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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
No. Subject Author Views Votes Date Last Update
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective 210971   Feb 20, 2021 Feb 21, 2021 01:20
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file 563059   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 431908   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 375804   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 344916   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 684236   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 408304   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344834   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381589   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 375973   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 968914   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696686   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550673   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765332   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060222   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790476   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762186   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805546   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813754   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852625   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
568 Render of the Year Render of the Year 2017 - Public Voting in Progress file 17380   Dec 19, 2017 Dec 19, 2017 03:33
 
567 Render of the Week Render of the Year 2017 - All Candidates Listed file 17138   Dec 11, 2017 Dec 11, 2017 14:12
 
566 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 10, 2017 file 15899   Dec 11, 2017 Dec 11, 2017 02:08
 
565 Render of the Week 'Mabel in the Wind' by Nikita Krutov - the Winner of the Week of November 27, 2017 file 16777   Dec 03, 2017 Dec 03, 2017 00:59
 
564 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 27, 2017 file 15935   Dec 02, 2017 Dec 02, 2017 22:21
 
563 Suzanne Awards 2017 Suzanne Awards: The Winners and Nominees Are ... file 14622   Nov 18, 2017 Nov 25, 2017 02:05
 
562 Render of the Week 'Daenerys Targaryen' by Sardushkin Maxim - the Winner of the Week of November 20, 2017 file 34962   Nov 25, 2017 Nov 25, 2017 01:57
 
561 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 20, 2017 file 16600   Nov 25, 2017 Nov 25, 2017 01:20
 
560 Render of the Week 'Cathedral of Clermont Ferrand, France' by Wayne Loxley - the Winner of the Week of November 13, 2017 file 20390   Nov 17, 2017 Nov 17, 2017 21:57
 
559 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 13, 2017 file 17113   Nov 17, 2017 Nov 17, 2017 21:33
 
558 Render of the Week 'Corridor' by Ramon Scortanu - the Winner of the Week of November 6, 2017 file 18787   Nov 11, 2017 Nov 11, 2017 03:13
 
557 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 6, 2017 file 18562   Nov 11, 2017 Nov 11, 2017 02:50
 
556 Render of the Week 'Wildlife' by Nick Brunner - the Winner of the Week of October 30, 2017 file 18434   Nov 04, 2017 Nov 04, 2017 03:33
 
555 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 30, 2017 file 18555   Nov 04, 2017 Nov 04, 2017 03:21
 
554 Render of the Week 'Hellcat' by Bogdan Korsunov - the Winner of the Week of October 23, 2017 file 20512   Oct 28, 2017 Oct 28, 2017 02:41
 
553 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 23, 2017 file 19832   Oct 28, 2017 Oct 28, 2017 02:29
 
552 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 16, 2017 file 21474   Oct 21, 2017 Oct 21, 2017 01:41
 
551 Render of the Week 'The Allied Guest House' by Rigved Wankhade - the Winner of the Week of October 16, 2017 file 19699   Oct 21, 2017 Oct 21, 2017 01:33
 
550 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 9, 2017 file 19775   Oct 13, 2017 Oct 14, 2017 00:53
 
549 Render of the Week 'Forest Environment' by Maciej Stok - the Winner of the Week of October 9, 2017 file 20296   Oct 13, 2017 Oct 13, 2017 04:03