Blender is a “free and open source 3D creation suite.” Originally released in 1994 as an in-house application for a Dutch animation studio, Blender has gone on to become a staple in the animation community. The software is used extensively by NASA and has been part of projects such as Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Man in the High Castle.
Being open-source software, Blender relies on donations to support development, with both individuals and corporations donating to the effort. Nvidia has now become the latest corporation to commit to the highest donation level, contributing at least €120,000 a year. This makes them the second company, along with Epic, to achieve “Patron” level support.
Per Blender’s Twitter announcement:
“NVIDIA joined the Blender Foundation Development Fund at Patron level. This will enable two more developers to work on core Blender development and to keep NVIDIA’s GPU technology well supported for our users. Thanks NVIDIA for the trust in our work! https://fund.blender.org #b3d”
Continued support of open-source software, especially such a well-known and widely used package as Blender, is a good thing for everyone involved.