I, as well. When I got the M1 Mac Mini, the odds were 50/50 that manufacture was in Malaysia or Chyna. I'm pleased it was Malaysia (probably no difference. ....anyway).
Learning is my hurdle, not buying anything. I'm conviced that the path forward is via Blender Geometry Nodes.
Being Open Source, Blender is moving too fast for any commercial competitors. v2.80 was a watershed. OpenVDB was incorporated in some version. I'd been watching it separately because I recognized that it has data structures like Mac OS HFS+ file system (Sparse, shallow inverted B-trees)
The Geometry Node editor was finalized in v3.0. Node editors have been generalized across shader, compositor and now geometry (meshes and curves). They're actually a tool to create the Python code the program runs on.
Quote:
https://www.avalab.org › blender-node-editor
Blender Node Editor | Avalab
Blender Node Editor abstract: We introduce the basic functionality of the blender node editor.We explain how to enable the node editor and how to create and combine nodes to create more complex materials and to support complex texturizing. High quality download blenderNodeEditor.wmv intended audience: blender users with basic skills prerequisites:
https://blender.stackexchange.com › questions › 123865 › understanding-blender-node-editor
Understanding Blender node editor - Blender Stack Exchange
I have some basic experience with blender and can use node editor to achieve basic tasks like combining shaders, textures etc. The workflow of a node editor looks like a functional programming language to me, but I still don't understand the node editor in the way I understand, say, a programming language like python.
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Long story shorrt, the newest nodes added include a Simulation node:
Quote:
https://www.blendernation.com › 2021 › 01 › 14 › new-simulation-nodes-in-animation-nodes-tracer-dynamic-vertex-color-weight
New Simulation Nodes in Animation Nodes: Tracer ... - BlenderNation
14 Jan 2021New Simulation Nodes in Animation Nodes: Tracer, Dynamic Vertex Color, Weight 0 By 3DSinghVFX on January 14, 2021 Tutorials 3DSinghVFX writes: I have added the *Simulation Nodes* in Animation Nodes for Blender. Now, it possible to do Spline Tracer, Dynamic Vertex Color and Weight, Custom Particle System, Melting Objects, and many more simulations.
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The value of Open Source is that once someone scratches a particular itch, it becomes available to everyone. I see how it all works, but I lack proficiency. I'm focussed on creating objects, animations are a whole 'nuther can of worms.