December 29, 2016 3:00 PM
by Editor in Chief
| 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: | |
| 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: | |
| 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://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/ | |
| 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: | |
| 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: | |
| 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: | |
| 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 | |
| 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: | |
| 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: | |
| 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: |
