Blender 5.2 LTS adds node-based physics and online asset libraries
The new long-term support release brings cloth and hair simulation built on an XPBD solver node, online-hosted Essentials assets, and fixes until July 2028.
Digital Developer Desk, 113d ago, 3 min read
Blender 5.2 LTS was released on July 14, 2026. Its biggest change is node-powered physics: cloth and hair simulation built on a new XPBD Solver node, with effectors for gravity and collisions.
Blender's Essentials assets are expanded and now hosted online, which keeps the download size from growing.
Other highlights include a Mesh Bevel node, a Sample Sound Frequencies node for audio-driven geometry, a texture cache for Cycles, a Thin Wall mode for the Principled BSDF, and EEVEE improvements.
Because 5.2 is a long-term support release, it will receive fixes for up to two years, until July 2028, which makes it the safer choice for studios that need to lock a version for a production.
Sources
Get the daily brief
The five stories that matter, every weekday morning. Free.
Blender 5.3 adds initial support for 3D Gaussian splats
Blender 5.3 can import, edit and render 3D Gaussian splats (gsplats), with support in EEVEE, Workbench and Cycles. The Blender developers blog covers the file formats, the Geometry Nodes attributes and the current limitations.
code.blender.org5d ago3 min read
Substance 3D Painter 12.2 adds cage painting; Adobe PM explains baking rework
Adobe's Substance 3D Painter 12.2 lets artists paint baking cages directly on models. In an interview, Product Manager Laurens Corijn describes why baking became a 2026 priority and how the feature was built.
80.lv6d ago3 min read
Substance 3D Painter 12.2 adds cage painting and Order Independent Transparency
Adobe has released Substance 3D Painter 12.2, which lets artists paint baking cage distances directly on a model. The update also adds new Polygon Fill selection modes, texture-set highlighting and better viewport sorting for overlapping transparent materials.
80.lv7d ago2 min read
