The Nodes Minimap and Quick Favorites Upgrade Version 🔎

This minor point release has major features! With a new node editor minimap with customizatble size, coloring, ratio and position. This also comes with new materials ouf-of-the box, and a highly requested Quick Favorites menu with icons and order customizability.

This is part of the latest from Blender 5.1.2 and 5.2.0 to the date - with 46 new features, fixes and polish with another 15+ stability fixes from Blender.

✨What's new in this release

• Customizable Node Minimap

• Customizable and Icononized Quick Favorites menu

• Compact toolshelf tabs with better column snapping
• Stacks button to open relevant Node Editors
• More out-of-the-box materials, including wood
• Power User Tools Select Grease Pencil Layer under Mouse operators
• Sequencer Compositor Assets button (like in Geometry Nodes)
• Fixed Smart Asset sidebar modifier options

🧡 Additional Features from this Blender 5.1.2 and 5.2.0 series

• Geometry Nodes Sample Sound Frequencies Node
• Geometry Nodes Merge Points and Cluster by Selected and Distance
• Geometry Nodes List Nodes and socket type
• Grease Pencil Dot texture randomization
• Compositor Rotation nodes
• Mesh Edit Mode Flatten and Space Edge Loops Evenly Operators
• Dopesheet Select All (keyframes) by Trait
• Blender Online Assets available in Asset Browser and Shelves when online

And many more bug fixes and more!

• Bforartists-5.1.2-Linux.tar.xz
• Bforartists-5.1.2-Mac-Silicon.dmg
• Bforartists-5.1.2-Windows.zip
• Bforartists-5.1.2-x86_64.AppImage
• bforartists_5.1.2.deb
• Install_Bforartists5_512.exe
• releasenote_bforartists5_512.txt

Geometry Nodes

• Instances - New Input Instance Bounds node #6519
• Geometry- Operations- New Get Geometry Component node #6578
• Utilities - Lists - New Filter List node #6577
• Utilities - Field - New Cluster by Distance node #6533
• Mesh - Read - New Cluster by Connected #6531
• Geometry - Operations - New Merge Points node #6532
• New Lists nodes (x5) #6538
• Utilities - Sound - New Sample Sound Frequencies node #6520

3D View

• Edit Mode - Grease Pencil - Toolsystem > Toggle Caps panel - Fix mismatch with "Set Caps" header menu #6544
• Edit Mode - Toolsystem > Curve Panel > Remove double entries #6541
• Mesh - Edit Mode - Transform - New Space Edge Loops Evently #6575
• Edit Mode - Mesh - Transform - New Flatten operator #6515
• Armature Edit Mode - Toolsystem > Armature tab > Recalculate Bone Roll panel - Use subpanels for grouping #6551
• View Pie Menu - Swap Front and Back locations? #6547

Default Asset Library

• Missing sidebar modifier properties #6556
• Add stronger Blender versioning to back-port the default asset library modules #6524
• Mesh Blend by Proximity collection socket wizard fails #6523
• update thumbnails and add Curtis Holt's Community CC0 materials #6508

Sequencer

• Hotkeys - Make gizmos work on press instead of drag, they currently don't work #6557
• Hotkeys - Expose Transform Select on Side to GUI #6558
• Text Strip - Style - New Line property #6572

Properties Editor

• Strip Modifiers - Add a "quick open compositor window" to button/operator AND/OR make a Sequencer compoitor workspace already setup #6579
• Strip Modifiers tab - Split Modifier Assets like in Geometry Nodes Assets modifier stack #6573

Compositor

• Utilities - New Rotation group of nodes #6534
• Add Blank Image to sidebar #6500

VSE

• Strip tab > Transform Panel - Improve layout of XY properties #6289
• Strip tab - Movie Clip & Mask panel - Fix `rpt_` not defined error #6293

Other

• Consider having a position on LLMs, ideally a different one than blender #6506
• UI - Add Open Editors Temp Window Operators #6596
• Tools Region - Sub Menu Icons Small #6599
• UV Editor - Select all by Trait needs icons #6513
• Dopesheet - Select Linked needs icon #6511
• Sidebars - Compact Tabs option makes columns too thin, offsetting icons #6518
• Assets - multiple definitions of catalog warning #6571
• Timeline - Remove double playback menu (one on left) #6512
• Power User Tools - Select Grease Pencil Layer under Cursor #6569
• Quick Favorites menu - Add Editor with Icons #6529
• Render Menu - Improve operator labels #6549
• Paint Mode - Advanced - Remove "Modes" panel #6536
• Graph Editor & Dopesheet - Key - Mirror - Reorder and add separator #6535
• Properties - Strip > Time panel - Remove duplicated "Show Retiming Keys" property #6565
• Shader Editor - Node Minimap - General Fixes #6559
• Bug: Node Editors - Missing data management in Node groups #6528
• Default Asset library - Make updating assets more robust #6510
• Bug: Properties Editor - Rotation socket animation property broken #6509
• Node Editors - Context Menu - Frame icons needs to be updated #6502

Splashscreen is kindly provided by Krysidian and the @Umbraven_cu (Instagram) Team, the latest winner of the Splashscreen submissions competition hosted in the Discord server! Thank you!

Thank you again for using Bforartists, by making art with this - and sharing this to the art community. This wouldn't be possible without you.

Draise, Reiner, Blenux (Juso), Znight (Trung Pham), Quackers, Eyad, Shaley, Sean and all you arty people

💜 Join the official Discord server for weekly art challenges and live artist QnA interviews every now and then! And share your art.