Blender, our pick as the best free 3D app, seems to be rocketing through updates lately. Blender 5.1 is now in beta ahead of its official stable release on 17 March, and artists are already excited about one feature in particular.
The new version of the software adds a new Raycast shader node for Cycles and Eevee. And as one artist demonstrates in the post below, that unlocks the ability to create decals in the official version of the open-source software, potentially saving a lot of time and hassle.
pic.twitter.com/9wnkmbCw0UFebruary 8, 2026
The artist Late as usual has shared a demo of the new feature in action along with her node tree.
Blender had a Raycast node before, but the new one offers much greater functionality, introducing real-time, scene-aware precision ray tracing for both the Eevee and Cycles renderers. This allows advanced procedural effects like dynamic painting and non-photorealistic (NPR) styling as well as the application of decals without complex setups.
Some people were thinking they would never see the day that this were possible. "i think i just cried a little," one artist commented on the post above.
Other Key updates in Blender 5.1 include vertex sliding, smarter bevel snapping, improved UV tile selection and faster node-based workflows. You can see a roundup in the video below.
If you're just getting started in the software, don't miss our roundup of Blender tutorials. You might also want one of the best laptops for 3D modelling.
