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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 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file 684359   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 23:34
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344972   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
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Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376108   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969055   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696842   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550808   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765463   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060367   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790610   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762328   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805675   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813899   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852768   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
948 Industry News www.BlenderNews.org launched file 65225   Apr 07, 2012 Apr 07, 2012 21:14
 
947 Tutorials Best Tutorials for Trained Artists Starting Up with Blender? file 43710   Apr 16, 2012 Apr 16, 2012 23:13
 
946 Blender Features Diamond Dispersion in Cycles Revealed file 90749   Apr 06, 2012 Apr 17, 2012 14:13
 
945 Blender Features Beware, BMesh Is Here! file 43189   Apr 24, 2012 Apr 28, 2012 01:12
 
944 Blender Releases Blender 2.63 Released! file 33676   Apr 30, 2012 Apr 30, 2012 21:21
 
943 Tutorials Individual Video Tutorials Worthy of Your Attention: Daniel Kreuter file 41776   Apr 30, 2012 May 01, 2012 15:36
 
942 Tutorials 'Sculpting' the Tornado file 46707   May 07, 2012 May 08, 2012 00:38
 
941 Blender Releases Blender 2.63a Update file 33671   May 14, 2012 May 14, 2012 21:04
 
940 Render of the Week Bidirectional Interior with Yafaray - by Olivier Boscournu - the Winner of the Week of May 14, 2012 file 81720   May 14, 2012 May 28, 2012 01:54
 
939 Render of the Week "Cryptocephalus" by Gabriel Tomczak - the Winner of the Week of May 21, 2012 file 58336   May 21, 2012 May 28, 2012 01:54
 
938 Render of the Week 'Remote Drone Spider' by Ben Milwood - the Winner of the Week of May 7, 2012 file 63744   May 07, 2012 May 28, 2012 01:56
 
937 Render of the Week 'Loft in Cloister' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of April 23, 2012 file 66285   Apr 23, 2012 May 28, 2012 02:00
 
936 Render of the Week 'SSS Study' by Kent Trammell - the Winner of the Week of April 30, 2012 file 69256   Apr 30, 2012 May 28, 2012 02:02
 
935 Render of the Week 'Minotaurus' by Tamas Torok - the Winner of the Week of May 28, 2002 file 62051   May 28, 2012 May 28, 2012 08:10
 
934 Tutorials 'Subsurface Scattering' in Cycles Revealed file 64714   May 21, 2012 May 31, 2012 03:35
 
933 Render of the Week 'Pripyat, 1987' by Anuraag - the Winner of the Week of June 4, 2002 file 58993   Jun 04, 2012 Jun 04, 2012 16:39
 
932 Tutorials How to Add Automatic Dirt / Patina - Daniel RadialRonnie Metien's Way file 119254   Jun 04, 2012 Jun 04, 2012 21:46
 
931 Render of the Week 'Urban Apartment' by Enrico Cerica - Winner of the Week of June 11, 2012 file 60395   Jun 11, 2012 Jun 11, 2012 19:03
 
930 Production Focus PRODUCT VISUALIZATIONS IN BLENDER file 38410   Jun 11, 2012 Jun 12, 2012 14:37
 
929 Blender Features BI vs. Cycles vs. Yafaray - an Artist's Observation file 818026   Jun 05, 2012 Jun 16, 2012 16:09