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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 345144   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 684436   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 408515   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345051   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381778   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376173   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969119   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696909   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550885   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765525   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060432   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790676   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762392   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805750   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813960   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852828   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
465 Render of the Week Bidirectional Interior with Yafaray - by Olivier Boscournu - the Winner of the Week of May 14, 2012 file 81724   May 14, 2012 May 28, 2012 01:54
 
464 Render of the Week "Cryptocephalus" by Gabriel Tomczak - the Winner of the Week of May 21, 2012 file 58341   May 21, 2012 May 28, 2012 01:54
 
463 Render of the Week 'Remote Drone Spider' by Ben Milwood - the Winner of the Week of May 7, 2012 file 63747   May 07, 2012 May 28, 2012 01:56
 
462 Render of the Week 'Loft in Cloister' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of April 23, 2012 file 66288   Apr 23, 2012 May 28, 2012 02:00
 
461 Render of the Week 'SSS Study' by Kent Trammell - the Winner of the Week of April 30, 2012 file 69257   Apr 30, 2012 May 28, 2012 02:02
 
460 Render of the Week 'Minotaurus' by Tamas Torok - the Winner of the Week of May 28, 2002 file 62055   May 28, 2012 May 28, 2012 08:10
 
459 Render of the Week 'Pripyat, 1987' by Anuraag - the Winner of the Week of June 4, 2002 file 58994   Jun 04, 2012 Jun 04, 2012 16:39
 
458 Render of the Week 'Urban Apartment' by Enrico Cerica - Winner of the Week of June 11, 2012 file 60397   Jun 11, 2012 Jun 11, 2012 19:03
 
457 Render of the Week 'Gargoyle' by Michalis Zissiou - Winner of the Week of June 18, 2012 file 91233   Jun 18, 2012 Jun 19, 2012 13:34
 
456 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
 
455 Render of the Week 'Come Hell or High Water' by Julian Fischer - Winner of the Week of July 9, 2012 file 57744   Jul 09, 2012 Jul 09, 2012 18:10
 
454 Render of the Week 'Mischief in the Subway' by Richard Hoatland - Winner of the Week of July 16, 2012 file 61589   Jul 16, 2012 Jul 16, 2012 17:44
 
453 Render of the Week 'Green Woods' by Jason Reynolds - Winner for the Week of July 23, 2012 file 49758   Jul 23, 2012 Jul 23, 2012 12:40
 
452 Render of the Week 'HMS Ajax' by Radoslaw Marcin Kurczewski - Winner for the Week of August 6, 2012 file 55185   Aug 06, 2012 Aug 06, 2012 21:09
 
451 Render of the Week 'Rainy' by Matej Hudak - Winner for the Week of August 13, 2012 file 46869   Aug 13, 2012 Aug 13, 2012 23:20
 
450 Render of the Week 'Sexy Character: Redux' by Joseph Cooke - Winner for the Week of August 20, 2012 file 66100   Aug 21, 2012 Aug 21, 2012 01:16
 
449 Render of the Week 'Lost in Stereo' by Reynante Martinez - Winner for the Week of August 27, 2012 file 43102   Aug 28, 2012 Aug 28, 2012 13:12
 
448 Render of the Week 'Who's Shoe' by Max Radons - Winner for the Week of September 3, 2012 file 45553   Sep 03, 2012 Sep 03, 2012 20:54
 
447 Render of the Week 'Snail' by Maciej Stokowiec - Winner for the Week of September 10, 2012 file 45145   Sep 10, 2012 Sep 11, 2012 01:23
 
446 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