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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. 

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: 
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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: 

List of Articles
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Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 376002   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345154   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 684444   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 408523   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345059   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381795   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376183   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969125   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696915   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550896   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765538   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060441   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790684   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762403   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805758   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813970   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852834   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
868 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 26, 2012 file 51181   Nov 27, 2012 Nov 27, 2012 00:37
 
867 Render of the Week 'MX-DROID' by Robert Ferenczi - the Winner of the Week of February 24, 2014 file 50342   Feb 24, 2014 Feb 24, 2014 20:05
 
866 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 18, 2013 file 50020   Nov 18, 2013 Nov 18, 2013 17:38
 
865 Render of the Week 'Green Woods' by Jason Reynolds - Winner for the Week of July 23, 2012 file 49759   Jul 23, 2012 Jul 23, 2012 12:40
 
864 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 24, 2012 file 49602   Dec 25, 2012 Dec 09, 2013 11:32
 
863 Render of the Week 'Tsunami' by Alexandre Faiad - the Winner of the Week of November 26, 2012 file 49435   Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012 23:17
 
862 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 1, 2012 file 49430   Oct 01, 2012 Oct 12, 2012 23:30
 
861 Blender Whiz The Artist Behind 'Creek:' Abdul-mu'min Smith file 49358   Jul 21, 2014 Jul 21, 2014 22:05
 
860 Render of the Week 'The Doppelganger' by Eric Basiletti - Winner of the Week of July 2, 2012 file 49183   Jul 02, 2012 Jul 02, 2012 16:23
 
859 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 10, 2012 file 49047   Sep 10, 2012 Sep 27, 2012 14:47
 
858 Production Focus Ara's Tale - Interview with Martin Lubich the Director file 48803   Jul 16, 2012 Aug 13, 2012 18:02
 
857 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 17, 2014 file 48701   Feb 17, 2014 Feb 18, 2014 21:54
 
856 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 3, 2012 file 48669   Dec 03, 2012 Dec 04, 2012 09:16
 
855 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 10, 2012 file 48661   Dec 10, 2012 Dec 10, 2012 19:34
 
854 Render of the Week 'Mix Familial & Workshop House' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of November 11, 2013 file 48656   Nov 12, 2013 Nov 17, 2013 23:27
 
853 Render of the Week 'King Vulture' by José Mario Pérez Cotes - the Winner of the Week of April 28 2014 file 48607   Apr 29, 2014 Apr 29, 2014 16:17
 
852 Render of the Week 'Forest Path' by Igor Kozyrev - Winner for the Week of September 17, 2012 file 48401   Sep 17, 2012 Sep 18, 2012 00:10
 
851 Render of the Week Why Some of the Renders Fell Short of Being a Winner ... file 48356   Jun 25, 2012 Feb 04, 2013 22:52
 
850 Render of the Week 'Adamant and Bellicose' by Daniel Brown - the Winner of the Week of October 21, 2013 file 48203   Oct 22, 2013 Oct 22, 2013 02:50
 
849 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 22, 2012 file 48167   Oct 23, 2012 Oct 23, 2012 01:40