> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Blender 4.3 Release Delivers Ray Tracing Support For Linux Along with UI Upgrades - URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/blender-4-3-release/ - Published: 2024-11-20T11:24:14.000Z - Updated: 2024-11-20T11:24:14.000Z - Description: Blender 4.3 release is focusing on the right things, and good news for Linux users with AMD hardware! - Author: Sourav Rudra - Tags: Application Releases, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15 📜 Must-Know Bits 👇 — A more streamlined user interface. — Improvements for the various editing tools. — Hardware accelerated ray tracing support on Linux for AMD GPUs. --- [Blender](https://www.blender.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) is a powerful open source 3D creation suite used across many creative fields for the production of 3D models, simulations, animations, video games, motion graphics, and even movies. Popular flicks like [Captain America: The Winter Soldier](https://www.fxguide.com/fxfeatured/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-reaching-new-heights/?ref=itsfoss.com) and [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse](https://www.blendernation.com/2023/06/11/blender-used-in-across-the-spiderverse/?ref=itsfoss.com) have made use of Blender in various stages of production, with countless other projects being made possible by the platform. After the loaded [Blender 4.0 release](https://itsfoss.com/blender-4-0-release/) last year, they haven't stopped adding new stuff to its point releases. So, let's dive in without further ado. 😃 ## 🆕 Blender 4.3: What's New? As an update to its 4.x series, this release is packed with new additions and improvements. The actual list of changes is big as usual, so we put our focus on the highlights that include: - **User Interface Upgrades** - **Light & Shadow Linking** - **Grease Pencil Makeover** - **Geometry Nodes Level Up** - **Ray-Tracing Support For Linux** ### User Interface Upgrades ![a video that shows the new area docking feature of blender 4.3](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/11/Blender_4.3_a.gif) Source: Blender We start things off with the new **Area Docking** feature, which allows users to *tear* editor elements from their present positions to other areas for flexible window management. It can be used by dragging the corner of any element, with keyboard shortcuts making the experience more intuitive. ![a screenshot of blender 4.3 improved hover tooltips for data-block id selector lists](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/11/Blender_4.3_b.png) Source: Blender Hover tooltips for the data-block ID selector lists have been enhanced to display more information when hovering over images, videos, and fonts. Additionally, **the user interface icons have been upgraded to SVG format**, ensuring they scale correctly regardless of UI scale or monitor resolution. ### Light & Shadow Linking ![a screenshot of blender 4.3 light and shadow linking in action](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/11/Blender_4.3_c.jpg) Source: Blender Dubbed as having “*more control than eeveer before*”, [Light and Shadow Linking](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/4.3/render/lights/light%5Flinking.html?ref=itsfoss.com) has arrived for [EEVE](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/eevee/introduction.html?ref=itsfoss.com), Blender's real-time render engine. When implemented, **lights can be configured to affect only specific objects in a scene**, with Shadow Linking unlocking further controls for defining which objects act as shadow blockers for a light source. ### Grease Pencil Makeover ![a screenshot of blender 4.3 new fill gradient tool for grease pencil](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/11/Blender_4.3_d-1.png) Source: Blender The [Grease Pencil](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/grease%5Fpencil/introduction.html?ref=itsfoss.com) tool has **received a complete rewrite**, resulting in more efficient multithreaded performance and the removal of some foundational limitations. There is also **a new Fill Gradient tool**, which can be used for adding smooth color gradients to designs. It can be found in the Edit Mode, below the interpolation tool. ![a screenshot of blender 4.3 new layer groups feature in action](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/11/Blender_4.3_e.png) Source: Blender Organizing Grease Pencil objects has been made easier with the **new Layer Groups feature** that allows grouping of layers, with handy toggles for changing the visibility, locking, and [onion skinning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion%5Fskinning?ref=itsfoss.com) of layers in the group. Another thing to note is that there is **no backward compatibility for Grease Pencil files created with 4.3 or later releases**. Using those with 4.2 or older releases will result in broken files. ### Geometry Nodes Level Up Paving the way for more advanced geometry manipulation, there is the new **For Each Element** in Blender 4.3\. It is a loop zone that can be used to apply the same operation to every part of a geometry, such as vertices, edges, or faces. There is also the **newly introduced ability to add** [**gizmos**](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/editors/3dview/display/gizmo.html?ref=itsfoss.com) **to node groups**, allowing users to edit the inputs of a node tree directly in the 3D viewport. This eliminates the need to constantly switch between the node editor and the modifier stack. ### Ray-Tracing Support For Linux ![a chart that shows the performance of blender 4.3 with hip rt compared against non-hip rt implementation](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/11/Blender_4.3_f.png) Source: Blender Finally, Linux users can take advantage of hardware-accelerated ray tracing on their systems. This was done by implementing the open source [HIP RT](https://gpuopen.com/hiprt/?ref=itsfoss.com) library into [Cycles](https://www.blender.org/features/rendering/?ref=itsfoss.com), **allowing hardware ray tracing for AMD GPUs**. As you can see above, the developers have shared a helpful [performance comparison chart](https://developer.blender.org/docs/release%5Fnotes/4.3/cycles/?ref=itsfoss.com) showcasing the gains in performance when compared to the non-HIP RT implementation. ### 🛠️ Other Changes and Improvements We wrap this up by running through a couple of other refinements: - Performance/memory optimizations for B-Spline curves when using OptiX on NVIDIA GPUs. - Introduction of a new Metallic BSDF node that exposes existing metallic material configs. - The brush management workflow has been improved, along with a redesigned interface. - Experimental Vulkan user interface rendering for users of recent AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs You can go through the detailed [release page](https://www.blender.org/download/releases/4-3/?ref=itsfoss.com) and [release notes](https://developer.blender.org/docs/release%5Fnotes/4.3/?ref=itsfoss.com) to learn more. ## 📥 Download Blender 4.3 This release can be downloaded from the [official website](https://www.blender.org/download/?ref=news.itsfoss.com) for **Linux**, **Windows**, and **macOS**. If you were looking for alternative ways to download, then you can get Blender 4.3 from [Snapcraft](https://snapcraft.io/blender?ref=news.itsfoss.com) and [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/365670/Blender/?ref=news.itsfoss.com). [Blender 4.3](https://www.blender.org/download/?ref=news.itsfoss.com) For the source code, you can visit the project's [Gitea](https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender?ref=itsfoss.com) instance, and if you were seeking help setting it up, the [documentation](https://docs.blender.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) is a valuable resource. *💬 Are you going to upgrade to this release? Let me know in the comments below!*