Working with Blender does not require an extensive knowledge of mathematics; however, the amount of complex calculations that are built into the code of Blender is quite astounding. Much of the necessary tools for shape creation and animation require many calculus theories. For example, the idea of using segmentation to “smooth over” a shape is a theory directly related to calculus. The Blender program allows the user to choose how many “rings” one would want to use when an object is created, much like the use of the Riemann Sum to approximate the area under a curve. By creating more rings, the object can become more “smooth”.

   

Another idea that is used frequently through Blender is the use of the matrix to describe the orientation of an object. As described here, the Blender developers continue to have problems with calculations involving matrices. One issue could be related to the accumulation of error as the arithmetic logic unit is unable to keep up with round-off errors after calculating. Not only is there error associated with these calculations, but the Blender developers also allude to a logical error in the code of Blender associated with matrix calculations. Blender refers to these issues as mirrored, or non-uniform, geometry and explains this may be a system design side effect.