Is there any point in learning blender as a software developer? I like it a lot but feel like the learning curve is too high and not worth it for me?
I myself somehow keep gravitating towards Blender for casual use, because every now and then, I want to do something in 3D. The last time was for VR (I also re-learned Unreal Engine for it), this time is for architecture visualization (in particular, I want to design the home office I'll be having once we move from the apartment we currently live in, and I'm half-hoping that beyond usual interior visualization, I'll be able to abuse Blender to do some lighting evaluation and maybe even airflow modelling).
In my mind, Blender represents one of those capabilities that computers have that could be useful for me personally, so I try to get at least passable proficiency in it. Same thing got me to learn the basics of Audacity, even though I have zero hobby or professional need for sound work (I mostly trim out sponsorship messages from youtube-dl'ed mp3s these days, so that my 22mo doesn't get trained to "like and subscribe" while listening to her nursery rhymes). And same thing dragged me into software development in the first place - I wanted to do stuff with computers (mostly making videogames).
The possibilities with CG are sky high but the barrier to entry has been equally so. Lots of money and man hours. But I truly think the next ten years will be exciting and that something like on the level of Star Wars will be made by a small team collaborating remotely.
I think Blender is really user friendly.
Seriously, though, Blender is incredible, and I really really enjoy using it frequently on my own film projects. It’s a joy to work with.
There are also concepts in Blender (like the whole node system) that might inspire some creative solutions in your day-to-day programming. Also, if you're at all inclined to try make video games, you can make your own 3d models. It pairs nicely with Unity or Unreal for a relatively low-barrier-to-entry to build something small and fun.
I feel like this question is like going to an art forum and asking if you should learn Kubernetes. You could, but it's not going to help with your art.
I like that the UI shows me Python functions that I can use to invoke the menu item, and I have written some Python before (read an STL, do some transformations, write an OBJ; Blender was easier than cobbling together other tools to do that). My main takeaway that I apply to my own software is that if I know how to do something in the app, the apps should tell me what API method to call to do the same thing. (Google's Cloud Console does this!) And, that if I know the name of the command I want to run, I shouldn't have to poke through the menus to find it. (Blender fixed this with F3 global search. It annoys me to death in other apps like Fusion 360, where things move ever release and I have to search through every menu because the YouTube tutorial I'm watching is a week out of date.)
I picked it up as a hobbyist/artist and I really enjoyed it. I haven't used the modelling capabilities in my day-job, but I have used the video-editing capabilities to make instructional videos that were useful in my day-job. For that alone I'm glad that I picked it up.
So for me it's been both fun and useful to know Blender as a software developer, though not strictly required.
Is it helpful as a software dev? Who knows, but it's been an enjoyable hobby for now. I particularly have enjoyed the motion tracking and adding some special effects to videos of my young daughter.