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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 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 344898   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 684215   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 23:34
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344814   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381569   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 375950   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 968898   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696669   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550653   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765323   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060209   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790462   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762173   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805527   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813738   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852610   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
728 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 30, 2019 file 10305   Oct 06, 2019 Oct 06, 2019 01:45
 
727 Render of the Week 'Train Station in Japan' by Joe Siu - the Winner of the Week of September 23, 2019 file 10303   Sep 28, 2019 Sep 28, 2019 02:18
 
726 Render of the Week 'Liac Store' by Alexander Lagunovich - the Winner of the Week of September 16, 2019 file 10246   Sep 22, 2019 Sep 22, 2019 01:42
 
725 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 16, 2019 file 11104   Sep 22, 2019 Sep 22, 2019 01:20
 
724 Render of the Week 'The Hungry Blood-thief' by Colin Behrens & Svenja Strobel - the Winner of the Week of September 9, 2019 file 10288   Sep 15, 2019 Sep 15, 2019 02:10
 
723 Render of the Week 'Pennywise, The Dancing Clown 3D Model' by George Siskas - the Winner of the Week of September 2, 2019 file 17448   Sep 07, 2019 Sep 07, 2019 21:07
 
722 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 2, 2019 file 12701   Sep 07, 2019 Sep 07, 2019 20:51
 
721 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 19, 2019 file 10058   Aug 24, 2019 Aug 24, 2019 03:51
 
720 Render of the Week 'Angelababy' by Guang Liang Chen - the Winner of the Week of August 19, 2019 file 13652   Aug 24, 2019 Aug 24, 2019 03:50
 
719 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 22, 2019 file 10035   Jul 27, 2019 Aug 24, 2019 03:21
 
718 Render of the Week 'Mars RXVER' by Aleksandr Kilimnik - the Winner of the Week of August 12, 2019 file 9876   Aug 16, 2019 Aug 16, 2019 07:49
 
717 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 12, 2019 file 10819   Aug 16, 2019 Aug 16, 2019 07:24
 
716 Render of the Week 'Galata Tower' by Emir Sinan Gürlek & Burak Gök - the Winner of the Week of August 5, 2019 file 10038   Aug 10, 2019 Aug 10, 2019 11:07
 
715 Render of the Week 'The Laser Cowboy' by Alex Treviño - the Winner of the Week of July 29, 2019 file 10027   Aug 04, 2019 Aug 04, 2019 02:34
 
714 Render of the Week 'Definition' by Elie Makhlouf - the Winner of the Week of July 22, 2019 file 9115   Jul 27, 2019 Jul 27, 2019 03:20
 
713 Render of the Week 'Baghdad' by Mostafa Samir - the Winner of the Week of July 15, 2019 file 10255   Jul 20, 2019 Jul 20, 2019 02:28
 
712 Render of the Week '2042 Rogue Drone' by George Kim - the Winner of the Week of August 29, 2016 file 8975   Jul 13, 2019 Jul 13, 2019 02:04
 
711 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 8, 2019 file 10607   Jul 13, 2019 Jul 13, 2019 01:42
 
710 Render of the Week 'Fantastic Greenhouse (CGBoost Challenge)' by Jakub Wysocki - the Winner of the Week of July 1, 2019 file 9296   Jul 06, 2019 Jul 06, 2019 08:00
 
709 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 1, 2019 file 9276   Jul 06, 2019 Jul 06, 2019 07:45