Sign In
Sign in
English

  BlenderRetrospective2016.jpg   

December 29, 2016 3:00 PM

 

by Editor in Chief

 

What were the biggest Blender news in 2016--especially for professional users of Blender? Here are some of the top 10 Blender news from 2016. Please remember hobbyist-grade news or well known facts--such as use of Blender in product and arch viz--may have been omitted. 

Retro2016_10.jpg

  

10. Blender Cloud Service Launched


Blender Foundation has launched a membership service; where, for less than $10.00 a month, a user can have access to all the contents from official training DVD and videos and the assets and blend files from previously released Open Source movies as well as 1,500+ textures and HDRIs that are directly accessible within your copy of Blender through internet connection.


Related link: 
Retro2016_09.jpg

  

9. Game Development


Blender continued to serve as a quality tool for game development. Blender has been more than good enough for game content creators.
Related link: 

Retro2016_08.jpg   


8. Use in Commercials, Game trailers, and Music Videos

Blender continues to be an attractive 3D solution for established professionals as well as new startups

Related link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cEH7uL0S-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWEMq0JiB0Y

https://www.facebook.com/outputmedialtd/

https://vimeo.com/184682770

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/09/12/alessandro-dalla-fontana-vfx-reel-2016/

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/09/20/jamberoo-action-parks-perfect-storm-tv-commercial/

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/09/01/rujienas-ice-cream-commercial/

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/05/03/warhammer-40k-inquisitior-martyr-destruction-trailer/


Retro2016_07.jpg

  

7. AMD and Nvidia's Support for Blender Development


AMD as well as Nvidia have been supportive for Blender development. AMD reportedly has even helped to hire full time developer on Cycles. And Nvidia has provided latest GTX cards to Blender developers.

Related links: 

Retro2016_06.jpg   

6. Blender-driven Entries Noted at CG Competitions


Some of the CG competition entries created in Blender have made it all the way to the 2nd place in even in the noted CG challenge organized by the CGSociety. This reflects growing recognition among industry experts on Blender’s potentials.

Related link: 
Retro2016_05.jpg

 

5. Blender’s Potentials Recognized 


MAXON’s move to import Blender’s Cycles render engine into C4D has drawn much attention in the industry. Even the VFX supervisor for Warcraft (2016) have confessed using Blender for a character in the movie for budget reason—but with good reviews.

Related link: 

Retro2016_04.jpg

 

4. RenderMan21 Support Blender


Perhaps the most notable sign of industry’s acceptance of Blender is PIXAR’s move to support Blender in RenderMan.

Related link: 
https://renderman.pixar.com/view/non-commercial-renderman
Retro2016_03.jpg

 

3. Success of Short Films Created in Blender


Short films created in Blender have successfully demonstrated Blender’s potentials and some of them have been honored by industry experts. Cosmos Laundromat, for example, have won the SIGGRAPH 2016 Computer Animation Festival's Jury Award. Caminandes series have made it to the Disney Channel. And the short “Alike” has reportedly won 64 awards in film festivals.

Related link: 

Retro2016_02.jpg  

2. Blender-specific Third Party Add-ons and Products 

Amazing third party addons and products—mostly paid versions—specifically designed for Blender continued to put Blender to a newer level:

Related link: 
Retro2016_01.jpg

  

1. New Features in Blender 2.77 to 78a


The most exiting news regarding Blender during 2016, of course, are the new features added to Blender, such as native stereoscopic VR rendering, fire and smoke rendering in GPU, Grease Pencil, Bendy Bones, Micro Displacement, Alembic support and so forth.

Related link: 

List of Articles
Subject Date Viewssort
Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective Feb 20, 2021 211060
Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file Jan 25, 2020 563182
Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file Jan 25, 2020 426269
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file Jan 25, 2020 432028
Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file Jan 25, 2020 375930
Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file Jan 23, 2019 345073
Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file Jan 23, 2019 684365
Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file Jan 23, 2019 408459
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file Jan 23, 2019 344985
Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file Jan 02, 2019 381702
Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file Jan 02, 2019 376117
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file Jan 09, 2018 969061
Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file Jan 01, 2018 696853
Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file Dec 26, 2017 550815
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file Jan 16, 2017 765469
Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Dec 29, 2016 1060372
Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file Jan 20, 2016 790616
Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file Jan 12, 2016 762335
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file Jun 26, 2015 805684
Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file Jan 02, 2015 813908
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file Dec 11, 2014 852773
Render of the Week 'Lanterns in The Forest' by Francis Harkins - the Winner of the Week of May 5, 2014 file May 05, 2014 40093
Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 15, 2013 file Jul 15, 2013 39938
Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 15, 2014 file Sep 15, 2014 39866
Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 22, 2013 file Apr 22, 2013 39825
Render of the Week 'Zigna / Real-Time' by Alessandro Chiffi - the Winner of the Week of November 10, 2014 file Nov 11, 2014 39798
Render of the Week 'The Rabbit and the Train' by Gleb Alexandrov - the Winner of the Week of February 3, 2014 file Feb 05, 2014 39794
Suzanne Awards 2013 Suzanne Awards: The Winners & Nominees Are ... file Oct 28, 2013 39749
Render of the Week 'Casino' by Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego - Winner for the Week of March 25, 2013 file Mar 25, 2013 39747
Render of the Week 'Mad Dog' by Maciek Ptaszynski - the Winner of the Week of June 9, 2014 file Jun 09, 2014 39696
Render of the Week 'The Beast' by Max Puliero - the Winner of the Week of March 10, 2014 file Mar 11, 2014 39501
Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 7, 2015 file Dec 08, 2015 39486
Render of the Week 'Medieval Bedroom' by Vladimír Stáňa - the Winner of the Week of October 14, 2013 file Oct 14, 2013 39408
Render of the Week 'Treehouse' by Kjartan Tysdal - the Winner of the Week of April 20, 2015 file Apr 21, 2015 39154
Render of the Week 'Steve' by Robert Chudy - the Winner of the Week of September 9, 2013 file Sep 09, 2013 39104
Production Focus 'SPACE ODDITY II' - FAKE OR FACT: Interview with Thomas Piemontese file Mar 13, 2013 38987
Render of the Week 'Sanctuary Rising' by Jesse Sutherland - the Winner of the Week of April 14, 2014 file Apr 14, 2014 38894
Render of the Week 'Uncertainty' by Reynante Martinez - Winner for the Week of May 19, 2014 file May 19, 2014 38891
Render of the Week 'The Greenbox Studio' by Jesse Sutherland - the Winner of the Week of January 12, 2015 file Jan 13, 2015 38861
Render of the Week 'Painting Robots' by Gleb Alexandrov - the Winner of the Week of June 2, 2014 file Jun 02, 2014 38813
Render of the Week 'Tomorrow the Wind Blows' by Viacheslav Korchagin - the Winner of the Week of June 24, 2013 file Jun 24, 2013 38741