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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: 

List of Articles
No. Subject Author Views Votes Date Last Updatesort
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective 210941   Feb 20, 2021 Feb 21, 2021 01:20
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 431875   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 375776   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 344870   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 684175   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 408269   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344790   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381543   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 375930   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 968872   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696651   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550622   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765298   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060182   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790440   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762147   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805498   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813711   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852588   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
566 Render of the Year Render of the Year 2015--the Finalists Announced file 30421   Jan 13, 2016 Jan 14, 2016 01:36
 
565 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 18, 2016 file 29602   Jan 20, 2016 Jan 20, 2016 02:22
 
564 Render of the Week 'The Bunny' by Glenn Melenhorst - the Winner of the Week of January 25, 2016 file 35686   Jan 26, 2016 Jan 26, 2016 22:12
 
563 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 1, 2016 file 31423   Feb 02, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 12:49
 
562 Render of the Week 'Lab' by Erwin Sokólski - the Winner of the Week of February 1, 2016 file 35440   Feb 02, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 13:08
 
561 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 15, 2016 file 30886   Feb 17, 2016 Feb 17, 2016 02:12
 
560 Render of the Week 'Poseidon' by Shaun Homan - the Winner of the Week of February 15, 2016 file 32295   Feb 17, 2016 Feb 17, 2016 02:35
 
559 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 22, 2016 file 30767   Feb 23, 2016 Feb 23, 2016 21:12
 
558 Render of the Week 'Observatory House - Photo-real Environment Study' by Jonathan Sargent - the Winner of the Week of February 22, 2016 file 33632   Feb 23, 2016 Feb 23, 2016 21:39
 
557 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 29, 2016 file 30070   Mar 01, 2016 Mar 01, 2016 17:08
 
556 Render of the Week 'Natures Mortes' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of February 29, 2016 file 33050   Mar 01, 2016 Mar 01, 2016 17:29
 
555 Render of the Week 'Mud Dauber' by Damien Monteillard - the Winner of the Week of March 7, 2016 file 32830   Mar 08, 2016 Mar 08, 2016 21:13
 
554 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 14, 2016 file 32163   Mar 16, 2016 Mar 16, 2016 01:41
 
553 Render of the Week 'Sunbathing' by Rachel Frick - the Winner of the Week of March 14, 2016 file 34279   Mar 16, 2016 Mar 16, 2016 02:10
 
552 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 7, 2016 file 30905   Mar 08, 2016 Mar 16, 2016 02:17
 
551 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 21, 2016 file 32007   Mar 22, 2016 Mar 22, 2016 21:59
 
550 Render of the Week 'Dunes' by Jan Walter Schliep - the Winner of the Week of March 21, 2016 file 32463   Mar 22, 2016 Mar 22, 2016 22:13
 
549 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 28, 2016 file 29085   Mar 30, 2016 Mar 30, 2016 01:22