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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 Viewssort Votes Date Last Update
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective 210978   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 563072   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 431927   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 375818   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 344933   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 684249   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 408323   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344843   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381595   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 375986   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 968931   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696712   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550682   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765346   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060234   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790490   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762202   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805555   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813768   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852643   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
568 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 23, 2014 file 33310   Mar 24, 2015 Mar 24, 2015 17:45
 
567 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 19, 2013 file 33283   Aug 20, 2013 Aug 20, 2013 02:01
 
566 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 22, 2014 file 33262   Sep 22, 2014 Sep 22, 2014 17:12
 
565 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 11, 2014 file 33229   Aug 11, 2014 Aug 11, 2014 12:29
 
564 Production Focus REVERSION: A Testing Ground for 'Cell Production' file 33150   Jul 10, 2012 Jul 12, 2012 11:30
 
563 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of October 27, 2014 file 33090   Oct 28, 2014 Oct 28, 2014 01:06
 
562 Render of the Week 'Natures Mortes' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of February 29, 2016 file 33051   Mar 01, 2016 Mar 01, 2016 17:29
 
561 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 18, 2014 file 33047   Aug 18, 2014 Aug 18, 2014 22:15
 
560 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 22, 2014 file 33037   Dec 23, 2014 Dec 23, 2014 20:17
 
559 Render of the Week 'Bees' by Dominik Schatz - the Winner of the Week of August 17, 2015 file 33032   Aug 19, 2015 Aug 19, 2015 01:54
 
558 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 23, 2015 file 33027   Feb 25, 2015 Feb 25, 2015 01:21
 
557 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 24, 2014 file 33002   Feb 24, 2014 Feb 24, 2014 18:52
 
556 Render of the Week 'Mud Dauber' by Damien Monteillard - the Winner of the Week of March 7, 2016 file 32835   Mar 08, 2016 Mar 08, 2016 21:13
 
555 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 9, 2014 file 32805   Jun 09, 2014 Jun 09, 2014 15:23
 
554 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 13, 2015 file 32805   Apr 14, 2015 Apr 14, 2015 18:53
 
553 Render of the Week 'T-55 Tank' by Piotr Bieryt - the Winner of the Week of May 2, 2016 file 32775   May 03, 2016 May 03, 2016 12:54
 
552 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 19, 2014 file 32636   May 19, 2014 May 19, 2014 16:17
 
551 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 11, 2015 file 32630   May 13, 2015 May 13, 2015 01:29
 
550 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 25, 2014 file 32615   Aug 26, 2014 Aug 26, 2014 16:56
 
549 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 1, 2014 file 32576   Sep 01, 2014 Sep 01, 2014 22:22