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  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. 

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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: 
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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: 

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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/


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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: 

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Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345234   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 23:35
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file 684529   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 23:34
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file 408619   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345138   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381876   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376264   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969203   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696997   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550974   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765612   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060528   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790764   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762496   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805852   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 814057   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852929   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
428 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 4, 2016 file 27668   Jul 06, 2016 Jul 06, 2016 02:28
 
427 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 20, 2016 file 27849   Jun 22, 2016 Jul 06, 2016 02:16
 
426 Render of the Week 'Brooklyn Interior' by Lech Sokolowski - the Winner of the Week of June 27, 2016 file 30549   Jun 29, 2016 Jun 29, 2016 05:03
 
425 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 27, 2016 file 28500   Jun 29, 2016 Jun 29, 2016 04:51
 
424 Render of the Week 'A Sweet Little Dream' by Sebastian Zapata - the Winner of the Week of June 20, 2016 file 30454   Jun 22, 2016 Jun 22, 2016 03:31
 
423 Render of the Week 'Sci-fi City' Series by Manuel Grad - the Winner of the Week of April 18, 2016 file 34635   Apr 20, 2016 Jun 15, 2016 01:00
 
422 Render of the Week 'Sci-fi City' Series by Manuel Grad - the Winner of the Week of June 14, 2016 file 30328   Jun 15, 2016 Jun 15, 2016 01:00
 
421 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 13, 2016 file 27420   Jun 15, 2016 Jun 15, 2016 00:47
 
420 Render of the Week 'United Earth Mothership' by George Kim - the Winner of the Week of June 6, 2016 file 31198   Jun 08, 2016 Jun 14, 2016 22:15
 
419 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 6, 2016 file 32063   Jun 08, 2016 Jun 08, 2016 00:44
 
418 Render of the Week 'The Hyperreal Shoes' by Gleb Alexandrov - the Winner of the Week of May 30, 2016 file 31449   May 31, 2016 May 31, 2016 20:45
 
417 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 30, 2016 file 25494   May 31, 2016 May 31, 2016 20:44
 
416 Render of the Week 'Adventurers' by Daniel Vesterbæk Jensen - the Winner of the Week of May 23, 2016 file 30684   May 25, 2016 May 25, 2016 02:01
 
415 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 23, 2016 file 27504   May 25, 2016 May 25, 2016 01:30
 
414 Render of the Week 'Aurora Lakes' by Manuel Grad - the Winner of the Week of May 16, 2016 file 30006   May 17, 2016 May 17, 2016 21:41
 
413 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 16, 2016 file 28588   May 17, 2016 May 17, 2016 21:25
 
412 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 9, 2016 file 31326   May 10, 2016 May 10, 2016 20:51
 
411 Render of the Week 'Steampunk Vault Room' by Pascal Deraed - the Winner of the Week of May 9, 2016 file 36123   May 10, 2016 May 10, 2016 20:50
 
410 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 2, 2016 file 30202   May 03, 2016 May 03, 2016 12:55
 
409 Render of the Week 'T-55 Tank' by Piotr Bieryt - the Winner of the Week of May 2, 2016 file 32790   May 03, 2016 May 03, 2016 12:54