Blender 2.61 (64-bit)

What's new in this version:

NEW FEATURES:
Motion Tracking:
- Motion tracking support has been added, to reconstruct camera and object animation from real footage, and composite 3d rendered object into movie clips.
- A new Movie Clip editor for loading clips, tracking points and reconstructing motion was added. Constraints can apply this reconstructed motion into the scene, and compositing nodes are available for (un)distorting rendered animations or real footage.

Cycles Render Engine:
- Cycles is a new render engine that is available next to Blender Internal. It is a raytracing based render engine with support for interactive rendering, a new shading node system, new texture workflow and GPU acceleration.
- It is still in development, and more production features are planned to be added, this is the first preview release.

Dynamic Paint:
- Dynamic paint is a new modifier and physics system that can turn objects into paint canvases and brushes, creating each vertex colors, image sequences or displacement.

Ocean Simulation:
- Ocean simulation tools take the form of a modifier, to simulate and generate a deforming ocean surface, and associated texture, used to render the simulation data.

Python:
- The Render Engine API has been extended for closer integration, a mechanism to detect changes in scenes was and persistent callbacks were added, along with various other changes.

Addons:
- A new addon was added to export animation data to Adobe After Effects. The camera and placeholders for all of the objects you select can be exported and used to link After Effects' filters or layers basing on your scene created in Blender.

CHANGES:
3D Mouse:
- 3D mouse device support color wheel and cube UI controls (e.g. color pickers) - r41508. Tilting the ndof device up and down and rolling it left and right will move the 'color cursor' in screen x and y, and twisting the ndof device will rotate the cursor around the colour wheel (hue).
- 3D mouse axis invert preferences for turntable navigation and zooming - r41831

Animation:
- Remove the non-functional Time Offset option. - r41573
- Animation Hacks panel renamed to Relations Extras - r41573
- Add Dependency Relations operator to print the dependency graph to the console, useful for debugging and understanding the relations. - r41522
- Marker editing - r41497
- Python drivers: 'frame' can now be used to get the current frame - r41943

Camera Sensor:
- Camera sensor size is now configurable, to match real cameras. - r41524
- Support of variable size sensor width and height.
- Presets for most common cameras, and new presets can be defined by the user.
- Option to control which dimension (vertical or horizontal) along which field of view angle fits.

File Paths:
- Editing library absolute/relative paths in the outliner or through python is now more reliable - r41235
- Making library datablocks local now remaps file paths to the local .blend file - r41329
- Default point cache file paths are now in either the temporary folder if the file is not saved yet, and relative to the .blend file if it is - r41909
- Point cache paths from linked library now support - r42009
- Point cache directories now use cache_ prefix by default - r42053

Internationalization:
- Improved, though not complete, editing of text with special characters in user interface text fields and 3D text objects. - r41129, r41133, r41144, r41146, r41147, r41181, r41182
- Translation: add Indonesion language - r41275
- Translation: upgrade Italian and Russian to nearly done status - r41692

Modeling:
- Disable x-mirror option when proportional edit is enabled. This option isn't supported because it behaves strangely in many cases. - r41550
- Mirror modifier now works in vertex select + weight paint mode, and has option to mirror all vertex groups. - r41431
- Make duplicates real: options to parent to the original duplicator and preserve internal parent hierarchies - r41602
- Multires baking speed was improved - r41778
- 3D Cursor settings split off from View panel in 3D view - r41575
- Mesh loop cut number of cuts can now be modified using numpad plus/minus and numeric input - r42037
- UV (Texture) Layer renamed to UV Map in the user interface - r42098

Nodes:
- Node inputs that are angles were not in the correct units, now they are internally radians and degrees in the user interface - r41807
- Saving 2.61 files with earlier Blender versions and reopening them in a newer version will not work correct, always save with the same or a newer version.
- Change various default values for compositing node inputs - r41385, r41520
- Muting nodes is now also supported for shader and texture nodes - r42019

Other:
- World mist intensity options reorganized to make the user interface more clear - r41462
- Operator to delete objects from all scenes, shortcut shift+delete - r41851
- Align active camera to selected operator, to frame all selected, renderable objects - r41813
- Text editor with tabs as spaces enabled now jumps indentation spaces as if they were tabs - r41839
- Border select operators in all editors now includes an Extend property, to extend or replace the selection - r41930
- Theme options to show panel header background and mute icon colors - r41992
- Changes to drawing of editor splitting, region expand and UI embossing - r41992, r41993
- More useful error messages for failed image loading - r41306
- Saving images in the image editor now shows image format settings, and various changes to show only settings when they apply for the chosen format - r42041, r42045 , r42116, r42118

