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/include/util.h, 3007 bytes, 6 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/sequence/Makefile, 100 bytes, 1 block x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/sequence/blur.c, 4063 bytes, 8 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/sequence/scatter.c, 4371 bytes, 9 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/sequence/showzbuf.c, 1913 bytes, 4 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/texture/Makefile, 100 bytes, 1 block x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/texture/clouds2.c, 2909 bytes, 6 blocks x blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips/plugins/texture/tiles.c, 3039 bytes, 6 blocksNow enter the newly created directory and start Blender:
o2cw 3% cd blender2.04-irix-6.5-mips o2cw 4% ./blender
There are static and dynamic versions. Static versions supply the needed libraries bound to the executable, so you will not need to install them. But we highly recommend you to use the dynamic versions, since this will also allow you to use 3D-hardware acceleration. Revert to use the static versions should you encounter problems with the dynamic version.
Blender for FreeBSD comes in a static and dynamic linked version. Below you'll find an example explaining how to unpack on Linux, the same commands apply for FreeBSD.
cw@mero /tmp >tar xzvf blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386.tar.gz blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/ blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/README blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/copyright.txt blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/ blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/Makefile blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/bmake blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/include/ blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/include/floatpatch.h blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/include/iff.h blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/include/plugin.h blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/include/util.h blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/ blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/Makefile blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/blur.c blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/scatter.c blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/showzbuf.c blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/blur.so blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/scatter.so blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/sequence/showzbuf.so blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/texture/ blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/texture/Makefile blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/texture/clouds2.c blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/texture/tiles.c blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/texture/clouds2.so blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/plugins/texture/tiles.so blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386/blenderNow enter the newly created directory and start Blender:
cw@mero /tmp >cd blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386 cw@mero /tmp/blender2.04-linux-glibc2.1.2-i386 >./blenderThis procedure is the same for all versions, but of course the filenames differ. On the first start Blender copies his preference files ".B.blend" and ".Bfs" into your home directory.
When downloading a version from the internet, BeOS automatically recognizes a ZIP-archive and starts the "Expand-O-Matic" application.
When you want to use a version from the CD, browse to the CD-rom with the "Tracker" (the BeOS filemanager) and click the ZIP-file. This will also start the "Expand-O-Matic".
![]() |
[images/Installation/BeOSInstall00.tga] |
Enter the desired destination directory for Blender in the text field "Destination" and click on "Expand". Blender will be installed.
After unzipping, drag the "libpython.1.5.so" on the symbolic link "Drag libpython.1.5.so" to complete the installation. Now you can either click on Blender to start it, or create a shortcut for it on your desktop.