The Blender Foundation have just released Blender 5.2 Beta (and Blender 5.3 Alpha). This release is remarkably strong. In the video below we focused on 6 of the highlight new features:
Remote Asset Libraries
You can now host Asset Libraries across a network. Additionally the built-in asset libraries have been reorganized and several new assets have been added to the Essential library if you enable network access.
New Dynamic Cloth and Hair Systems
New systems for node driven simulations of cloth and hair have been added. While experimental and early on, this should provide a powerful foundation for future node driven simulations.
Loop Tools Finally Being Built in
Popular add-on Loop Tools is finally being integrated into the core and written in C++. In 5.2 To Circle, Space Edge Loops Evenly and Flatten have been implemented with more in progress.
Compositor in the NLE
The Non Linear Video Editor built in to Blender got a ton of updates in this release. The one we focus on is the ability to expose clips to the compositing system of Blender, enabling a whole world of special effects.
New Grease Pencil Fill
Grease pencil just got a powerful new fill algorithm, Delaunay, allowing you to fill non-closed shapes.
Geometry Node Improvements
There have of course been several improvements to the geometry nodes system, but perhaps the two most exciting are the ability to apply node graphs to empty objects as well as the addition of a long awaited Bevel node.
These of course are just the new features we chose to highlight. There are hundreds more changes, improvements and fixes in the release, be sure to check the WIP release notes for more details.
Key Links
Blender 5.2 Download
Blender 5.2 Release Notes
You can learn more about the Blender 5.2 release and see all of the above exciting new features in action in the video below.