BUG FIXES:
3D viewport:
- fix #29162: grease pencil did not decrement user count on adding new datablock to replace an existing one - r41552
- fix #29203: camera can still move in viewport even when transforms locked - r41749
- fix #29004: wrong hotkey hints in 3D View > View menu - r41264
- fix: interaction preset was using orbit rather than turntable 3d view preference, different from factory defaults. - r41126
- fix #29275: vertex/edge/face selection buttons showing squashed in header - r41889
- fix #29288: armature draw type wire combined with manipulator draw issue - r41907
- fix #29255: disable rendering with transparency in edit mode - r42158
- fix #29348: slow drawing of mesh with multiple materials and subsurf modifier - r42034

Animation:
- fix: armatures in wire draw mode not displaying in solid mode. - r41113
- fix #28967: crash in adding a new pose to the pose library - r41171, r41175
- fix #29006: delta keying sets not working correctly on operator redo - r41272
- fix #29015: improve error message presented when trying to paste keyframe without f-curves selected - r41304
- fix #29122: curve radius not keyable from the the 3d editor transform panel - r41494
- fix #29212: select before/after current frame deselects all channels in graph editor - r41765
- fix #28976: crash when moving keys in dopesheet editor - r41128
- fix: default f-curve handle types and theme settings for handle colors were incorrect - r41691
- fix #29125: motion paths could be set to invalid start/end, and did not show good warning messages - r41764
- fix #29293: NLA Strip modifiers got lost on save/reload - r41920

Audio & Video:
- fix: sequencer HD audio tracks within metastrips were not properly upgraded from 2.49 files, resulting in broken tracks. - r41116
- fix: 7.1 audio not working correct - r41132
- fix: color management issues generating proxies for float images - r41256
- fix #28949: rendering video to flash not working - r41244
- fix #29076: 16bit tiff save not working - r41483
- fix #29062, #29120: issue saving images with relative paths - r41328
- fix: improvement for reading broken movie files - r41647
- fix #29202: fix a crash in decoding of YUV video in sequencer - r41854
- fix #29190: effect strip start and end frame should not be editable - r41934
- fix #29295: incorrect alpha channel loading from video - r42012, r42017
- fix: seeking problem with RAW DV video - r42012

Constraints:
- fix #29210: ChildOf constraint set inverse not working reliable - r41747
- fix #29048: iTaSC solver crash on certain compilers/platforms, due to memory alignment issues. - r41781
- fix #29041: parenting problem with tree IK for iTaSC and iksolver, where it would use the wrong bone as parent on branching. - r41784
- fix #29113: follow path constraint subframes calculated incorrectly for motion blur - r41491
- fix #29064: spline IK and auto IK on the same bone could crash - r41612
- fix #29264: remove unneeded convert option from maintain volume constraint interface - r41871
- fix #29100: issue with "set inverse" on child constraint - r42056

Curves:
- fix #29101: 2d bezier still allowed editing tilt, and wrong shortcut was shown in toolbar - r41439
- fix #29005: changing curve datablock did not respect curve dimension setting - r41501
- fix: wrong shortcut for Curve > Control Point > Tilt - r42156

Files:
- fix #28772: file paths not remapped after making library datablock local - r41292
- fix #29098: file browser can't handle extra periods in file name - r41400
- fix: crash running blender in background mode on Windows - r41387
- fix #29232: background render with file not found rendered default scene - r41898
- fix #28993: crash opening quit.blend - r41885

Game Engine:
- fix #29024: logic bricks did not have unique names - r41528
- fix #28865: object display bounds and game engine collision bounds are now separate properties to avoid confusion - r41529
- fix #29138: changing game engine physics type from soft body to other physics types did not work correct - r41540
- fix: action actuator ping-pong was not consistent with previous behavior - r41239
- fix: setting frame on action actuator playing in reverse did not work correct - r41239
- fix #28948: wrong default game engine backface culling when there is no material - r41273
- fix #28753: game engine mouse raycast not working correct at certain angles - r41131
- fix #28979: action actuator not working correct with animation from old file - r41134
- fix: wrong copy of game properties between linked objects - r42039
- fix: incorrect action actuator behavior with pulse mode (on the sensor) and continuous enabled - r42108
- fix: slow video texture rescaling, using non-power-of-two textures - r42137

- Graphics Cards

- fix: OpenGL renders on graphics cards which do not support non-power-of-two textures were stretched and the wrong size.
- fix: selecting with z-buffer hiding did not work when graphics card settings enabled antialiasing, overriding application settings.
- fix: last mesh triangle not drawn with VBO's enabled - r41837
- fix: workaround for half transparent windows when running blender-softwaregl with compiz - r41856

