Is worthy to use blender with steam?

[Red]

I am a professional 3D artist, and I use blender for my work.

The problem with blender is that doesnt support updates by itself, I had to go to the webpage and that stuff (not a big problem, but still want to do it faster) and that's my question.

Do steam update blender automaticaly when the update is released?
And also, is better to have it with steam or is better to have it on the regular folder?

Thank you xD

[The Renderer]

Yes, it updates automatically. Other than that there is no difference or benefit either way (well, other than needing to have and use Steam to use the Steam version).

[AC Denton]

It updates automatically but is still behind.
Honestly it may be best to just get the website version and add to it Steam as a "non-Steam" game in your library.

[The Renderer]

Originally posted by ac_denton:

It updates automatically but is still behind.

It is? Which version is on Steam?

Originally posted by ac_denton:

Honestly it may be best to just get the website version and add to it Steam as a "non-Steam" game in your library.

OP is interested in the automatic update, how does that help him?

[Pte Jack]

Auto updates only happen when there is a major change and that change is declared the official stable copy.

You have to be careful when updates come through as well, you're only given 1 chance to pass your current configuration through to the new update and that is found on the splash screen on the first start up of the new version. If you miss it, the update configures itself to a factory fresh install.

The steam version installs on your computer (in your steam library) and communicates with the Steam server to track your time using the product (displayed on your profile page). it also communicates to see if there is an update to download.

One of the major downfalls of the Steam version is that it will only install one version of Blender. If you need to roll back to another version, you have to switch version using the Blender Properties settings Betas tab to roll back. Once you select the version you need (back to 2.77 only) it will uninstall the version you have on your computer and reinstall the selected version.

Downloading from Blender directly, you can download either the install or portable versions, you can also augment the blender version by downloading nightly builds (which include bug fixes, updates to existing routines, etc.) If you download the portable versions you can have as many version on your computer as you want, they all work from their own individual folders.

As far as functionality goes, they are the same version to version...

[Momo]

I recommend against using the Steam release, especially if you're a professional. If you use certain addons in your work, a major update could cause them to break. Blender is such a light program that it really is not a problem to entirely re-download it when you want to manually update to a new release.

[Pte Jack]

A major update may break addons, this is true, but it doesn't matter where you get Blender from. It happens all the time because they update Python every time they release a new major version.
With Python changes, it causes plugins/addons to break because the functions names within python have been changed. If a plugin/addon author doesn't rewrite their addon to meet the new change requirements, SNAP! It breaks.

This is why I have portable Blender versions dating back to Blender 2.49 sitting in ZIP files on my archive drive. If an update breaks an addon that I'm used in a project I'm working on, I can grab the portable version and carry on working and watch for the author to update the addon for the new version.

It's not a big deal, as you stated the portables are light and easy to find if required.

[Red]

I had my blender configuration syncronized with blender cloud id and I'm used to reinport my settings normaly (it works really fine) and if I need to work I only download the version from the web and re-import my settings (also I have my addons stored)

That when I found the idea of using blender on steam interesting (faster instalation + periodical updates)

Thank you all xD I think I'm going to give it a try and I'll see, honestly I think it's interesting to give it a shot

[Pierre Schiller]

HI. Good to know more 3D artists are joining. Install Blender commonly through steam. Then go to steam common apps on your c:\program files (x86)/steam/steam apps/blender <- or something like that. Delete blender content folder, and paste daily developer version instead. STEAM>LAUNCH>Blender, it will launch your DD updated version.

[Pte Jack]

{installDrive}:\program files (x86)/steam/steam apps/common/blender

The problem with doing the above is that if Blender pooches after you copy over it and/or have to do a application cache validation, your replacement is going to be replaced with validated files from the steam server. Also, when the steam client looks for an update, you may screw up that operation... (Don't know, haven't tried, nor do I think I will....)

[Scrump]

Alot of ppl like the Steam version cause they can see how many hours they have spent in the program. I like to use the zip versions from the website so I can have different builds. Some builds are better at specific things than others.

[*P0P$*FR3$H3NM3Y3R*]

Yeah it doesnt hurt to have em side by side. Some people like that their friends can see that they are doing blender or simply want to track time. Professional users simply keep a copy of their project version around just in case new releases could break backwards compatibility.
Sites like graphicall have nightly builds that have additional in development features which havent yet been added to trunk. So if you are looking for that steam version doesnt help there.

[ZooC0d3]

FYI Steam Blender works perfectly happily without steam. Why waste resources?

[Pte Jack]

The biggest problem with the Steam version is that you can only have 1 version installed at a time and backward versions only go back to 2.77.

In order to go backward, you have to select the version want from the Betas tab (opt into field) of the property panel. Doing so completely uninstalls the currently installed version and replaces it with the opted for version. This is going to be a real pain when 2.80 finally rolls out the door, because 2.80 is breaking a lot of plugins that work in 2.79 and some of these useful plugins have either abandoned by their creators and won't be updated or creators are waiting for release candidates before upgrade their addons because the current state of the 2.80 alpha changes with each nightly build. (Why code a plug in for something that is going to break it in a day or 2??)

I personally use Steam for every day modelling, but I also have the portable zips for other major version releases sitting in the wings for when I run into addon compatibility issues.