I came over to Blender after development on Hexagon and then Silo just stopped dead in their tracks. I learned most of my basic modeling skills in Hexagon which I thought at the time were great and well with in the budget for a novice to learn on. My first attempt at Blender was 2.49b and well it just scared the hell out of me that I didn't pick it up again and give it a serious go at learning when 2.5 came out. Learning all I have about Blender and the information shared here like Robyn I am also on a dual boot system using Linux Mint and yes even started experimenting with doing my own build of Blender on my Linux side still have to figure out a few steps since I have not full got the build right but working on it. But to go back to HMorton statements and since I got into exploring 3D modeling thru my former job of providing tech support to a few graphic studios have learned that Blenders not so popular past of having a steep learning curve many studios do not have the time or wish to take on the cost of switching over to a software package that still has that stigma of a steep learning curve. I have been fortunate that thru my experience with these companies I have had a chance to experiment and try out software like Maya, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and some others and they are full of bells and whistles that Blender is catching up to and more 3D artist are looking at blender as a viable product to include into their workflow. But as long as big companies have the ears of the studios like interest groups have the ears of our political head honchos  (sorry couldn’t think of a better analogy) Big Studios will not be making the change to fully incorporate Blender into their workflows. But it is happening and Blender has made much head way in the last two years like Linux has come along so far in the last 10 years. It will happen as hobbyist like us continue to brag and show off what Blender is capable of.  That is my 2 cent input. I do like threads like these

Lobo3433

Blender Maya & 3D Forum Moderator 

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