Modeling:
- fix #28942: minimize stretch in UV editor has no continuous grab - r41136
- fix #29174: vertex normals temporarily incorrect after deleting a face - r41604
- fix #29141: mesh fill / beautify fill produced incorrect results in edge selection mode - r41539
- fix #29051: set origin from geometry using bounds did not work - r41519
- fix #28936: UV unwrap issue with meshes with inconsistent normals - r41895
- fix #29253: 3D manipulator "active element" not supported for curves - r41853
- fix: crash using vertex paint fill - r41719
- fix #29063: missing painting error message when opengl offscreen buffer could not be created - r41326
- fix: weight painting incorrect redistribution of weights with locked vertex groups - r41711
- fix #29337: crash duplicating shape keys with long names - r42029
- fix #29384: mesh without faces and modifier crashes when switching to sculpt mode - r42124
- fix #29361: uv unwrap > project from view not enabled in header menu - r42059
- fix #29367: vertex parent regression, objects not staying in place when parenting - r42090

Modifiers:
- fix #29044: apply mirror modifier crash related to vertex groups - r41310
- fix #29124: crash with mirror and solidify modifier - r41445
- fix #29214: build modifier calculates wrong fraction of elements to use - r41734
- fix: crash multires baking in sculpt mode when sculpt mode is active and sculpt level is 0 - r41777
- fix #29240: multires baking now uses preview subdivision level in sculpt mode - r41806
- fix #29205: crash using edge split modifier with certain mesh configurations - r41720
- fix #28515: dupliframes start/end animation not working correct - r41511
- fix #28935: material display error using VBO's, textured solid and a modifier - r41496
- fix #29366: multires crash with meshes that had verts/edges not connected to any face - r42131

Nodes:
- fix: crash nodes loading old files with changed node sockets - r41735
- fix #29139: confusing user interface for editing group node names - r41523
- fix: missing node editor update when assigning/removing materials on objects. - r41152
- fix #29046: the factor buffer input was not used correctly in curve nodes - r41592
- fix #28980: crash with certain invalid node sockets in old files - r41145
- fix #28938: compositing nodes used in render even if use nodes is disabled - r41139
- fix #29055: vector node socket default values can't be edited - r41451
- fix #29165: issue navigating node add menu with keyboard arrows - r41852
- fix: clicking on overlapping nodes in the node editor would pass event to the wrong button - r42075
- fix #2938: wrong event clipping in open node groups - r42121
- fix: crash when node group datablock was missing - r42020
- fix #28934: missing GLSL/icon update when changing materials used in nodes - r42088

Physics:
- fix #29147: particle rotation mode did load from some files correctly - r41518
- fix #29310: secondary point caches for cloth did not get steps set to correct default, was 10 when supposed to be 1 - r42142

Rendering:
- fix: crash in texture nodes, when no derivatives were available - r41418
- fix #29084: material/texture nodes threading crash - r41419
- fix #29207: cancelling volume precache at high resolution was too slow - r41759
- fix: rendering objects with negative scale could have wrong normals - r41247
- fix #29243: crash unlinking texture datablock from material node in texture properties - r41915
- fix #29160: material node "Texture" didn't use default texture coordinates when nothing was connected to the socket - r41916
- fix #29093: world zenith up and down texture influence were not working correct - r41918

User Interface:
- fix #28902: rendering and visibility icons in modifier panel move between clicks - r41137
- fix: missing updates when changing smoke flow settings. - r41151
- fix #28998: sequence rendering now displays overall animation progress in the progress bar - r41503
- fix: incorrect undo pushes when changing user preferences - r41662
- fix #29155: inconsistency with numpad zero and delete hotkeys in color and histogram menus - r41527
- fix: user interface region embossing was drawn misaligned - r41535
- fix: Mac trackpad scrolling did not work in text editor - r41284
- fix #28937: text editor incorrect selection with mouse over scrollbar - r41138
- fix #29198: incorrect user interface text alignment with international fonts - r41663
- fix #29229: some outliner right click menu items not working - r41899, r41900
- fix #29371: crash deleting objects in outliner - r42141
- fix #29242: keyboard shortcuts for menus not displayed - r41832
- fix #29306: Alt+N, enter in image editor cancelled rather than confirmed operation - r42125
- fix #29018: multi-column menus not showing bottom-most elements when scrolling - r41976
- fix #29333: modal keymap saving not working - r42033
- fix: missing umlauts and accents on capital letters - r42092