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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: 

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Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345064   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 684354   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 408446   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344967   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381693   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376105   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969051   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696837   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550803   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765456   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060359   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790607   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762323   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805673   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813895   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852765   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
868 Render of the Year 2012 Voting Begins for Stage One: Choose 10 Candidates from Famed Render of the Week Winners! file 38419   Dec 11, 2012 Dec 12, 2012 00:02
 
867 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 24, 2012 file 49598   Dec 25, 2012 Dec 09, 2013 11:32
 
866 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 17, 2012 file 53668   Dec 17, 2012 Dec 22, 2012 02:11
 
865 Render of the Week 'XVIII Century Portrait' by Andrzej Augustyniak - Winner for the Week of March 4, 2013 file 37989   Mar 05, 2013 Mar 05, 2013 21:30
 
864 Render of the Year 2012 Voting Begins for Stage Two: Top 10 Finalists from Famed Render of the Week Winners! file 38380   Dec 21, 2012 Dec 21, 2012 03:16
 
863 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 25, 2013 file 43981   Mar 25, 2013 Mar 25, 2013 17:56
 
862 Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2012: Five Winners Announced file 83039   Jan 01, 2013 Feb 04, 2013 16:48
 
861 Blender Retrospectives 2012 Blender Retrospective file 42581   Jan 01, 2013 Jan 02, 2013 12:13
 
860 Render of the Week 'The Old Troll' by Ulf Lundgren & Matt Heimlich - Winner for the Week of January 7, 2013 file 47921   Jan 09, 2013 Jan 12, 2013 08:48
 
859 Blender Whiz The Artist Behind 'Morning River:' Caleb Joseph file 35884   Jan 09, 2013 Jan 09, 2013 01:21
 
858 Render of the Week 'All My Loving' by Raphael Bétemps - Winner for the Week of January 14, 2013 file 40943   Jan 14, 2013 Jan 14, 2013 23:32
 
857 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 14, 2013 file 47929   Jan 14, 2013 Jun 25, 2014 14:46
 
856 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 30, 2014 file 32384   Jun 30, 2014 Jun 30, 2014 12:34
 
855 Render of the Week 'The Holiday Emu' by Tyler Aschenbrenner - Winner for the Week of January 21, 2013 file 45109   Jan 21, 2013 Jan 21, 2013 20:36
 
854 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 21, 2013 file 41239   Jan 21, 2013 Jan 21, 2013 22:55
 
853 Render of the Week 'Vilet' by Lucas Giudici de Barros Falcao - Winner for the Week of February 25, 2013 file 55505   Feb 26, 2013 Feb 26, 2013 03:04
 
852 Production Focus 'SPACE ODDITY II' - FAKE OR FACT: Interview with Thomas Piemontese file 38987   Mar 13, 2013 Mar 14, 2013 01:01
 
851 Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2012 in Video file 38340   Feb 04, 2013 Feb 04, 2013 22:54
 
850 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 4, 2013 file 44481   Feb 05, 2013 Feb 05, 2013 16:22
 
849 Blender Releases Blender 2.66 Released! file 46467   Feb 22, 2013 Feb 22, 2013 22:40