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# Blender 4.0 Release Arrives With Game-Changing Rendering Upgrades
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/blender-4-0-release/
- Published: 2023-11-15T17:50:21.000Z
- Updated: 2023-11-15T17:50:21.000Z
- Description: Blender 4.0 release makes it an exciting program for all kinds of graphics professionals and artists.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: Application Releases, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15

Blender is **a very popular open-source 3D computer graphics suite** that has a vast variety of use cases, ranging from the creation of animated films, all the way to motion graphics, visual effects, and more.

With a recent announcement, the Blender Foundation revealed the **Blender 4.0 release**, that represents “a major leap for rendering, creating tools, and more to take your Freedom to Create to new heights.”

So, let's look at what's behind this release.

## 🆕 Blender 4.0: What's New?

![a screenshot of blender 4.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0.png)

Being a major release, Blender 4.0 has plenty to offer. However, we will be only taking a look at some of the key highlights:

- **User Interface Improvements**
- **Light and Shadow Linking**
- **Revamped Principled BSDF**
- **Better Rigging**

While we mention some details as you read on, here is the official video to sum up the major changes:

### User Interface Improvements

![a banner showing the new typface being used in blenders user interface](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0_2.png)

The most important user-facing thing on Blender, the interface font, has been changed to “[Inter](https://rsms.me/inter/?ref=itsfoss.com)”. This **move was made in a bid to improve text readability** across the application, irrespective of the display size.

Then there's the **newly added ability to search** for stuff by pressing the space bar on regular dropdown/context menus, and a tweaked splash screen which now makes it easier to **carry over saved settings** from older Blender installs.

![a screenshot of the new save incremental option on blender 4.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0_2b.png)

Even a new “**Save Incremental**” option was added to the File menu that saves the current *.blender* file with a numerically incremented name.

### Light and Shadow Linking

![a demo of blender 4.0 light and shadow linking](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0_3.png)

Dubbed by the devs as their most awaited feature, Blender 4.0 features Light and Shadow Linking. With these features, a designer could **set lights to affect specific objects** in a scene, and even **have control over which objects can block light**, acting as shadow blockers.

For more details on how these work, you can refer to the [official documentation](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/4.0/render/cycles/object%5Fsettings/light%5Flinking.html?ref=itsfoss.com).

### Revamped Principled BSDF

![a screenshot of the improvements to principled bsdf on blender 4.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0_4.png)

Blender's [Principled BSDF](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/4.0/render/shader%5Fnodes/shader/principled.html?ref=itsfoss.com) system has seen a big revamp with the upgrade, it now features **support for a larger variety of material types and is more efficient**.

Some highlights of the revamp include:

- **Coat**, it is placed above all the base layers, including the emission layer, to simulate things like a phone display behind a glass surface.
- **Sheen**, it now uses a new microfiber shading model, and acts as the top layer above emission and coat.
- Implementation of Multiple scattering GGXfor more efficient rendering in Cycles, resulting in **less power being used while rendering**.
- **Edge tinting for metallic surfaces**, allowing for an artist-friendly way to render complex index of refraction, based on the F82 tint model.

The illustration below should give you a better look at how things are with this revamp of Principled BSDF:

![an illustration showing how the revamped principled bsdf works on blender 4.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0_4b.png)

### Better Rigging

![a banner showing how the new bone collections system works on blender 4.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Blender_4.0_5.png)

Blender 4.0 features a dedicated “**Bone Collections**” for [Armature](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/animation/armatures/introduction.html?ref=itsfoss.com) Bones, this implementation is carried over from the existing implementation for objects.

It **replaces both the legacy numbered layers and bone groups feature**, allowing for the Select Grouped operator to select by bone color/collection, setting bone colors on armature bones, and more.

Even the **pose library sees an update** with the recently introduced asset shelf that makes pose assets available in the 3D viewport.

### 🛠️ Other Changes and Improvements

There's more. Some other noteworthy changes include:

- Support for **Intel HD4000 series GPUs** has been dropped.
- A new [blendfile compatibility policy](https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Process/Compatibility%5FHandling?ref=itsfoss.com) has been implemented.
- **Snapping has been improved**, allowing for faster and more precise snaps.
- The **minimum required OpenGL version** for Linux and Windows is now 4.3.
- **Filmic has been replaced** by AgX view transform for better handling of colors in over-exposed areas.

You may also refer to the [official release notes](https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Release%5FNotes/4.0?ref=itsfoss.com) for more details of this Blender release.

## 📥 Download Blender 4.0

You can get the latest tar package of Blender from the [official website](https://www.blender.org/download/?ref=itsfoss.com) for **Linux**, **Windows**, and **macOS**.

But, if you were looking for something different, then you could also get it from the [Snap store](https://snapcraft.io/blender?ref=itsfoss.com) and [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/365670/Blender/?ref=itsfoss.com).

[Blender](https://www.blender.org/download/?ref=itsfoss.com)

*💬 Ready to start creating with Blender 4.0? Prefer something else? Let us know below!*